CRM Checklist Manifesto

Dears,

Hope everyone is quite busy with their checklist for this year of do’s and don’ts which we learn from every past year and look forward to do things better than ever. I recently read a book “ The Checklist Manifesto “ by Atul Gawande and one key take away from it is every profession needs to have a checklist to get things right and not to blame it on ineptitude for misgivings. This one made me think a little deeper about to how make a checklist to do the CRM right and if not it covers everything atleast some key ones for the IT leaders to enable them to do the crm the right way.

CRM is a business strategy that optimizes profitability, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction by implementing customer-centric processes. The Eight Essential Building Blocks of CRM initiatives are: vision, strategy, customer experience, organizational collaboration, processes, information, metrics and technology. CRM projects encompass traditional areas, such as sales force automation, campaign management and customer contact centers, as well as emerging technologies that enable e-commerce, enterprise feedback management, marketing resource management, pricing, performance management and social media.

CRM Checklist Manifesto for CIOs

When designing and implementing CRM programs, CIOs should consider the following factors:

• Profitability. Determine which areas of your company's operations need the most improvement: sales, marketing or customer service.
• The business case. Be prepared to justify the cost of CRM initiatives. Be sure to consider which processes can be automated and which require IT personnel.
• Enterprise vision and vendor selection. Determine the right CRM vendor(s) to meet enterprise objectives and requirements.
• Metrics to measure success. Establish a vision and strategy with a clear set of objectives that can be measured. Adjust metrics as needed to ensure ongoing commitment to CRM success.
• Accountability. Review the best practices associated with thriving CRM programs. Hold key stakeholders accountable for implementing these practices and processes.

CRM Checklist Manifesto for IT Leaders

When designing and implementing CRM initiatives, IT leaders should consider the following factors:

• The business case. Build a business case to justify the cost of CRM initiatives. Be sure to include a clear set of objectives and metrics to gauge the program's progress.
• CRM processes. Determine which processes need to be automated, and the information and technology requirements.
• Internal support. Gain appropriate organizational buy-in and collaboration. Seek executive support for CRM, as well as endorsements from end users.
• Vendor selection. Determine the right CRM vendor(s) to meet the organization's CRM objectives and requirements. Consider future program needs, as well as immediate actions.
• Accountability. Make note of the best practices for a successful CRM program. Align team goals with the processes and practices essential to consistent, effective performance.

Checklist Manifesto for CRM Initiative

Exemplary CRM initiatives typically cross departmental boundaries within organizations. Follow these six fundamental Checklists to implement CRM programs that can evolve as your organization grows:

• Strategize and Plan: Draft a charter to gain agreement on the vision and mandate behind the initiative, in alignment with business goals. Scope the project, and establish resources, a budget and governance systems. Integrate the project with strategic IT and business plans.
• Architect Solution: Define the architecture, technology and standards for the project. Model business requirements, and detail specifications for solution delivery. Recommend deployment options. Define process detail and performance metrics. Communicate the plan.
• Select Solution: Set requirements, and issue RFPs. Analyze market intelligence. Evaluate vendor/service provider options. Choose technologies and vendors/service providers. Negotiate SLAs and contracts.
• Build: Design the technology implementation. Develop simple rules, workflows, forms and user interfaces. Identify and manage risks. Define organizational and governance structures. Maintain contact with key business users throughout the build phase.
• Deploy: Staff and manage the implementation. Coordinate solution deployment based on the implementation road map. Train users. Seek feedback from users. Monitor risks.
• Operate and Evolve: Operate and manage the implementation. Revise in response to feedback, risks and changing business requirements. Measure performance. Monitor use and compliance. Develop skills and define best practices for users. Refine governance processes.

Every professional set out to achieve more and perfect the art of delivering the services without ineptitude .The checklist will help us to ensure consistency and taking control of the knowledge we have gathered over years of experience.  Good Luck

Loving P&C

DC*

My Journey so Far...

Dears,

My Interview published in one of the popular IT  Journals " BI City -Silicon India Magazine" . Hope you will enjoy this one.

http://bi.siliconindia.com/profiles/Dinesh_Chandrashekhar-pid-43.html

The Journey : Early days to How I got here 

The choice of your IT specialization makes all the big difference and especially when you are one among the talented IT lots you have in India. I strongly believe that my passion for the CRM and its application to productive use is the driving force behind my success so far. What I focus is not just about the productivity but the value you bring in to your customers and take genuine interest in making your customer and your organization successful.

Decisions that mattered 

I started my career as a Java programmer and I am really happy that I failed miserably as a programmer. I call that a turning point in my life to appreciate what it takes to be programmer and also not try to be someone else. It was my decision to move into CRM application development that made a big difference to my career. My experience with Citigroup and GE Capital further helped to appreciate the customer side of the project execution and also helped me to become a successful consultant with IT major like Hitachi Consulting. I love to be proactive and passionate; that’s my success mantra.

