AstraZeneca - Heading towards a Global Solution

AstraZeneca FZ LLC, subsidiary of AstraZeneca AB, the world's fifth largest pharmaceutical firm announces the signing of contract with Columbus IT, leading Microsoft Dynamics Partner for the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Columbus HR.

“We were looking for a sophisticated yet easy-to-use integration tool for our growing business needs. What we required was an application that not merely gives us an integrated and consolidated view of the financials on demand, but one that provides business insight and identifies new opportunities and meets our needs both in the present and in the future”, says Mr. Michael Dercksen, CFO, AstraZeneca Gulf. 

Why Navision?

After an extensive evaluation, AstraZeneca chose Microsoft Dynamics NAVISION over other ERP applications in the market and signed up with Columbus IT as its preferred partner for the implementation.

“Dynamics NAVISION scored over others in terms of flexibility, integration capabilities, clear upgrade paths, customization and feature-rich capabilities. And with Columbus IT, we are impressed with their established track record of customer successes in the region and their ability to provide the right consultancy that best fits in with our requirements. They took a real interest in our business during pre-sales and won our confidence”, commented, Mr. Damanvir Singh, IS/IT Manager, AstraZeneca Gulf. 

Scalability and Flexibility

AstraZeneca looks to the new system to deliver specific functionalities of generating real-time accurate information on critical business and operational activities and recording financial transactions by different dimensions and performing analysis on those dimensions. Scalability to meet continuously the changing business needs and flexibility to adapt to the healthcare-specific processes, while managing the current growth, is also a key requirement. Another consideration is Microsoft Navision's capability to handle intercompany postings and transactions within the group controlled by the same legal entity.

AstraZeneca has also selected Columbus HR, from Columbus IT for optimizing payroll management processes. Columbus HR has the flexibility to handle different payroll situations and a variety of compensation and benefit programs specific to healthcare industry.

Setting up of a consolidated financial and payroll system for the pharmaceutical drug provider entails the key challenge of handling multi-integration of applications. Microsoft NAV will be integrated with the company's existing internal expense claim system and also with Columbus HR's Payroll processor. Columbus IT will also create an interface between NAV and the banking reconciliatory system which will help streamlining transactions with AstraZeneca's bank. 

Finally…

“We are delighted to welcome AstraZeneca into our expanding family of customers, says Mr.Manjeet Singh, Managing Director, Columbus IT Middle East. We understand the specific demands of the Life sciences industry and how information-intensive it is. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution in place, AstraZeneca can expect to reap the benefits of information integration, visibility and accessibility. We look forward to taking this partnership to greater heights and enable AstraZeneca in delivering world-class healthcare services to the benefit of the region”.