M2.

Situation

M2 is a Berlin-based IT & cloud-consulting firm that operates across the entire data-value chain. Their projects range in scope and complexity, from short-term engagements to multi-year, large-scale contracts. With such a wide variety of project sizes and durations, the firm’s resource management and project oversight became increasingly complex. Their existing tools, Harvest & Harvest Forecast, provided only limited functionality for their needs, struggling to handle the challenges of resource allocation, time tracking, and project controlling. As M2’s workload and project portfolio grew, so did the inefficiencies in their systems, prompting the need for a more robust solution.

Challenge

M2 faced challenges in optimizing their processes, particularly around resource planning and project management. “Our previous system made it difficult to track resources consistently across departments,” shared Stefan Grube, Lead of PMO & Sr. Project Manager. “While we managed to handle absences and vacations, the manual entry process caused occasional inefficiencies. In terms of project budgeting, tools allowed for overbooking, making it hard to monitor unused budgets early, which affected both spending and resource utilization.”

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Time tracking posed its own challenges, as the existing interface wasn’t user-friendly, leading to some difficulty in capturing time accurately. Billing complexity, due to diverse project models, resulted in the need for manual adjustments and occasional invoice corrections. “The diversity in our billing models made it tricky to integrate everything seamlessly,” Stefan explained. “Additionally, workflow automation was limited, with few triggers based on project status changes, creating room for further optimization in streamlining processes.”

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Impact

The implementation of CoffeeCup resulted in a dramatic transformation for M2. "Now, we have a transparent overview of our employee resources and project assignments," Stefan explained. With CoffeeCup, they were able to automate resource tracking and help with project management, allowing them to stay agile. "Project configurations are much easier to maintain now; we can adjust to changing conditions quickly and without hassle" he added. The impact on financial control was also significant. "With the new dashboards, project and budget statuses are much easier to monitor. We can’t overbook projects anymore, and we get alerts when we’re approaching budget limits."

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Time tracking improved noticeably as well. "It’s faster, easier, and much more accurate," said Stefan, referring to the modernized interfaces and native apps CoffeeCup provided. "Our employees are increasingly motivated to use it now", he added. The integration with Jira has been particularly valuable. "Our development teams love the Jira integration; it makes their lives so much easier with time tracking”. Automated approval processes have also reduced the need for back-and-forth emails. "We no longer have to send emails or Slack messages to fix time entries—everything runs smoothly in the tool.”

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Billing has become more accurate and efficient as well. "Now we can mark time entries as invoiced, which prevents issues after invoicing," Stefan noted. They can also manage external expenses like hosting costs directly in CoffeeCup. "We used to do most of that manually in Excel; now it’s all right in CoffeeCup”. Integrations with other tools like Salesforce and sevdesk have allowed M2 to automate many processes. "We’ve automated processes we never thought possible before," Stefan added. "The integration with Salesforce and sevDesk has been a game-changer for us."