"After assessing the alternative technology choices, Web services was considered to be the strongest candidate, optimising our cost, project time, and overall functionality," says data centre manager Ralph Stone.
This decision paid off when the time came to add a CRM system, because "CRM touches pretty well every part of your company" and Web services could be used to integrate CRM with the company's legacy systems.
"It allows us to have a platform where we can plug in the features we want. We work in a very broad business," says business tools project coordinator Neville Drake. Web services allows consolidation of data stored in existing systems, yet the users see a single system, he explains. "It's virtually seamless... it's a cradle-to-grave view of sales transactions."
Keith Payne, business development manager, agrees: "We can share knowledge across the entire organisation for the first time."
The CRM component was provided by Streamline Solutions, using its eTouchPoint product built on Microsoft's .NET architecture. "We use our toolkit to extend the functionality of NEC's various systems and to add business rules," says Rob Sadedin, Streamline's chief software architect.
Opportunity management is the main focus of the project, which is built around the way NEC manages the sales process from leads to fulfilment. NEC built a portal that integrates CRM with other existing applications and databases including the MFG/PRO ERP system, Exchange, customer and solutions databases, collaboration tools, and the reporting system.
The use of MFG/PRO is deeply ingrained at NEC, and it would not be practical to upgrade or replace it, Stone explains. The company had previously used direct APIs to integrate it with other software, but Web services provides a looser coupling that makes complex integrations more robust and also allows any system to be easily replaced without reworking the others. "Web services--specifically .NET--is an NEC Technology direction," says Payne.
An important part of the project was the provision of access to all those functions with a single login process that honours the access rights of different users, who range from the managing director down through the management hierarchy to account executives, sales engineers, and sales consultants.
"Administrative time has been slashed," says Drake, "we're getting 100 percent visibility of the entire sales lifecycle in real time."
"If there's anything to learn from one customer to the next, we can get at it," adds Payne. Broad visibility of information is particularly important at NEC, as individuals based at various state offices often collaborate on a single prospect or proposal.
"CRM is a high risk project," says Drake, but NEC took two years to establish the requirements and then Web services reduced the implementation risk. "Streamline's modules just snapped in when we tested them."
Implementation took just three months from approval of the specifications to rollout. "It seemed a tight schedule, but it came in exactly on time," says Stone. "We've been able to fashion a seamless data flow through the organisation with an enormous range of applications."
"We are now encouraging other departments to implement systems using Web services so their work can be used elsewhere in the organisation," Drake adds.
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