How Microsoft Dynamics 365 is helping Securitas to transform operations and make the world a safer place

“We have secured client relationships in a totally different and new way: moving from tribal knowledge to being able to really drill into the individual needs of clients at a local level.”

Hillevi Agranius, Chief Information Officer at Securitas, is talking about the CRM platform she and her team have rolled out at the global security giant, the incredible benefits it brings to its sales teams across the world – and how this is transforming the strategic approach the company takes to data management.

“The CRM platform has really improved the way we take care of our clients, our market capabilities and digital offerings,” says Agranius. “And it forms the key building block for how we leverage data around our clients and what we want to achieve going forward as a company.” 

Key to the development of the platform have been Microsoft partners Accenture and Avanade, who supported Securitas in developing a CRM platform – built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales – that was capable of unifying data across a company whose extraordinary presence includes some 358,000 employees in 45 markets.

“A CRM platform is a foundational capability for an organization to become data-driven and client-centric,” says Ola Brundin, Managing Director at Accenture. “There are three elements to that: the business design, the technology enablement and the change management. And to truly achieve these elements, you need a clear vision and a constant focus on your key priorities.” 

The strong partnership between Microsoft, Accenture, Avanade, and Securitas has provided that vision and focus – and much more.

358,000 people working to make the world a safer place

Securitas is the world’s leading global security services company. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company specializes in intelligent protective services built on people, technology and knowledge.

“Our purpose is simple,” says Agranius. “We help make your world a safer place.

“We do that with a vast range of protective services that include: on-site services; mobile services; technology; remote services; corporate risk management; and fire and safety.”

Underpinning them all is technology. “A key element of what we deliver is technology,” she continues. “The hundreds of thousands of cameras on our client sites that send information to us, for example, are all technology-based. This also means that managing data streams from our clients is a huge part of what we do.”

With this in mind, the company reviewed its strategy in 2019. “The aim was to make sure we were leveraging technology in a way that was keeping up with the way people are using it," says Agranius. “That meant exploring opportunities around automation and working out how to provide better services that really support the human aspect of our clients’ needs.

“This is because we are a very people-oriented, values-driven company,” she adds. “So when we developed our strategy, we wanted to deliver it by being data-driven, client-centric and people focused.”

A global rollout 

The team started with a global rollout of Microsoft 365 in 2018 – marking the first time Securitas had attempted to implement something across all of its markets. 

“Securitas is really a holding company for lots of local organizations, which are very empowered and have a lot of autonomy and choice over how they operate. Historically, that has included the technology they use,” explains Agranius. “So implementing something across the Group was a new challenge for us. And with Microsoft 365, we proved we could do it.”

The next step was the global CRM platform, built on Microsoft Dynamics 365.

“We recognized that tooling was just one side of implementing a new CRM,” says Agranius. “On the other side, there was harmonizing our sales processes, but also really thinking about the operational side of things and unlocking opportunities in marketing in the coming years.”

To support the team with an implementation that was as much about change management as it was about technology, Securitas turned to longstanding Microsoft partner Accenture. 

“I believe that a CRM transformation must be built on a combination of technology enablement, and business and cultural transformation,” says Accenture’s Brundin. “And that’s exactly how Securitas approached this. 

“Initially, we worked with a core senior team at Securitas, shaping the ‘why, what and how’. We also set up a number of business playbooks to outline the business purpose and business design, and to help inform how we were planning to change our ways of working.

“Because we weren’t aiming to just introduce a shiny new tool; we wanted to inspire a new type of sales process, new ways of measuring client success, and new ways of using dashboards to track KPIs of the sales process.”

That resulted in the CRM platform – and the many benefits Dynamics 365 unlocked for the company.

Creating a modern integrated company with Dynamics 365

The success of the platform has been immediate, having already been deployed in 41 markets and onboarded some 4,500 users. 

“We’ve improved sales efficiency overall as well as client satisfaction and retention,” says Agranius. “The platform has allowed us to foster more intimate relationships with our clients, working with data and insights at a much more local level.”

The availability of data has also improved. “We have information at our fingertips now,” she continues. “That has allowed us to explore commercial synergies in a very different way by connecting the CRM with the lead side. 

“And in turn, it has inspired us to do quite a few ERP integrations which are creating more value – ultimately delivering a better, more seamless experience for our clients by connecting multiple systems into our integrated Securitas platform.”

But the real beauty of the platform, she continues, is that it’s allowing to lay the foundation for more digital transformation at Securitas. 

“What we’ve done together with Accenture, Microsoft and Avanade is building blocks for even more innovation,” she says. “From small things like automated e-signature to wider optimizations in our go-to-market strategies and how we see or capture data, we’re increasingly becoming a modern, integrated company.”

Promoting regional initiatives and change management

The ripple effects of the new CRM platform are being felt across all of Securitas’ regions and business units. For example, in the Ibero-American region, where the platform has already been deployed, a business transformation program is now connecting the platform to field services and the finance team to drive even more sales.

That, says Brundin, is testament to the huge change management and cultural transformation that Securitas and its partners have successfully implemented alongside the platform implementation. 

“In the early days of this transformation, the feeling was that Securitas was amongst the first companies of its size to do it globally,” he said. “It was a huge undertaking, never seen before. It was a massive effort but a great milestone for us and the company.”

Echoing his words, Agranius adds: “We can see just how much people have been impacted by it. Our C-suite and senior employees are showing more and more interest in it and have started using the dashboards and platform in their routines.

“That’s ultimately the biggest transformation taking place.”

A partnership for the decades to come

Speaking to Agranius and Brundin, there’s a sense of pride and excitement pervading the way they talk about the future. 

“We could not have done what we’ve achieved without the support of Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft,” says Agranius. “They know what we are good at, and we know what they’re good at, so we complement each other perfectly.” 

And with plans to further build on what’s been implemented so far already in the pipeline, the pair knows this collaboration can only continue. 

“We are continuing to look at the marketing capabilities, and further integration with our ERP systems,” she concludes. “Right now CRM is where our clients are born, so we’re really making it more and more seamless. Then there are also additional capabilities such as CPQ, and we’re looking at establishing an integrated digital experience platform too. 

“But whatever the next stage may be, it’s clear to us that the CRM platform, Microsoft, Accenture and Avanade will be there to support it.”