iA Unifies Growing Operations and Boosts Margins by 15% with Kantata
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What Kantata Replaced
When iA tripled in size in just three years, its patchwork of disconnected systems couldn’t keep up. Managing complex deployments across 400+ resources became inefficient, costly, and chaotic—hurting profitability and customer experience.
iA’s CFO, Dave Ristow, recognized the need for a unified platform that could bring clarity to their project and resource management. To regain control and support continued growth, iA turned to Kantata. With deep professional services automation (PSA) functionality built natively on the Salesforce platform and a team that understood iA’s unique needs, Kantata quickly became a cornerstone of their operations. Today, iA has full visibility, stronger collaboration, and a centralized platform that’s not only driving margin improvements, but also empowering the team to scale with confidence.
iA combines robotics, software, and services to modernize pharmacy fulfillment for health systems, retailers, and governments..
The Challenge
iA’s exponential growth came with an operational cost. As new products launched and new segments opened, the professional services team was left coordinating massive deployments using disconnected tools. Time tracking, project planning, invoicing, and resource scheduling each lived in their own separate systems, making it challenging to manage profitability, performance, or resource utilization with confidence.
Dave described it as “scary fun.” Project managers lacked shared data or a common language, which led to misaligned teams. As a result, resources sometimes arrived before parts — or vice versa. Margins were impacted.
As deployments became more complex and global, the need for a unified PSA became urgent. “Trying to bring order to that chaos — 250 specialist resources on a single project — was impossible with our legacy tools.”
Benefits
- Full 360° view of projects and profitability
- Better resource alignment across 400+ resources
- Increased customer satisfaction with on-time, efficient deployments
service margin improvement through operational efficiencies and improved project management
“With Kantata, we are all flying to a clear destination for every project. Every leader on my team now has access to the same real-time data, allowing us to make better, faster, and more informed decisions.”
CFO, iA
The Solution
Kantata stood out in a competitive RFP process thanks to its Salesforce-native architecture and proven ability to handle complex service environments. “Kantata SX being on the Salesforce instance was probably the deal maker,” Dave explained. “It was the one missing piece.”
Since deployment, Kantata has become mission-critical:
- Project plans, scope definitions, and resource allocations now live in one source of truth.
- Project managers, once operating in silos, now share a common language and actionable data.
Dave says that with Kantata, he feels like “a pilot sitting in a cockpit, looking across the instrumentation and analyzing not only the number of projects, but also the profitability, resource utilization, and ensuring we are on a glide path for financial success.” Rather than limiting that level of insight to just the CFO, Kantata ensures “every one of my team is now a pilot and they are looking at the same instrumentation, flying to a clear destination.”
And that alignment has brought peace of mind: “Kantata definitely helps me sleep better at night because I no longer have to be the one forcing the discussion around what good looks like and what needs to be done to execute against that,” says Dave.
“If you’re a CFO evaluating a PSA solution, don’t overlook Kantata. Their expertise, depth, and ability to fit into your ecosystem will give you confidence in both your financials and your operations.”
CFO, iA
The Results
Higher Margins, Less Leakage
By centralizing scope and budget management, Kantata has helped iA control out-of-scope work, enforce contracted terms, and prevent revenue leakage. This has directly translated into improved margins across services.
“The most significant benefit we’ve seen is a continuous increase in service margins. By centralizing everything in Kantata, we now manage scope to contracted terms, control out-of-scope work, and ensure resources are allocated efficiently.”
Resource Efficiency at Scale
Kantata helps iA deploy over 400 resources more effectively, matching the right expertise to the right task at the right time. This has streamlined project execution and reduced costly delays.
“Managing resources used to be chaotic — 250+ specialists across multiple deployments. With Kantata, we now have visibility into every project, ensuring the right people are in the right place at the right time.”
Built to Scale, Ready for Growth
Kantata isn’t just supporting current operations — it’s fueling iA’s expansion. With clear insights and better forecasting, the company is executing more projects and uncovering new revenue opportunities within our Professional Services practice.
“Kantata helps us identify new opportunities, execute more projects, and ultimately grow and scale more effectively.”
“Kantata has delivered transformation beyond expectation. It’s given us the visibility, control, and collaboration we needed to scale successfully. If you’re looking for a PSA that drives operational excellence, I highly recommend Kantata.”
CFO, iA