Malaysian data and AI firm streamlines finance and procurement operations with Dynamics 365

Axiata Digital Advertising (ADA) is a subsidiary of Malaysian telecommunications conglomerate Axiata Group Berhad (formerly known as TM International Berhad), one of the country’s biggest wireless carriers. ADA is a data and artificial intelligence firm offering digital, analytics, and marketing solutions in 10 markets across South and Southeast Asia.  

ADA owns proprietary data of 375 million consumers. This extensive digital information is used to develop and provide business insights, advanced analytics, and data-based market strategies for its various clients. 

The company’s operations in the Asian region are on the steady rise. The hike is attributed to its continued expansionary activities in the e-commerce markets and the social media platforms as well as further partnerships with other industry players.

To support its expansion, ADA sought to transition from its legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, which was Microsoft Dynamics Navision. The change would help ADA run business processes more efficiently. 

Transitioning from a legacy system

For the past several years, ADA has relied on Navision to run its supply chain and finance operations. However, the company recently exceeded the ERP system’s capabilities due to its consistent growth across all business functions. As a result, the organization heavily customized the legacy management software as a way to keep up with the company’s increased needs. 

This scenario prompted ADA to look for a reputable partner that could help with its modernization plan for an automated platform. ADA chose to work with Hitachi Solutions, which had recently implemented a cloud ERP solution for Axiata Group Berhad. “Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific recognized the urgency in providing our team with a robust solution that would further aid our business development and drive success in our existing markets,” says Stephen Tan, Project Management Head of ADA. “Innovation will help our business thrive and having their team along takes us a step closer in our journey towards digital transformation.” 

Implementing new platform during pandemic

At the start of 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were coming into force, Hitachi Solutions and ADA collaborated to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. These unified ADA’s processes into a single platform that could meet its growing business volume. The ERP solution also efficiently addressed the complex and dynamic business requirements of its customers, vendors, and business partners. 

“We have significantly reduced manual operations and digitized our processes across entities into one platform,” says Tan. “Dynamics 365 provided us with a reliable system for growth. It’s a software that is not only helpful in increasing employee productivity but also customer satisfaction.” 

Using big bang adoption, Hitachi Solutions deployed the latest ERP system in ADA’s legal entities covering nine Asian countries. Instead of a legacy system, the company now uses a cloud platform that gives its users access to robust features where customization is no longer needed. 

The deployment was a success despite being done remotely. “The project started during the height of heavy travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, but Hitachi Solutions still made it possible to support our team entirely remotely with the right passion and hard work,” says Tan.

“Moving from on-premises to the cloud is certainly a challenge where we must follow a process to make sure that we have accurately identified the potential issues, opportunities, and needs to prepare for during implementation and post-go-live,” stresses Tan.

Hitachi Solutions also managed the data migration, which was a critical factor in making the project a success. “We ensured that users were able to familiarize themselves with the new system. Our data migration team efficiently managed the cutover and carried out the project to a successful go-live,” says Nitin Mathur, Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific’s Senior Vice President of Delivery and Business Operations. 

A faster and more secure system

Since its full implementation in March 2022, the system has improved the efficiency of ADA’s finance team, particularly in closing financial reports and consolidating month-end reporting. “Large volumes of transactions that require accurate and timely consolidation are frequent activities in ADA’s daily operations,” explains Tan. “Dynamics 365 has improved the management and generation of consolidated financial statements as the reporting can be performed directly from an entity in the system.” The solution has enabled the finance team to complete the closing faster than the previous 12 to 15 days after the month-end close as well as meet audit requirements.  

In addition, Dynamics 365 Finance has empowered ADA to handle common data across its legal entities. Data from various sources and systems that were previously fragmented are now integrated and streamlined.

Looking ahead

Moving forward, the company will continue to fine-tune the Dynamics 365 ERP solution in order to sustain growth, increase efficiency and streamline operations. “We are noticing the positive business outcomes day-by-day as we called on the expertise of Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific to manage our financial modernization. Their team was able to set clear expectations for the entire process and developed a reliable template to keep our business processes consistent,” says Tan.

Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management are the first few major steps of ADA’s digital transformation journey. It also plans to continue with the platform implementation for the rest of the business lines to further enhance its competitiveness. 

“We made a commitment to Hitachi Solutions and Microsoft technologies because we believe they would support our vision to deliver the future of marketing and analytics. This collaboration is all about building a long-term partnership that would last beyond the initial implementation,” concludes Tan.