Global Tech Company Breaks Down Compliance Bottlenecks to Scale for Growth

As global demand for their data processing services grew, it became mission-critical to quickly set up data centers in many markets around the world. Yet there were complex trade compliance questions around exporting and importing that the company needed to answer — plus customs filings to prepare and submit — for each transaction. Many of the company’s products are subject to stringent U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) with particularly complex licensing and documentation requirements. In addition, when exporting, they must screen against restricted parties in order to meet sanctions requirements from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). When importing, the company must ensure they meet the entry requirements and have all necessary trade documents ready for each existing country of operation and each new market. The company consolidated much of this required data when they exported goods, but because compliance personnel did not have a single system to work from, they had to assemble the same data a second time for import filings. They already had a process to perform export compliance checks; however, the process was manual and slow. With rapidly increasing demand, it would lead to customs delays. The company realized an entirely different set of capabilities was needed for the next stage of growth. With these objectives in mind, a group was set up within the company specifically to handle compliance responsibilities globally. Their first step was to identify the best way to automate import and export processes to reduce bottlenecks and enable the new growth opportunities. The new system would have to automate both the compliance screenings and the export and import filings as much as possible. For efficiency as well as data reliability, it was essential that all these steps take place on a single platform.

Based in the United States, this multinational, Fortune 500® technology company provides a wide range of electronics, software and internet-related services for consumers and businesses. It operates across multiple e-commerce channels, serving millions of customers around the globe and generates annual revenues of more than $100 billion. The company uses cloud computing infrastructure— such as hard-drives, workstations, processors, server racks and cooling towers — at its data centers to provide online services. Recently, they began offering innovative consumer electronics for personal productivity, communication and entertainment. With these initiatives vital to the company’s growth, the ability to move various types of technology hardware around the world quickly and efficiently became a top priority.