HubSpot's INBOUND conference, a week-long marketing, sales, and customer service event, has seen a significant increase in attendance over the years. However, the registration process was not always seamless. The event technology used was outdated and relied on archaic infrastructures, making the transfer of information from the event management app into HubSpot's CRM tool and marketing automation a manual and laborious process. This led to a clunky sign-up process, which could potentially affect customer confidence and attendance numbers. The process was also costly and resource-intensive, involving an outsourced team to manage the integration and keep it running throughout the year. This was neither sustainable nor cost-effective.

La De Da! is a gift store in suburban Chicago known for its personalized customer service. The owner, Jill Carlisle, is renowned for her ability to recommend the perfect gift for customers. However, with the advent of social distancing measures, the store was forced to close, posing a significant challenge to its business model which relied heavily on face-to-face interactions. The store's website was basic, with no eCommerce functionality, as Jill had always preferred to sell in-person. The challenge was to create an 'eCommerce-light' solution that was easy to manage and could replicate the in-person customer experience that La De Da! was known for.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rhiannon Menn, a concerned citizen, was looking for ways to support struggling families in her community while adhering to stay-at-home orders. She started by making and delivering meals to families in need, a gesture that quickly gained traction and evolved into a national grassroots movement known as Lasagna Love. The initiative grew organically, attracting over 2,000 volunteers across the country within a few months. However, the rapid growth presented a challenge. Rhiannon was manually onboarding new volunteers, a process that involved sending out links and welcome emails, and entering information into their database. This manual process was time-consuming and inefficient, hindering the initiative's ability to scale and reach more families in need.

Lockheed Martin, a leading aerospace and defense manufacturer, was grappling with the complexity of its supply chain. The company's products are intricate, and its demand is highly variable. To keep costs low, Lockheed Martin's planners needed accurate forecasts on the impacts of changes across deep bills of material with multiple tiers of suppliers. However, before switching to Kinaxis RapidResponse, Lockheed Martin had limited visibility into its suppliers up and down the supply chain. This lack of transparency left its planners to make decisions with limited information, which could potentially lead to inefficiencies and increased costs.

YAZAKI Europe, a leading automotive supplier specializing in the production of customized wiring harnesses for car manufacturers, was facing challenges in meeting the automotive industry’s demand for same-day delivery. The company's continuous growth was impacting its ability to analyze performance and complete its end-of-month consolidation and reporting processes for its headquarters in Japan. The company needed to eliminate delays and manual processing in its logistics to ensure extremely efficient operations. The company also needed to boost its data analytics capabilities for its finance and controlling departments to accelerate the delivery of complex financial reports.

In the capital-intensive oil and gas industry, businesses rely heavily on expensive assets that are deployed in harsh environmental conditions. From a drilling point in the sea to an intermediate station in the desert, the dynamic environmental conditions at each point along the long line affect the performance of the assets deployed along the line. The systems that are used to support these mission-critical assets must also be highly reliable, responsive and secure.One company that operated a long-distance gas pipeline encountered numerous challenges with the overall efficiency of its pipeline, ranging from sub-optimal usage to wastage of natural resources. Even with the optimal equipment and setup, the wide array of variables in operating conditions combined with the sheer distance covered by the pipeline made running the business difficult.In this case, there were 22 injection stations along the length of the pipeline, operating under very disparate conditions with different efficiencies. This made it difficult to identify the interdependent effectiveness of these injection stations, despite having a large data set on various parameters at each injection substation. Even a single instance of failure could cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue as well as any additional costs for repairs that had to be made.The company was spending $5 million per mile of pipeline annually in corrective maintenance. Along with this, the loss of revenue due to the undelivered material was estimated at $250 million. With energy prices dropping, the loss in revenue directly reduced the bottom line of the company. With the clock ticking and revenue dipping, building a perfect efficiency improvement model became a top priority.

Chamberlain Group, Inc., a leading connected products company, recognized a gap in the market where consumers wanted to use their smartphones to control and monitor their garage doors from anywhere in the world. The company developed an innovative solution, the MyQ smartphone app, which quickly gained popularity with a monthly growth rate in user numbers hitting 15 percent. However, the existing system architecture was not robust enough to withstand the pressure of this growth rate for long, and the risk of impact on performance and availability was constantly rising. The company needed to ensure that the app was highly reliable and responsive for consumers, especially when it controls something as important as the security of peoples’ homes. The challenge was to make the existing architecture more robust and scalable, so that it could support future peaks of up to one million concurrent consumer actions.

