Microsoft Windows Server System

Customer Solution Case Study

Indian Consumer Goods Retailer Boosts Operational

Efficiency and Profits

Overview “The 3e solution, which capitalizes on

Country or Region: India
Microsoft technologies, was comprehensive
Industry: Consumer Goods
and cost effective in comparison to the other
Customer Profile
Elite Brands Private Limited is a
products we evaluated,”
wholesaler and retailer of Ramesh Rath, CEO, Elite Brands Private Limited
international brands. The company
spearheads the international foray
of Bhagwandas Trading Company Established in March 2004, Elite Brands Private Limited is a
(BTC) Group into the retail sector.
member of Bhagwandas Trading Company (BTC) Group,
Business Situation
With the Indian consumer becoming Dubai. The company was launched in India in March of 2004.
more aware and appreciative of In July of 2004, the company launched its operations with
international lifestyle brands, the
demand for high end consumer lifestyle Travel Gear products from the international brand
goods is slated to increase Giordano.
exponentially. Elite Brands Private
Limited has been created to tap into
the growing retail potential of the The company’s domestic and international sales volumes
premium international brands in
India. were continually growing. Elite Brands needed to upgrade and
Solution expand its installed IT systems, which it would soon outgrow.
Elite Brands Private Limited
implemented ESolutions Business
Operating Software (3e) on the Due to its assembly of a secure infrastructure, ESolutions
Microsoft® platform using Microsoft Business Operating Software (3e) seamlessly integrated all
Windows Server™ 2003 and SQL
Server™ 2000. the branch offices with the head office in Mumbai. The
Benefits solution has also centralized business operations (bank
 Centralized business operations
accounting, salaries, expenses, sales, purchasing, and
 Improved business efficiency
 Optimized customer service inventory) within the organization.
 Situation
The Indian luggage industry is
estimated at INR 13 billion (U.S.$ 310
“The ESolutions million) and the market is growing at
Business Operating about 8-10 percent per annum. The
industry is on a new growth curve and
Software has been the consumers are seeking products
immensely useful in our that are not only functionally superior
but also aesthetically appealing.
planning and
With the economy picking up and the
accounting. It enabled
travel industry witnessing a steady
us to implement our growth in both in-bound and out-
bound international travel and also
business strategy and the availability of superior products
thereby facilitate our and brands, industry players expect a
15-20 percent growth in luggage sales
growth and expansion this year.
plans.”
Business Situation
Ramesh Rath, CEO, Elite Brands Private Elite Brands Private Limited plans to
Limited invest U.S.$20 million in India over
the next few years to become a
significant niche player in the retail
sector. The company plans to venture
into manufacturing and launch its
exclusive product lines of luggage and
apparel. They currently retail watches
and bifocals in India. The company
has already established its branches
and warehouses in Mumbai, Delhi,
Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow,
and Chandigarh.
Elite Brands has established a
network of 100-plus premium retail
outlets in India, apart from 10-plus
exclusive brand stores. It has an
agreement with a number of chain
stores to stock and retail Giordano
Travel Gear in their store-in-a-store
formats. It has also sealed an
agreement with Shoppers’ Stop for
stocking its merchandise in its chain
of stores. The company plans to
expand its footprint to around 30
brand stores and 200 multi brand
outlets (MBOs) across the country.
As a member of the Bhagwandas
Trading Company (BTC) Group into
the retail sector, Elite Brands Private
Limited has access to the latest sales
and marketing initiatives of several
international lifestyle brands. The
company's executives would like to
adapt and implement these initiatives
in the retail sector in India. The
company is in the process of
acquiring franchisee rights and
licenses to launch an array of
international brands in luggage,
garments, cosmetics, and watches.
Elite Brands aims at a business
turnover of Rs 150 crore (U.S.$ 33.5
million) over the next three years with
an investment of over Rs 50 crore
(U.S.$ 11 million).
Prior to the 3e implementation, Elite
Brands evaluated various other small
enterprise versions of enterprise
resource planning software packages
such as Tally, Wings, Oracle, and
others, after which they decided on
3e Business Operating Software (3e
BOS). The 3e BOS solution was
implemented under the personal
supervision of 3e's National
Commercial Manager, Mr. Raghu
Rajagopalan.
Elite Brands' focus was on
implementing a business solution,
which would centralize the business
and banking operations from their
head office. This included daily
monitoring of the overall sales at the
200 store-in-a-store and multiple
brand stores, plus securing effective
inventory management and control.
Elite Brands also required a business
solution that integrated the retail
point-of-sale applications to the
database server at the head office.
The company was on the lookout for
an integrated offering for multiple
location management that would
connect the various branches with the
head office and enable efficient
synchronization of accurate business
information.
Solution
“We were looking for a solution that
would enable central management of
business and IT processes, to help us
develop an easy-to-manage, highly
scalable IT infrastructure. The
implementation of the 3e solution has
been immensely useful in our
planning and accounting. It enabled
us to implement our business
strategy and thereby facilitate our
growth and expansion plans,”
comments Mr. Ramesh Rath, CEO,
Elite Brands Private Limited.
Elite Brands Private Limited worked
with ESolutions Private Limited, a
Microsoft certified business partner.
3e, a business solution that
maximizes the Microsoft® Windows
Server™ 2003 operating system and
Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 database
(both are part of Microsoft Windows
Server System™ integrated server
software).
ESolutions offered Elite Brands a
comprehensive business solution to
meet the company’s business goals
by:
a) Implementing 3e BOS solution with
3e Synch at the head office in
Mumbai running on the Microsoft
Windows® Small Business Server
2003 operating system.
b) Implementing 3e Retail with retail
