Supply Chain And Procurement Optimization

Evidence and data. Interviewees and survey respondents reported that a key benefit of Dynamics 365 ERP was reducing inventory waste and scrap costs. By consolidating data onto a single system, the interviewees’ organizations could more accurately forecast demand, enforce compliance with approved suppliers, and optimize stock levels. These capabilities minimize excess inventory, reduce variability in materials, and accelerate the movement of inventory through the supply chain, ultimately lowering costs. Interviewees and survey respondents shared a number of specific improvements in inventory efficiency:

• Interviewees noted that Dynamics 365 ERP improved their forecasting, reducing overproduction and excess inventory and reducing scrap costs. An IT executive at a retail organization quantified the improvement in planning with Dynamics 365 ERP, stating, “Forecast accuracy has improved from low 80% to low 90% thanks to consolidated, homogenous data available in near real time.”

• Others agreed that inventory accuracy improved and also described how the improvement in visibility led to optimized warehouse layouts and improved throughput. The CIO at a manufacturing firm stated: “Inventory accuracy is up, and we do much better with our slotting warehouse arrangements, so we know where things are and if things are arranged more efficiently. The speed at which we can go get things and move them out the door is improved.”

• Another major area of cost savings interviewees mentioned concerned centralized sourcing, which eliminated unauthorized purchases. Interviewees noted that purchasing inventory from unapproved suppliers was generally more costly than working with preapproved vendors with centrally negotiated contracts. On top of that, centralized sourcing eliminated variability and scrap costs from nonstandard materials. The IT director at an equipment rental organization described the impact, stating, “By using Dynamics 365 ERP workflows to enforce approved suppliers for spare parts, we’ve saved a couple of million pounds per year through better compliance with negotiated contracts.”

• Interviewees reported that their organizations’ inventory moved faster, reducing carrying costs and lessening the risk of obsolescence. The head of commercial strategy at an energy company described the improvement in velocity: “Dynamics helps us with capacity planning for factory resources and determining optimal stock levels. … Inventory now moves out of the warehouse within a month, compared to six to eight months before Dynamics.”
  The same interviewee went on to estimate that their raw materials also turned over faster, stating, “Raw material inventory has decreased by 5% to 10%, which is a positive impact for us.”

• Among midsized survey respondents whose organizations used the Supply Chain Management module, 71% agreed that using Dynamics 365 ERP optimized their supply chain and inventory visibility compared to 11% that disagreed.

• Meanwhile, 70% of these survey respondents agreed that their organization reduced inventory carrying costs and enabled just-in-time inventory practices with Dynamics 365 ERP, with just 8% disagreeing.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey responses, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• As an organization with a strong manufacturing presence, the composite organization’s annual cost of goods sold (COGS) is $300 million.

• Scrap costs and inventory waste amount to 4% of the composite organization’s total COGS each year.

• With Dynamics 365 ERP, the composite reduces scrap costs and wasteful inventory spend by 10%.

• Using a phased implementation process, the composite organization realizes 50% of the cost savings in Year 1 and 100% of the cost savings in Years 2 and 3.

Risks. The inventory cost savings from using Dynamics 365 ERP will vary depending on:

• The total COGS of an organization before implementing Dynamics 365 ERP.

• An organization’s order accuracy and the degree to which missed orders result in scrap costs.

• The amount of wasteful procurement spend before the implementation of Dynamics 365 ERP and the degree to which an organization can negotiate lower prices with its vendors.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.1 million.

Warehouse And Supply Chain Time Savings

Evidence and data. Interviewees and survey respondents reported substantial time savings in warehouse operations after deploying Dynamics 365 ERP. Automation replaced many manual tasks for their warehouse teams, such as inventory verification, picking, and shipment scheduling, through capabilities like barcode scanning and automated replenishment. Supervisors at the interviewees’ organizations also gained efficiencies with real-time dashboards and simplified approval workflows, reducing the time spent on monitoring and handling exceptions. Interviewees and survey participants shared several specific examples of these warehouse efficiency gains:  

• The head of commercial strategy at an energy company described how Dynamics 365 ERP transformed their warehouse processes: “With Dynamics 365 ERP, we track inventory in real time across multiple warehouses using barcode scanning and traceability. Previously, we relied on manual sheets and had no real-time visibility, which caused delays and errors. Now, everything is automated and accurate, saving time and reducing mistakes.”
  The same interviewee went on to say, “Tracking production floor activity in Dynamics 365 ERP has improved visibility and boosted productivity by about 15%.”

