Ur&Penn Case Study | Digital Transformation in Retail

The Challenge

The Legacy Trap

In 2023, Ur&Penn found themselves at a crossroads. Their on-premise ERP—a customized Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) implementation—had served them for 19 years. But what once was a competitive advantage had become an anchor.

The Pain Points

Fragmented Data: Online and offline were separate worlds with separate inventories
Slow Sync: Stock updates took 4+ hours to propagate, causing overselling
Server Sprawl: Every store had its own server requiring maintenance
Integration Nightmares: "Spaghetti code" middleware broke with every update
Stifled Innovation: A simple promotion change required weeks of development

"We were managing server rooms in the back of every store. Our operations managers had become IT support staff. That's not what they signed up for."

Emir Saffar
CIO, Ur&Penn

The Decision

Build the Future, Don't Buy the Past

Ur&Penn evaluated the traditional path: migrate to a newer version of Dynamics or switch to another legacy ERP vendor. But every option presented the same fundamental problem—they were all built on 20-year-old architectural assumptions.

Option A: Upgrade

Upgrade to Dynamics 365

- Still on-premise architecture
- 12+ month implementation
- Same integration challenges
- Per-seat licensing model

Option B: Switch

Move to SAP or Oracle

- Enterprise complexity
- 18-24 month implementation
- Massive consultant costs
- Over-engineered for retail

Option C: Build

Create Techzola One

+ Cloud-native from day one
+ Built by retailers, for retail
+ API-first architecture
+ Real-time by design

The Migration

The "Ur&Penn Protocol"

Migrating from a legacy ERP is often compared to "open heart surgery." Here's the methodology that made it possible.

1

Data Cleaning & Mapping

Legacy data is notoriously dirty. The first phase involved exporting 17 million historical transactions and running them through cleansing scripts.

Mapping old category codes to new taxonomy
Normalizing customer phone numbers and addresses
Deduplicating SKUs and customer records
Validating VAT calculations across 20 years of data

2

The Parallel Run

Techzola One ran alongside the legacy system for three months. Every transaction was fed into both systems, and reports were compared daily.

VAT calculations matched to the penny
Inventory levels reconciled hourly
Edge cases identified and resolved
Staff trained on new interfaces

3

The Pilot Store

One high-volume store was switched over completely. Staff feedback was gathered intensively, and edge cases (like complex gift card returns) were identified and fixed.

Real transactions, real customers, real pressure
Daily feedback sessions with staff
Rapid iteration on UX pain points
Fallback plan ready (never needed)

4

The Rollout

Because OnePOS is browser-based, "deploying" to a new store meant sending a URL and login credentials. No technicians needed on-site.

10 stores per week at peak
Remote deployment via video call
Zero hardware installation required
Old servers decommissioned same day

The Results

Complete Digital Transformation

Operational Wins

Zero On-Prem Servers: All 100+ store servers decommissioned
Real-Time Inventory: Stock sync reduced from 4 hours to 500ms
Unified Data: Single view of customer across all channels
Instant Deployment: New stores live in minutes, not weeks

Financial Impact

40% TCO Reduction: Eliminated hardware, VPNs, and maintenance
Reduced Overselling: Real-time sync prevents lost sales and refunds
Staff Efficiency: Operations managers back to operations, not IT
Faster Promotions: Campaign changes in hours, not weeks

"We bet our 100-store chain on this technology. It works. And the fact that we built it ourselves—that we lived every edge case, every complex return, every Black Friday panic—means we know it can handle whatever retail throws at it."

Emir Saffar
CIO & Founder, Techzola

Changing the Engine Mid-Flight