As a global economic leader in computing products and services, Sun Microsystem's large customer base covers all industries and is spread throughout the world. With 100,000 customers (of which 20,000 have active A/R balances at any given time) scattered across 20+ countries, the credit function at Sun Microsystems was operating in a complex international environment with multiple currencies and languages, yet it lacked the tools to consistently and efficiently handle credit processing. Further complications arose from the fact that each country had local agreements with data suppliers. Finally, Sun needed automation to help with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

After a thorough analysis of a number of vendors in the industry, Sun Microsystems chose eCredit Enterprise Edition as the solution best equipped to help them meet their corporate objectives. eCredit would provide Sun with much needed multi-bureau access, which would allow the credit department to base its decisions on the most consistently available data. eCredit also provided the flexibility to adapt processes, scorecards, workflow and sources of information for different localities. In addition, the standard global tools provided by eCredit would enable the control and measurement required by Sarbanes-Oxley.

Using eCredit, Sun Microsystems now has the potential to reduce the time it takes to get a credit validation on a customer account down to 2-3 minutes. Current processing volumes are around 500 applications/month so the time savings has been significant. This extra time has allowed for highly skilled staff to focus on more high risk, high value accounts which in turn will help reduce late payments and write-offs. Credit has been made into a streamlined transactional process, where a high percentageof the credit applications are automatically processed and the upfront analytical work is already done by the system.

The implementation of authority levels in eCredit ensures that higher value applications are authorized by those that have the authority to approve them, thus eliminating the need to send applications from person to person until they are approved and ensuring compliance with Sarbanes Oxley and other audit requirements. eCredit's automation capabilities have also allowed Sun Microsystems to set rules that can recommend the highest possible limit, eliminating some of the subjectivity involved in approving credit lines and helping target those accounts that have the capability to generate more revenue without risk.

"In order to efficiently and effectively run our credit operations across the globe, we needed a solution which would apply our credit policies, while also providing for the unique characteristics of each regional credit application," said Kevin Corcoran, Sun Global Credit Architect. "eCredit Enterprise Edition was best tailored to meet the needs of our distributed credit department, and it exceeds our expectations for the flexibility and power it delivers."

eCredit's workflow tools enable better communication and understanding of decision-making processes and make it easier to comply with such regulations as Sarbanes-Oxley. Standard credit policies and increased documentation capabilities let credit analysts easily track how decisions are made and flag problematic accounts for periodic review.

eCredit's workflow tools enable better communication and understanding of decision-making processes and make it easier to comply with such regulations as Sarbanes-Oxley. Standard credit policies and increased documentation capabilities let credit analysts easily track how decisions are made and flag problematic accounts for periodic review.

By standardizing global credit operations, Sun Microsystems has been able to define and deliver a consistent process that reflects how they wish to do business and offers the support to manage exceptions to the standard process. Credit has thus been transformed into a cash driver through the credit department's understanding of those accounts that are more likely to fail or be delinquent and taking appropriate steps to secure the debt. Sun Microsystems has also achieved better allocation of qualified staff to high value accounts and reduced duplication of efforts through automatic population of a credit analyst's work queue. Finally, eCredit provides more transparency into accounts' ability to pay leading to higher acceptance rates. "We have gained significant process efficiencies and seen dramatic improvements in the quality of credit decisions being made, and eCredit will continue to be a principal element in successfully supporting the growth targets of our global operations," added Corcoran.