• The CIO at a manufacturing organization described how picking and packing is streamlined with Dynamics 365 ERP’s intelligent inventory management features: “The system will suggest, based on the velocity of certain items, that you rearrange the warehouse — group these items together, move others closer to the floor. If you’re always picking the same items in the same order, it will recommend putting them in that order in the warehouse to make picking more efficient. All that’s handled by Dynamics.”
  The same interviewee went on to quantify the improvement in warehouse efficiency with Dynamics 365 ERP: “We can push 20% to 30% more orders through our warehouse without increasing the labor by much because the system is so efficient. It takes fewer of us to manage an order on the technology side, and it takes fewer people to move the order because of the efficiency the system gives us.”

• An IT executive at a retail organization agreed that Dynamics 365 ERP’s features led to substantial improvements in warehouse efficiency and order-to-ship cycles: “Order-to-ship cycle times dropped from 6.7 days to 4.9 days globally — a 36% improvement … even in far-flung places where delivery is complex. … Our largest warehouse reallocated about 30% of its workforce after implementing Dynamics 365 ERP automation.”
  The IT director at an equipment rental agency reported that Dynamics 365 ERP accelerated warehouse processes, enabling them to expedite the time it takes to retrieve a rented asset, check it back into inventory, and rerent it to a new customer: “Every day, we reduce speed-to-availability saves millions. Dynamics 365 ERP gives us detailed data on each step — inspection, repair, transport — so we can find pinch points and shorten turnaround time.”

• Among midsized survey respondents whose organizations use the Supply Chain Management module, 76% reported that they automated warehouse operations (including barcode scanning, picking, packing, and shipping) with Dynamics 365 ERP compared to just 8% that have not.

• Meanwhile, 76% agreed that their organization improved production planning and reduced delays in manufacturing windows compared to just 14% that had not.

• The interviewees and survey respondents shared that, with the improvements in efficiency, they were able to accelerate fulfillment timelines. In the survey, 73% of respondents agreed that their organization to accelerated order fulfillment, with just 8% disagreeing.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey responses, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• Before implementing Dynamics 365 ERP, the composite has eight warehouse supervisors that are reliant on manual processes.

• After deploying Dynamics 365 ERP, these warehouse supervisors experience 25% time savings.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for a warehouse supervisor is $95,000.

• The composite organization rolls out Dynamics 365 ERP to 90 warehouse operations staff who previously relied on manual picking, packing, and shipping processes.

• With Dynamics 365 ERP, warehouse operations staff experience a 15% productivity lift.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for a warehouse operations staff member is $56,000.

• Forrester applies a productivity recapture of 50% to account for the fact that not all time savings are redeployed productively.

• Using a phased implementation process, the composite organization realizes 50% of the time savings in Year 1 and 100% of the time savings in Years 2 and 3.

Risks. The warehouse time savings will vary depending on:

• The prior technology and processes and the degree to which an organization’s warehouse relied on manual processes.

• The skill and capacity of an organization’s staff whose day-to-day activities are impacted by Dynamics 365 ERP.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for warehouse operations staff and supervisors.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $865,000.

Finance And Accounting Productivity Increase

Evidence and data. Interviewees and survey respondents indicated that their finance and accounting teams experienced major efficiency gains after moving from fragmented legacy systems to Dynamics 365 ERP. By consolidating processes onto a single platform, their organizations eliminated time-consuming manual data extraction and reconciliations that were previously required to bridge disconnected systems. They highlighted several specific areas where these improvements delivered time savings:

