Argano and K3: Pioneering high-performance operations in fashion and retail

In a concerted effort to further high-performance operations and digital transformation in the retail and fashion markets, K3 — a leader in technology solutions for said markets — is delighted to announce that it has officially partnered with long-time collaborator and leading digital consultancy Argano.

Argano, the world’s largest digital consultancy exclusively connecting design and delivery for the transformation of high-performance operations, is a global business with clients operating across many industries, including manufacturing, distribution, and retail. As a multiple Microsoft Partner of the Year winner that has developed IP extending Microsoft solutions, Argano is a leader in the Microsoft ecosystem.

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Charlotte McCormick, President of Argano’s Microsoft practice and Tyler Barron, Senior Director of Delivery, to unpack the partnership.

Industry expertise makes the difference

In 2022, ITK Solutions, Argano enhanced its portfolio with ITK Solutions — a Microsoft partner with a focus on retail. This addition brought a new level of expertise to an industry that, post-pandemic, was undergoing massive transformation.

“We’d already worked with ITK across multiple projects and could vouch for its expertise. At the time it joined Argano, we were expanding our footprint in retail, so ITK provided an important piece of our plan to provide additional and complementary capabilities to drive more client impact within the market,” said Charlotte.

Most critical in Argano’s retail foundation is the fact it has multiple consultants who joined from the fashion and retail industries rather than other Microsoft partners or platform providers.

“We have people from all across the retail spectrum, including former retail managers, buyers, and planners,” added Tyler. “This real-world experience is invaluable. It ensures that our solutions resonate more effectively with our clients and meet operational challenges head-on. It’s the kind of insight that can only come from people within the industry.”

Serving retail and fashion more completely with K3

With Argano’s abundant expertise in Microsoft’s solutions, such as Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Azure, and K3 being the only Global Independent Software Vendor with fully embedded code in Dynamics 365 for fashion and apparel, the partnership was a natural fit.

“Argano has been doing business with K3 for a while, making it easy to come together,” said Charlotte. “K3 is a known and trusted ISV for Dynamics as well as a leader in serving retail and fashion. Combining its industry-specific tools and experience with our Microsoft stack expertise makes us, I believe, one of the strongest fits for retailers seeking to supercharge operations.”

“Specifically,” added Tyler. “K3’s specialized functionality, like the apparel-specific order grid and prepacks, directly address the nuanced needs of the fashion and retail market. Most of these retail and fashion features are not necessarily baked into the Microsoft stack. But with K3’s IP and Argano’s support and expertise, they can now be part of a full-featured ERP for fashion and retail. And that’s without mentioning our own IP.”

A custom fit for high-performance operations

As mentioned, Argano’s expertise extends beyond Dynamics. By leveraging Microsoft’s low-code development suite — Power Platform — and the expertise of its own engineers, Argano routinely builds IP that helps extend Dynamics and better support clients in retail.

The unique tools Argano offers focus on specific lines of business, such as finance, operations, customer engagement, and data insights. Specific examples include Master Data Centralization and One Step Consolidation.

Argano’s Master Data Centralization helps brands centralize control and the management of their data from multiple locations to de-silo the management of shopper, vendor, and product data.

Similarly, the One Step Consolidation provides a single interface for entering all consolidation criteria with pre-set configurations to make brands lives’ easier.

“Our ability to create almost any application to handle complex, large enterprise scenarios globally positions us uniquely in the market, especially fashion retail, where the demands are not just about managing operations but also adapting quickly to market changes,” said Tyler.

Empowering clients to adapt quickly is at the core of Argano’s business, as it delivers both the business strategies and technologies that empower clients with more accurate and actionable data and the tools to act on that data.

This is where the partnership with K3 bears even more fruit. The fully embedded nature of K3’s fashion solution fundamentally connects people, processes, data and technology, giving clients the insights they need exactly when they need them.

As the interview drew to a close, it was clear that Argano and K3 were all-in on fashion and retail. Both companies have already made in-roads to serve, support, and transform companies within the global market.

If you’d like to learn more about the partnership and how Argano, K3, and Microsoft can help you drive high-performance operations, drop us a line today.