U.S.-Based Project Ceters Offer Superior Effectiveess Over Offshore i CRM Implemetatios A Eagle Creek Software Services White Paper, 2012
Today s busiess eviromet is more competitive tha ever. I order to thrive orgaizatios eed to excel i customer relatioship buildig ad customer relatioship maagemet (CRM) ad demad IT support for chagig busiess requiremets. Customer relatioship maagemet is a process compaies use to uderstad their customer groups ad to respod quickly i sales ad service, ad at times, istatly, to shiftig customer desires. Customer relatioship maagemet is the strogest ad most efficiet approach for maitaiig ad creatig relatioships with customers, ad i order to effectively do so, some form of a customer relatioship maagemet solutio is required. However, comig out of the recessio, IT budgets are still tight. What are the optios for techical support of your CRM iitiative? Compaies lookig to embark o a CRM iitiative have several optios today as far as executio. The first optio, do it yourself, is ofte ot a optio. No compay has sufficiet resources to execute o large-scale CRM implemetatios. Ad hirig a team of CRM professioals to oversee the project would be difficult because traied CRM IT resources are i short supply ad very difficult to fid. To trai employees to successfully execute the implemetatio is too costly ad time cosumig. The secod optio compaies have whe udertakig a CRM implemetatio is to hire osite cosultats. However, the curret ecoomic eviromet makes this optio too costly for most compaies. The third optio, hirig offshore cosultats, comes with its ow set of obstacles ad risks. While it ofte appears to be cost-effective, there have bee very few successful CRM deploymets maaged by offshore resources. Experiece has prove that parterig with a oshore, U.S.-based project ceter provides the most success for compaies implemetig CRM applicatios. A oshore partership that effectively leverages osite ad offshore resources offers the best alterative that maximizes software ivestmet, improves efficiecies ad quality, while maagig price ad risk. Let s examie why. Why CRM is differet from a busiess stadpoit The early days of CRM proved to be a uwieldy process that was better i theory tha i practice. Systems were focused o trasactios, usig a more processdrive approach. It was more of a customer record maagemet system where the focus was more about makig call ceter ad service persoel more efficiet tha a true customer relatioship maagemet system. www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 2
Recetly, however, the view of CRM has begu to chage. Orgaizatios are ow thikig of CRM as a busiess strategy that focuses o customer experiece, kowledge, satisfactio ad retetio a customer-cetric busiess philosophy. Effective CRM practices sigificatly icrease a orgaizatio s potetial for profit. It icreases iteral commuicatio, provides ways for employees to work together toward a commo goal, makes the sellig process easier ad more effective, ad most importatly, icreases customer satisfactio ad loyalty. CRM services are shiftig Utilizig effective CRM strategies i tough ecoomic coditios, such as a recessio, from a focus o poit solutio is vital. A recessio requires orgaizatios to work smarter, ot just harder, ad with deploymet cetered o effective CRM strategies, orgaizatios applicatio suites, to a customer become more strategic ad more profitable by simply applyig resources more experiece that brigs together efficietly to keep ad wi customers. customer iformatio, aalytics, Drive largely by the Iteret, power i the relatioship has shifted from seller to buyer. Michael Dell, i his book Direct from Dell, said, The Iteret as a sales chael represets oly a fractio of the Iteret s value to busiess. The real potetial lies i its ability to trasform relatioships withi the traditioal supplier-vedor-customer chai. workflows, mobility ad social CRM disciplies ito a richer, multichael access to capture the etire customer jourey. Ed Thompso, Garter Group. I this buyer drive world, it is importat to liste to how the customer wats to iteract be it via telephoe, email, mobile device or eve via social media. I order for CRM solutios to be effective i today s techological world, all prospect ad customer touch poits must be persoalized, itegrated, cosistet ad of high quality. All chaels should itercoect to create a complete ad seamless customer experiece, or what is curretly beig referred to as a CXM (customer experiece maagemet) solutio. How large compaies operate has also chaged dramatically. Years ago, compaies were more iclied to be vertically itegrated, producig everythig themselves. Today s Fortue 500 compay is much differet outsourcig some of the busiess pieces. Maagig the customer relatioship ad the sales chaels are oe of the few areas of the busiess that have ot bee outsourced to a third party, because they represet the core asset of the busiess. The CRM system has become the critical foudatio for maagig ad ehacig customer relatioships ad i order for these solutios to be successful, they www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 3