• Faster, more accurate reporting. Interviewees and survey participants emphasized that financial reporting improved dramatically after adopting Dynamics 365 ERP. By consolidating data into a single platform with integrated analytics, their teams eliminated the need to pull information from multiple sources, reducing delays and improving the reliability of reports. The CIO at a manufacturing firm described the reporting improvement: “Our analysts and team members are far more efficient now because they’re not individually pulling data like before. With the move to Dynamics 365 ERP, we’ve focused on reducing push reports, increasing dashboarding, and eliminating repetitive reporting tasks.”
  The same interviewee went on to say: “By integrating our warehouse system and running on Microsoft’s fabric, our data is real-time, live, and robust. That gives us an incredibly powerful reporting foundation.” An IT executive at a retailer also praised Dynamics 365 ERP’s reporting capabilities: “[We have] real-time visibility into manufacturing, warehousing, and sales for the first time in our history. … Previously, producing equivalent data required enormous effort. Effort to produce equivalent reports dropped by 500% compared to legacy systems, saving about 25,000 hours annually for our analysts.”
  In the survey, 81% of midsized respondents whose organization used the Finance module agreed that they were able to improve financial report generation and analysis compared to just 2% that were not able to do so.

• Accelerated month-end close. Interviewees and survey respondents shared that before Dynamics 365 ERP, closing the books at month-end required extensive manual reconciliations and verification of payments. With automated reconciliation and streamlined workflows, their organizations now complete this process with far less effort and greater accuracy, cutting days off the close cycle. In the survey, 64% of midsized respondents whose organization used the Finance module agreed that Dynamics 365 ERP accelerated book closing and reduced days to close, while only 17% did not experience this.

• Time savings for audit and compliance staff. Interviewees also reported reductions in the time required for audit, compliance, and tax-related tasks. They shared that automated data management and centralized records simplified these processes for their organizations, allowing their finance teams to meet regulatory requirements more efficiently and with fewer errors. The head of commercial strategy at an energy organization quantified the impact: “Audit preparation time was cut by about 50% because Dynamics makes all required data easily accessible. We no longer spend hours gathering documents and creating folders — the system provides everything in one place.”
  Among midsized survey respondents whose organizations used the Finance module, 57% reported that they were able to automate global tax compliance and audit preparation.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey responses, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite has 16 employees dedicated to financial reporting and analysis. After consolidating from multiple ERP systems to Dynamics 365 ERP and automating manual reporting tasks, these employees experience time savings of 30%.

• Prior to implementing Dynamics 365 ERP, seven of the composite organization’s employees spent 35% of their time managing the month-end book closing process. With Dynamics 365 ERP, these employees see time savings of 40% on book-closing processes.

• The composite dedicates two employees to managing compliance- and audit-related tasks. With Dynamics 365 ERP, these employees see time savings of 40%.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for a finance and accounting employee is $125,000.

• A 50% productivity recapture is applied to account for the fact that not all time savings are redeployed productively.

• Using a phased implementation process, the composite organization realizes 50% of the time savings in Year 1 and 100% of the time savings in Years 2 and 3.

Risks. The finance and accounting efficiency savings will vary depending on:

• An organization’s prior technology and processes and the extent to which an organization’s finance and accounting teams relied on manual work.

• The capacity of an organization’s staff whose day-to-day activities are impacted by Dynamics 365 ERP.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for employees on the finance, accounting, and auditing teams.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $752,000.

Sales And Order Management Efficiency

Evidence and data. Interviewees and survey respondents shared that Dynamics 365 ERP transformed order management by automating critical workflows such as order entry, invoicing, and payment tracking. Instead of relying on manual data entry and repetitive steps, their organizations leveraged integrated processes that streamlined operations end-to-end. Meanwhile, their organizations’ sales teams leveraged Dynamics 365 ERP to convert quotes to orders in a fraction of the time, reducing delays throughout the order-to-cash cycle. Interviewees highlighted a few different areas of order management time savings:

• The IT director at an equipment rental organization reported that Dynamics 365 ERP enabled them to reallocate much of their accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) time: “Rental transactions are complex and create lots of queries, but Dynamics 365 ERP has helped reduce AR/AP workload and improve efficiency. ... Dynamics 365 ERP AP automation like three-way matching has delivered big time savings and reduced headcount by 20% to 30% in accounts payable.”

