Customer Access Technology Review Update - Assessment of Firmstep proposal for Customer Platform

Transcription

1 APPENDIX 8 Customer Access Technology Review Update - Assessment of Firmstep proposal for Customer Platform In our original Customer Access Technology Review, BDO outlined the estimated potential cost of the technology needed to support a range of customer access models. One of the key issues was whether or not LB Merton should invest in a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). These systems are often very expensive, and whilst they can help streamline customer interaction processes and provide useful customer insight information, we highlighted less expensive alternatives that could provide some of the same functionality. In the initial review we explored the option of implementing a self-service portal that allowed customers to access Council services online. Such a system would have many of the benefits of a CRM system in terms of supporting channel shift, and would also be able to capture some data for customer insight, although this would be significantly less comprehensive than a CRM system. Whilst we did not recommend which solution might be most appropriate for LB Merton, we did suggest that the Council should fully explore the potential benefits of spending significantly more on a CRM system than they would need to do for a self-service portal. 1 Since we wrote the Customer Access Technology Review, LB Merton has held discussions with Firmstep, a software provider for local government, about their new customer platform package. This bundle of systems includes a self-service-portal, a new web platform, and a case management solution that is designed to act as a basic CRM, or CRMlite. This option was not known to the Council or BDO at the time of the initial Customer Access Technology Review, and so was not included in our report. However, the package does appear to offer a number of benefits at a competitive price compared to the initial options we considered, and therefore BDO has been asked to assess the Firmstep solution in light of the initial options proposed in the review. 1 Functionality The following summary of the functionality of the Firmstep package is taken from the information provided by Firmstep in their proposal and from further discussions with Ben Unwin, Firmstep Business Development Manager on Tuesday 18 th July BDO has not spoken to any other local authorities where these systems have been put in place, so we cannot verify how well these systems perform these functions other than by the assurances that Firmstep have provided. The Firmstep solution has five key components: 1. Webform system - AchieveForms LB Merton already has AchieveForms in place, and is the system that powers most of the Council s webforms and internal electronic forms on the intranet. The system is currently used to capture information from these webforms, which is then usually passed through to the back-office in an automatically generated . Part of Firmstep s proposal is to help LB Merton maximise the benefit of this existing system. They suggest the Council uses the system s existing workflow capabilities to allow customer contact advisors to track the status of service requests, and is able to flag when a request needs further action or escalation. As 1 Customer Access Technology Review, p

2 part of their offer, Firmstep include resources to help Merton implement this functionality. 2. CRM-lite AchieveService AchieveService is not a fully fledged CRM, but is a case management system that allows customer contact advisers to process and record customer interactions across staff assisted channels (i.e. face to face and telephone). The system lacks some of the more advanced features of a full CRM like Microsoft Dynamics, such as heavily automated workflows and scripting, and is not designed to generate marketing information as most CRM systems are, but it provides a basic, local government specific solution for basic customer relationship management processes. The system contains a customer index that attributes a unique reference number to each known customer. This means that all records for a single customer can be linked through that number and Council staff can therefore track contact and build a single customer record. 3. Self-service portal AchieveSelf-Service AchieveSelf-Service would support self-service channels such as online self-service or self-service kiosks in Merton Link. It will create a secure login area within the website where customers can access their personal information and account details, and from there can access webforms that are pre-populated with their personal information in order to make online transactions easier. It will present the same basic processes as in AchieveService, but tailored for non-staff members, so sensitive information or staff prompts will be removed. 4. Web content management system AchieveCommunity The Firmstep solution also includes a new content management system (CMS) called AchieveCommunity. The content management system is the platform for the website. LB Merton currently uses LiveLink, but it is a relatively old system and developers have warned that they may no longer support the system after LiveLink is also a fairly niche system and staff with the skills to develop websites on this platform are limited. AchieveCommunity is based on Drupal, an Open Source content management system that is much more widely used than LiveLink. Drupal is used to power many government websites such as There are many more developers who use Drupal than who use LiveLink, and so it is likely to be easier to recruit staff with knowledge of the system. A new CMS would also enable some rationalisation of systems in the Council. Currently there are different systems used to support blogging, e-petitions and forums whereas we understand that Drupal should be able to do all of this in one system. AchieveCommunity is a version of Drupal specifically designed by Firmstep for local government. It includes pre-built functionality that is used on most local government websites and is also specifically designed to fit in with AchieveSelf- Service and AchieveForms, so creating an online transactional website should be easier. Changing the CMS would mean that LB Merton would need to migrate its website and intranet onto the new system. That would require development time from Firmstep, and they have included 45,000 in the total package cost for this process, but it would also require significant staff input, both in terms of guiding the design of the new website and also updating content. There would also be training 168 2