The turning points 

I am really fortunate to have worked in multiple domains and technologies especially my experience in CRM, MDM and BI projects really helped me to become more customers focused and competitive. Each of these technologies has its own nuances; for example, in CRM you get to know more about what really differentiates a company in the eyes of the customers and in MDM & BI you get to see the potential of the data to make or break an organization. It’s like a roller coaster ride so far and I really enjoyed being a part of such innovative projects.

Work and Role : Then and now 

With Hitachi consulting it’s a whole new world of experience. You get to work in strategic management consulting as well as innovative technology implementation for a conglomerate cutting across multiple domains. I will not ask for more and this is truly a memorable part of my career.

Two years down the line

I want to gain good expertise in some of the Industry verticals both in terms of knowledge as well as to innovate to address some of their key issues. I have never asked for a position or incentive so far and what it really fascinates me is that if you have the right attitude and skills, all others will follow. If I follow my passion I am sure to make it big in the next few years. 

What I learnt along the way

There is nothing wrong to claim the credit for you and your team if you really worked hard for the success of any initiative. The other important thing is results are rewarded and efforts are not. I maintain a very cordial relationship with my practice members, in fact we are like a family and sometimes I take the privilege of being a big brother and guide them in difficult times. I also enjoy the confidence of my management team and you have to secure this confidence by doing “right things- right” always.

Trends to watch out for 

Mobility is something that fascinates me, especially its collaboration with Social media. Today we are taking all the mission critical applications to mobile and in the near future mobile solutions will rule the business world, be it a CRM, ERP or BI; all is gone be on your hand. The other one is innovation in the CRM space, my ever favorite subject, specially the collaboration of CRM, MDM and BI to give the state of the art of intelligence to our customers.

My advice if you are starting out

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish and Don’t Sprint the Marathon. The journey is more important than the destination. It’s like putting yourself into a furnace, you need to be part of challenges, risks, innovation, failures, successes and finally appreciate the people for their weakness as well. You need to learn to win as a team. Be it a BI, CRM or any other domain all it takes is your passion to go and do the rest of the job next day and come back home fun filled. 

Must have skills in BI, as I see them 

There is a great demand for the Out of the box BI implementation today but the trend will change soon with a greater challenge to go beyond packaged BI application specially the Behavioral and Predictive analytics is going to be the game changes in near future.

Last but not the least

Have a long term goal, or even a shorter term goal – but have a goal and be open to opportunities that come your way.  If you’re doing a great job now, someone will always look for ways to harness your skills as the opportunities come along.  It might not be next week, but if you focus on what you are doing today and do it the best that you can, opportunities follow. Mine came about every 3 years – yours might be sooner or later, but they do come.  A different focus, a new skill, a different city or even a different country – all these opportunities are part of being an IT consultant.  But don’t be so focused on tomorrow that you let go today.  Be excellent in your role and career opportunities will find you.

Loving P&C

DC*

Enterprise Mobility, the Game Changer

Dears,

Happy new year to all our champions and masterminds ; Wishing you all very successful new year with lots of success, peace and harmony. This year already looks great with plenty of opportunities to pursue and lots of challenges to upgrade to the next version of ourselves. The eye candy which is making buzz around everywhere is this Enterprise Mobility. Enterprise mobility ranks high on the ‘priority’ list of most Chief Information Officers (CIOs) across the world. However, to gain from it, CIOs need to understand how to maximize business benefits in a cost-effective and secure way. Today, many CIOs are in the process of drawing up a roadmap for enterprise mobility.

The recent survey conducted by one of the CIO research magazine has some exciting findings

* An overwhelming majority (94%) of CIOs believe that enterprise mobility will be an important part of their organization’s IT strategy within the next one year.

* Almost 70% of the respondents believe that enterprise mobility solutions play an essential role in their organization.

* Only 1% of the CIO respondents believe that mobility solutions are not required.  Almost half of the respondents are either already using some solutions in this area or have deployments in progress.

* BlackBerry Enterprise Server is currently the dominant mobility platform in use.

* Android seems to be picking up some momentum.

* Almost half of the respondent organizations provide only limited support for some employee owned devices in the Bring Your Own (BYO) model.

* Improved employee productivity is the most important driver for adoption.

* Security and compliance is the most important adoption challenge.

* Most organizations are already using mobility solutions around email and calendaring applications.

* Business Intelligence (dashboard) related applications are high on the CIO wish-list for the near future.

* The cost of the handheld devices does not feature among the most important parameters for the selection of mobility solutions.

* Security as well as ease of deployment and use is the more important criteria in solution evaluation.

* Tablets are predicted to have an important role for accessing data on the move.

* Telecom carriers are the preferred source for organizations to source mobility solutions.

* CIOs prefer to utilize the services of Systems Integrators (SIs) and Value Added Resellers (VARs) for mobility application support.

