Polaris

From Legacy CRM to Unified Platform – Cantarus' Long-Term Partnership with Pics Care, CAG, and Polaris Community

Cantarus began working with Pics Care and implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 to manage their fostering enquiries. Several years after working with Pics Care it was acquired by Core Assets Group (CAG) and the group became what is now known as Polaris Community.

At the time, Pics Care was operating independently and required a robust CRM solution to support its recruitment and care operations. Cantarus implemented a tailored Dynamics 365 system that would later become the foundation for a group-wide CRM platform adopted by CAG and eventually by Polaris Community.

The Challenge

When CAG acquired Pics Care, they were already using an instance of Microsoft Dynamics 365. The instance they were using a poorly configured Dynamics 365 instance with limited integration, inconsistent workflows, and high dependency on manual processes. The challenge was to unify the CRM environment across brands while preserving the operational strengths of the Pics Care implementation.

Our Approach

Cantarus' long-standing relationship with Pics Care positioned it uniquely to lead the transformation. The strategy involved:

Preserving and scaling the Pics Care instance: Rather than starting from scratch, the existing Dynamics 365 configuration was migrated to the new Nutrius tenant, ensuring continuity and minimising disruption.
Tenant migration and licensing: Cantarus coordinated with IT teams to provision administrator accounts and migrate licensing across tenants.
Performance optimisation: Legacy issues from the CAG CRM were resolved, including slow performance and data migration challenges.
Support and development planning: A multi-year support contract was adopted, with flexibility allowing the group to operate with confidence.
Infrastructure advisory: Cantarus advised against on-premise hosting due to cost, complexity, and feature limitations, recommending a cloud-based Dynamics 365 solution for scalability and security.

Key Milestones

2017–2019: Initial implementation and administrator provisioning for Pics Care.
2020: Strategic planning for group-wide CRM adoption post-acquisition, including migration options and domain integration.
2020–Present: Ongoing support and enhancement of the Dynamics 365 platform for Polaris Community, including reporting, automation, and user training.

The Outcome

Polaris Community now operates a unified Dynamics 365 platform that:

Supports multiple brands under a single tenant
Streamlines recruitment and care workflows
Reduces manual data handling and improves reporting accuracy
Provides scalable support for future enhancements
Integrates with other systems, reducing manual data entry

Cantarus continues to work closely with Polaris Community, ensuring the system evolves with their needs and remains aligned with best practices.

In 2025, The Polaris Group expanded its services with the addition of the agency Adopters for Adoption (A4A). To enable a seamless onboarding experience, we delivered a new integration between the A4A public website and Dynamics 365. Website enquiries are submitted directly into Dynamics, where an automated process manages the entire communication cycle with applicants. The system requests required documentation, tracks progress, and guides users through completing their application forms online, creating a more efficient and supportive experience for both applicants and staff.

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