• Among midsized survey respondents whose organizations used the Finance module, 74% agreed that they were able to automate invoice processing, while just 6% were not able to.

• The CIO at a manufacturing firm described how the order release process was now automated with Dynamics 365 ERP, leading to time savings and a more accurate process, stating, “Once an item ships out the back door, the shipping clerk closes the shipment, and Dynamics 365 ERP sends the ship notification, packing slips, and invoices electronically to the customer.”

• The same interviewee also anticipated additional time savings as they deploy more of Microsoft’s AI capabilities: “We’re piloting AI agents for automation in areas like order management, all geared toward growing without adding labor. The goal is to automate routine tasks and free up resources for higher-value work.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey responses, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite has a 15-person AR/AP team that handles order entry and invoicing processes.

• With Dynamics 365 ERP, this team experiences a productivity lift of 30% on these tasks.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for an accounts payable and receivable staff member is $65,000.

• A productivity recapture of 50% is applied to account for the fact that not all time savings are redeployed productively.

• Using a phased implementation process, the composite organization realizes 50% of the time savings in Year 1 and 100% of the time savings in Years 2 and 3.

Risks. The sales and order management time savings will vary depending on:

• The prior technology and processes and the degree to which an organization’s order management employees relied on manual processes for invoicing and order entry.

• The skill and capacity of an organization’s personnel whose day-to-day activities are impacted by Dynamics 365 ERP.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for employees on the AP or AR teams.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $268,000.

Improved Demand Planning And Forecasting

Evidence and data. Survey respondents and interviewees noted that Dynamics 365 ERP streamlined demand planning and forecasting by integrating granular reporting with AI-powered insights and built-in MRP functionality. This combination enabled their planners to analyze real-time data, predict demand more accurately, and optimize inventory levels without relying on manual processes. Interviewees and survey respondents described the improvement as follows:

• The head of commercial strategy at an energy company described how their budgeting and forecasting lead saw major time savings: “The person who used to prepare our forecast and budget now spends about 20% or 30% of their time on that, compared to 100% before. They’re freed up for other work.”

• The same interviewee described how Microsoft’s AI capabilities, which are compatible with Dynamics 365 ERP, led to a big improvement in demand forecasting productivity and accuracy, stating, “We can now do demand forecasting with AI and Microsoft Copilot, which is a big improvement over manual methods.”

• The CIO at a manufacturing firm reported that their organization already saw AI time savings related to demand planning and expected to see additional time savings as their AI deployment becomes more mature: “We’re already getting good value from Copilot in Teams and Outlook. I’m looking forward to seeing where Microsoft goes with AI-driven forecasting and automation.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey responses, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite organization has five employees dedicated to demand planning and forecasting.

• With Dynamics 365 ERP, the demand planners see a 25% productivity lift.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for a demand planning and forecasting FTE is $108,000.

• A productivity recapture of 50% is applied to account for the fact that not all time savings are redeployed productively.

• Using a phased implementation process, the composite organization realizes 50% of the time savings in Year 1 and 100% of the time savings in Years 2 and 3.

Risks. The demand planning and forecasting time savings will vary depending on:

• The prior technology and processes used for demand forecasting and planning.

• The skill and capacity of an organization’s personnel whose day-to-day activities are impacted by Dynamics 365 ERP.

• The average fully burdened annual salary for demand planners.

 Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $123,000.

Reduced Infrastructure And IT Operations Spend

Evidence and data. Interviewees and survey participants explained that moving to Dynamics 365 ERP’s cloud platform allowed their organizations to retire costly on-premises systems and simplify IT operations. Eliminating servers, hardware, and third-party applications significantly reduced their organizations’ maintenance and support expenses, while phasing out physical data centers cut overhead for space and power. Because these capabilities were built into Dynamics 365 ERP, interviewees’ organizations avoided extra costs for custom connectors and external solutions, streamlining both infrastructure and budgets. Interviewees cited several specific areas of savings, including the following:

• In the survey, 70% of midsized respondents reported that migrating to Dynamics 365 ERP led to a reduction in legacy maintenance costs. Interviewees agreed, with the CIO at a manufacturing firm reporting that Dynamics 365 ERP was much easier to maintain than their legacy systems so their organization could reduce the size of their IT team: “Headcount required to run technology is down about 10%, even as the company grows. In IT, we’re down 10% without any layoffs. We’ve simply leveraged technology to do more with less.”

