Berry Case Study

Berry

Business Process & Integration: A Microsoft BizTalk Server Case Study

In April 2008, Local Insight Media acquired The Berry Company, adding an integrated array of directory services -- including sales, marketing, interactive sales support, ad design and composition services provided to more than 70 Yellow Pages publishers throughout the country. The Berry Company provides services to third parties such as AT&T, YellowPages.com, CenturyTel, Cincinnati Bell, Windstream Communications, etc. They publish print directories on behalf of more than 75 customers, over 30 of which rely on The Berry Company for the publication of their Internet Yellow Pages directories. The Berry Company’s approach is truly the next frontier in publishing.

As Local Insight Media began adding new clients, developing further business relationships and partnerships, and acquiring new companies, they developed an increased need for more effective and efficient communication between a wide range of systems.

At the same time, new strategic initiatives such as sales force automation, updated CRM systems and capabilities, sun-setting of legacy systems, and other internal and external conditions were driving needs for an overall systems communication approach and platform. The solution called for a high degree of expansion capability and streamlined development time enabling flexibility and rapid response to changing business needs – both short term and long term. The company also recognized the solution must fulfill the above business needs while also reducing support burden on IT infrastructure and personnel and enable rapid ramp up of support personnel skills and knowledge while assuming operational ownership.

As a result, a few of the company’s goals and objectives were to develop a framework of communication for vendors and subsidiaries that would allow for:

• Overall optimization and increased efficiency within the accounts receivable system
• Consistent and re-useable enterprise framework
• File and field validation rules for all data
• Mass scalability across the organization
• Reduced maintenance and support costs

“Innovative Architects helped set the architectural direction for The Berry Company’s new Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 middleware integration layer allowing their team to quickly onboard new clients while optimizing all order processing. Innovative Architects delivers best practice solutions for deployment of Microsoft BizTalk Server.”

- Terry Creech, Innovative Architects

Overview

  • County or Region: United States
  • Industry: Publishing
  • Customer Profile:
    The Berry Company provides an array of outsourced directory sales, marketing, production and other services to third parties such as AT&T, YellowPages.com, CenturyTel, and more. The Berry Company publishes print directories on behalf of more than 75 customers, over 30 of which rely on The Berry Company for the publication of their Internet Yellow Pages directories. The Berry Company LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Local Insights Regatta Holdings Inc.
  • Business Situation:
    The Berry Company and Local Insight Media recognized the need to take their publishing capabilities to the next level in order to succeed in a changing landscape. As Local Insight Media acquired additional companies and third party agreements, they had an array of various systems that were not adequate across their global footprint.
  • Solution:
    Innovative Architects led The Berry Company through integration best practices to develop an enterprise platform that would allow for flexibility across multiple systems and the flexibility to eliminate the on-boarding process.
  • Benefits:
    Lower maintenance and support costs
    Decreased on boarding time for new clients and acquired companies
    Increased efficiency with disparate systems able to communicate internally and externally

Case Study

  • Situation
    Within Local Insight Media, the challenge was taken on by The Berry Company to develop an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) framework and architectural solution for integration various systems. The Berry Company turned to Innovative Architects to help define the process and help set the architectural guidelines for all integration standards.
  • Solution
    Innovative Architects was able to bring their experience and expertise to implement Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 – Microsoft’s integration and connectivity server solution – to meet and exceed The Berry Company’s goals and objectives.

    BizTalk Server is Microsoft’s integration and connectivity server solution. A mature product on its sixth release, BizTalk Server 2009 provided a solution that allowed The Berry Company to more easily connect disparate systems, including using multi-platform adapters and a robust messaging infrastructure. BizTalk helped empower The Berry Company business users and developers with complex integration and process automation solutions to meet challenges such as the ones The Berry Company was facing.
  • Benefits
    Mass Scalability
    Once the integration framework was set in place for The Berry Company, the ability to add new clients and acquire new subsidiaries will be a simplified and automated process. The Berry Company will be able to grow at their desired pace without system restraints or lost time and revenue due to on-boarding. This benefit applies to almost any organization working with third parties or divisions of a parent company.

    Communication Between Disparate Systems
    Microsoft BizTalk Server provides a bridge between systems that are unable to communicate with one another providing flexibility and costsavings for an organization. The arduous process of on boarding new vendors is reduced or even eliminated altogether.

    Lower Maintenance and Support Costs
    Microsoft BizTalk Server reduces the support and maintenance costs that would typically be associated with the cost of doing business amongst multiple third parties. Additional software and licensing costs are eliminated with the use of one consolidated enterprise platform that can communicate with multiple systems internally and externally. Time and money are also saved in the elimination of additional staff training.

    Project Transition
    Upon completion of the Microsoft BizTalk Server integration, Innovative Architects completed a full knowledge transfer, training, and support for The Berry Group. It is the goal of Innovative Architects to not only integrate and deploy servers and software, but to educate our clients for guaranteed and long-term solution success.
  • Software and Services
    • Microsoft BizTalk Server
    • Microsoft SQL Server
    • Microsoft Visual Studio
    • Microsoft Windows Server
    • Microsoft SharePoint Services
    • Microsoft Office
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