For the managing director of a football club, there’s no such thing as a typical Monday morning.
For Chistoph Freund (Sports Director) and Stephan Reiter (Managing Director, Commercial) at FC Red Bull Salzburg, the start to the week is one full of fast-paced, hectic action – and technology helps them stay on top of the game.
The benefits of digital transformation – using technology to foster innovation, save costs, increase efficiency and more – for businesses continues to grow each and every day, and football clubs such as FC Red Bull Salzburg are no exception:
Warm up
For both directors, the start of the day offers the only opportunity to organise their appointments and sift through and respond to emails.
In addition, they’re presented with reports – from ticket and merchandise sales from the recent weekend, to catering sales and security incidents – from each department at the club, all of which can be accessed on their smartphones on the way into the office, and encrypted thanks to the security of the Microsoft Cloud.
“Unrestricted availability and data security are top priorities for us, especially in the mobile sector, because we receive the most important key figures from our departments on a daily basis and must be able to access them at any time, and on different devices” – Stephan Reiter, Managing Director, Commercial, FC Red Bull Salzburg.
Kick off
Once they reach the office, schedules are finalised after a round of delays and cancellations, all made with minimal hassle thanks to smartphones. Meetings with training and coaching staff are crucial too, and everything including the state of the club’s pitch is discussed in detailed reports, cast to a large monitor, complete with annotations for clarity.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is the platform used to bring these reports together, supporting real-time collaboration and security, providing a one-stop-shop sales and marketing system for hassle-free collaboration.
Skype is also utilised for instant discussion and resolution when something unexpected crops up, and comes in particularly handy when working across different time zones, especially when keeping in touch with talent scouts on the other side of the world, with instant access to the FC Red Bull Salzburg Academy database.
Christoph Freund believes that “It is a good feeling to know that you have everything in view. The digital transparency that we achieve in this way gives you the feeling of being able to take responsibility and to live up to it. That’s how it should be.”
For more information, please visit Microsoft News Centre Austria and FC Red Bull Salzburg.
