Sault chosen for newest Microsoft customer service centre

A $2.9-million customer service centre for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 cloud service is expected to move next year into temporary quarters at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre's Accelerator Hub at 258 Queen Street East.

City councillors will learn details tonight of The Createch Group's plan to move Dynamics 365 support to the Sault from its current home in Montreal.

Thirty local jobs will be created by next April, half of them entry-level and half highly experienced IT professionals.

The number of Sault jobs could grow to as many as 250 within five years, depending on the success of the revamped customer relationship management software, the company says.

Createch's most pessimistic job-creation projections show 80 new jobs being created by 2021.

During the summer of 2018, the operation is expected to move to Level 3 in the E Wing of Sault College's new IE3 building.

City Council will be asked tonight to provide $100,000 a year over two years to Createch from the city's economic development fund, conditional on additional funding from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) and FedNor.

NOHFC is being asked for $500,000 a year for the two years.

$200,000 a year will be requested from FedNor.

Createch-Bell will supply $325,000 a year in cash and a total of $497,205 over two years in in-kind contributions.

$75,000 a year will come from Microsoft

The new IT business services and consulting centre will provide remote customer training, advisory and consulting services on the new Microsoft enterprise management software and cloud technology.

Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. says the project should grow to 50 employees over two years.

Montreal-based Createch maintains offices in Ottawa, Hamilton, Mississauga, Calgary and Quebec City.

It boasts more than 200 expert consultants with 1,200 business clients.

The Createch Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Canada.

The Sault start-up will be headed by Mario Chabot, who ran the geomatics program at Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Center from 1999 to 2003.

After a prolonged absence from Northern Ontario, Chabot is now Createch's Microsoft general manager and project lead.

It was because of his experience here that Chabot recommended the city as a potential location for the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 operation.

Here are some of the reasons Createch believes Sault Ste. Marie is an ideal location:

• On average, doing business in Sault Ste. Marie is 37 per cent cheaper than in large Canadian cities

• Many people indicate a wish to live closer to nature, in smaller communities

• There's currently no direct competition in Northern Ontario for Dynamics 365

• The Sault offers a stable local work force

• We have a large community college and two universities in the area offering IT, accounting and marketing programs that will feed the new center with well-trained employees

• While the Sault's population is mostly English, there is a significant French population in the area

• There are government funding sources to help found a new IT business in Sault Ste. Marie

• The City of Sault Ste. Marie and other stakeholders welcome the initiative 

Algoma University and Sault College are expected to collaborate in the new Createch project.

The company will hire local postsecondary graduates from local IT, accounting and marketing programs, although it's expected to also recruit outside the Sault for higher-level positions.

The following are expected salaries (including benefits):

• General manager of Services 365 (program manager) part time - $109,800
• Operation manager (S3OM) (system analyst onboarding/support) - $122,000
• Floor manager (S3FM) (system analyst for marketing/sales) - $109,800
• Information technology manager (S3ITM) (solution architect) - $109,800
• Finance/administrative coordinator - $67,100
• Human resource coordinator - $67,100
• System administrator - $67,100
• Internships (2) - $33,000
• Marketing and sales agent - $39,040
• Onboarding and support agents (3) - $39,040
• Marketing/sales agents for framework - $39,040
• Onboarding/support agents for framework - $39,040
• Project Manager 1 - $97600
• Jr. Analyst 1 - $39,040
• Jr. Developer 1 - $39,040
• Sr. System Analyst 1 - $91,500
• Sr. Developer 2 - $91,500
• Jr. Analyst 2 - $39,040
• Jr. Developer 2 - $39,040
• Int. Developer 1 - $54,900
• Jr. Analyst 3 - $39,040
• Jr. Developer 3 - $39,040

"Services 365 would represent the largest project undertaken with the potential for significant job creation in the community," says Createch's application to the city.

"It would leverage smaller, past success and launch a revolutionary platform for growth in the community....and serve as a catalyst for the transformation to the knowledge economy that the community is proactively seeking."

One big advantage offered by the project, Createch says, is the chance to establish a strong local talent pool for Microsoft cloud services.

"Through a true community-wide collaboration, it is envisioned that Sault Ste. Marie stakeholders will utilize this project and the recognition of Bell and Microsoft brands to establish a platform to train youth, repatriate young professionals that have left the community and attract young professionals to the community."

The Services 365 initiative will support software apps for five business operations: marketing, selling, onboarding, supporting and extending Dynamics 365 Business Edition.

Services will be offered in English and French.

At first, the Sault service will focus on the Canadian market, although its services will soon be offered to U.S.-based Microsoft partners as well.

Because it will be cloud-based, the Sault office will have no computer servers or traditional telephones.

Skype will be used to communicate with clients.