After you’ve evaluated the organisation’s departments and processes, the next step in building a CRM project is to build and execute an implementation plan.
This plan should encompass the organisation’s current and planned software systems, the budget for the project and the implementation requirements to automate departmental processes.
The integration project itself is not as much about technology as it is about the people, processes, structure and information that are involved. To encourage a cultural shift in thinking and conducting business, key factors such as change management, personnel involvement and clear and frequent communications become necessary.
It is important to allay any potential reluctance about how changes will affect employees’ day to day duties. If the vision is set and people are involved early, it is likely the benefits will be understood sooner and the project will progress faster.
During the planning process consider contracting with a systems integration company that understands both your company’s operations and your systems and one that is locally available to implement and support your organisation throughout the project. Working with integration experts is an excellent way to fast track the execution of your front to back office integration project.
In addition, keep in mind that although a large portion of the integration project will involve a cross-departmental team of influences, there should be one overall project owner within the organisation, someone who can be held accountable for project completion.
This project champion will need to invoke consensus across the various project constituents on key project elements. After you identify this person there are many technical and process steps to consider. Expect the integration project to be dynamic because business drivers change, as do the needs and desires of the organisation.
Project Elements and Timeline
The following figure provides a timeline for front to back office suggested practices. The remaining part of this section provides a description for each stage included in the timeline.
1. Data Migration
As in any new or existing software implementation, handling pre-existing data can provide challenges. When considering whether to join front and back office systems, remember to weigh the value of the data against the amount of work that will be required to cleanse and merge the information with the newly implemented systems.
It is important to consider the existing data early in the project and compare the information for reliability and accuracy. Evaluating this information early will provide clear insight to decisions needed during the actual data import steps.
2. System Configurations
System sizing and server configurations are difficult to calculate due to the number of possibilities. As a general rule it is suggested that the integration service be installed on a computer that meets the recommended requirements and is separate from the front and back office database servers as well as separate from the CRM remote user synchronisation servers.
3. Software Upgrade and Installation
Upgrading existing software systems is very important to the overall success of the front to back office implementation in order to be compatible with new software. Installing new software is one of the easiest tasks of the front to back office implementation process.
After you have made the system configuration decisions you must carefully follow the installation documentation for all applications involved in the integration.
4. Data Import Planning
The purpose of the data import planning stage is to prepare for successful data import by planning the sequence of events. As the back to front office implementation process continues, the dependency of previous steps becomes more important to the success of the overall project. These steps include:
Step 1: Review the decisions made during the data migration stage related to the data value and scope of work.
Step 2: Arrive at a consensus regarding the value and accuracy of the data to determine the sequence for importing.
As discussed in this document, the back office data is extremely accurate and contains customers’ financial information. This is usually the data set to start with when considering a new implementation of a front office system.
Step 3: Prepare additional data imports to load pre-existing systems data, as needed.
Step 4: If you require a remote implementation front office users should receive synchronised data as part of the implementation. Consider the impact of the new data and identify plans to assign teams and ownership schemes using territory management tools to designate appropriate data ownership rules.
5. Integration Services Configuration
To configure the integration services and establish connections between the front and back office systems use the configuration tools that are part of the integration software you have selected or that are already contained within your accounting or CRM software. The next section reviews integration software deployment methods to assist in the software selection process.
During this stage another practice to consider is creating a naming convention for the configurations. Because there are many variations to creating multiple configurations with multiple schedules you need to set a standard for how you can quickly identify which front office account is connected to which back office company, as well as the mode and scheduled run time.
The process of actually importing data is completed in two phases. The order in which you execute the stages depends upon the decisions made in the Data Import Planning stage.
Phase 1: Import the data that you determined to be the most valuable or accurate. If the back office information is the first data set execute an initial integration import. If another pre-existing data set is deemed the most valuable data, import this data first using the data import tool of choice. It is recommended that you perform some method of data validation prior to moving to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Import the secondary data set after the data validation of Phase 1 is complete.
7. Data Cleansing
After the data has been consolidated into the front office product, it is possible that the newly integrated system contains duplicate data. The presence of duplicates depends upon the sophistication level of the import tools used.
Regardless of the import tools used the data cleansing stage is critical to starting the implementation with a valid data set. Taking the time to use de-duplication tools will increase the success of the overall implementation.
8. Front Office Accounts and Back Office Company Matching
Until this point, the back office company information and the front office account information may not have been associated, thus preventing the connection between appropriate data in each system. This stage of the implementation associates accounts in the front office to the matching company in the back office.
To create this link between the front office account and the back office customer, certain cross reference information must be populated. For example, the CRM application will need to know the accounting company code and/or the customer account number from the back office application in order to link the two accounts.
This stage is only required during implementation; as new accounts are created in the future, the front or back office applications will automatically be linked.
9. Front to Back Office List Matching
Data lists shared between the front and back office systems must match in order to support a congruent flow of information between both systems. Each system may have special logic or rules associated with the values. An example where matching data lists become important is during a sales order; the sales person code and the shipping methods must match. If they do not match, during the order validation process in the back office, the order or quote will not be processed.
10. Field Based Remote User Databases
If the implementation supports remote or field based front office users you must pay special attention to account ownership in order to ensure these users have proper access to the accounts they manage.
If teams and ownership were assigned during the data import planning stage there may be no further action needed. If they were not assigned this is the time to look at tools needed to designate territory ownership in the front office and further investigate each user’s synchronisation settings.
It is difficult to predict remote user transaction volume because each company runs its business differently. Plan ahead and set expectations for initial and follow up remote user synchronisation sessions.
Furthermore, to avoid synchronisation delays, do not create a remote user’s offline database until after all the initial imports, synchronisations and front office accounts and back office customers are complete.