eed to promote effectiveess, ot just efficiecies. Today s CRM applicatio must support more effective sales calls, by providig olie cotet coachig tips for review prior to a call or a more comprehesive view of the customer, ot just automate how reps i a call ceter icrease their call volumes. The itegratio of social media with customer relatioship maagemet strategies is pivotal so that orgaizatios ca optimize the power of social iteractios to get closer to customers. I this eviromet defied by customer cotrol ad two-way dialog, orgaizatios must egage with their customers o their terms. A successful CRM system eables sales staff to persoalize cotet at a idividual level ad track results. To accurately do this, cotet i a CRM solutio should be relevat ad accessible. This eables sales executives to easily search structured ad ustructured data. Ad CRM systems eed to provide true cross-chael itegratio ad be able to brig together all iformatio about ad for a customer, regardless of where that iformatio was collected. Today s orgaizatios that ivest i CRM iitiatives have most likely some level of itegrated iformatio, applicatios ad services to drive ad eable customer-focused behaviors across the eterprise. To eable CRM solutios to truly deliver o the promised potetial, orgaizatios require a parter skilled i CRM, aalytics ad busiess itelligece (BI) to complete a comprehesive CRM strategy. Why CRM is differet from a IT perspective Today s CRM solutios ad strategies are far differet from the applicatios of the past, i terms of techological capabilities. Today s CRM strategies ivolve iteractios across a variety of departmets withi a orgaizatio, ofte o a global basis. CRM applicatios form the backboe of such exchages. These solutios eable customer-facig busiess processes such as lead geeratio ad cross-sellig, opportuity maagemet, forecastig ad quotig, sales support, customer ad field service, collaborative chael maagemet, e-commerce ad customer data aalytics. Today s CRM applicatios require itegratio with a host of other legacy applicatios. This tight itegratio is demaded to provide a simple customer iteractio with the orgaizatio. Possible system itegratios iclude order etry, product ad pricig files, maufacturig, distributio, marketig, customer cotact ceters, field service ad busiess aalytics. Real-time itegratio capabilities that go beyod simple data sharig are ecessary for ed-to-ed busiess processes across applicatios. Historically, CRM applicatios were ot itegrated with various other systems because of the techical challeges the uderlyig techology was differet www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 4
ad because of the amout of data ivolved. However, today CRM products are built to itegrate with may leadig tools to help compaies automate busiess processes such as quote-to-order processes, billig, marketig, shippig, or eve more coectivity to social etworkig sites such as Facebook ad Twitter. This eables compaies to capture all direct customer iteractio processes ito oe database that serves as a iformatioal resource about customers ad their relatios with the compay providig a 360-degree customer view. This cetralized source of data gives compaies the opportuity to better utilize iformatio, formulate better decisios ad provisio a more cosistet customer ad prospect experiece. There are o stadard rules or govermet regulatios for how CRM applicatios should operate. This eables each idustry ad orgaizatio to utilize CRM applicatios to fit their uique requiremets that are based o their ow busiess model. While CRM applicatios have come a log way i terms of techological capabilities, orgaizatios are far from utilizig a CRM applicatio s full capability. May orgaizatios are oly 40 percet of where they eed to be i terms of implemetig CRM solutios for today s busiess eviromet or embracig the disciplies of maagig data ad busiess itelligece to improve decisiomakig. May have implemeted some form of CRM across their divisios, but have ot developed a itegrated view of the customer or a cosistet crosschael customer experiece. Beefits of parterig with U.S.