Advizex Supports Rapid Growth of $10B Bank to $26B with Microsoft Solutions

To say this customer is growing is an understatement. In the four years they’ve been an Advizex customer, they’ve grown from a $10-billion bank to a $26-billion bank. As a Certified Gold Microsoft partner, Advizex ensures our customer’s Microsoft journey supports the business every step of the way.

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Success Story Snapshot:

• Our first project was a Microsoft Office 365 migration from legacy platform Groupwise.
• Subsequent projects include OneDrive, SharePoint, Active Directory Migration and Consolidation, business continuity planning.
• More than our partner certifications and expertise, our depth of experience is what makes Advizex a partner who ensures your business goals are met – and exceeded.

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Meet the Customer.

Since going public in 1987, this bank has made 32 acquisitions and grown to 211 full-service banking offices and 20 loan origination offices in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

In the beginning of our relationship, the customer wanted to modernize their IT environment, knowing their acquisition plans were staying aggressive. Our Microsoft solutions expertise, business transformation sense and our mergers-and-acquisitions know-how made Advizex a valued partner for them. We got to know everything about them from the CTO to the Help Desk staff. Over the years that have followed, the bank has continued to grow quickly, and their reliance upon – and success with – Advizex and our Microsoft Services has increased.

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It Started With Microsoft Office 365 but Has Evolved Well Beyond.

The Advizex relationship with this customer began in 2017, when we migrated them from their legacy Groupwise email platform to Microsoft Office® 365. Later that year, they acquired a mortgage company, and we were engaged again to assist with an Active Directory migration and consolidation as well as email. In 2018, we kicked off a multi-phased SharePoint project that continued into 2019, and included a new modern intranet and custom workflows.

In 2020, while the rest of the world was scrambling to modernize their IT departments in the wake of the pandemic, the customer and Advizex were kicking off the first phase in a business continuity plan plus a OneDrive conversion and migration project. We also entered the second phase of a MS Teams governance and platform enablement. While the relationship started with email, it has since evolved to take full advantage of Microsoft’s reliably powerful offerings within the 365 platform.

And every new project was completed while folding in the companies the customer was actively acquiring.

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Mergers and Acquisitions Require Special Attention.

Since Advizex started working with the bank, they’ve acquired 4 companies. Whenever organizations go through mergers and acquisitions, unique challenges present themselves. Some are technological and others are personal. As organizations go from separate entities to one, it can be rough.

For example, specialized challenges exist when combining data from different platforms. Even when they acquire a business already using Microsoft solutions, they often need to be upgraded. This was the case with 2 acquisitions on which we assisted. One missed detail, and chaos can ensue, affecting the user experience. Our customer leans heavily on Advizex as their Microsoft trusted advisor to stay ahead of those challenges and curve balls.

The financial industry is heavily regulated. One of the values Advizex brings is our experience in handling these intricacies through Microsoft solutions. After all, technology alone won’t get the job done. We remain flexible and agile – as does Microsoft.

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The Benefits of Choosing the Right Technology & People.

Microsoft crafts the tools designed to meet the business goals, and Advizex makes it happen. We’ve introduced, enabled and supported the customer with the various Microsoft solutions best designed to meet their business goals. Through a collaborative effort between the Advizex team, the customer and Microsoft, these new platforms provide numerous benefits, including:

• Ease of management
• Streamlined operations
• Enhanced integration
• Improved processes
• Shedding legacy IT debt

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Advizex Complements In-House Teams.

As is true for many organizations, this customer prefers to keep its in-house IT operations lean, which serves them well. By utilizing Advizex Microsoft experts, they’re able to grow efficiently and cost effectively. This is never more true than it is for fast-growing companies.

Because the Microsoft environment is comprehensive and robust, it can efficiently support the largest organizations in the world. It can also get complex quickly – never more so than when folding in acquired organizations. What this customer most appreciates about Advizex is the proactive attention we pay to them, our flexibility in service offerings and our expertise in making strategic recommendations. And of course, timely, successful services delivery, in general.

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