synch and 3e Synch at the company’s
nine branch offices and the various
sales retail outlets.
“The 3e solution, which capitalizes on
Microsoft technologies, was
comprehensive and cost effective in
comparison to the other products we
evaluated,” comments Mr. Ramesh
Rath.
The 3e solution also offered the
company benefits like centralization
of business functions such as banking,
tracking of daily operating costs, and
remuneration packages. The 3e BOS
solution also decentralized the billing
and collection procedures.
“The integration of 3e Retail [point-of-
sale] billing with the database is a key
feature, which was not available in
most competing products we
evaluated,” emphasizes Mr. Raghu
Rajagopalan.
The 3e BOS solution was customized
to track the performance of the
company’s multi-channel sales
locations and monitor their sales,
purchasing, and inventory.
In just two months, ESolutions
implemented the 3e BOS solution at
the Elite Brands headquarters in
Mumbai. The 3e BOS application runs
on Hewlett-Packard Server TC2120.
The company’s head office now has
five user licenses of the Microsoft
Windows Small Business Server 2003
(SBS 2003).
The implementation at the branch
offices was replicated shortly
thereafter and completed in seven
days at each location. At the branch
level, the infrastructure consists of a
HCL Infosystems desktop running on
the Windows XP Professional
operating system. The accounts
receivable and Inventory
management are handled at the
branch level. The billing and
collections are decentralized at the
branches, while the company's
financial management is handled at
its headquarters.
Elite Brands has about 75,000 square
feet of storage space distributed over
several locations. The company’s
regional sales and commercial teams
work from the same location. The
server connects over a dialup modem
in pre-determined intervals to
synchronize data with the SQL Server
at the head office.
The company implemented the 3e
modules including inventory
management, general accounting
system (accounts receivable and
accounts payable), fixed assets and
payroll management modules.
The 3e import module also has been
made functional and has been
running successfully since June 2004.
Benefits
The 3e solution has helped connect
and automate the company’s sales
locations to monitor critical business
activities such as sales, purchasing,
and inventory.
Centralized Business Operations
“With the implementation of the 3e
solution on the Microsoft platform
using Windows Server 2003 and SQL
Server 2000, we now have a
centralized control over operations for
superior business capability,” says
Ramesh Rath.
Improved Business Efficiency
The 3e BOS solution provides a
transactional level view of all the
branches and retail outlets. It also
enables the Elite Brands staff to get
specific information to track and
analyze pricing, inventory, customer
information details, and generate
accurate financial reports.
Optimized Customer Service
The 3e solution module facilitates
monitoring to ensure that customer
orders are executed and delivered on
time. This enhances operational
efficiency and adds to customer
satisfaction and confidence.
Future Plans
Elite Brands plans to implement 3e
BOS in their new branches at Cochin,
Guwahati, Patna, Indore, and other
locations, and also plans to
implement the 3e Retail package,
which encompasses billing solutions,
at more than 20 brand stores in major
metropolitan cities.
Elite Brands plans to use SBS 2003 to
implement its own Web e-mail service
for company’s internal use and also
launch its Web site.
For More Information
For more information about
Microsoft products and services, call
the Microsoft Sales Information
Center at 1600 111100. To access
information using the World Wide
Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com/india
For more information about Elite
Brands Private Limited products and
services, call (91) (22) 2605 5031 -
33.
For more information about
ESolutions products and services,
call 91-44-2847 0100 or visit the
Web site at:
www.3e4u.com
About ESolutions Private
Limited
ESolutions Pvt. Ltd. is a company in
the 'enterprise software product
space.' It is a professionally run,
credible provider of business software
that is easy-to-use and cost-effective.
ESolutions's smart business tools help
enterprises run more efficiently.
ESolutions is a part of ilabs Ltd. ilabs
Ltd., formed in August 1999, is an
intellectual property-driven software
product and technology-development
company. It was set up with the
objective of “mentoring” and
incubating Web-based business.
ESolutions's business strategy
revolves around providing cost-
effective and user-friendly offerings
targeted at decision makers in small-
to-medium-sized enterprises and in
select business verticals.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0. 3e is a
licensed software product that can be
used both offline and online.
About Windows Small Business
Server 2003
Windows Small Business Server 2003
helps your small business to be more
productive with fewer resources. Now
you can:
• Protect your business information
automatically in 15 essential
ways.
• Make it easier for your employees
to find, share, communicate, and
remotely access information.
• Reach more customers and serve
them better, 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
• Set up quickly and easily operate
a Windows Server-based system
to run your small business.

About 3e
3e is built using the Windows
distributed Internet architecture. 3e is
.NET logo- and Windows Server 2003-
compliant. The operating system for
running 3e is Windows 2000 Server
Professional Edition or newer version.
The system works with Microsoft
Desktop Engine and SQL Server 2000.
© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The user may access 3e through
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Software and Services
Microsoft, Windows, the Windows logo, Windows  Microsoft Windows Server System Hardware
Server, and Windows Server System logo are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft o Microsoft Windows Server 2003  Hewlett-Packard TC2120
Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries. The names of actual companies and
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products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of o Microsoft Internet Information  HCL Infosystems Desktop
their respective owners.
Services 6.0
Document published January 2006  Windows XP Professional

Technology
 Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0