Software company Sofon has struck a deal with Philips Healthcare, in which the electronics group will make worldwide use of Sofon’s Cloud-based invoicing and configuration software (CPQ), in combination with Salesforce (CRM) and Microsoft Azure (Cloud services). CEO Paul Kimmel: “This contract proves that we can compete with and are not afraid to compete with much larger system integrators. Previously, only larger integrators were able to offer a Cloud-based solution of this magnitude.”
The deal with Philips was preceded by a Microsoft certification. Microsoft recently awarded Sofon with a Gold Partner distinction, because Sofon proved to have at their disposal a wide range of experience, the right competencies, and knowledge on the subject of Microsoft products and solutions. Sofon uses Microsoft technology to develop its solutions. In order to obtain the certification, the company was judged on a number of elements: product testing as per Microsoft guidelines, customer satisfaction surveys, certified employees and project results.
Gold Partnership means that Sofon enjoys a wide range of advantages, including access to products, training and specialist support services. Prior to the Gold Partnership, Sofon also received the SQL certification and the Enterprise certification. “Apart from the trust that Microsoft’s valuation of our company inspires in the market place, another feature that made Sofon eager to receive the Gold Partner certification is the advantages that is has for our customers,” says Kimmel. “For example, we are given advance notice of developments within Microsoft, which enables us to respond accordingly. Moreover, our customers have access to the highest level of support from Microsoft. This means they can count on guaranteed security and continuity.”
By using Microsoft’s Azure Data Centres, Sofon avoids having to invest in a worldwide infrastructure themselves. Kimmel: “We are able to offer our customers a scalable worldwide infrastructure without having to take personal financial risks to do so. This allows us to offer our customers fair rates, which are lower than those of the traditional parties. This is what turned our application, instead of the infrastructure, suddenly into a leading product. After all, Philips was looking for a partner with an application that operated inside the Cloud, not for a Cloud infrastructure of servers in data centres. We are able to offer such an application in conjunction with Microsoft. We are able to mutually strengthen each other and we are an important player in Philips’ eyes. Globally.”
About Sofon
Sofon offers CPQ (Configure Price Quote) solutions that can be implemented for a wide range of purposes. These are usually related to the customer-specific sales processes. The focus in particular is on the improvement of those processes, in which quotations, contracts and orders and the terms recorded therein play a crucial part. Because Sofon has a general set-up, it can be used for realising widely varying solutions without customization, ranging from generation of quotations to management of contracts. Sofon provides support for not only the sales process, but also for the contents thereof. The company is located at the Science Park Eindhoven in Son, the Netherlands.
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