-based Project Ceters vs. offshore resources I geeral, costly ad complex CRM applicatio implemetatio ad maagemet requires a mix of busiess process, system architects ad IT egieers to support. I order to esure the correct group is preset at the right time for each phase of CRM implemetatio it is importat to be able to quickly scale ad rotate resources betwee osite ad offsite locatios. I additio, for successful projects, CRM resources must be experieced i specific idustry, CRM platform ad busiess processes as CRM iitiatives are complex, ivolvig multiple orgaizatio disciplies ad are ofte times uique to a compay or idustry. Today s CRM applicatios require multiple itegratio poits with other legacy applicatios such as maufacturig, order etry, customer ad field service, which demads kowledgeable resources i applicatio fuctioality as well as specific idustry busiess processes. Systems desig requires close collaboratio with busiess ad operatios persoel to gather requiremets. Systems developmet is highly collaborative ad www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 5
high touch. This makes proximity of IT resources, laguage ad operatig i close time zoes critical for effectiveess ad quality of the solutio. Productivity ad iovatio are also importat. I order to be productive people eed to be able to uderstad the busiess issues ad effectively commuicate. Accordig to Adrew Wasser i a article from CIO, IT Outsourcig System is Broke, How ca Service Providers Fix It?, Oe of the issues particular to offshore outsourcig is what I call the textig effect. Whether you are i Chia, Mexico or Idia, the Eglish speakig ad listeig ad writig skills are t always great to begi with. Addig to the problem is that egieers are otoriously weak commuicators. Ad if, o top of that, the egieer does t uderstad the busiess drivers, they re ever goig to speak the real laguage of the cliet. Offshore outsourcig ofte brigs cotiued frustratio to cliets due to the lack of true iovatio skills these orgaizatios are able to offer. For U.S.-based orgaizatios, the offshore Advatages of U.S.-based Project Ceters Ability to quickly scale ad rotate resources betwee osite ad offsite Better uderstadig of idustry ad busiess requiremets Closer proximity to cliet Improved commuicatios Superior iovatio skills More productive per employee Require less maagemet oversight cosultats are ot the problem solvers ad strategic parters they had hoped for. This is a result of the cosultats ot truly uderstadig the real busiess drivers ad lackig cotext, which leads to the iability to traslate specificatios or orders ito a solutio that works. Cotext ca be especially difficult to gai whe a developmet ceter is offshore. Accordig to Wasser ad what he calls the cotext effect, the cliet tells the vedor what to do but ot why they wat it doe. If the cliet asks the cosultat to move a box from here to there, ad the cosultat does ot kow the cotext, all they ca do is what they are told. But if the cosultat uderstads the bigger picture, they may realize they ca discard some of what s i those boxes, some of it you ca sca, ad some you ca leave behid. There is so much value i uderstadig the real meaig of what you are tryig to accomplish. Orgaizatios lookig to efficietly ad effectively implemet CRM applicatios beefit from utilizig U.S.-based project ceters that offer stability ad a depth of resources. To achieve a successful implemetatio, orgaizatios eed cosultats that ca look at projects from a etrepreeurial perspective, combied with www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 6
expertise i busiess techologies, iformatio security, iformatio maagemet ad architecture. Oshore resources reduce the total cost of the project while improvig the quality of deliverables by providig teams of experieced resources workig i close proximity ad icreasig the speed of delivery. Best opportuities for use of oshore resources to improve productivity ad reduce costs ad risks of CRM iitiatives A CRM applicatio implemetatio has various lifecycle stages. These stages iclude requiremets defiitio, desig ad prototypig, cofiguratio, codig modificatios, itegratio to iteral ad third party systems, data mappig ad import, testig, maagig implemetatio (chage cotrol ad deploymet), cotiuous ehacemets ad support ad system upgrades. I order for CRM implemetatios to be successful, utilizig oshore resources to improve productivity