Business & Money Trail:

"CRM DISCONNECT" HAMPERS ENTERPRISE VIEW OF THE CUSTOMER

Kalido Ltd, the information integration software vendor, proposes that the answer to most struggling CRM efforts is to create a Customer Information System (CIS). The CIS acts as a central and flexible repository of information held within all operational systems throughout the enterprise. The integrated information leverages existing investments and provides the necessary holistic view of the customer, which is then used as a basis for CRM analytics and other business intelligence tools.

Kalido Ltd's intelligent information integration software -- the Kalido Dynamic Information Warehouse -- is specifically designed for changing business environments, delivering the ideal vehicle for large organizations to fully realize the benefits of CRM. Intended for rapid implementation across the global enterprise KALIDO enables organizations to achieve accelerated returns on CRM investments. The software's unique architecture allows it to adapt readily to business change, regardless of data structure, time or geographical location. Based on open standards, the software works with existing systems and common reporting tools.

The multi-billion dollar proliferation in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) actually undermines boardroom efforts to maintain an enterprise-wide view of customers. The fault lies not in CRM itself, but in the fact that inconsistent customer information is held within multiple, fragmented CRM 'pockets' and other information systems throughout the enterprise -- a phenomenon Kalido Ltd terms, "CRM Disconnect."

Chris Worsley vice president of marketing at Kalido Ltd commented: "Many CRM applications work at a departmental or 'touch point' level -- such as in the call centre, the telesales team room or the billing department. In isolation from each other and from other operational systems, however, these do not help build the enterprise view of the customer. Our customers have used the Customer Information System approach to overcome these kinds of challenges."

"CRM is viewed as a failure by at least half of the organizations that have implemented it" continues Chris Worsley. "The point of CRM is to understand customers both over the length of the relationship and from multiple perspectives to respond better to customer needs and market change. However CRM Disconnect is causing enterprises to have a disjointed view of the customer through the lack of integration of customer information held within disparate operational systems."

Kalido Ltd argues that CRM Disconnect has arisen in part from the adoption of what META Group describes as "bottom-up 'guerrilla' CRM (gCRM) initiatives". These initiatives are incremental, department-by-department, CRM building blocks that are not integrated and do not provide a holistic customer view that can be used for analytical tools for customer segmentation and profitability assessment.

Andreas Kolind, analyst for Datamonitor's CRM Practice, commented: "CRM is only as good as the data it gets. There has been too much focus on process automation and not enough on data quality. A fundamental component of any CRM strategy must be upon ensuring that analytical CRM draws upon integrated customer information."

As well as CRM fragmentation, CRM Disconnect is also caused by the fact that customer information is not integrated with that held within other operational systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning and financials, says Kalido Ltd. According to Gartner, in its report "Eight Building Blocks of CRM: A Framework for Success" (December 13, 2001) this is a major pitfall as "successful CRM requires a flow of customer information around the organization and tight integration between operational and analytical systems."

The Gartner report continues: "Having the right information at the right time is fundamental to successful CRM strategies, providing customer insight and allowing effective interaction across any channel. Unfortunately, most enterprises' CRM information capabilities are poor -- the result of numerous and fragmented departments, initiatives, databases and systems."

About Kalido Ltd

Kalido Ltd provides information integration software to support enterprise management of complex change such as mergers, acquisitions, reorganization and globalization. The company's software is used in over 90 countries with multi-nationals such as Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (Shell), Unilever and Philips. A software venture originally founded by Shell, Kalido Ltd and its affiliates have worldwide operations in US and Europe, providing sales, high-level consulting, technical support and training. Kalido Ltd works closely with large system integrators for the deployment of the global projects. The company's Website is at www.kalido.com.

Contact Kirstin Jensen, Imagio/JWT, 206-625-0252 x3025, kirstinj@imagio.com.