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HSO's customer case studies
Manufacturing
The advantages of automation, AI, and machine learning have caused a shift toward smart factories and data-driven manufacturers. We help you to become competitive, innovative, and resilient.
Financial Services
How to navigate intense competition, stay in compliance with ever-changing regulations and leverage commercial opportunities. We help you create an IT landscape that enables efficient operations and connects processes and data.
Professional Services
People-centered, client-focused and project-driven: that’s professional services in a nutshell. We design and implement technology solutions that enable better decision-making and effective working.
Retail & Distribution
We modernize the retail workplace, bringing previously unseen insights to the business, implementing intelligent order management and get you closer to your customer.
Public Sector
HSO helps public and government organizations to meet and leverage increasing expectations for digital service, responsiveness and transparency.
Non-Profit
We support Non-Profits by modernizing applications, automating processes, and providing insight. Through technology, we nourish successful relationship management and enable greater impact.
What we do
HSO is one of the world’s top business solution and implementation partners, large enough to serve, small enough to care. Through our services, we help companies transform the way they work and improve business performance.
Business Applications
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Applications for ERP and CRM are leading in the industry. But their real strength is in the integration. Combined, they deliver even more value.
Cloud Services
HSO has a proven track record in supporting our customers in their cloud journey. With your business in mind, we offer a comprehensive suite of services to help you gain value from the cloud.
Data & AI
We help customers build an operational and future-proof data platform, ready to realize business value from AI and machine learning technologies.
Our Solutions
HSO develops industry-specific solutions that leverage the latest cloud and AI technologies from Microsoft, accelerating our customers' digital transformation.
Join HSO
Our workforce is a growing dynamic, unique, and diverse global community that is quality and performance-driven. For every stage in your career, we offer challenging opportunities. We look forward to meeting you!
Life at HSO
We are a global community of people with an entrepreneurial spirit, in an environment where you can really make a difference and have your voice heard. We constantly challenge ourselves to be better. Come join the journey with us!
Graduate Programs
Skyrocket your career with our graduate programs and accredited certification opportunities at HSO around the world!
HSO Academy
From technical skills, soft skills, mentorships, leadership coaching, masterclasses, informal knowledge sharing and globally recognised certifications - HSO Academy is your personal and professional knowledge accelerator.
Vacancies
Find opportunities in Consultancy & Technology, Project Management, Leadership, Sales and Business Development, Marketing, Legal and HR.
Join HSO
Our workforce is a growing dynamic, unique, and diverse global community that is quality and performance-driven. For every stage in your career, we offer challenging opportunities. We look forward to meeting you!
Life at HSO
We are a global community of people with an entrepreneurial spirit, in an environment where you can really make a difference and have your voice heard. We constantly challenge ourselves to be better. Come join the journey with us!
Graduate Programs
Skyrocket your career with our graduate programs and accredited certification opportunities at HSO around the world!
HSO Academy
From technical skills, soft skills, mentorships, leadership coaching, masterclasses, informal knowledge sharing and globally recognised certifications - HSO Academy is your personal and professional knowledge accelerator.
Vacancies
Find opportunities in Consultancy & Technology, Project Management, Leadership, Sales and Business Development, Marketing, Legal and HR.
HEINEKEN UK and HSO Tap Microsoft Power Platform for New Point of Sales System ‘HeiPOS’
HEINEKEN UK needed greater visibility and control over its Point of Sale (POS) materials. With support from HSO and Microsoft Power Platform, they developed a dynamic, flexible solution delivering full control and real-time insights.
Raising the Bar: HEINEKEN UK and HSO Tap Microsoft Power Platform for New Point of Sales System ‘HeiPOS’
As the nation’s leading brewer, HEINEKEN UK boasts a portfolio of iconic beers and ciders like Foster’s, Cruzcampo, Birra Moretti, Strongbow, Inch’s, its flagship Heineken® in distinctive green bottle, and many more. Each of these brands is supported with an extensive range of promotional Point Of Sale (POS) materials, from glassware and bar mats to coasters and parasols. These items provide functional benefits for our customers, encouraging more consumers to visit, stay longer and spend more money, as well as driving brand visibility for pubs, clubs and restaurants across the country.
In late 2022, HEINEKEN UK identified an opportunity to overhaul its POS system to improve efficiency, reporting and cost-effectiveness. Since 2007, the company had relied on third-party providers for POS solutions. While functional, these systems lacked the flexibility, customisation and real-time visibility needed to meet shifting demand.
HEINEKEN UK had been running externally sourced systems for years, but it was becoming clear we needed more control and agility. The limitations of an externally managed platform were holding us back. It was time to invest in a solution that offered greater visibility, control and user experience.
A Partnership with Purpose
To reduce external licensing and support fees and to gain better control of its POS system, HEINEKEN UK decided to bring the system in-house and sought the expertise of HSO, a Microsoft solutions specialist with a proven track record of delivering transformative business change.