• The IT executive at a retail organization reported that consolidating onto Dynamics 365 ERP allowed their organization to see net cost savings, as the cost of their legacy systems were much more expensive than their Dynamics 365 ERP costs: “We deprecated dozens of legacy systems. … All told, implementation saved us about $3.6 million per year.”

• The CIO at a manufacturing organization reported that their organization also retired a range of legacy systems and that the legacy costs were roughly equivalent with their Dynamics 365 ERP costs: “We were able to eliminate our legacy warehouse management system, as well as one or two other platforms. Cost-wise, it’s about a wash because I was able to retire two or three legacy systems that now have functionality inside of Dynamics 365 ERP and I’m looking at retiring two or three more in the next few years.”

• The IT director at an equipment rental organization reported that their organization retired even more legacy systems and that the cost savings were growing each year: “We’ve retired five or six legacy systems since moving to Dynamics, saving about £250,000 annually, and expect to reach £500,000 as more systems are consolidated.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews and survey responses, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite organization retires $162,000 of annual legacy licensing costs.

• The composite reduces its legacy hardware costs by $243,000 annually.

• The composite reduces its third-party software costs by $169,000 annually.

• With Dynamics 365 ERP, the composite eliminates $291,000 in annual data center costs.

• The composite reduces its annual IT support costs by $257,000.

• The composite’s legacy maintenance costs are reduced by $281,000.

• Using a phased implementation process, the composite organization realizes 50% of the cost savings in Year 1 and 100% of the cost savings in Years 2 and 3.

Risks. The legacy system cost savings will vary based on:

• The specific tools, hardware systems, and support costs that made up the legacy environment.

• The speed at which an organization can retire legacy software or maintenance costs.

• The complexity of an organization’s infrastructure solutions.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.4 million.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees and survey respondents mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• More detailed and accurate reporting. Respondents emphasized that Dynamics 365 ERP not only streamlined reporting but also enabled deeper, more precise insights. By consolidating transactional and operational data into a single system, their organizations gained the ability to analyze performance at a granular level, such as margin by product or supplier cost comparisons. The CIO at a manufacturing organization reported how, by gaining visibility into key metrics, they were able to home in on which metrics to improve: “Reporting up is easy. Our executive team meets weekly around a dashboard that shows fill rate by customer and order, margin by item, and forecast accuracy. In less than an hour, leadership keeps its finger on the pulse of everything happening. … Because we’re able to accurately and efficiently measure these things, they improve because we’re able to focus on them. For example, you can now look into [margin by product] and see if the pricing is wrong, or if it just a special discount on a particular order.”

• Greater agility to respond to tariffs and global events. Some interviewees noted that Dynamics 365 ERP’s configuration flexibility allowed their teams to respond immediately to external shocks, such as sudden tariff increases, supplier shutdowns, or unexpected spikes in transportation costs. They explained that real-time visibility into inventory, purchase orders, and cost-to-serve data let their organizations quickly reroute demand to alternate suppliers, apply new cost models, and push updated pricing to sales channels within the same day. Automated workflows also triggered revised production schedules and capacity plans, reducing the need for spreadsheet-driven adjustments. As a result, interviewees’ organizations could contain margin erosion and keep operations stable even when market conditions shifted abruptly. The CIO at a manufacturing organization described the improvement: “[We’re] leveraging the system to ensure that we are able to respond daily [or] hourly to the changing phase of cost of doing business. … We’ve been able to manage through tariffs, but it would have been much harder if we didn’t have access to the reporting we get through Dynamics 365 ERP.”

