Dynamic Technologies’ group company and Salesforce Partner CloudSmiths recently worked in collaboration with The Sustainability Initiative of South Africa or SIZA to upgrade the organisation’s legacy platform to a customised cloud-based solution. Called MySIZA, the solution provides an integrated CRM built on Salesforce.
SIZA is a non-profit organisation that provides a platform for producers “to self-assess their progress through an audit process that evaluates and reports on ethical and environmental compliance throughout the value chain”, says Werner Van Dyk, Audit Manager, SIZA. “The self-audit process, which is followed up by independent third-party audits, incorporates more than a single pass or fail approach – it incorporates a longer-term vision of attaining a better and more sustainable industry,” says Van Dyk.
The continued improvement of labour conditions, environmental sustainability, ethical compliance through the value chain and adherence to best practice in agriculture are all factors that the best farmers and producers in South Africa strive to achieve. Reaching these standards is attainable through participation in SIZA, which is a membership-based non-profit company, owned and operated in South Africa and aligned to global standards.
“In light of our specific requirements and what we wanted to achieve, we decided to partner with CloudSmiths and implement Salesforce Sales Cloud and Experience Cloud,” says Retha Louw, CEO, SIZA.
While the uptake from producers with SIZA was increasing, the challenge the NPC found itself facing was its legacy system had become outdated, expensive and difficult to maintain. Together with constant legislation changes, needing an environmental module added to the programme, and software that was no longer compatible with many of the devices utilised by users, the time had come to migrate to a cloud-based solution.
The transition to Salesforce has enabled the sharing of vital information between producers, auditors, buyers, importers and exporters, while SIZA’s stakeholders can now connect in real-time with their suppliers. In addition, SIZA admins, vital to the audit process, are able to interact with producers and auditors. MySIZA also enables risk analysis, monitoring of the audit process and the harnessing of data to make informed decisions.
“Security features built into the platform assure SIZA’s over 3 500 members that their privacy and information is protected, with the security, integrity and safety of all data maintained,” says Jason Timm, CEO, CloudSmiths. In addition, CloudSmiths delivers maintenance and support that is critical to SIZA’s fast-changing timelines, working across different time zones and quick turnaround times.
The project is now into its second phase, which incorporates digital monitoring related to water management, carbon footprints and other environmental issues around producer sustainability. Also on the horizon is the development of an API (application programming interface) that will allow MySIZA to link to international platforms in the UK, Europe and other regions – delivering global alignment and scalability.
Timm concludes: “Salesforce Experience Cloud enables businesses to interact with customers across channels, building stronger relationships through personalised content. This is a fast, trusted platform that allows access to a broad ecosystem of tools and world-class applications.”
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