“FTS Bulgaria” is an example of technological leadership in action

The company’s managers Iskra Todorova and Tsanka Markova on the 30-year journey and the partnership with Microsoft

30 years on the market. How is the business of “FTS Bulgaria” developing?

Iskra Todorova (I.T.), manager of “FTS Bulgaria” and operational manager for Dynamics 365: Our company has been building comprehensive technological solutions for business management for 30 years, based on proven global innovations and technologies. With a focus on ERP, CRM and BI solutions, we provide our clients with powerful platforms for transformation and growth. The main technologies we use include Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Microsoft Fabric – solutions that not only optimize business processes and extract value from data, but also allow organizations to adapt to the constantly changing digital environment.

Our main priority has always been to be close to our clients – not only as a response to their current technological needs, but also as a strategic partner who guides them through the process of digital transformation. Over the years, we have built a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy partner that not only implements solutions, but also actively helps clients build and develop their business models and development strategies.

What sets you apart from other ERP/CRM providers on the market?

Tsanka Markova (T.M.), CEO of FTS Bulgaria and Operations Manager for Data & Analytics: For our clients, FTS is much more than a software and services provider – we are their strategic advisor, offering solutions with long-term value. Our uniqueness lies in our ability to recognize and implement the latest technological innovations. We closely follow the trends set by technology leaders such as Microsoft, and invest resources in testing and implementing new technologies. The combination of in-depth business knowledge and strong IT expertise allows us to achieve results that shape the future of both our clients and FTS.

We call ourselves early adopters because we proactively seek out innovations and offer solutions to the market before they become mainstream. This gives us a competitive advantage, while building long-term relationships with our clients and deepening our partnership with Microsoft. A prime example of this is the Cloud First strategy, which we adopted back in 2017 and which required us to make a significant investment in resources, in training our team and transforming the overall way of working.

We are currently seeing the results of this decision, which some previously described as risky. 85% of FTS’s revenue comes from cloud solutions and services, and Microsoft recognized us as the company that adapted its business model the fastest to work with Microsoft Azure. Even more important for us is that thanks to the early adoption of the Cloud First strategy, we have the most experienced team in Bulgaria for implementing and supporting Dynamics 365 in the corporate segment, where the functionality is complex, the data volumes are large, and the requirements for speed and security are uncompromising.

How does Dynamics 365 contribute to the success of companies and the growth of FTS?

I.T.: Dynamics 365 is the most important product line in FTS, with a share of 75% of revenues and with growth of over 25% on an annual basis, as is the growth set in the company’s 2030 plan. This sustainable growth reflects not only our expertise, but also the growing need for reliable ERP solutions.

Our main focus is on the ERP solutions Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and Dynamics 365 Business Central. We are clear market leaders in this area. We have numerous clients from different industries and of different scales, with whom we work on various projects, striving to offer and develop personalized and innovative solutions for them in the long term.

Many K100 companies rely on our expertise. They often have a holding structure and for them we solve specific challenges related to the management of a single model of the implemented solution. This allows them to expand their activities and easily and quickly enter new markets, having a standardized work model and a system that ensures it.

It is interesting to work with clients whose business is related to large volumes of transactions – manufacturing, distribution and retail companies. For these companies, it is essential to have a reliable system that works without interruption and has a high level of responsiveness. For them, it is extremely important that the processes are correctly defined and configured to match the intensity of their daily work.

Our expertise in Dynamics 365 and the many successful projects were honored by Microsoft and in 2023, FTS received the recognition “Microsoft Partner of the Year for Bulgaria”. This prestigious recognition is extremely valuable to us, since Dynamics partners rarely receive such an award at a global level. The award reflects our leading role in the transformation and migration of companies to cloud ERP solutions, our in-depth understanding of their development and implementation, as well as our desire to be at the forefront of technological changes by implementing the latest functionalities and improvements in the projects we execute.

What is the role of the Data & Analytics practice and how does working with data complement Microsoft Dynamics 365?

T.M.: People who are professionally involved in data processing know that “without data, everything we say is just personal opinion” (words of Edward Deming). The ability to collect, process and extract relevant conclusions from various data sources is essential for developing effective business strategies. This statement is especially true for data generated by systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 FnO, Business Central and SAP. The ability to draw conclusions and identify trends from this data is critical for effective business management.

The role of the Data & Analytics department at FTS is to help our clients turn data into a strategic asset. Although most clients associate us only with Power BI, our tasks cover the entire process of building a data product – from collecting and processing data to storing, analyzing and visualizing it. The main technology we use is Microsoft Fabric – a comprehensive cloud platform that builds on traditional BI. Microsoft Fabric provides an integrated and scalable environment for data management and analytics and adapts to the specific needs of each organization.

How is AI changing your work and the solutions you offer?

I.T.: One of the latest significant innovations is the inclusion of AI, the so-called Copilot, in various Dynamics 365 functionalities. Although the Copilot functionality has only recently been in Dynamics 365 systems, it already shows the real potential of AI in the automation and optimization of business processes.

Integrated into the Dynamics 365 interface, Copilot significantly facilitates interaction with data. Certain functionalities are upgraded with Copilot summaries, which provide a quick overview of the most important information that the user works with and has access to – for example, general information about orders with a given supplier, changes to them, delays in deliveries that need attention, unpaid invoices, etc. Similar summaries are available for customer overdue orders, warehouse load, etc.

The system offers integration with AI Builder, which recognizes invoice images. With each new invoice, AI Builder is trained to recognize different formats, which facilitates the automation of document processing and saves significant time in routine operations.

T.M.: In our Data & Analytics projects, we use the available Microsoft Copilot assistants to make our work more efficient. For example, with the help of Copilot, we translate the metadata of a semantic model into another language, automate the documentation of the model, or receive guidance on interesting observations and/or anomalies. The built-in LLMs (large language models) in Microsoft Fabric allow business users to get answers to questions like “What is the change in the consumer basket compared to last year?” or “In which region did sales of product A per capita increase the most?”. Many built-in Microsoft AI services are used for monitoring security and data management, which greatly facilitates the work of so-called data governance specialists.

AI has definitely entered the daily lives of both business users and IT specialists. But using a second pilot (Copilot) requires the presence of a “pilot” – an expert who can guide and maximize the benefits of these technologies. That is why as a company we are constantly investing in the training of our team and building a company culture that encourages creativity and innovation.

You can find the original article by Capital here.

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