3 requirements to ensure the web team has the necessary skills to manage the new system. 5. Pre-built modules and forms for standard processes (optional) Finally, Firmstep have also included in their package some pre-built modules for standard processes. This is optional, and the Council could decide not to take these modules. The package includes a managed webform package for revenues and benefits that will be updated in accordance with changing benefits legislation. There are also standard applications for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and complaints processes that can be built into AchieveService and which Firmstep have included as an optional element in the costs in table 2 below. In terms of the initial models we outlined in the Customer Access Technology review, the Firmstep package is something of a hybrid between the self-service portal model and the CRM. The following table highlights our understanding of the key functionality of the three different options, based on what we would expect to see in generic CRM or self-service systems, and what Firmstep have specifically offered in their proposal. Table 1: Comparison of functionality System type Firmstep solution CRM 2 Self Service portal 3 Enables channel shift and greater online self-service Tailored processes depending on channel My Account online account checking Automated workflow Allows single view of the customer Management information No Produced from selfservice portal and website Allow some workflow for webforms Allows staff to search for previous contact, but does not create a separate customer database Medium Easier to capture this data than through self-service portal Would include an extra module for a self-service portal Comprehensive Creates a Golden Record of all interaction with customer Comprehensive MI processes built-in Allow some workflow for webforms Only for online contact Basic In summary, the Firmstep solution appears to have the core functionality of what we described under the self-service portal model, but with extra functionality to support staff- 2 Based on CRM costings from the Customer Access Technology Review 3 Based on Self-Service portal costings from the Customer Access Technology Review 169 3

4 assisted channels as well. The Firmstep solution would also offer some limited customer insight capabilities, more so than a self-service portal, but significantly less than a full blown CRM. The Firmstep solution would be likely to provide more functionality than the self-service option as it would be likely to give tailored processes for each of the different access channels, may be easier to gather management information and customer insight data, and may have more automated workflows. Compared to full CRM, the Firmstep offering is likely to have less functionality, especially in terms of customer insight information for marketing. Scripting and workflows are also likely to not be as comprehensive. The Council may well decide, however, that this lack of functionality is offset by the fact that the Firmstep solution would cost significantly less to implement. 2 Cost Firmstep have based the pricing of their package on the assumption that LB Merton will also allocate a significant amount of internal resources to the implementation and management of these systems. The costs outlined below are what Firmstep have quoted and may be liable to change if the exact specification of the system requirements changes, or if LB Merton decides that it requires more or less support than that initially envisaged by Firmstep. Table 2: Proposed costs of Firmstep solution Item Services Includes development of core processes and integrations as instructed by LB Merton, training of staff in how to use the system, and redesign of website. Licensing Includes licenses for AchieveService, AchieveSelf-Service and AchieveCommunity (not AchieveForms as LB Merton already has this system) Applications for Revs & Bens, FOI and Complaints processes One-Off 150,000 11,000 implementation Cost 4 Ongoing 31,600 11,000 ongoing support TOTAL 161,000 42,600 The systems are provided as hosted services, so our understanding is that there would be no additional infrastructure costs to LB Merton. Firmstep have confirmed to LB Merton that he cost of servers to host these systems is included in the ongoing license costs. In addition to these external costs, the Council will have significant internal costs in terms of staff time. We understand that the BI it team has allowed for this in its costings presented in the CRM-Lite business case. 5 Firmstep s cost of 150k for services in the table above is based on the principle that they will create processes and integrations in AchieveService and AchieveForms for the most 4 All costs provided by Firmstep to LB Merton on 17 th July Information from Jo Williams 19 th July

