CaseNine Academy: Getting a better grip on your CPQ platform

CaseNine Academy: Getting a better grip on your CPQ platform

Want to get more out of your CPQ implementation and ensure that employees receive optimal training? Recently CaseNine Academy was launched: tailor-made trainings aimed at the specific implementation within the organization. Yannick van Eldik, co-founder of CaseNine, talks about the added value. "Organizations finally get the opportunity to have more control over the entire platform."

Participant response:
"The practical assignment was nicely conceived, ties in with what is already implemented with us and gave me a better understanding of what can be done. Nicely done!"

Recently, the CaseNine Academy was introduced. What does the CaseNine Academy entail?

"In recent months, we have achieved several milestones at CaseNine. One important one is the implementation of Salesforce Industries Energy and Utilities Cloud (formerly Vlocity) at one of our customers, a large energy supplier. The implementation went live early this year. The customer already had a Continuous Improvement Team in place: a CV team. That group consists of employees who are responsible for the entire Salesforce platform. It is important that the CV team receives good training. Only then will you ensure that you get the most out of the CPQ implementation and that the organization can work as independently as possible. The latter is nice: as an organization you keep control and it is clear which parts are done in-house or by an external partner. To make this possible, we introduced CaseNine Academy this year."

As an organization, what can you expect from CaseNine Academy regarding CPQ?

"CaseNine Academy offers several training courses in the field of CPQ. The courses themselves are provided by our Lead Developers. This offers several advantages: the information is not only of a high level, but also comes from first-hand experience. Moreover, the Lead Developers are aware of the latest developments and know the customer's situation in detail. This allows them to respond well to the current situation and make use of relevant issues. This is a tailor-made training curriculum, where you, as an organization, indicate which components you want to follow."

"As an organization, you specify which components you want to follow," he said.

What are the main goals of such training?

"The course targets members of the in-house development team and has three main goals. First, the Academy helps everyone gain sufficient basic knowledge of Salesforce Industries. Based on both theory and implementation, employees can then make their own design choices and work independently on user-stories. CaseNine Academy thus ensures that organizations get a better grip on the platform and can maintain it as independently as possible. For the management layer, the training also has an important feature: the curriculum is plotted on the solution architecture. If certain components are not followed, then it is immediately clear for which components (for example, Pricing) there remains a dependence on external parties. Based on this insight, the organization can make the right strategic decisions."

What sets CaseNine Academy apart?

"Unique to CaseNine Academy is the content of the training plan. There is classroom training for general topics, based on Salesforce Industries' training material. However, that is supplemented by customized training material specifically for implementation at the organization itself. So the training finally becomes relevant to the customer situation, which is unique in the market. To give an example: for the training at an energy supplier we worked with the assignment to develop a new energy proposition. We always discuss such a business case in advance with the client.

How does this connect to CPQ?

We measure progress by plotting the curriculum topics on the solution (component) architecture. This allows you to see immediately what the knowledge level is and what knowledge is still missing for total management of the CPQ solution. At each start of the track, we make a detailed assessment of the current knowledge level together. At the completion of a track, the progress report is updated."

"CaseNine Academy's trainings are based on actual implementation and the platform used, rather than on a general case study."

As an organization, how can you take the first steps toward CaseNine Academy?

"In a conversation, we always first go through the wishes and ambitions of both the organization and the members of the in-house team. We put together the curriculum based on the actual CPQ implementation and work with a layering of topics: from basic knowledge to more advanced topics and then break it down into profiles: for example, an 'Admin Track' and a 'Developer Track'. CaseNine Academy thus offers the necessary flexibility and is tailored to the situation at the organization."

The average turnaround time for a module at CaseNine Academy depends on which module you choose, but is always tailored to your organization's schedule.

Yannick van Eldik

Co-founder

Yannick van Eldik is a co-founder of CaseNine. Moreover, Yannick is closely involved in both sales and content projects. He helps organizations to optimally set up Salesforce solutions, but also acts as a discussion partner for strategic issues.