Maximising Ubisense's ROI through an efficient onboarding process
5min reading
Ubisense tracks the precise real-time location, movement and interactions of things using industry-leading sensors and an open software platform, helping organisations improve productivity, quality and safety. Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Ubisense operates globally with more than 1,000 customers, transforming their physical spaces into SmartSpace®.
Ubisense decided to modernise its finance systems, and Rydoo was a part of that change. Adam Green, Ubisense’s Financial Controller, talked us through the company-wide implementation.
Adam Green
- Financial Controller, Ubisense
“I would rate the whole experience a 10/10 to be honest. The implementation process was clear, logical, and there were clearly defined deadlines."
Challenge
Ubisense employs 70 people across the UK, US, Germany, France and Japan. About 40 of them regularly submit expenses. The sales and services teams travel from client to client to sell or deliver Ubisense’s products. They submit expenses for travel, accommodation, food, mileage and more. Adam explains that their previous system, iDocs, lacked modern features like being able to scan receipts using the OCR technology that allows Rydoo to convert a picture into text in order to populate expenses for user convenience.
There was also a clear desire to submit expenses on the go using a mobile app and to have a more modern user interface, which they didn’t have with the previous system. iDocs was difficult and time-consuming to navigate. Rydoo differs a great deal. It’s new, fresh, modern, and people automatically buy into it because it’s easy to use.
Solution
Ubisense had been working with a consultant specialised in SAP. They helped the company improve its systems across the business and recommended Rydoo for expense management from the start. Adam explored various options through market research and demos. The shortlist came down to two solutions: Rydoo and Concur.
Adam first decided to go with Concur, believing that integrating it with their accounting system would be easier because both systems are built by the same company. When things didn’t go as planned, they turned to Rydoo. They contacted the salesperson who had previously helped them to discuss the responsibilities of each part in the integration process: "We were both fully transparent and picked the integration package that suited our needs, and it’s just gone really smoothly since then.”
As Ubisense operates in six different countries, it was important that the system could respond to the local requirements of each. They needed to be able to upload different VAT and GST rates and accommodate per diem in Germany. Adam was pleased that Rydoo could handle it all.
“We’re moving towards a better way of working across the business, it made sense to bring all of our systems up to modern standards and not just leave expenses behind.”
Adam Green, Financial Controller
Implementation
An efficient onboarding process not only sets the tone for a future relationship but also directly impacts the ROI of your solution. The shorter the implementation process, the longer the payback period. “Ease of Use” is a key concept in Rydoo’s company vision.
When Ubisense decided to go with Rydoo in April 2020, Darren, the CFO, set an ambitious target of going live at the beginning of June that year. Yannick, the salesperson who worked with Adam from the beginning, was honest and explained that the target was ambitious but that bigger companies with more employees had done it in the same timeframe.
Adam managed the switch to Rydoo with the help of Becky King, Ubisense’s Accountant. Adam and Becky began their first meeting with Bram and Maya, their dedicated Customer Success Managers, who explained the entire implementation process.
“We set out the roadmap really clearly in the first call. It set the tone, so everyone was aligned on the timeframe. The process was very methodical, logical, and it was outlined really well from the start, so we knew exactly what to expect", shared Adam.
Between meetings, Becky collected information on employees and cost centres. She liaised with Maya and Bram, who uploaded all this information into the system. Once Rydoo had collected all the information they needed from Ubisense, it was time for a pilot group. For Ubisense, it felt pretty fast-paced because there was constant progress, and that’s exactly what the company wanted.
“Rydoo was really responsive throughout the process in answering our issues, if we had any, so that each call was productive, and we continued moving forward. It was great that Rydoo facilitated our goals."
Adam Green, Financial Controller
Conclusion
Ubisense went live with Rydoo by the first week of June, meeting the ambitious target they’d set themselves.
Ubisense employees knew a change was coming because Adam had emailed everyone early on to announce a new expense management tool that they would launch soon, followed by a reminder a few weeks before the launch. When the system went live, employees received handy links to training documents, How-To guides, and the How-To section on the Rydoo website. Adam also included comments from the pilot group to highlight the process and help get people on board.
“We haven’t had any complaints so far. We’ve had some questions and teething problems as you’d expect, but otherwise it’s been very good.”
Adam Green, Financial Controller
"I would rate the whole experience really highly. I would give it a 10/10 to be honest. It was absolutely brilliant, and I thought the implementation team was fantastic. The implementation process was clear, logical, and there were clearly defined deadlines, so that everyone worked towards the same goal”, highlighted Adam.
Years of experience and fine-tuning have gone into the Rydoo implementation methodology. Building a reputation in customer support is a long-term effort — one that bears many fruits for both our customers and Rydoo.