ad reduce costs is essetial. Clearly defiig the requiremets ad objectives are essetial to the success of Ideal Locatio of Resources i CRM Implemetatios Project Stage O-site Oshore Offshore Requiremets defiitio Desig & prototypig Cofiguratio Codig modificatios Itegratio to iteral ad third party systems Data mappig ad import Testig Maagig implemetatio, chage cotrol & deploymet Cotiuous ehacemets ad support Upgrades the implemetatio ad are best performed by o-site resources workig had-ihad with the key cliet busiess ad IT teams. This step is iteded to defie i detail each requiremet such as system fuctioality, data imports ad iterfaces, reports ad traiig requiremets. It also defies the scope of the project, its boudaries ad the project team s roles ad resposibilities. www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 7
Desig ad prototypig The desig ad prototypig stage is most efficietly doe with a team of experts workig o-site. CRM is much more iterative from a desig stadpoit ad requires close collaboratio. Agile developmet, which ca be very difficult to achieve, caot be doe offshore due to its very ature evolvig requiremets ad solutios through collaboratio betwee cross-fuctioal teams. I order to achieve adaptive plaig, evolutioary developmet ad rapid ad flexible respose to chage, combiig oshore developmet with o-site resources is crucial i order for resources to be able to iteract throughout the developmet cycle. Prototypig a CRM applicatio facilitates the phasig i of ew techology, allows experimetatio o a smaller ad less costly scale, tests the system s fuctioality, highlights required chages i orgaizatioal procedures, ad most importatly, demostrates that project objectives ca be met. Cofiguratio Cofiguratio is extremely importat i today s CRM applicatio eviromet, ad havig techical resources with iovative problem solvig skills i order to make systems efficietly ad effectively work for a orgaizatio is madatory. Sice there are differet ways to implemet requiremets, resources must have a detailed uderstadig of the idustry, busiess requiremets ad the applicatio, as well as the ability to iovate ad desig a solutio to meet the eeds of customers ad users. Itegratio to iteral ad third party systems Part of the cofiguratio process ivolves itegratio to iteral ad third party systems. For this cycle to be successful, resources must be i close proximity to uderstad cliets existig systems ad the uaces of data itegratio. Oshore cofiguratio elimiates commuicatio ad cotext issues durig this process. Implemetig CRM applicatios with existig third party systems could create issues of data maagemet makig it difficult to create a sigle view of the customer a mai objective of CRM implemetatios. Oftetimes the systems do ot work efficietly together because the data is icosistet ad fragmeted. To resolve data issues, orgaizatios are lookig to improve Master Data Maagemet (MDM), which comprises a set of processes ad tools that cosistetly defies ad maages the master data of a orgaizatio. Proper MDM is loaded with potetial beefits ad offers help to orgaizatios that are drowig i data. If implemeted correctly, MDM ca provide ear term busiess value that plays ito a orgaizatio s ew focus o cost efficiecies, risk maagemet ad regulatory compliace, while supportig growth ad future trasformative strategies. Accordig to Garter s research vice presidet, Joh Radcliffe, Withi two years MDM could be sigificatly reducig data redudacy i orgaizatios such that firms could be savig up to 80 percet of the costs associated with maagig this www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 8
data. But there s more, because MDM could also have huge implicatios for CRM ad particularly so i light of its ew iteratio social CRM ad the applicatio of ew sources of data that this heralds. Ad if recet history has taught us aythig, it is that aythig that ca support social CRM is likely to catch attetio. MDM also has the capability to eable growth with may of the CRM strategies like cross-sell, up-sell ad provisio of a better customer experiece. However, just as with CRM, orgaizatios eed to approach MDM as more tha mere techology. I order to succeed with MDM, busiesses eed to uderstad that MDM is a disciplie ad ot just a techology ad cosider the people ad processes before they start ivestig i the IT. Radcliff states, I the same way we say CRM is a busiess strategy eabled by techology, MDM is a disciplie for esurig the quality of your core data, customer data icluded, ad it could also be product data ad supplier