5 critical service areas, but that internal LB Merton staff will work alongside them, and pick up the skills to manage these processes and develop less critical processes in the future. The proposal is based on the Council owning ongoing development, so internal staff will create and maintain new processes. This is in contrast to the previous arrangements LB Merton had in implementing MS Dynamics, where the Council had to pay for external consultancy to develop new processes in the system. The BI team envisage that this will reduce costs and speed up the time taken to create and modify new processes. The system would be hosted, so there would be no additional infrastructure costs beyond the licence fees included in table 2 above. The cost of the Firmstep package compares favourably to the CRM solution outlined in the Customer Access Technology review. In that review we estimated the following high-level costs: Table 3: Comparison of costs System CRM Self-Service Setup costs 1,000, ,000 Ongoing costs 300, ,000 These costs are not directly comparable with the Firmstep costs highlighted in the previous table, as they include the total setup cost including staff time, and Firmstep s figures only include the external setup costs. Also, the Firmstep package includes the redesign of the website, which is not included in the options described in Table 3 above. It is likely that the Firmstep proposal would require significant internal resources, but even taking a conservative estimate that three full time equivalent posts are required for two years for the setup, that would still bring in the total setup cost at less than 450,000, which is significantly less than both the CRM and Self-Service options. 3 Risks and Issues There are a number of potential issues with the new Firmstep systems which should be recognised for the Council to make a more informed decision. Whilst AchieveForms is a fairly mature system, this would be one of the largest projects Firmstep have done with AchieveService / AchieveCommunity suite of systems. If the Council does opt to implement the optional Revenues and Benefits module, the Council would need to pay for integration with Civica OpenRevenues as an additional cost. Firmstep would also need to develop the managed webform to include some fraud prevention processes. We understand that Firmstep is currently in discussion with a third party developer that would potentially allow them to do this by the time of any potential implementation of the Revenues and Benefits processes. The proposed cost of the Firmstep package is predicated on the assumption that LB Merton will have sufficient staff resources available, with sufficient skills, to assist with the implementation of the new package. If staff resources were not available, or the skill set was not sufficient, then the Council would either need to recruit 171 5

6 more capacity, or pay Firmstep for further support, which would further increase the costs of this option. 4 Conclusion The Firmstep solution discussed in this paper is not a CRM system. Instead, it has been built upon the AchieveForms webform system, to allow better customer relationship management processes around those webforms. As such, the Firmstep solution is part webform package, part basic case management tool for customer contact, and partly a self-service portal. It should also be noted that we have not had the opportunity to validate any of the proposed cost data or the stated functionality of the Firmstep system, and therefore our conclusions are based only on the data with which we have been provided. From the costs proposed by Firmstep, and given the BI IT team s estimate of the additional staff cost required to support the implementation, it appears that the Firmstep solution would be a cheaper option than developing a separate self-service system, and would be significantly less expensive than procuring a full CRM system. The functionality of the Firmstep proposal also compares favourably to the outline costs put forward for a standalone self-service system. These costs may change however, depending on how LB Merton specifies the development of the system to meet its needs. There could also be additional costs if LB Merton does not have the internal capacity to support the implementation as Firmstep have assumed in their proposal. The package does include the added benefit of including a new content management system, which is a prerequisite for developing a more transactional website and encouraging more substantial channel shift in the future. However, there are some risks in adopting what is still a maturing system, and the Council also has to balance the risks of implementing the system too widely initially, and therefore losing the specialised functionality of existing customer contact systems, or whether it implements the Firmstep systems more narrowly, but then loses some of the advantages of generating a single view of the customer