In the ever-evolving landscape of enterprise systems and data management, ABB Optical Group faced a formidable challenge. With decades of experience as a trusted partner in the optical industry, they needed to modernize their systems and bring clarity to their operations.
The objective was clear: transition from legacy systems dating back to the 80s to a modern CRM platform, streamline data management, and ensure company-wide buy-in.
From the initial blurry vision of their future to achieving a crystal-clear 20/20 view of their systems, discover how 1406 Consulting's expertise, deep insights, and HubSpot solutions helped ABB Optical Group overhaul their internal processes, driving growth, efficiency, and a renewed focus on their clients.
"I felt a sense of relief that there was an unbiased third party steering the ship. I understood my job better because of 1406 Consulting's cross-departmental reach."
— Nicole Johnson, Sr. Marketing Manager - ABB Optical
ABB Optical Group and 1406 Consulting initiated the project with an extensive discovery process to fully understand the existing systems and desired states, particularly considering decades of legacy data. This foundational phase ensured alignment across all four business units and established clear requirements for the modernization effort.
The approach involved strategic phases designed to demonstrate value incrementally while managing complexity. Rather than a single "big bang" migration, 1406 Consulting structured the work into distinct phases—from sandbox validation through production launch—to ensure a smooth transition from antiquated systems to a modern CRM platform.
1406 Consulting provided hands-on training, standard operating procedures, and ongoing advisory support to ensure that ABB Optical Group's teams could effectively leverage HubSpot, promoting data maintenance and best practices across all departments and business units.
The partnership included periodic optimization and refinement to identify areas for improvement, ensuring that ABB Optical Group consistently optimized its use of the CRM platform to achieve better business growth and efficiency.
The engagement began with deep discovery across ABB Optical's legacy systems, identifying data structures, business processes, and system interdependencies that had evolved over decades.
1406 Consulting worked cross-functionally with stakeholders across all four business units to map requirements, understand product categorization complexities, and establish the master data framework needed for modernization. This phase ensured alignment on the desired future state and identified all technical and organizational considerations.
With requirements locked, the team moved into sandbox environments to test integrations without impacting live operations.
This phase focused on validating data mappings, testing integration capabilities, and proving the architecture could handle ABB Optical's data complexity. Proof-of-concept work demonstrated feasibility before production launch, de-risking the implementation.
As go-live approached, 1406 Consulting implemented a carefully orchestrated rollout with checkpoint validation at each stage. The production launch commenced with the migration of 20 million WDS sales records into HubSpot—a significant data migration requiring meticulous planning and validation.
Simultaneously, 10+ million FloFIN orders were brought into the system and properly reconciled. This phase demonstrated 1406 Consulting's enterprise data management capability, successfully harmonizing data from multiple legacy systems into a unified platform.
Post-launch, 1406 Consulting focused on optimizing system performance and data quality. Custom object auto-cleanup processes removed 600,000 records, freeing approximately 33% of object storage limits and improving system efficiency.
The team converted historical deal data from monthly aggregated views to daily order-level granularity, providing ABB Optical with far more precise reporting and business intelligence. Record associations and data quality issues were systematically addressed, ensuring data integrity across the enterprise.
Ongoing optimization sessions identified and addressed emerging needs, refined workflows based on real-world usage patterns, and continuously improved system utilization across all four business units.
This phase proved that successful HubSpot implementations require sustained focus on optimization rather than assuming value delivery ends at go-live.
1406 Consulting successfully managed enterprise-grade data complexity that demonstrated the sophistication of the engagement:
ABB Optical Group's partnership with 1406 Consulting showcases more than a successful CRM implementation—it demonstrates the ability to manage complex enterprise data modernization at scale.
By bringing 20 million sales records and 10+ million orders into a unified system, improving data efficiency by 33%, and enabling 200+ users across four business units to operate on clean, accessible data, 1406 Consulting proved its capability to transform legacy systems into modern, efficient platforms that drive business growth.
The 20 hours per week saved by key stakeholders isn't just about efficiency—it's about freeing leadership to focus on strategic initiatives rather than wrestling with data silos and manual processes. That's the tangible value of enterprise CRM modernization done right.
ABB Optical Group went from managing decades of legacy systems across fragmented data sources to operating on a unified, modern CRM platform. This freed 20 hours per week for key stakeholders while enabling 200+ employees to scale operations with confidence. Your organization can achieve similar results.
Whether you're modernizing legacy infrastructure or optimizing existing systems, 1406 Consulting brings the technical expertise, enterprise data management capability, and strategic partnership approach needed to drive real, measurable growth.
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