Baleària, a leading shipping group in Spain, was facing challenges in managing its ship and crew procedures. The company was heavily reliant on manual tasks involving physical documents, which was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. The company needed to control the validity of the ships’ mandatory certificates based on current legislation, which was a complex task due to the vast number of ships under its management. The traditional methods of operation were hindering the company's efficiency and productivity. Furthermore, the company was seeking ways to improve its work methodology in terms of developing its maritime operations and control of the ships’ documentation.

Four Consulting, a B2B technology consulting firm, was on a mission to modernize its business processes. As part of its Strategic Plan 2021-2026, the company aimed to digitize its various functional areas to gain real-time information, increase efficiency, and make strategic decisions to enhance its market competitiveness. The challenge was to automate all HR-related processes, a critical step in the company's modernization journey. The processes that needed automation included selection and recruitment, file creation and updates, holiday and leave management, certificate and permit requests, personnel management, and management of business agreements. The company needed a solution that could be implemented quickly and efficiently, without disrupting the ongoing operations.

Licores de Guatemala, a leading producer and distributor of aged rums and other high-quality spirits, was facing challenges in its purchasing cycle. The company was struggling with administrative tasks and repetitive procedures that were time-consuming and inefficient. The purchasing process, which spanned from purchase requests to complete order traceability, lacked integral control. The company was also grappling with the need to adapt to the new demands of its internal customers. The initial digital transformation project was limited to a series of measures aimed at optimizing the purchasing process within its ERP SAP ECC 6.05. However, the management team at Licores de Guatemala realized the need to expand the project across the entire process, which consisted of eight phases.

Quimtia, a company specializing in the production and distribution of chemical products, was facing significant inefficiencies in its export processes. The process was not functioning optimally due to the high level of manual tasks involved, causing numerous disadvantages in the daily operations of foreign trade. The entire process, from order placement in SAP, order planning, packing list generation, internal and external management, to the final delivery to the customer, was cumbersome and time-consuming. The management team recognized the need for a technological solution that could streamline and control the entire process, reducing the manual workload and accelerating management times.

The enterprise client, a leading global telecommunications provider, was facing a significant challenge in their process improvement and automation initiatives. In 2021, they decided to switch from their current RPA tool, Automation Anywhere, to Microsoft's Power Automate solution, aiming to produce better quality bots at a lower cost. However, this transition presented a daunting task of manually re-coding 15,000 bots or outsourcing the re-platforming, which was proving to be time-consuming, costly, and prone to errors. Furthermore, the lack of data and understanding of their current process estate made it difficult for them to make informed decisions about the value of any automated process and whether it was worth the time, effort, and money to re-platform. They were facing years in process platform limbo, poor quality processes, and the potential of an 8-figure bill to recreate their existing processes.

Adventures, a rapidly expanding Latin American brand ecosystem, faced the challenge of standardizing its processes without stifling creativity. As the company grew, it became increasingly difficult to manage customer accounts and maintain operational efficiency. The back office departments, including Purchasing, Finance, People, Management, Culture (Human Resources), IT, and Legal, were receiving requests through various channels, such as Slack, email, and verbal communication. This lack of structure led to several issues, including incomplete information in requests, inability to measure the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of each request, risk of losing or forgetting requests, and lack of clarity for requesters about the status of their requests. To address these issues, Adventures formed a committee to evaluate market platforms that could streamline and automate their processes.

Sogegross, a large-scale Italian retailer, was faced with the challenge of managing a complex supply chain and financial planning process. The company needed an operational and organizational information system that could align their business needs with IT requirements within their intricate retail chain. The complexity of their operations required a planning solution that could transform an unstructured information system into a more standardized and functional one. Sogegross' supply chain includes seven platforms dedicated to specific types of products, including fresh food, fruit and vegetables, fish, meat, dry and fresh discounters, packaged food, and frozen products. Annually, they manage over 65,000 tons of fresh products and more than 33,000,000 boxes of packaged goods.

