How Centralized Customer Data and Modernized

Its Client Portal Using Zoho CRM and ZPortals

The Client

Client Name: Powerback

Location: United States
Industry: Healthcare and rehabilitation services
Business Model:

Provides rehabilitation and healthcare services to facilities nationwide
Maintains long-term relationships with customer organizations

Produces reports and operational insights that must be securely shared with customers

Operates in a regulated environment with strong security and access control requirements

Executive Summary

Powerback is a national healthcare services organization supporting post-acute care, rehabilitation, and assisted living providers across the United States. As Powerback grew, its legacy CRM and outdated client portal created operational friction, limited visibility into customer relationships, and made secure customer communication increasingly difficult.

By implementing a custom Zoho CRM solution as its central system of record and replacing its legacy client portal with a modern ZPortals-based customer portal, Powerback established a secure, scalable platform for managing customers, sharing reports, and communicating efficiently. The result was improved internal visibility, a better customer experience, and a future-ready foundation for continued growth.

The Problem or Business Need

Powerback relied on a legacy CRM and an outdated client portal that no longer aligned with the organization’s operational or customer-facing needs. As the business expanded, these systems became increasingly difficult to maintain and scale.
Key challenges included:

No single source of truth for customers

Customer data was spread across a legacy system and supporting tools, making it difficult to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Outdated customer portal

The existing portal lacked modern UX, had limited customization options, and did not support granular, role-based access to reports and documents.

Manual customer communication

Reports and updates were often shared manually, increasing administrative effort and the risk of delays or errors.

Limited internal visibility

Account managers and internal teams lacked a centralized place to view customer history, documents, and engagement activity.

Security and compliance needs

Any new solution needed to support secure authentication, role-based permissions, and enterprise security standards appropriate for a healthcare environment.

These challenges made it clear that Powerback needed a modern CRM paired with a secure, customer-facing portal that could fully replace legacy systems.

Evaluation of the Problem

The consulting team conducted a structured evaluation to understand Powerback’s operational, technical, and security requirements. This included:

Identifying customer data requirements and migration needs.

Reviewing the limitations of the legacy CRM and client portal

Defining user roles, including internal users, account managers, and customer portal users.

Mapping report access and customer communication workflows.

Aligning with Powerback’s internal IT and security standards.

This evaluation confirmed the need for a custom CRM implementation combined with a purpose-built portal solution that could integrate securely while remaining flexible and scalable.

The Proposed Solution

Powerback implemented a custom Zoho CRM as the centralized system of record for customer data, paired with a ZPortals-based customer portal to replace the legacy client portal.

Zoho CRM was used to manage customers, workflows, reporting, and internal processes, while ZPortals provided the customer-facing portal experience, including secure login, role-based access, and branded portal pages

Key Components of the Solution

The Implementation

The solution was implemented in phases to minimize disruption while transitioning away from legacy systems. The project began with configuring Zoho CRM and migrating customer data, with validation steps to ensure accuracy and continuity.
Once the CRM foundation was established, the ZPortals customer portal was implemented. Portal pages were configured to allow customers to access reports, view documents, and communicate securely with Powerback. User roles and permissions were carefully designed to differentiate between internal users, account managers, and customer users.
SSO and MFA were then layered on to ensure secure authentication across both the CRM and portal. Thorough testing and quality assurance confirmed that users could access the appropriate data while meeting Powerback’s security and compliance requirements. Training sessions were conducted throughout the project to support adoption and long-term sustainability.

Challenges Faced:

Migrating customer data from a legacy CRM while maintaining data integrity

Designing a portal experience that balanced strong security with ease of use

Managing the full Care Card lifecycle with proper controls and visibility

Supporting multiple user types with different access and permission needs

Integrating enterprise authentication without disrupting customer workflows

Driving adoption while retiring an existing client portal

These challenges were addressed through phased delivery, thoughtful role and permission design, and close collaboration with Powerback’s internal teams.

The Results

Following implementation, Powerback achieved significant operational and customer-facing improvements:

A single, centralized system for managing customer data.

A modern, secure customer portal replacing an outdated legacy solution.

Reduced manual effort for report distribution and customer communication.

Improved internal visibility into customer relationships and activity.

A scalable foundation that supports future portal enhancements and CRM expansion.

Catalyst Connect has been an incredible partner for us. We worked with them to implement Zoho CRM and set up customer portals tailored to our specific needs. We don’t have a “standard” use case—our requirements are complex and highly unique. What truly sets Catalyst apart is their ability to listen. The team took the time to understand our goals and engineered creative solutions that actually work for our organization. It feels far less like a vendor relationship and much more like a true partnership. If you’re looking for experts who can handle complexity and genuinely collaborate with you, look no further.

Powerback

Conclusion

By combining a custom Zoho CRM implementation with a ZPortals-based customer portal, Powerback successfully modernized its customer management and engagement platform. The solution improved security, streamlined communication, and gave both internal teams and customers a better experience—while laying the groundwork for continued growth and innovation.

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