Kingston Builds Cloud-Based BPM System with Microsoft Power Platform, Sees Soaring Business Agility

Take Kingston, the world’s largest third-party memory manufacturer, as an example. In the wake of the 2020 pandemic outbreak, the company realized the importance of creating a collaborative platform that would increase flexibility and agility. After transferring email services to a cloud platform a few years ago, Kingston eventually transferred Domino/Notes form and workflow processes to Microsoft Power Platform in 2020. The new generation cloud-based approval platform allows teams to work closely to respond and adapt to market changes in real-time. 

Edward Kuo, Senior IT Manager at Kingston and Microsoft Regional Director, noted that Kingston, with a total of more than 100 approval forms, had many challenges to face with a transfer. However, there were three major problems with the Domino/Notes system they had been using for years. First, the forms/workflow systems were outdated, meaning that they were incompatible with mobile devices. They could only be used via computer, causing numerous inconveniences for team members. Secondly, connection quality for team members across regions was spotty, meaning large amounts of time were wasted on unnecessary waiting, which made smooth cross-regional collaboration difficult to achieve. Finally, the outdated approval system had a poorly designed and inflexible user interface, which was incompatible with operation needs. Due to these reasons, Kingston decided to employ Microsoft Power Platform to build a new cloud-based approval system.

The Secure, Easy-to-Use, Low-Code Development Platform is Embraced by Kingston’s IT Team

Founded in 1987, Kingston’s global operations include 18 regional offices and a distribution network located in more than 175 cities around the world. Their products, which are widely used in consumer electronics, businesses, and industry, include memory units, SSDs, USB flash drives, memory cards, card readers, and embedded memory products. In the highly competitive high-tech industry, Kingston’s key to maintaining its market leadership lies in proactive investment in R&D as well as willingness to use cutting-edge technologies to improve employee efficiency and strengthen market competitiveness. 

In an era of a constant stream of new technology, Kingston understands that a grasp of the changing consumer market is necessary to be the first to produce technologies that consumers need. To achieve this goal, operation process efficiency is essential.

As Edward Kuo pointed out, the company used to operate its email and approval systems on Domino/Notes, eventually transferring email over to Microsoft 365 in 2018. By 2020, Kingston, in evaluating new approval solutions, needed a solution that was secure, compatible with other Microsoft products, and supported low-code development. Ultimately, Microsoft Power Platform stood out as the best choice for their business process platform.

Jason Fan, Senior IT Manager at Kingston, went on to describe how the IT team worked with SoftwareONE Taiwan, one of Microsoft’s partners in Taiwan, to develop Kingston’s Workflow Platform based on Power Apps. With further optimization in UX/UI design from the IT team, Power Apps grew from a simply drag and drop design to a platform that responded to user needs, creating the possibility of agile software development that could quickly produce complex code while remaining easy to maintain. 

The SoftwareONE Taiwan consultant team and Kingston framework team designed the Kingston Workflow Platform to allow non-programmers to easily create approval systems on their own and quickly verify user approval processes. Thanks to Workflow Platform, the IT team is finally free from worrying about constant changes in approval processes. In addition, hands-on training from SoftwareONE Taiwan gave team members basic ability with Power Apps, allowing them to adapt to new applications more easily in the future.

Securing Data with Azure Active Directory

In addition to rapid development, information security is another big incentive. Most companies resist adopting public cloud services out of fear of data breaches. However, Kingston has long understood that cloud services are necessary to scale business at a rapid pace to meet growth needs. Microsoft Dataverse, the data platform at the heart of Microsoft Power Platform, features convenient data structure definition processes and integrates well with Azure Active Directory. It streamlines employee identity verification through multi-factor authentication (MFA) and ensures excellent security through a role-based permissions system to effectively protect data in the cloud-based approval platform.

What is more, Power Platform integrates seamlessly within the Microsoft ecosystem, such as with Microsoft Teams and Outlook. Approval updates can be sent in real time through Teams for a smoother overall collaboration experience.

“The low-code development features of Microsoft Power Platform were an important factor in our decision to use it,” Edward Kuo went on to explain, “Kingston’s global program development team has limited manpower. We hope that, in the future, the non-coding team in the IT department will be able to manage the development of the cloud-based approval system. Our team members who are less proficient at writing code can get started easily on this low-code development platform. Through simple coding and a drag-and-drop interface, they can also be part of the development team. Overall team productivity is estimated to increase by more than 50%.” During the proof of concept (POC) stage, team members could create forms on Power Apps after only a short time of using Power Platform, a marked difference from the difficult Domino/Notes-based process. Team members at Kingston’s Shanghai office have begun designing an approval system for local colleagues, which has greatly reduced the workload for the program development team, offering further proof that the forms and processes of Domino/Notes can indeed be rebuilt using Microsoft 365 and Power Platform.

In the post-pandemic age, a hybrid working culture has become the norm. The speed at which companies drive digital transformation will determine their competitiveness in the marketplace. Microsoft Power Platform integrates a variety of data sources and features over 500 built-in data connectors, which means connection to independent ERP or MES databases has never been easier. The service creates infinite possibilities and helps provide consistent user experience. Kingston is scheduled to move 80% of its business processes/forms to Microsoft Power Platform by 2022 to meet the needs of employees working in different environments and set a foundation for the company’s long-term development.