Success Stories

Cloud-Ready Resilience: How Edward Lowe Foundation’s Strategic Move to Crestwood’s Multi-Tenant Platform Turned a Potential Disaster into Smooth Success

“All is well with GP and I am over the moon that we were able to get that transition done when we did.”

— Mat James, Controller

Company
Edward Lowe Foundation
Location
Cassopolis, MI
APPLICATION REPLACED
Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains On-premises
SOLUTION
Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains, Cloud Hosting
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Key Results
  • Free 24/7 protection and monitoring
  • Support at their fingertips – no more wasting hours with support calls
  • Competitive pricing models for any size – so they’re poised for growth

The Overview

For years, Edward Lowe Financial (ELF) had been looking to get rid of their on-premises accounting system. They were running (and loving) Microsoft Dynamics GP, but several aspects were becoming unsustainable. As a small nonprofit, server hardware costs were adding up and finding technical resources to maintain and secure their system was becoming more difficult and expensive. ELF was also a Mac family, which meant that they were utilizing third-party software parallels to access Dynamics GP. They had known for years that upgrading to the cloud was necessary, but for years, it seemed too cost prohibitive. They finally took the leap in October of 2019.

The Benefits

Edward Lowe Foundation moved on to a multi-tenant cloud-based platform smoothly. By collaborating with Crestwood, the team at ELF got a secure, reliable, and comprehensive cloud solution to fit their needs.

  • Free 24/7 protection and monitoring
  • In the event of an attack, they’ll be back up and running within minutes
  • Support at their fingertips – no more wasting hours with support calls
  • Anticipation of their business needs: year-end audits, resource spikes, etc.
  • Competitive pricing models for any size – so they’re poised for growth

The Solution

Edward Lowe Foundation enlisted the help of Crestwood Associates to make the switch to a multi-tenant cloud-based platform. Overall, it was a smooth and cost-effective move. Crestwood Associates was able to drastically cut the cost of hosting by utilizing a secure shared server and eliminating the third-party parallels for ELF. There was a slight hiccup with payroll and check printing, but we all worked together to get their processes running smoothly.

Potential Disaster – No Problem
Months later, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. States were locked down, businesses were shuttered. Workforces were asked to either make the switch to remote work or temporarily suspend operations.

While that may sound scary, the ELF was ready for this. They had no way of knowing a global pandemic would arise back when they moved to the cloud, but the investment that they made in their company’s system paid off immediately. While some businesses were left scrambling at the onset of a nationwide shutdown, ELF was running smoothly.

“All is well with GP and I am over the moon that we were able to get that transition done when we did,” said one satisfied employee at ELF. Another raved: “Brandon [of Crestwood] was so smart and responsive, and he did a great job of taking care of us through this.”

This all goes to show that good disaster preparedness can make all the difference to a company because you never know when a crisis might arise. In this case, preparedness looks like: a good, comprehensive ERP solution; a robust cloud hosting service; and an experienced partner to work through any mishaps. We at Crestwood Associates are proud to provide all three.

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