Samhall sparks a digital awakening with Microsoft Power Platform

“I can really see and feel the benefits of my work every day. Not just internally, but also for those people who are out there representing our company on the frontline.”

Osvaldo Filliettaz, responsible for delivery, sales applications and Power platform, is reflecting on why working for the Swedish social enterprise is so special. “At Samhall, we help people with disabilities find work, providing them with the skills and confidence to build a future career. It’s a really fulfilling project to be a part of.”

Despite the company’s outward success, internally Samhall AB has faced several organizational challenges, largely due to a reliance on legacy apps that cause considerable inefficiencies.

“One particular challenge,” explains Filliettaz, “was the credit check process, which customers must undergo before signing a contract with us. It used to be an incredibly laborious way of working that created confusion between departments, long response times and additional work.”

So, Samhall AB used existing Microsoft technology to build a customized low-code solution that helps employees safely store and share customer data in one unified platform. 

“It’s been hugely impactful,” says Filliettaz. “We’ve been able to empower our employees to achieve more with less and focus on what matters most – helping people with disabilities find gainful employment.” 

A vital social enterprise facing increasing demands

Since it was founded in 1980, Samhall AB has grown into one of the biggest employers in Sweden, now supporting some 25,000 people across 10,000 locations.

The social enterprise works by matching its employees with clients in a range of sectors. “We provide services like cleaning, laundry and care to local authorities, schools, retailers, hospitality clients and more,” explains Karin Ljungars Lundqvist, IT Vendor Relations Manager at Samhall AB

An integral part of Samhall’ AB’s approach is ensuring that its employees acquire new skills and certificates, and build their self-esteem to prepare them for success. “The initiative can be truly transformative for people’s as they find purpose through employment,” she adds.

But as the company has grown, so too have demands from its customers. “Clients now want digitalized services such as sign-in systems,” says Lundqvist. “And these must all be accessible, simple and intuitive to use as many of our frontline workers have special needs. It makes digitalization a real challenge,” she adds.

Frustrations grow as legacy processes fail

To overcome these challenges, Samhall started replacing much of its legacy infrastructure as it began to connect data across the organization and promote a more collaborative culture.

"Historically, each department had its own processes that lived in siloed systems,” says Lundqvist. “But it became clear that only through collaboration across departmental structures could we achieve efficient, user-centric services.

“People were becoming frustrated that they were wasting time gathering information from multiple systems to undertake daily tasks,” she adds.

One such task was the credit checking process, which Samhall must undertake before engaging a new client. The process used to involve the sales department making a request to the credit group, who then performed a manual check using an Excel file. Email chains grew, workloads mounted, response times spiralled – as did friction between the two departments. Something had to change.

A low-cost, high-quality solution is developed

Fortunately, Samhall AB already had Microsoft Power Platform in place and the sales department were using Microsoft Dynamic 365 Sales. So the IT team developed a simple application for the credit team that would expose relevant information they needed.

“With the new app,” says Filliettaz, “the sales department can create a credit request which is automatically queued. The credit team can then respond in a timely manner. We also use Microsoft Power Automate to notify each department when progress has been made.”

The project only took six weeks to complete from conception through to testing, demonstrating the incredible speed and power of low-code technology to unlock business benefits for organizations. 

“And because the original process remained unaltered, the solution didn’t need approval at director-level,” says Filliettaz. “Which was a huge advantage from a process perspective in terms of time savings.”

A business is inspired to innovate

Developing the solution has brought major benefits. It now takes just 30 seconds for sales to make a credit request – down from 20 minutes, while typical lead times have gone from five days to two, meaning the team can spend more time closing deals. 

Meanwhile, the credit team’s email workload has been reduced from 30 minutes to five. The solution has also enabled the departments to cut costs amounting to two full-time salaries, which can now be redirected elsewhere.

“Culturally, we've seen major benefits too,” explains Filliettaz. “Both departments now collaborate and work towards a shared goal.

“That’s a key outcome: we’ve helped to make a happier Samhall,” he adds.

Word of the project quickly spread around the company. “Other teams are interested in what Power Apps can do for them, helping to create a culture of innovation at the company,” Filliettaz says.

“We now have almost 20 PowerApps, all created internally by our IT department in cooperation with the business using a low-code approach and making use of the main blocks of Power Platform such as Power Automate and Power BI,” he says.

Such success hasn’t gone unnoticed at higher levels either. “It’s been a real eye-opener for how we can achieve tangible results with small means,” adds Filliettaz. “We were able to show that we could do a very big, high-quality improvement at a low cost with limited resources.”