Retail consulting firm transforms project management using app created with Microsoft Power Platform

Business scenario

Located in Camas, Washington, R3 Retail Development has deep roots in project management. The company helps grocery stores manage projects like installing new lighting, refrigerator units, and more, but its primary focus is on maximizing profits for supermarket, grocery, food processing, commercial, retail, and small industrial customers across the United States by providing deep expertise in project management consulting.

R3 needed a highly customized approach for its end-to-end project management needs, including:

• A dashboard view of all ongoing projects.
• The ability to track project purchase orders.
• The ability to upload and store project files.
• Automatically updated project milestone tracking.
• Role-specific security permissions with read-only versus read/write access.
  
  

Business process challenges and opportunities

Previously, R3 used a complex Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and then an expensive software tool to manage its projects. The Excel approach had several challenges:

• Many complicated formulas were involved, making it difficult and time-consuming to maintain the spreadsheet.
• The spreadsheet quickly outgrew its utility when the company expanded beyond two people, and multiple employees needed to access and edit it simultaneously.
• Primary stakeholders, such as store construction managers, didn’t have direct access to the spreadsheet, and R3 had to send regular updates via email.
  
  

To address these issues, R3 invested in CxAlloy, a software solution that cost about USD20,000 annually but was limited to managing a maximum of 15 projects at a time. The resulting app—the initial version of Project Portfolio—was built with Microsoft SharePoint Online. R3 also evaluated several other off-the-shelf solutions from independent software vendors to address its needs, but ultimately, it found the solutions to be either too expensive or lacking essential capabilities.

Microsoft Power Platform solution: Project Portfolio app

R3 partnered with Confluent—a Gold competency member of the Microsoft Partner Network and Microsoft Power Platform solutions provider—which built a new app within just 120 hours. R3 now uses the app to manage more than 200 projects. The company continues to invest in Microsoft Power Platform, and it’s working to improve the user experience of the app, adding more business rules and connecting to Common Data Service. Confluent migrated the original app from SharePoint to Common Data Service.

R3 project managers and the regional store managers that they serve now use the new Project Portfolio app. It’s deployed in the R3 tenant, and as part of the customer onboarding process, R3 provisions Microsoft 365 accounts for the regional store managers to access the app, which has a rich set of capabilities that include:

• A dashboard that displays summary stats based on the signed-in user.
• Project tracking information including dates, tasks, issues, purchase orders, and people.
• IP address tracking for all installed devices, such as refrigerators.
• File-uploading capabilities for documents like architectural files for HVAC systems.
• Customized icons for navigating the different types of supporting content that’s associated with each project.
• Extensive custom business logic, such as automatically setting date values based on status entries.

Administrators can assign security clearances to specific app users according to their roles. For example, project managers can update anything, accountants can read project information and access payment and invoicing details, and only administrators can access the admin section. Administrators can also configure the master list of task types and the expected time for each task, which in turn is used to generate due dates automatically.

R3 uses Power Automate to send automated notifications and reminders. All data is stored in Common Data Service.

Benefits of Microsoft Power Platform

R3 has benefitted from the Project Portfolio app in several ways:

• By using the highly customized app, the company has digitally transformed its use of Excel and legacy software to operating in the cloud.
• Communication across the company has vastly improved. With just a handful of people managing more than 200 projects, R3 can now track and store all the correct data in one place.
• All stakeholders use a single system—that includes R3, its customers, and its subcontractors.
• R3 replaced its CxAlloy solution at a roughly equivalent cost to just one year of licensing for the old system, and the Project Portfolio app has no limit on the number of managed projects.
• The app is helping R3 distinguish itself in the marketplace.

Microsoft Power Platform practice at Confluent

In 2015, Confluent started focusing on delivering cloud-based business application solutions that use Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. To date, Confluent has built more than 200 solutions across 40 midsize and enterprise customers. Confluent customers of all sizes have taken advantage of the combination of Microsoft 365, Power Apps, and Power Automate to support affordable digital transformation initiatives. They’ve used these tools in combination with Common Data Service to address a myriad of challenges, such as process automation, project management, and field service. “Unlike ever before, using Microsoft Power Platform has allowed Confluent to deliver cost-effective, world-class solutions to midsize companies, as well as target specific line-of-business processes for complete automation for enterprise customers,” says Jake Farrell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Confluent.

Find out more about R3 Retail Development on Facebook and LinkedIn.