Development Of A Customer Relationship Management System For TOSIG

Project Scope

Discuss about the Upgrade of Information System and Implementation of CRM for Tier One Suppliers Insurance Group.

The overall project is based on the development of a new customer relationship management system that will be integrated with the upgraded information system of the company. In addition to the computer workstations used by the company employees in the office, the information system support will be extended to smaller devices like tablets, laptops and smartphones. These smaller devices will be provided to the employees who will then be able to enter data while working on field. Based on these requirements, the scope of the project is defined as follows.

In-Scope:

• Feasibility study of the proposed system is within the scope of the project.
• Upgrade of the existing information system is within the scope of the project.
• Development of a new CRM system is within the scope of the project.
• Purchase of new tablets and smartphones is within the scope of the project.
• Integrating the new CRM system with the smaller devices is within the scope of the project.

Out-Scope:

• Selection of vendor for supplying hardware and software is out of scope of this project.
• Hiring of developers for the project is out of scope of this project.
• Contracting with sponsor for funding the project is out of scope of this project.

Tier One Suppliers Insurance Group (TOSIG) is an insurance company that provided insurance coverage to various tier one suppliers that deal with fencing, stock yards, storage silos, buildings and other machinery. The company also insures crops for various suppliers. In spite of maintaining business for 65 years, the company is now facing certain issues and problems that are mainly due to the lack of sufficient field work by the employees. While the employees are entitled to perform both field work and data entry at office, the company found out that employees were spending more time in data entry and hence, the time for field work was significantly reduced. As a result, the business of the company has been getting hampered as it has been missing out a large number of potential high value clients. Moreover, due to the rise of other insurance companies, the competitive advantage of the company in the market has also been significantly reduced. Hence, upgradation of the existing information system is required so that the business operations are performed much faster. Furthermore, development of the CRM system will allow the company to gain back the competitive advantage in the market and gain more clients while the employees will able to perform data entry even during field work by using smartphones and tablets.

However, simply performing these activities for the project is not sufficient. Before the project is even started, it is to be ensured that the project will be feasible for the company in terms of scope, budget and future operations. In addition, there are certain concerns that have been raised by both the management as well as the employees that have to be addressed before proceeding with the project. Some of the concerns raised are as follows.

In-Scope

Cyber Threat – In order to provide support to different devices connected to the central server online, it is required to host the entire server into cloud. As a result, the entirety of the company database will be stored in the online virtual interface that will significantly increase the chances of cyber attacks. Due to online hosting, the cyber threat agents and hackers will find it easy to break into the server and steal secure information.

Closing Offices – The proposed operation system by the company will effectively close down all the offices as the employees and agents can complete their duties from the field. As a result, there will be no more restrictions and control over the agents by the company. Furthermore, there will be no way to catch the employees who will not perform their duties as per the requirements.

Tracking – Due to the use of cloud based system, the agents have raised concern that their location can be tracked that can be tampered and misuses by external agents or even the company itself.

The background of this project is mainly the lack of new potential clients registering with the company as well as loss of competitive advantage in the insurance market. Initially, the company performed very well due to very convenient services and wide range of facilities for the clients. Moreover, the agents of the company visited the clients from time to time in order collect data about the products that they provided insurance for. However, with the growing market, the number of clients also increased whereas the numbers of employees and agents have not increased significantly. As a result, the agents need to execute both field work and data entry at office. The company noticed that most of the time, the agents spent time in office by entering data into the system and thus there was less field work. Due to this, the business of the company is getting hampered as it has also started missing out on potential new clients. The company decided to introduce new CRM system in order to reduce the workload on the agents instead of employing more agents into the field. Employing new agents will incur a large amount of regular expenses whereas the CRM system will only demand an one time investment and minor maintenance costs.

The milestone schedule is shown in the following table.

The acceptance criteria for the project are listed as follows:

• Fully developed CRM system
• High cost benefit value
• Increased field work by the agents
• Procurement of at least 50 new high value clients by the next one year after implementation
• Efficient data entry process during field work by the agents
• All agents are equipped with smartphones and tablets

Out-Scope

The risks associated with the implementation of the CRM system for the company are shown in a risk matrix as follows.

The assumptions made for the project are as follows.

• It has been assumed that the company will be able to provide sufficient funds for the project or find a suitable sponsor for the project.
• It has been assumed that CRM system is the best possible solution for the company.
• It has been assumed that the new system will reduce the work load of the agents and the employees.

The constraints associated with the project are as follows.

• The agents are not willing to use a cloud based system in their daily operations.
• The offices may not be required if all the shift hours are invested in field work by the agents.
• Rival organizations may have even better functioning information system at their disposal.

The list of stakeholders including their designations and roles in project is shown in the following table.

Conclusion

Based on the feasibility analysis of the case presented by the company, certain conclusions can be reached. Firstly, CRM system will be very suitable for the company if implemented in the right way and with the correct amount of resources. In this case, discussions will have to be undertaken with the agents to determine their requirements and whether they align with the company’s business policies. Secondly, the migration to cloud is a good option but the company must provide sufficient system security to the cloud based server. Finally, the company should proceed with project only if sufficient funding can be generated and moreover, the company should also fix mandatory working hours at office.

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