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Chapter 2 Real World Cases Studies

Real World Case 1: Suite Dreams Hilton's customers can rest easy knowing the hotel chain has no reservations about delivering outstanding service. For most enterprises 1999 was spent making sure that the new millennium would arrive without a technical hitch. Hilton Hotels Corp. was among those working to ensure its YK compliance! but the hoteling giant also took the arrival o" ### as an opportunity to replace its legacy main"rame reservations system! as well as to implement a customer relationship management solution. $wo years on! the "amous hotel chain is glad it started the process when it did! because now it plans to deploy the system throughout its %ouble$ree and &mbassy 'uites properties. (n hindsight it was a huge undertaking!) says *oanie Flynn! vice president o" leisure marketing "or Hilton! head+uartered in ,everly Hills! Cali". ,ut one that has paid o"" "or the hospitality chain! which develops! owns! manages! or "ranchises more than 1!-## hotels! resorts! and vacation properties. )Hotel are a comple. business!) Flynn says. )/e have small hotels! large hotels! and resorts. $here are enhanced seasonal needs and some commonality across our business! but each type o" hotel has special needs to be addressed.) Hilton spent start o" the new millennium preparing to implement &.piphany (nc.'s &.0 suite o" C12 reporting and analysis applications by replacing its main"rame reservations system. $he hotel chain was "inally able to deploy the &.0 suite in *une ##1. 3sing the C12 solution Hilton is now able to analy4e occupancy! booking patterns! and customer in"ormation. $he so"tware also allows all o" Hilton's properties to gather and analy4e guest in"ormation to help managers provide better service to their guests! administer corporate loyalty programs! and guide marketing campaigns "or their respective hotels. 5s a result Hilton can manage its business more cost6e""ectively! and properly deploy its marketing resources. 'uch analysis! which takes place using a /eb6based inter"ace! can happen in minutes. 3sing Hilton's intranet! hotel general managers! sales representatives! sta"" coordinators! and analysts can +uery Hilton's C12 system! which is tied to its new client7server reservations systems. $his enables Hilton's users to generate speci"ic reports immediately that show rate plans! numbers o" people per reservation! the source o" the reservations! and guest in"ormation. %ata "rom the reports can be e.ported to &.cel or 8ower8oint! and system users can manipulate the graphs. 3sers also can drill down "or speci"ic data. 2anagers can track national sales account production! "or e.ample! and sales representatives can "ind out who the top meeting planners are. Hilton can also determine i" guests are traveling "or business or leisure. ),e"ore the new system we could never get down to the "iner aspects!) Flynn says. )9ow we can get market segments! the actual books! and

"orecast advance booking patterns.) For travelers! that translates to an e.tra measure o" service. Hotels are able di""erentiate their service based on customer in"ormation. $his means that a traveler enrolled in Hilton's "re+uent traveler program who! "or e.ample! has stayed with Hilton 1## times is likely to get an upgrade or additional services! while a traveler with :ust one stay is likely to get additional in"ormation and help about the hotel's services! Flynn says. 5 ;iew o" a 1oom 8rior to implementing &.0! gathering customer data was a laborious process. (t o"ten took anywhere "rom two to "our weeks to generate static reports! and re+uired the assistance o" Hilton's ($ department to create '<= +ueries. ,ecause o" those hurdles! only about 10# people a year throughout the Hilton Hotel "amily were accessing the old system! whereas over the past nine months more than >## Hilton workers have had access to the Hilton C12 system. Conse+uently it was vital that Hilton workers who would be using the system66"rom such departments as reservations! marketing! and sales66were given the necessary training to get them well6versed on the new system. )/e were not only teaching our employees to use a new technology! but teaching them a new way o" thinking about their business!) Flynn says. )/e needed to teach them how to associate the data together and make correct implementation decisions based on that data.) $o accomplish that Hilton began o""ering a variety o" training ranging "rom one hour! over6the6phone training to one6day! "ace6to6"ace! hands6on instruction. Hilton also sends out a monthly newsletter dedicated to updates! best practices! training in"ormation! and new report templates associated with its C12 solution. $he company has set up Hil'mart! a telephone support hotline based in %allas! dedicated to answering +uestions about the C12 system. Flynn says Hilton did not see training as a separate corporate e.pense! but rather viewed that cost as another part o" rolling out and maintaining the new application. Hilton would not give a speci"ic dollar amount associated with purchase! implementation! maintenance o"! and training associated with the C12 products. However! a basic solution "rom &.piphany starts at ? 0#!### and can go as high as ?0##!###. Hilton did note that it was an early customer o" &.piphany and took an ownership stake in the then6 "ledgling vendor. 5nd although Hilton would not disclose the speci"ic amount o" its investment in &.piphany! Flynn says that Hilton made )a ton o" money) when it sold its ownership in the "irm. Flynn also noted that at the time Hilton took an e+uity position in &.piphany! the two companies had also discussed a potential :oint venture in which &.piphany would develop and sell a special C12 application targeted at the hospitality industry based on e.pertise gathered "rom its deal with Hilton. For its part! Flynn says! Hilton has already received a return on its C12 investment. )$he system costs

