Founded in Pisa, Italy, with operations in the United States, Medical Microinstruments, Inc. (MMI) is reshaping what is possible in modern surgery. The company behind the Symani® Surgical System, a robotic platform capable of performing microsurgery and super microsurgery with unmatched precision, is driven by a mission that blends engineering excellence with human impact, restoring function and quality of life.
It is used in numerous applications in open surgery where microsurgical techniques are required, such as reconstructive surgery following cancer treatment and lymphatic repair. In 2024, the Symani Surgical System was voted one of the Best Inventions of 2024 by Time Magazine.
Strengthening the Salesforce system behind life-changing technology
Behind these breakthroughs is a passionate IT team working to ensure every system that supports the business operates with the same level of accuracy and reliability as its robotic instruments. William Retana, Global IT Director and Cybersecurity Officer, is inspired by his work at MMI, citing, “It’s not only about innovation, but it’s also about making people’s lives better.”
MMI implemented Salesforce in 2024 with the original goal of supporting core CRM functions. But it quickly became clear that Salesforce could play a much more critical role. As MMI prepared for growth and global scale, the team realized that Salesforce would need to evolve from a basic CRM into a strategic engine capable of handling complex processes, future integrations and the full lifecycle of a half-million-dollar surgical system. Retana explained, “We have an internal team of developers and administrators, but we concluded that finding the right partner with the right Salesforce expertise and experience would be the quickest way to get from point A to point B. And that’s exactly what we got – and more – with Rimini Street.”
In conversations with a former colleague, Retana learned of Rimini Street and its professional services offering, Rimini Consult™ for Salesforce. Through one-on-one meetings, he was impressed to learn how the service could help reduce backlogs, automate processes, improve decision-making and implement integrations to get more out of MMI’s Salesforce investment. Rimini Street developed a tailored proposal to provide advisory services around architecture and roadmapping, and to help clear the near-term backlog. “From the start, Rimini Street’s collaboration has been proactive and professional. The deep dive analysis was especially commendable. It was thorough, risk-aware and clearly communicated,” Retana described. “Rimini Street’s flexibility during the MSA and SOW negotiations, and responsiveness to our operational needs have made this partnership seamless.”
Clearing the backlog to open new pathways
One of the earliest outcomes came from evaluating and deciding not to renew a third-party asset management tool that wasn’t delivering value. Based on analysis and recommendations from the Rimini Consult team, Retana decided to remove the tool. The decision saved them nearly $500 per user, per month in licensing fees, funds that were now freed up for higher ROI initiatives.
Next, team turned toward streamlining systems, designing new workflow rules, cleaning up outdated processes and addressing stalled integrations. A major achievement was the WorkRamp implementation that allows medical trainees to register and get certified to use the Symani® Surgical System using the Salesforce platform to track each step of the learning and certification process. Rather than turn to another product, the capability further helped to keep costs down while maximizing the greater potential of the platform.
As momentum built, the backlog began to disappear, and new user stories were developed to support future capabilities. In total, about 37 user stories were created as MMI and Rimini Street mapped out how Salesforce would operate not just today but over the next several years. Retana reflected on the pace of progress, “Working with Rimini Street has made a great impact on what we do here. Their partnership in expanding our Salesforce capabilities allows us to focus on the evolution of our robotics technology, which in turn will help deliver life-enhancing results for the people we proudly serve.”
Empowering the team to focus on delivering value
The value of the partnership is reflected in the progress MMI has made in stabilizing and optimizing its Salesforce environment. With a stronger foundation in place, the team can shift its focus to high‑value initiatives, including supporting R&D efforts that drive continued robotics innovation. Building on this foundation, MMI is defining a longer‑term Salesforce roadmap that includes omni‑channel integration and expanded asset management to better support the Symani system and enable a more end‑to‑end purchasing journey as the organization continues to scale.
Looking forward, Retana sees even more opportunity to leverage Rimini Street’s Salesforce expertise. “We see further potential in having Rimini Street as our long-term partner,” he said. “The progress we’ve seen in reducing manual processes and enhancing data-driven decision making reflects the strategic value Rimini Street brings to our Salesforce evolution, and we know there’s more we can do to maximize the full potential of our IT investments with their support.”