Alpha Inversiones brokerage firm in the Dominican Republic strengthens its business model with support from Dynamics 365

Alpha Inversiones is one of the most important brokerage firms in the Dominican Republic and is positioned as a prominent benchmark in the stock market. The company is dedicated to financial intermediation with the vision of offering well-being to its clients through long-term relationships and smart investments.

In 2018, after examining its technology infrastructure and consolidating its leadership's business vision, the entity prepared a digital transformation strategic plan in which it evaluated different options, preferring Microsoft technology first. 

In conjunction with C-Ven Technologies, Microsoft's partner company in the region which already had experience performing work for the financial sector, Alpha Inversiones implemented Dynamics 365 for Sales as its customer relationship management (CRM) support system. In addition, Stockcloud, a modern platform adaptable to stock market management, was deployed on Dynamics 365. Santiago de la Cruz, IT and Project Manager at Alpha Inversiones says: "The main objective of this action was to have a tool that would provide a 360-degree view of each customer, as well as follow-up for the sales force. Previously, there was no instrument where information or interactions with each customer could be consulted." 

Sales force benefits

Dynamics 365 for Sales has been a valuable tool for the Alpha Inversiones sales force. According to the IT Director, the Dominican Republic stock market is relatively new, so converting a potential customer requires a variety of business strategies. In this regard, he states that investor confidence in the securities position plays a fundamental role. 

Previously, opening an account for a new customer, it was necessary to print each user's file and initiate a manual process involving different service areas in charge of validating compliance with all requirements.

The implementation of Dynamics 365 for Sales has made it possible to strengthen investor partnerships as well as streamline and automate customer engagement processes centrally. De la Cruz matches the execution of the approach to stakeholders as follows: "When a potential customer requested to evaluate our service offering, the sales force scheduled a face-to-face visit and manually took notes. Without technologies that unified the onboarding process for new customers, we often missed the opportunity to follow up, and we lost the sale," he says. With Dynamics 365 for Sales, the previous process became automated. 

Today, the stakeholder can become an Alpha Inversiones customer from home and within minutes. The process consists of completing a web form created using a C-Ven Technologies Azure-based solution called Stockcloud. The shared data travels to the Alpha Inversiones CRM and this information is then assigned to a broker, who is responsible for completing the requirement online. Michelle Periche, Account Manager at C-Ven Technologies, states: "It's a complete solution—it helps foster investor relationships, create brokerage accounts, manage orders, and streamline operations. It increases broker productivity by consolidating operations into a single platform and has integrations to the Core and other systems." 

Better control of finance and operation

Together with its partner KCP, Alpha Inversiones implemented Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that has directly impacted internal operations. This allows for the linkage of work that was previously done manually (accounts payable and receivable, purchasing process, fixed assets, etc.), which has then translated into agility and consolidation in internal procedures. 

Cristina Bermúdez, KCP Regional Manager for the Caribbean and Central America expands: "The client used five tools to keep track of accounting in the past. It has now been simplified to a single ERP where everything is integrated, enabling better traceability and productivity." 

For the implementation of Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations as ERP, information gathering sessions were held. The KCP partner and Alpha Inversiones accounting users made their design and customization proposals considering the needs in each ERP module. Following consensus approval, the final configurations, the loading of the balances, and the start-up of the tool were carried out. Bermudez adds: "One of the major challenges was the need to complete the project in the shortest time possible. We set an ambitious six-month goal, even if it was a big challenge. Thanks to the synergy of the teams at Alpha Inversiones, KCP, and Microsoft, we were able to fulfill our purpose." 

The KCP partner offers services for different regional consulting teams, which is why it employs both in-person and remote working models. In the case of Alpha Inversiones, several project activities were carried out under these two concepts effectively and without technical complications. During the execution, it was necessary to train about 12 people within the company responsible for transmitting their knowledge to new users. Paul Saldivar, Project Manager at Alpha Inversiones notes that, "Adopting these two models was very practical for our projects as it provided facilities for the coordination of the teams, greater fluency in training, and also allowed for cost reduction." 

Integration with the superintendency's reporting system

These implementations posed significant challenges for Alpha Inversiones. Together with KCP, a customization of Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations was executed which accounted for 11% of the solution. The platform makes it easy for Alpha Inversiones to automatically generate a series of financial reports for the local securities superintendence. These are delivered continuously throughout the year as part of the requirements the company must follow to comply with local regulations. Saldivar explains: "On the one hand, we had to make sure that the processes that are carried out in the ERP are in accordance with the regulations of the superintendence, and on the other, we had to make sure that they can be integrated with the platforms that we already used. We previously used many staff hours to comply with the reports." 

In the words of Alpha's IT Director, Santiago de la Cruz: "The Dominican Republic stock market is an ever-evolving youthful market," which is why Alpha Inversiones declares itself to be a frequent player in technological growth to be able to take on the challenges of the sector. That's why it expects to continue to optimize its financial services starting with technology investment and the additional adoption of Microsoft solutions. Its intention is to meet the requirements of its customers and positively impact the nation's economy.