Some of the interesting observations from these findings

Travel takes up at least one-fourth to half the work time for a considerable majority (almost 40%) of senior managers, across sectors. Some (13%) spend more than half their time traveling. This could be a strong reason in favor of enterprise mobility initiatives at many companies – enabling these senior level employees to stay connected and take decisions while on the move. Enterprises, where the senior workforce spends more than half their time on travel, are the ones with the maximum deployments already in place. It seems to indicate that greater the time spent on travel, the greater the need for mobility solutions to facilitate working on the move.

More than 50% of the CIOs from the Financial Services industry stated that they have already deployed

Enterprise mobility solutions. Hospitality and Media & Entertainment are the others leading the list.

IT surprisingly, takes the middle rung, while the Government/Public Sector enterprises are the laggards in the race.

BlackBerry leads as the popular platform with 80% of the respondents indicating that their companies currently use it. However, many companies also support more than one platform, including the iPhone, Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.

Most companies perceive gains in employee productivity as the biggest benefit of using enterprise mobility solutions. Improved employee availability, better customer support, and enhanced communication are the other key benefits. Reducing operational costs, however, takes a lower place on the benefits list, clearly indicating that organizations value productivity over mere cost savings.

Enterprises already using mobility solutions find email, and calendar and contacts, as the most useful application. Though many enterprises view better Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as one of the key gains from enterprise mobility, they currently use CRM-related applications in a limited manner (19.40%).

Most CIOs are likely to use their tablets to access data rather than to join video-conferences or merely stay connected. With better support for data management, tablets could enjoy an important role in the enterprise mobility space.

Mobile Devices PoV

Blackberry Advantage

The ease of use and intelligence of the device, backed by the security features, give it an edge over other mobile platforms/devices available. Enterprise-grade, secure, proven mobile device management, stable. It works best with email and vastly used and accepted by the users, cost competitiveness. The BlackBerry solutions were designed for enterprise mobility itself and they remain one of the best in the industry. Other players jumped into it later, copying most of the existing features. Secured, facilitation of messenger, mails and Internet access; apps for this platform are far more stable than any other platform. They already have the infrastructure in place and no other brand gives the kind of response time that BlackBerry gives. A study was done and this was found to be the best option based on several parameters.

Apples of the World

Apple mobile offers security and more possibilities to develop corporate applications on; and is emerging as the choice of users. Ease of use for senior management; allows device data encryption and remote wipe; secure data. Easy to use; popular at home. Usability, adoption rate, technology advantage. Depth of applications available. Touch screen user interface is very good; also supported API to implement mobile solutions.iOS has enterprise controls that support security implementation with mobility. IPad has been the differentiator as more people are ready to purchase it as a personal device. Apple products seem to enjoy a good ecosystem, having products such as the iPhone and iPad.

Androids

Factors that make the Android attractive to CIOs are:

• ·         Wide availability of resources.
• ·         Ease of configuration.
• ·         Low cost availability of a large number of devices and ease of deployment.
• ·         Open source – no licensing costs involved; flexibility to develop and deploy customized and tailor-made applications; processing speed.
• ·         Availability across platforms and cost of acquisition and deployment.
• ·         It has the best features – inherent or through third party applications.
• ·         ROI; decent application development support; flexibility in device options; though there are challenges in hardware support; good battery devices

Windows Mobile

Things that may work in favor of WMs are

• ·         Its commonly available technology does not need extensive technical skills to understand and operate; it’s very user friendly too.
• ·         User’s familiarity. This platform supports the widely-used office solutions, most required while on the move. With back-office based on MS technologies, it should be easier to integrate and deploy.
• ·         We have many Windows-based mobile devices and feel a Windows-based system will scale well. Because of a very large Windows application base which Windows Mobile should hopefully be able to integrate into any application?
• ·         Cost effective, Ease-of-integration, Integration with different platforms
• ·         This is one of the most widely accepted/used platforms. Compatible with all applications.

Mobility will be the end point device of computing and an essential productivity tool in the enterprise. The enterprise mobility will soon move from good to have to must have. It’s going to take some time before people start using it in a big way… concerns are around accountability and security. However I do believe that it’s going to be the way forward for application/financial management. Dashboards, reports, emails, and application access on the fly are becoming mandatory; this can only be achieved with scalable and handy mobility solutions.

I see a major role for enterprise mobility solutions for there is an increased demand for flexible work-hours from employees, reliability in establishing connectivity even from tier B and C cities, and difficulties in commuting. Thus, there is an overwhelming demand for working from outside of the office space. Simultaneously, increased customer expectations and competition places demands on the work-force to access key enterprise applications (not just e-mail) from outside the office to meet customer orders and support queries quickly. Enterprise Mobility is going to be a game changer in the future – it will no longer be optional. It will be mandatory for organizations to reduce costs, improve productivity, improve customer service, and even have pro

Loving P&C

DC*