Accelerate growth and reduce TCO: "TIE's support is first class. They are easy to work with, know their stuff really well, and get excited about the product. This makes the programme an overwhelming success in my eyes.” (City Sports)

1. Text Jim Larkin ~ Photography Stock
BUSINESS INTEGRATION
Managing Your Business Needs
Accelerate growth
and reduce TCO
“TIE’s support is first class. equipment, geared towards running, tri- We receive one predictable bill a month,
athlon, fitness, racquet sports, swimming it solves any potential headaches, and is
They are easy to work with, and outdoor. easy to sell to upper management. It was a
know their stuff really well, Sporting-goods retailer City Sports simple decision.”
has been growing year after year, and as a TIE’s Managed Service offering is
and get excited about the result the demands and requirements of based on over 20 years of transactional
product. This makes the keeping its transactional data and proc- data experience focused
esses error-free, up to date and responsive on improving the strain
programme an overwhelm-
ing success in my eyes.”
to market conditions were also grow-
ing. The time spent manually resolving
“From on internal resources. City
Sports was able to make a
individual errors in-house, in addition
to training qualified technical personnel,
a billing seamless transition both
internally and externally to
C standpoint,
ity Sports wanted a trusted, cost- led City Sports to seek out a trusted and its vendors. TIE consult-
effective solution that would justify cost-effective solution that would justify ants worked on site to
outsourcing its EDI process. It se-
lected TIE’s all-inclusive Managed Service.
outsourcing its EDI process.
the make the B2B Managed
Services installation and
“I don’t worry about EDI anymore,” says
Dylan Bruntil, City Sports’ Director of
Managed Service TIE’s all-inclusive
Managed Service is designed to extend
Managed management as discreet
as possible to City Sports’
Information Technology. business development flawlessly in order
to accelerate growth and reduce its clients’ Service trading partners.
TIE’s Managed Service
SPORTS RETAILER City Sports is an
award-winning, speciality sports retailer.
total cost of ownership (TCO). Automat-
ing the EDI process lowers overall operat- option expertise takes the respon-
sibility of supply chain and
The company was founded in 1983 and
opened its first shop on Massachusetts
ing expenses, accelerates time to market
and leads to predictable operational costs. worked maintenance, updates and
vendor issues out of City
Avenue in Boston. The company now
operates 17 shops in metropolitan loca-
Managed Service customers enjoy the lat-
est TIE technology, optimised eBusiness out very Sports’ hands and allows
the company to focus on
tions in Boston, Providence, New York,
Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore
processes, and a standardisation of the
way they connect to their customers and well for us” what matters: growing its
business. “TIE’s Man-
and Atlanta, as well as online at citysports. partners electronically. aged Service helps us to
com. City Sports caters to the athletic “I’m thankful the Managed Service op- be proactive, efficient and
adult who lives, works or studies in the tion was made available to us,” says Dylan Bruntil. “I don’t compliant. Vendors’ com-
city. Its product assortment focuses on worry about EDI anymore.” From a billing standpoint, plaints aren’t my problem
high-performance footwear, clothing and the Managed Service option worked out very well for us. anymore.”
P12 ~ 2/2010 ~ TIE

2. City Sports
City Sports stores have a neighborhood
feel. The website offers another way for
customers to access that same City Sports
experience from their own computer.
TIE ~ 2/2010~ P13