Anchor Every Project to Your Key Business Strategies

REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE - RESULTS AND NEXT EVOLUTION

The resolution of challenges on the pilot allowed for a successful implementation to the European sales team. Once development and implementation of the pilot application wound down, the focus shifted to engaging business units and building a program business case to determine the best options for moving forward with CRM.

The events of September 11th, and the market downturn that followed, led to greatly revised sales forecasts for the following year. While the program had a solid foundation for a CRM business strategy in place, the strategy was not widely communicated or accepted by stakeholders. The tough task of engaging stakeholders and establishing a common strategy became even more difficult in this climate. The projected decrease in sales and revenue led to the company reprioritizing funding to maintain operational capabilities. Without a compelling enterprise-wide CRM strategy in place, the CRM Program was seen as a low priority compared to other enterprise-wide initiatives. The result was that CRM would not receive the funding necessary to launch a full-scale program.

To ensure that the knowledge and deliverables of the pilot—including program management infrastructure, processes, and tools—were not lost, they were catalogued and stored to be available for an eventual restart of the CRM initiative. The customer service organization was able to transition and use the acquired knowledge, deliverables, and resources in effectively restarting the CRM initiative in their organization. The customer service organization has been able to deliver a successful pilot CRM application within their business unit, as well as position for the launch of an enterprise-wide CRM initiative.

ANCHORING PROJECTS TO KEY BUSINESS STRATEGIES - LESSONS APPLIED TO YOUR ORGANIZATION

Looking at the challenges faced in this example, there are lessons that can be applied to your organization. By applying techniques that anchor your projects to key business strategies, you will be able to:

• Develop and maintain enterprise-wide strategy and alignment.
• Network between IS and business at all levels to limit roadblocks and cross-functional conflicts.
• Organize and communicate program and project data relative to enterprise strategy.
• Develop a common, yet flexible framework for engaging stakeholders and managing existing ones.
• Employ an evolutionary process transitioning from a narrowly focused pilot project to an enterprise initiative to make it real or tangible.
• Align and integrate multiple projects by priority over time to deliver the enterprise program.