less to maintain than our old main"rame system66we've saved on personnel and dramatically increased our productivity!) she says. ,ut whether the 1@( has translated into more business has yet to be seen! according to Flynn! who notes that the events o" 'eptember 11 have hit the hospitality industry hard! making it di""icult to determine a pattern. ,ut national events and a travel slow6down were not the only hurdles "acing Hilton. Flynn says that deploying its C12 solution has its bumps66mostly due to the huge amount o" historical data the company wanted to bring over "rom the old system! along with a transition that moved the companies ($ department "rom its ,everly Hills head+uarters to 2emphis. )%ata validation took inordinately long!) Flynn says. )(" ( were doing it again! ( would not worry about the old data and :ust start "resh. ( would also have waited until all the linkage issues with our other systems were worked out.) ,ut Hilton is still hot on C12 and working to deploy other modules. $he company plans to add &.piphany's Campaign 2anagement and 1eal6$ime. Campaign 2anagement is used "or planning! e.ecuting! and analy4ing multichannel campaigns across all customer touch points. 1eal6$ime provides a real6time marketing engine to give a single view o" the customer and to personali4e each interaction by building a pro"ile "or each visitor or customer with in"ormation drawn "rom multiple sources including customer databases! transaction systems! third6party data! and other sources. $he system then selects the best o""er "or a particular person using up6to6the6second in"ormation. $wo years ago Hilton ac+uired %oubletree and &mbassy 'uites! growing its company "rom 0# to nearly !### properties. Hilton plans to role out all o" its C12 applications to all o" its properties over the ne.t year. )$his is going to allow us to have a customer6centric view across all our brands!) Flynn says. )$hat is very power"ul and should translate to a huge return on investment.) (n the "uture customers using Hilton's /eb site who respond to )/here do you want to go ne.tA) will receive well6timed o""ers "or relevant itineraries. Hilton will eventually leverage &.piphany's ability to download customer pro"iles "rom third6party sources. /hen "irst6time users log onto Hilton's /eb site! they will begin to see custom options and in"ormation derived "rom their third6party pro"iles. ,y correlating such e6commerce in"ormation with data gathered "rom hotels! phone reservations! and other sources! Hilton representatives could optimi4e both rates and occupancy. &ventually! Hilton is looking to have customer6speci"ic in"ormation available to key service personnel throughout the system66"rom Hilton's reservations operators to desk clerks. )$his has trans"ormed our sta""'s e.pectations and now they are thinking o" new ways to help their business and o""er better customer service!) Flynn says. 'idebarB Hilton 'hares (ts 'uccess strategy