Tyler Technologies, a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments, faced significant challenges following a period of substantial growth. The company had acquired numerous software solutions companies, increasing its revenue threefold. This growth, however, presented a series of challenges, particularly for the finance team. The team was struggling to keep up with the increased business demands, obtain necessary data for efficient analysis and reporting, incorporate acquisitions into their systems, and maintain consistent reporting. The company's structure, built through a series of acquisitions, meant that each division had its own Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) team performing planning and forecasting. The data was then sent to the Corporate FP&A team for consolidation, a process that was manual, static, and prone to errors. The lack of a central repository for plans and forecasts further complicated the process. The company needed a new system that would be reliable, speed up consolidation time, standardize all planning and forecasting activities, and have user-friendly drill-down capabilities.

Cyndx, a company that serves some of the largest financial services companies worldwide, was looking to expand its product and develop functionality to explore data analytics that would allow its end users to dig deeper than their existing platform. They had evaluated several commercial business intelligence (BI) products in the past, but most of the solutions required a lot of custom work for frontend/design and integrating with their AI. They needed a solution that could seamlessly integrate with their existing AI-driven algorithms and data from over 12 million companies and more than 1 million acquisitions, capital raises, investments, and investors data in their database. The challenge was to find a solution that could provide predictive analytics and help its clients identify target lists in a fraction of the time of traditional workflows.

RamSoft, a leading SaaS HealthTech company, was in search of a modern analytics platform to enhance its new analytics offering, Root. The company had been using a major business intelligence tool, but it lacked the customization capabilities required to provide a truly native end-user experience. The tool offered limited customization options, particularly in terms of user experience workflows and report generation. Additionally, RamSoft needed a solution that would allow them to control the features available to the end user. They found that many existing solutions in the market were packed with numerous irrelevant features, which often overwhelmed new users. The team required a solution that would allow them to remove unnecessary features and control user access to various functionalities. Given the complexity of their domain, they also needed a platform that could streamline the analytics behind the tool, allowing them to focus on the UX/UI and front-end.

sublimd, an award-winning medical software platform based in Switzerland, was facing a significant challenge in early 2019. They had received a request for a new module, sublimd Analytics, from a client. At that time, they had an open-source business intelligence server solution in their product. However, they were struggling with preconfiguring their analytics dashboards and delivering them ready-to-use to their non-technical customers. They needed a solution that would allow them to have full control over the customer configuration, which would be tracked in a version-control system. The challenge was to find a solution that would fit their technology stack, which included Node.js, MySQL, and Redis, and allow for a simpler deployment process.

BeerOrCoffee, Latin America’s largest coworking platform, faced significant challenges as a 100% remote organization. The company, which has over 1,100 spaces in over 170 Brazilian cities and other global locations, struggled with managing its remote teams and standardizing internal processes. The lack of a centralized tool for managing processes led to difficulties in standardizing internal processes, as different teams used different platforms. Data storage was another challenge, as the use of various cloud services hampered interactions between coworkers and departments. Marcelo Bogobil, IT and Integrations Manager, was particularly affected by the lack of centralization and standardization of data, given his location in a different time zone from his coworkers.

Fluidra, a global leader in pool and wellness equipment, faced significant challenges in managing their new product development process. Despite having a project management tool, it lacked the flexibility and visibility required for efficient operations. One of the main issues was the inability of the tool to allow different teams to run parallel processes simultaneously. This limitation meant that one department could only commence a step after another had finished, leading to an extended new product development cycle. Additionally, the previous solution was inflexible and high-code, necessitating the involvement of the IT team whenever any changes were required by the Fluidra teams.

Lacoste, a globally recognized fashion brand, faced significant challenges with its reimbursement process, particularly in its Brazilian e-commerce operations. The surge in online sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic led to an increase in customer return requests, which required a quick and error-proof reimbursement process to ensure optimal customer experience. For debit card purchases, the Finance team had to initiate a lengthy process of collecting and running the client’s information through internal approvals until it could be handed off to the Accounts Payable team. This process was organized through email, spreadsheets, and printed documents, with the approval flow being the most manual part. The Finance team had to gather physical signatures before processing the reimbursement payment. The increase in online sales and remote working began to impact the deadlines for customer reimbursements directly. The Finance team needed to find a digital and agile solution to gain efficiency in this process and replace their manual workflow.

Pequeno Príncipe Hospital (HPP), Brazil's largest children's hospital, faced significant challenges in managing its donation and fundraising operations. The hospital, which provides care for children and adolescents who do not have free access to healthcare, relies heavily on community support and donations. However, the New Projects department, responsible for fundraising, was struggling with outdated processes and systems. For the first decade, they used an outdated CRM, and most internal processes were managed manually. Processes like sales (donations) funnel management, accounts receivable, and customer onboarding were managed separately through spreadsheets, email, and paper documents. As the hospital's operations and the number of donors grew, the decentralized and manual management of these processes became a major bottleneck, causing rework and communication challenges.

