Short facts
Swiss Marketing Association, the leading professional and trade association for marketing and sales in Switzerland, operates a complex ecosystem consisting of a head office, over 15 regional clubs and two subsidiaries. The historically grown, decentralized IT structure was to be modernized and consolidated in order to meet the high requirements for security and digitalization.
Thanks to the long-standing partnership with Dinotronic and the implementation of the Managed Digital Workspace and Managed Collaboration Services, the entire IT landscape was standardized and professionalized. Today, Swiss Marketing benefits from a stable, secure and centrally managed Microsoft 365 environment. This reduces complexity, increases productivity throughout the association and creates a solid basis for future digital transformation.
Initial situation
As Switzerland's leading professional and trade association, the Swiss Marketing Association operates a complex ecosystem consisting of a head office, over 15 regional clubs and two subsidiaries (suxxess & campus swiss). This historically evolved and decentralized association structure was also reflected in the IT landscape.
As digitalization progressed, SMC was faced with the strategic challenge of increasing security throughout the association and efficiently integrating a diverse landscape of industry applications.
Swiss Marketing was looking for a strategic partner (single point of contact) to manage this complexity professionally and focus its internal resources on its core business - supporting its members and further developing the industry. The aim was to obtain consulting, stable operations and comprehensive cyber security from a single source.
The challenges
Based on this strategic orientation, the following technical and structural challenges had to be solved:
- Fragmented IT landscape: there were different systems and isolated solutions at the clubs, the head office and the subsidiaries.
- Unclear governance: There was a lack of clear role and governance structures for IT, data, infrastructure and security.
- Heterogeneous data storage: Redundant data sets, a lack of standards and limited data quality made work more difficult.
- Legacy setups: Outdated hosting and server structures and a lack of centralized control over domains, DNS and email environments posed a risk.
- Modern security requirements: There was an urgent need for a modern, secure and scalable Microsoft 365 environment as well as clear policies for access, roles and authorizations.
- Lack of overall architecture: There was no centrally supported roadmap or uniform operating model for IT, infrastructure and support.
Why Dinotronic
Swiss Marketing has been working with Dinotronic since 2014. It was crucial for the association to have a partner that understood the needs of a national association structure: a complex IT landscape, different organizational units, sensitive data and high requirements for stability and security.
Dinotronic impressed with its combination of technical depth, pragmatic advice and reliable operation. With Managed Workplace Services and Managed Collaboration Services, Swiss Marketing has a single, competent point of contact for the entire infrastructure, security, support and further development - exactly what it was strategically looking for.
The collaboration has grown over the years because Dinotronic really understands Swiss Marketing's ecosystem and supports the association in structuring and standardizing its IT step by step and transforming it into a modern, secure architecture.
Solution & collaboration
Dinotronic's managed services enabled several structural weaknesses to be eliminated. The fragmented IT landscape was consolidated by setting up a uniform, stable Microsoft 365 environment. Unclear authorizations and outdated security configurations were replaced by clear policies, uniform M365 structures and a clean authorization concept, which significantly increased security.
Operational duplication, inefficient processes and redundant tools were eliminated by centralizing devices, software, support and collaboration tools. Dinotronic also helped to structure clear responsibilities and introduce an IT governance system that would do justice to the complex association structure without restricting the autonomy of the clubs.
Results achieved
Since the professionalization of the IT environment by Dinotronic, the day-to-day work at Swiss Marketing has improved noticeably. The standardization, the managed workplace and the clear structures for authorizations and processes have led to measurable successes:
- Greater stability: the infrastructure runs much more stably, disruptions and interruptions occur much less frequently.
- Increased productivity: The team can concentrate fully on content, members and projects instead of dealing with technical problems.
- Improved mobility: All employees can work reliably and securely from anywhere.
- Increased security: Uniform standards, clear role concepts, MFA and a clean authorization concept have noticeably increased the level of security.
- Less complexity: Redundant tools, outdated setups and unnecessary workarounds have been eliminated. The environment is now transparent, traceable and clearly documented.
- Faster processes: New devices, accounts and authorizations can be set up much faster and in a standardized way.
In summary, Swiss Marketing now has a modern, secure and professional IT setup that takes the pressure off the association, increases productivity and creates a solid basis for digital transformation.
Quote from the customer
"The cooperation with Dinotronic is reliable, open and a true partnership - a team that thinks along with us, pulls us along and helps us to be better positioned."
Marco Ancora, Managing Director, Swiss Marketing Association