data or asset data. For this cocept to be successful, it is vital that the developmet ad implemetatio to occur i close proximity to third party data providers, makig it difficult to do offshore. The more itegratio that is required, the more security becomes importat. Security of customer data is a complex issue that is best addressed oshore. Testig Esurig a quality product, oe with zero defects, is delivered o time has tremedous impact o the overall cost ad level of customer satisfactio with a project. The oly way to esure a quality solutio is delivered is through comprehesive testig. May factors affect testig results, icludig geographical closeess of the testig team to the developmet team. Closer proximity betwee the developmet ad testig teams improves overall quality. A sigificat cost factor i CRM implemetatio testig is maagemet. Oshore testig maagemet combied with offshore testig executio optimizes resources ad requires less attetio, lowerig the costs of the etire project. Oshore testig maagemet also elimiates the majority of commuicatio problems, icreasig efficiecy ad agai lowerig costs. Havig cotrol of the work product helps esure the project will be delivered o time, elimiatig the egative impact a late delivery ca have o the overall budget. To achieve this level of cotrol, oshore testig maagemet is required. Alog those same lies of budget cotrol, oshore testig maagemet ca usually execute or improve the level of testig with fewer people. Cotiuous ehacemets ad support Workig oshore resolves security issues, commuicatio problems, ifrastructure costraits, physical distace limitatios ad time zoe boudaries the problems every offshore project ecouters. Oce the system is implemeted o-site, www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 9
cotiuous ehacemets ad support, as well as upgrades, ca be maaged ad developed oshore, ad whe combied with offshore, offer real 24x7 support. Havig a dedicated oshore ad offshore team of resources experieced with the CRM applicatio saves orgaizatios moey, reduces risk ad icreases the quality of the project. Coclusio I summary, CRM iitiatives are more importat for busiesses tha ever before. Successful, forwardthikig compaies must lear to embrace ew CRM capabilities to remai competitive. Garter s 2012 CEO Survey foud that CEOs cited CRM as their most importat area of ivestmet to improve their busiess over the ext five years. Newer software systems ad advaced methods for maagig customer data have vastly improved CRM capabilities ad the real promise of CRM is becomig a reality. To fully beefit from a successful CRM implemetatio compaies eed to parter with qualified oshore service parters who ca offer cosistet ad sustaiable CRM resources ad CRM has become more importat As customers ad prospects become viewed as a corporate asset, CRM is icreasigly becomig a busiess philosophy, ot just a set of processes ad techologies. CRM has become more visible It is readily recogized by corporate executives ad must ow fully embrace the customer ad prospect experiece. CRM has become more complex I order to fulfill o both the facets of visibility ad importace, CRM techology has to become more outside i (customer ad prospect orieted) ad delivered i a device-agostic, socially eabled, experietial fashio. leverage osite ad offshore whe ecessary. This will further maximize their software ivestmet, improve efficiecies ad quality, while maagig price ad risk. A article i BusiessBalls.com poited out, The ultimate purpose of CRM, like ay orgaizatioal iitiative, is to icrease profit. I the case of CRM this is achieved maily by providig a better service to your customers tha your competitors. www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 10
About Eagle Creek Software Services Fouded i 1999, Eagle Creek (Ede Prairie, Mi.) is the largest Uited States-based IT cosultig ad techical services compay specializig i Oracle CRM, busiess itelligece ad eterprise software developmet. The compay offers cost-effective, high quality software developmet ad support services usig its Dakota model, which locates three project ceters i low-cost areas withi the Uited States ad utilizes a private-public strategic alliace with the state govermets of North Dakota ad South Dakota to trai ad place its more tha 300 cosultats. For more iformatio o Eagle Creek Software Services, please visit our website at www.eaglecrk.com or cotact: Simo Boardma Vice Presidet, Marketig 404-287-0544 sboardma@eaglecrk.com www.eaglecrk.com Eagle Creek Software Services. All rights reserved. 11