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Vista Credit Gains Corporate Visibility & Data Transparency with Microsoft Power BI

Customer
Vista Credit

Products/Services
Power BI

Industry
Financing/Loans

Location
Canada

Overview

Vista Credit is a Canadian owned and operated and trusted, reliable source of home improvement financing to homeowners, and an invaluable business partner to a large network of dealers.

The company was established to provide financing solutions that offer homeowners the option of paying for their home improvement projects gradually and without delays often experienced with traditional lending institutions or high-interest credit cards.

Vista Credit pivoted from limited corporate visibility and manual data management to seamless, intuitive and visually striking reporting capabilities that enabled a full view into company data. By contracting Corporate Renaissance Group (CRGroup) to implement Microsoft Power BI™, Vista Credit achieved real-time visibility and complete data transparency.

For over 14 years, Vista Credit has provided a simplified financing experience to its business partners by offering a variety of financial solutions. With thousands of customers and contractors to serve on a daily basis, Vista Credit is no stranger to dealing with vast amounts of data.

The Need for Visibility at Vista Credit

Prior to 2014, the high volume of data processed daily was manually updated, converted to reports and distributed through spreadsheets. This form of reporting lacked the ability for in-depth drill-downs and a thorough understanding of the information. The time-consuming process of acquiring useful information was complex and relied on individuals to update data in a laborious manner. Newly updated or added information was not always available to everyone in the company. If the person responsible for updating the Excel files was absent from the office, obtaining the necessary information was nearly impossible.

Management was restricted in their ability to convey valuable findings and observations for transformative decision making. In fact, there was no method of quickly identifying issues other than spending hours trying to recognize the source of the problem by digging through numerous spreadsheets and reports.

Ron Benn, CFO of Vista Credit, understood that their data management and reporting was in dire need of a major change. He contacted a long-time trusted solutions partner, CRGroup, a Microsoft Gold partner. For over 27 years CRGroup has specialized in delivering complete and coordinated solutions for enterprise resource planning, corporate performance management, business intelligence, financial and costing principles, shared services and employee performance management.

Vista Credit’s Journey with CRGroup & Power BI

After the initial consideration of several possible solutions, CRGroup recommended Power BI as the best option.

“We wanted a cost-effective solution with a phased approached that would give us the quick results we were looking to achieve, and Power BI did just that.”

Power BI provides a cloud-based platform that does not require standalone servers or hefty setup fees. Rather, it enables secure access to company data from anywhere, anytime on any device with a set monthly fee. Vista Credit has the freedom to unify their data in the cloud and connect to preexisting data sources. The results are significant from a company’s productivity and staff morale perspective. Vista Credit relies on a team of sales representatives in the field that directly interact with channel partners across the province of Ontario.

With Power BI’s stunning visuals, easy to use interface and mobile flexibility, sales representatives are able to view the information they need at a glance, wherever they are. Power BI’s wide array of features simplifies the process of reporting and data gathering for Vista Credit. Staff members can now focus on analyzing and sharing what they know rather than spending time gathering the necessary information and searching for parameters.

Results

Enhanced Decision making

Vista Credit thrives in an environment where contracts and portfolio values are constantly evolving. In the past, they relied on limited reporting and manual data manipulation when attempting to understand their business data. Power BI’s highly visual capabilities and exceptional drill-down abilities facilitate vital decision making by providing real-time, accurate information for various users. Data comparison for specific periods is instantly performed and drilled down for finer details. Senior management has the ability to visually explore trends and anomalies for immediate review and improvement. They can get a pulse of the organization and drill down into problem areas whenever they want—a task that once took hours can now be dissected and solved swiftly and effectively.

Easy Adaptability and Usability

Power BI comes fully loaded with business analytics tools that help analyze data and share insights. With one click, users discover the data behind their dashboards. The easy-to-use interface coupled with an abundance of rich data and visuals helps the sales team embrace and adopt the solution without hesitation. Vista Credit no longer depends on external help to create meaningful dashboards and reports. In fact, internal staff created a report for all users with established security parameters to show relevant data to members based on their location and level of access. It is now possible for users in the field to view channel partner data minutes before a meeting rather than investing hours in labour-intensive data-mining activities in preparation the night before. With the sales team being able to show a channel partner visuals and dashboards on the spot, their meetings have become more interactive and effective.

Optimized Team Productivity and Collaboration

Real-time and secure access to data available from any device elevates Vista Credit’s sales team to new levels of clarity and productivity. “When we hold sales team meetings, everyone comes prepared knowing what their strengths and weaknesses are,” said Benn. Prior to Power BI’s implementation, meetings revolved around trying to understand what state they were in from paper handouts or PowerPoint slides. Now, meetings are more productive and analytical in nature. “Our sales team no longer needs to meet to find out why something isn’t working; instead they are now trying to find better ways of solving the problems.” The team is no longer blindsided from a lack of data visibility and understanding.

“Power BI has opened our eyes to the endless possibilities we have with our data. We have implemented an effective methodology that provides visibility, insight, and saves us time and money.”

– Ron Benn, CFO, Vista Credit Corporation

Bring your data to life with CRGroup and Microsoft Power BI!

Power BI provides you with the ability to create interactive dashboards and reports that can be easily shared. Using data from a variety of sources allows you to visually view your business in a single dashboard. Get started with Power BI today! 613.232.4295

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