CRM project gets started

Since 2003, LG45 has played an important role in giving service advisors the information they need to resolve most service requests at first time of asking.

But the partnership has now decided to examine alternatives to the system for various reasons, including the fact that Oracle, like other vendors, is moving towards having a 'cloud computing' product for UK local government alongside its own-premises hosted e-business suite. In addition, LG45 involves considerable on-going development effort in helping partners work effectively in shared service arrangements with other public sector organisations or in meeting the requirements of national projects such as Tell Us Once (see Page 1) (check latter comment with Leanda).

Benefits of a modern solution would include:

• More effective sharing of CRM data with local authority websites and online portals used in contact centres
  
• Automated routing from CRM to back office of data from devices such as smart 'phones used by customers to send photographs of abandoned vehicles, potholes, graffiti and other relevant images
  
• New CRM functions enabling the switching off of legacy systems.

A potential solution to be considered by the project board established last month (August) is the 'cloud option' - implementation of a web-based system hosted and managed from a secure data centre, and paid for monthly. There would be no installation on local authority sites and no need for software licences as the system would be delivered to the end user as a service.

Project board has until December to provide the information needed by the partnership to make an informed decision, after which implementation is scheduled to have taken place by the end of next March. Participating partners will then go live in three phases, the details of which have yet to be finalised.

The project is being managed by self-employed consultant Omar Khan, who is contracted to the partnership for seven months to next March. Based in Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, he works Tuesday to Thursday each week. Omar has been running his own business for more than 11 years, having started his career as a project manager for Sheffield City Council.

He offers an holistic service embracing service transformation as well as project management.