NT CADCAM Case Study

Customer Details

NT CADCAM has been a SolidWorks 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) software reseller since 1996 with a customer base of over 2600 clients in the UK. As a Tier 1 Elite reseller NT CADCAM supply and support solutions incorporating the full spectrum of the SolidWorks Corporation (part of Dassault Systèmes) product portfolio, a key component to which is SolidWorks Enterprise PDM (Product Data Management) software that uses Microsoft SQL Server as a component of its architecture.

As the install base of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM increased, they acquired more and more customers that not only required support and services for the SolidWorks Corporation software itself, but also required support and services for the Microsoft SQL Server underpinning SolidWorks Enterprise PDM.

Customer Service is a key driver within NT CADCAM and they are continually striving to improve, as well as offer new services to meet the needs of their customers and as part of this continuous improvement NT CADCAM also needed to leverage information stored in the SQL databases underpinning their key business systems.

The Brief

NT CADCAM have multi-disciplined teams across three departments all responsible for or interacting with Microsoft SQL Server, each with very different levels of experience and exposure to SQL Server, so they approached us for SQL Server training with a view to :-

• Balance the various skills and experience by providing a common foundation in SQL Server basics, security, data storage, maintenance etc.
• Extend the skill set into SQL reporting services.

Their primary business objective is to ensure they meet the demands of their customers with first class services.

Delivery

We delivered an initial 2 day SQL Server 2008 SQL Server 2008 Implementation and Maintenance course for 4 delegates in May 2012 following the prescribed syllabus and format, this was customised where required in order to meet the exact needs of the delegates by our trainer inviting the delegates to ask questions at all stages of the process. Key areas for their business applications were addressed with course material and answers to questions well presented. A willingness to cover topics of specific interest made for a lively, friendly, atmosphere that enhanced the quality of the course.

Four months later the company booked a further 3 day SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services course for 6 delegates this time to build on the skills learnt on the original Implementation and Maintenance course.

The course was again customised to meet the delegates’ business objectives and to extend their skill set so that they could use Reporting Services development tools to create and author reports, and learn how to use the Reporting Services management and administrative tools. By the end of the course we met all these objectives.

Outcome

As a direct result of the two courses delivered:

• NT CADCAM has improved the acquisition of data from internal SQL databases used to drive reports on the company intranet.
• They have a standard SQL script which monitors key system information and automatically notifies them should it go out of tolerance, enabling them to provide a more proactive support service.
• They have a range of standard SQL reports, which provides a practical benefit to their SolidWorks Enterprise PDM customers and enhances the value of their pre-configured SolidWorks Enterprise PDM foundation solution.
• They have also developed standard tools that use SQL and interact with SolidWorks Enterprise PDM through its API (Application Programming Interface), enabling them to provide more comprehensive solutions for their customers.