HSO used Microsoft Power Platform –already a trusted part of HEINEKEN UKs global IT estate – to design, build and deliver a customised system, dubbed ‘HeiPOS.’
“We knew what we needed from the outset, which allowed us to move quickly,” Dave notes. “The flexibility of Microsoft Power Platform, combined with HSO’s technical expertise and strategic insight, was key to creating a solution that could evolve with HEINEKEN UK’s needs.”
Instead of adapting a pre-built external solution, HeiPOS was delivered from scratch using Power Platform’s low-code tools. This rapid, iterative and collaborative approach accelerated development while ensuring the new system met HEINEKEN UK’s unique requirements.
An initial Proof of Concept, covering core functionality, was developed in just eight weeks. From there, the main build phase took five months, with Azure and API functionality used to fully integrate HeiPOS with HEINEKEN UK’s network of POS fulfilment partners. The result? A fully integrated enterprise-level POS solution that was built, tested and launched in little over 12 months.
In its first six months, HeiPOS has processed over 80,000 orders, shipping more than 600 promotional POS items to 20,000+ outlets, with delivery orchestrated from four primary fulfilment centres and almost 50 additional suppliers.
A Platform for Growth
At the core of HeiPOS lies Microsoft Power Platform, a suite of low-code tools that empower users to create custom business applications, automate processes and gain actionable insights from data. Already used significantly by HEINEKEN N.V., for HEINEKEN UK, it proved the perfect platform to build a scalable solution that offered full control and ownership.
Microsoft Power Platform consists of four product areas:
These tools can be used individually or together, all underpinned by native integration with the industry-leading Microsoft Azure Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365.
Power Pages is the latest addition, enabling the team to quickly build a secure, web-based portal for managing POS orders, tracking inventory and generating real-time reports.
Power Pages enabled us to develop a user-friendly interface at speed.
We created a solution that met HEINEKEN UK’s needs and fully integrated with Microsoft Dynamics and Azure, ensuring seamless data flow and enterprise-grade security.
Leveraging the low-code capabilities of Power Platform, the team bypassed the long timelines associated with traditional software projects to build a solution capable of handling a high volume of orders, while designed to scale for future growth.
“The ability to interrogate and work with real-time data was a game-changer,” says Dave Pigott. “The functionality provided by Power Platform we could only have dreamt of with the previous system.”
Full Visibility and Control
A key challenge with the legacy system was its lack of transparency. With no way to see into data managed by external suppliers, HEINEKEN UK had to rely on third-party confirmations – a time-consuming process. HeiPOS now offers complete visibility over POS materials moving through the system, streamlining daily operations and significantly boosting efficiency.
The solution’s use of Model-Driven Apps provides seamless control of POS operations, while Power Pages allows 95% of users to access the system through a simple URL, enhancing the overall design and user engagement.
Before Power Platform, even minor changes – such as generating new reports – were costly and cumbersome. Now, HEINEKEN UK can create and adapt reports independently thanks to the platform’s intuitive design. This new agility enables marketing and sales teams to respond in real time, making business operations more dynamic and agile.
The speed of deployment and performance of the Power Platform architecture since implementation has left HEINEKEN UK delighted with the results. According to a senior HEINEKEN UK team member, this deployment has been one of the smoothest and most effective they’ve ever experienced.
Future-Proofing Operations
Beyond immediate benefits like reduced operational costs, HEINEKEN UK’s choice to leverage Microsoft Power Platform has future-proofed its operations. The platform’s scalability ensures that HeiPOS can adapt as the business grows and new demands emerge.
“The adaptability built into Power Platform and its low-code approach allows us to continually optimise the system,” Dave Pigott explains. “Whether integrating new data sources, automating additional workflows or creating custom reports, we now have the tools and agility to stay ahead.”
The project demonstrates the strong partnership between HEINEKEN UK and HSO. As a long-standing member of Microsoft’s Inner Circle, representing the top 1% of Microsoft’s Global Partners, HSO brought both technical expertise and strategic insight to deliver a solution aligned with HEINEKEN UK’s business goals.
“HSO understood our goals from day one,” Dave says. “Their deep knowledge of Microsoft Power Platform, along with their experience in delivering complex projects on tight deadlines, made them the perfect partner for this journey.”
“It’s been a pleasure working with HEINEKEN UK on refreshing their POS system,” Reece concludes. “Together, we’ve built a foundation for continued innovation and growth – something any business can raise a glass to.”
How Heineken UK’s New POS System Achieved Efficiency and Significant Cost Savings
Discover how Heineken UK revolutionised its point-of-sale material distribution by bringing their system in-house using Microsoft Power Platform. In this interview, Dave Piggott, Product Owner and Project Manager, shares how his team in collaboration with Microsoft Partner, HSO, overcame third-party limitations, reduced costs, and achieved unprecedented flexibility—all within eight months!
Learn why aligning technology with business goals was key to their success, and how partnering with the right Microsoft Partner made all the difference. A game-changing interview for business leaders ready to turn their vision into value—faster and smarter.
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