Sofisa Bank, a leading credit analysis company in Brazil, was facing challenges in managing customer requests due to unstandardized solutions. The bank's commercial department, which directly connects with customers, and the operations team, which fulfills all service requests, were struggling with communication. The exchange of requests between these departments was conducted entirely through email, without any standard or oversight. This lack of standardization often led to missed deadlines and complicated exchanges, negatively impacting the customer experience.

Vynova, a leading European PVC and chlor-alkali company, was grappling with a fragmented IT infrastructure that consisted of various disconnected solutions. This lack of integration resulted in an absence of end-to-end visibility of the customer journey, hindering the company's ability to provide a high-end customer experience. The company sought to connect its sales and marketing units and equip them with tools that would enhance both cross-departmental and customer interactions. Furthermore, the company was dealing with the challenge of managing multiple applications, which often resulted in fragmented or duplicated data. Vynova needed a solution that would ensure data alignment and facilitate large-scale process automation and harmonization.

The Ramco Group, a conglomerate of over 40 companies operating within East Africa, faced several challenges in managing their business operations. The group used multiple tools for different operations, which instead of providing a unified structure, created silos. This lack of process uniformity made standardization difficult, with overlapping functions causing confusion over the right tool for the right job. The use of multiple tools also led to poor process visibility, preventing the leadership team from gaining a clear understanding of the enterprise’s business operations. Additionally, the group faced challenges in getting timely approvals due to the difficulty in tracking requests spread across different tools.

Alter Way, a company committed to building responsible digital services, was faced with the challenge of controlling and reducing its environmental footprint. The company, which designs, develops, and manages cloud and DevOps oriented architectures, was concerned about the environmental impact of the cloud infrastructures set up at their clients' sites. Alter Way was also committed to limiting the carbon emissions of cloud infrastructures by implementing a 'GreenOps' approach. However, to effectively manage and reduce its environmental footprint, Alter Way needed to accurately measure its carbon emissions. This was a significant challenge as it required a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the company's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Sixth City Marketing, a marketing agency, was facing a significant challenge in managing and updating lead data for their numerous clients in real time. The agency was coordinating lead generation campaigns for most of their clients, which meant they were managing multiple lead funnels simultaneously. The process of logging in, exporting, formatting, cross-checking data, and analytics was time-consuming. Their client spreadsheets weren't regularly updated, which often left them unprepared for spontaneous client calls. As the agency brought on more clients, the time required to manually update each client's lead spreadsheets became unmanageable.

Stanford University's Computer Resource Consulting (CRC) team, a cost recovery service, was tasked with supporting a wide range of users including students, faculty, administrative units, labs, and other IT groups. Despite being a lean team, they were expected to deliver high-quality services while managing their resources efficiently. The team was using the app automation tool, Zapier, to track the number of appointments made. However, they realized the potential of Zapier's 'Zaps', workflows that connect different apps, to further streamline their operations. The challenge was to encourage the team to explore and learn Zapier and create their own Zaps to improve their workflows.

Museum Hack, a company that used to run public museum tours and offer private tours for team-building events, was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for social distancing made their traditional business model untenable. The company decided to pivot to a virtual team-building service, called TeamBuilding, but faced several challenges. Firstly, they needed to manage leads from prospect to closed sale, a task that was becoming increasingly complex due to the high demand for their new service. Secondly, they had to identify qualified leads and prioritize action, a process that had to be revisited due to changes in their business model. Thirdly, they needed to streamline general operations, as routine tasks were becoming time-consuming for their rapidly growing business. Lastly, they had to ensure smooth handoff of new clients to the logistics team, a task that was often overlooked due to long working hours.

Swapnil Wale, the founder of Techno-PM, a project management template producer, was facing a significant challenge in delivering his digital products to customers. The process was manual and time-consuming, requiring Swapnil to monitor each purchase, confirm payment, and then send an email to the customer with their digital product. This process was not only inefficient but also unsustainable as it took away valuable time that could be used for managing growth and creating new resources. Furthermore, the lack of an immediate delivery system for digital products was potentially damaging to the customer experience, as customers expect instant access to digital products post-purchase.