• Reduced downtime through Dynamics 365 ERP’s Preventive Maintenance tool. Interviewees from manufacturing and asset-heavy organizations reported significant reductions in unplanned outages due to Dynamics 365 ERP’s Preventive Maintenance capabilities. AI-driven analytics monitored equipment health and triggered alerts when anomalies indicated potential failures, enabling teams to schedule repairs proactively. The head of commercial strategy at an energy organization detailed the impact: “Preventive maintenance in Dynamics helps us respond proactively to potential issues, reducing downtime and improving availability. Even in the first few months, we’ve seen a 1.5% to 2% improvement in uptime, which is significant for our business.”

• Enhanced security and compliance. In the survey, 53% of midsized respondents cited the desire to improve security as a major reason for their organization’s investment in Dynamics 365 ERP. By leveraging Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, these organizations offloaded responsibility for updates, patches, and compliance certifications, reducing internal risk and IT burden. Among survey respondents, 62% reported an improvement in security after implementing Dynamics 365 ERP.

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Dynamics 365 ERP and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Faster fulfillment cycles that improve customer loyalty. Interviewees shared that customer expectations for fast, accurate, and complete order fulfillment continued to rise, putting pressure on their organizations to deliver shorter delivery windows, near-perfect order accuracy, and higher fill rates. The interviewees also added that Dynamics 365 ERP helped their organizations meet these demands by unifying inventory visibility and warehouse operations. Automated order allocation and guided picking reduced errors and stock-outs, while optimized fulfillment workflows accelerated order-to-ship cycles. The CIO at a manufacturing organization described how Dynamics 365 ERP helped their organization meet rising customer expectations: “We used to have maybe seven days to fill an order, but now we have two days, so we have to be more efficient. The supply chain is much tighter than it was five, 10, [and] 15 years ago. Our customers are requiring higher levels of accuracy, higher levels of fill rate. ... With the system we have today, we have more data, so we have a better shot at getting every order right.”
  The same interviewee went on to say: “[If we didn’t have Dynamics 365 ERP], we would have a harder time keeping up with fill rates, order accuracy, and on-time delivery rates. We would be more stressed with our customers because of those issues. Those issues are not a problem right now because the system is allowing us to do a better job.”

• Accelerated retail store openings. While the composite analysis is based on the deployment of the Supply Chain Management and Finance modules, additional time or cost savings could potentially be realized with the deployment of other Dynamics 365 ERP modules. One interviewee reported using the Commerce module to streamline the retail management process. By consolidating point-of-sale, inventory, and financial systems into a single platform, this interviewee’s organization automated cash audit workflows and integrated store-to-back-office data flows that reduced the need for manual counting and spreadsheet checks. An IT executive at a retail organization described the process improvement: “Daily shift closings for retail operations improved significantly because it’s now all in the same system. … Previously, separate systems had to be engaged to perform that work. Cash audits in retail are streamlined between point-of-sale and financial postings. … Postings now happen automatically at the end of each day’s retail activity.”
  The same interviewee went on to describe how these improvements allowed their organization to grow its retail footprint without needed to hire more staff: “We cut our demand-to-deliver cycle time for new retail stores by 50%. … We’re expanding our brick-and-mortar retail footprint by about 30% without adding personnel. All savings were reinvested into expansion.”

• Customer service time savings from using Dynamics 365 ERP Contact Center. Some interviewees shared that their organizations used Dynamics 365 ERP’s Contact Center module to enable their agents to handle a higher volume of inquiries. Interviewees noted that AI-based case routing automatically directed each issue to the agent best suited to resolve it, reducing handoffs and improving first-contact resolution. One interviewee also reported that the Contact Center module enabled their organization to automatically generate quotes for prospects, leading to additional time savings. The IT director at an equipment rental organization estimated the impact of the time savings: “Dynamics 365 ERP improvements let us grow without adding headcount in customer service. It’s about 120 people in that team in total, and I would estimate that we probably would have had to add another 25 to 30 people [without Dynamics 365 ERP].”
  The IT director went on to describe how the expedited customer service with Dynamics 365 ERP directly led to an increase in revenue: “If we get an inquiry in and we get back to them within the hour with a quote, we tend to win the business between 80% and 90% of the time. We used to only respond within the hour 20% to 30% of the time, but now we get a quote within an hour over 50% of the time thanks to faster routing and automation.”

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Total Economic Impact Approach).