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FEI Company

Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, FEI is a world leader in pioneering industry-leading technologies and applications that deliver imaging solutions for 3D characterization, analysis and modification/prototyping with resolutions down to the sub-Angstrom level. FEI has sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world. FEI Technologies is a division of FEI that is a leading supplier of ion- and electron beam microscopes, branded as Phenoms, to a broad range of nanotechnonology markets.

To best support a new division with new products, FEI Technologies needed a robust ERP system to track all aspects of supply, demand, service and warranty operations on one system. Using the old legacy system was not an option since it was heavily customized to meet the parent companies' traditional product lines. FEI Technologies required a solution that would be fast and easy to implement and at the same time fulfill all the financial and operational needs of this rapidly growing division. After careful research, Dynamics AX was chosen for its complete functionality, scalability, and its ability to integrate with external applications.

Strategic Solutions NW was hired to manage and implement the project and has continued to support this client through their growth. Our senior consultants have worked with the management team on defining the IT strategy for FEI Technologies and are involved with the ongoing enhancement and support of Dynamics AX.

FEI Technologies did not have any in-house IT staff for Dynamics AX, nor wanted to hire or build the required skills internally. Instead they opted to rely on external partners to provide these services. A local infrastructure hosting company, EasyStreet, was hired to host the hardware for Dynamics AX while Strategic Solutions NW was hired to provide the application support to users.

This strategic outsourcing has been extremely cost-effective for FEI Technologies. They get the best of the both worlds: through Strategic Solutions NW and EasyStreet FEI Technologies acquire experienced functional and technical consultants without having to make investments building up their own internal Technical group. They also can tap into Strategic Solutions NW's pool of highly specialized and skilled development staff for any customization assistance they may require.

Outsourcing services is one way to cut costs and increase efficiencies, that is, when the service providers collaborate effectively with the client. If you are considering outsourcing, Strategic Solutions NW would like to hear from you.