How the Center for Creative Leadership relies on Sunrise for Dynamics 365 support and strategic projects

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The Center for Creative Leadership is a global nonprofit organization provides a wide range of services, including courses, customized training, leadership assessments, and coaching for individuals and organizations. With operations across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific regions, the organization specializes in management training, skills development, and continuing education.

CUSTOMER PROFILE

Customer: The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is a nonprofit organization that provides leadership development training classes and resources.

Industry: Corporate training and development

Region(s): North America, EMEA, APAC

Products and services:
Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain
Dynamics 365 Project Operations
Dynamics 365 Sales
Dynamics 365 Customer Insights-Journeys
Power BI
Azure Data Warehouse
Sunrise Global Support

SITUATION

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) had already implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 but faced several post-implementation challenges. The system required ongoing maintenance and optimization, particularly for its custom Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM integrations. However, the organization’s leaders needed more than just technical support—they were looking for a strategic partner to help them expand their Microsoft footprint effectively.

A key concern was the organization’s reliance on integrations with Dynamics 365 CRM (Customer Engagement), which managed essential business data such as customers, projects, contracts, and transactions. Additionally, CCL was preparing for a major transition: migrating from Project Service Automation (PSA) to Project Operations before PSA’s deprecation in March 2025. CCL’s marketing and customer service teams also had plans to enhance their marketing capabilities and improve data reporting.

SOLUTION

Sunrise Technologies’ Global Support team stepped in as a trusted partner, taking over Dynamics 365 support while providing guidance on system optimizations, such as:

  • Stabilizing CCL’s Dynamics 365 systems by addressing post-implementation challenges and optimizing existing integrations.
  • Implementing dual-write capabilities between Finance & Operations (F&O) and CRM, ensuring smoother data synchronization.
  • Migrating from Project Service Automation to Project Operations, enabling the organization to manage projects more efficiently. Project Operations provided an all-in-one project management solution, which support the organization’s business model as a training services organization working with several contractors around the globe.
  • Implementing Dynamics 365 Customer Insights-Journeys to replace its previous system. The nonprofit had a robust marketing strategy that catered to several personas, which required orchestrating.
  • Implementing a custom, AI-driven lead routing system to reduce response times and improve customer service.
  • Expanding reporting capabilities with Power BI, augmenting the reporting team and improving analytics for better decision-making.
  • Supporting international growth by assisting with continued implementations of Dynamics 365 in new regions.

OUTCOME

With Sunrise Technologies as its advisory and technical support partner, CCL transformed its Dynamics 365 ecosystem into a more robust, future-ready platform. The migration to Project Operations streamlined project tracking, dual-write integration improved data accuracy and efficiency between systems, and the adoption of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Power BI empowered teams with better customer engagement and analytics capabilities.

Most importantly, the organization gained a strategic technology partner with Sunrise that not only stabilized CCL’s existing systems but also guided them in making informed decisions for future digital investments. CCL is now well-positioned to scale its Microsoft ecosystem while maintaining operational efficiency and global expansion.

Sunrise improves operations for nonprofits around the globe

Sunrise is a global Microsoft technology partner with experience implementing complex operational, distribution, and supply chain processes for nonprofit organizations. A unified technology platform—one that makes your funding go further, empowers team members, and helps you fulfill your organization’s mission—might be closer than you think! Contact us today or visit our nonprofit overviw page to learn more.

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