&ven though most enterprises consider their individual C12 solutions to be a competitive advantage! that does not stop some C12 users "rom sharing the details o" their implementation with other companies or even competitors. 5 couple o" times per +uarter C12 vendor &.piphany holds "ormal roundtables that bring together three to "our o" its key customers to discuss the speci"ics o" their C12 implementations! including the bene"its they have reaped! the hurdles they "aced! and everything in between. )8eople who license our applications tend to be visionary about C12 in their organi4ations!) says 2ike $rigg! vice president o" product management "or &.piphany. )$hey are eager to talk about the problems they are "acing and maybe "ind other users who can tell them how to solve the problems.) *oanie Flynn! vice president o" leisure marketing "or Hilton Hotels! which was an early adopter o" &.piphany's &.0 C12 suite o" products! says that she en:oys sharing the C12 e.pertise her company has gained with other companies. )('ve become evangelical about C12 and its bene"its!) says Flynn! who also noted that &.piphany recently introduced her to e.ecutives "rom another o" its customer66starbucks66who were "acing some implementation problems. Flynn says she was eager to share in"ormation with the 'eattle6based co""ee giant and to help the company solve some challenges that Hilton had already overcome.)/e were very sympathetic to their problems and it was great to be able to lend our e.pertise to help them!) Flynn says. 1oger 'iboni! C&@ o" &.piphany! says that delivering a C12 solution is not :ust about delivering good technology but about the process as well! and that letting customers share the good! the bad! and the ugly is a necessary part o" the process. )'haring best practices between customers is good business "or us and "or them!) 'iboni says. )(" ( :umped up and down and talked about how e""icient and e""ect our solution is! it would :ust "all on dea" ears. ,ut letting e.isting and prospective customers share their e.periences speaks volumes. $hese people have a big investment in a technology product and they want to learn as much as they can.)66 =.8. Sidebar: 15 Minutes With E.piphany CEO Roger Siboni 1oger 'iboni :oined C12 so"tware developer &.piphany in 199C and helped lead the 'an 2ateo! Cali".6based company through its success"ul 'eptember 1999 (8@. 8rior to :oining &.piphany! 'iboni was deputy chairman and chie" operating o""icer o" K82D 8eat 2arwick! where he spent his #6year tenure helping technology start6ups develop into ma:or public companies. 'iboni has also played a role in the tech industry's legislative developments over the past decade. He has testi"ied be"ore the House /ays and 2eans Committee and the $reasury %epartment on behal" o" the technology industry. 'iboni serves on the boards o" 5ctive 'o"tware! File9&$! and the /alter 5. Haas 'chool o" ,usiness at the 3niversity o" Cali"ornia at ,erkeley. 'iboni recently spoke about the challenges and opportunities o" C12 with business :ournalist =isa 8icarille "or C12 maga4ine.

C12B /hat is the single biggest problem "acing enterprises implementing a C12 solutionA 1oger 'iboniB $he challenges that organi4ations "ace is that C12 has historically been all about driving a process that makes people and technology inter"ace with customers more e""iciently. C12 is in the process o" and needs to evolve to be more customer6centric and customer speci"ic. (nstead o" evaluating C12 by how "ast you can take calls and get people o"" the phone! you have to think what customer is on the phone and what kind o" interchange are you having with that customer. (t's about driving C12 "rom process6centric to customer6centric. C12B /hat is the one piece o" key advice that you would give managers implementing or upgrading C12 solutionsA 'iboniB start with the customer! not the channel. $he salesperson wants to do C12. $he marketing people want to do it. ,ut it's not about the channel. (t's about developing a holistic view o" the customer and then driving a consistent view o" that customer "rom all touch points with a company. C12B /hat is the biggest C12 development you see coming over the ne.t yearA 'iboniB $here will be more and more activity centered around sharing knowledge about customers and o""ering a consistent and coherent customer e.perience between all touch points66the call center! the /eb site! the sales department! etc. CRM: What about o er the ne!t "i e years# 'iboniB 5s organi4ations become more automated there will be more pervasive and more and di""erent ways to interact with customers >7C. @rgani4ations will be networked across di""erent plat"orms66 8%5s! 5$2s! kiosks66and wherever and whenever the customer chooses to inter"ace with the company! the company will be able to carry on a consistent conversation. $his means that interactions with customers will move "rom being speci"ic transactions to continuous conversations that are carried out across multiple media. 5nd organi4ations will be in a position so that they know where they le"t the dialog with the customer. $hat interaction will be triggered by the customer and not the enterprise. C12B /hy does the C12 sector seem to be thriving when deployment or implementation o" some other enterprisewide applications have leveled o"" or even slowed downA 'iboniB /e've moved "rom an era where it's all about cool technology to an era where it's all about the customer. &very organi4ation is seeking how to get! keep! and grow customers66and C12 technologies really drive that part o" the e+uation. %uring the 19-#s and the 199#s! product +uality and e""icient manu"acturing ruled. $he best companies were de"ined by which made the highest +uality product. 9ow! the leading companies are de"ined by how they interact with their customers.

Real World Case 2: $mi%a: &'M and $mi%a 'uild a ()irtual 'ran%h( on the Web
Facing increased competition in the insurance industry! 5mica wished to improve access "or /eb6 savvy policyholders and provide a rich array o" online services to policyholders! without compromising

the company's reputation "or highly personali4ed customer service. Resolution: (,2 Dlobal 'ervices! 5mica Corporate Communications and 5mica ($ personnel cra"ted a /eb6based customer sel"6service solution that delivers rich content as well as transactional services. Des%ription E!e%uti e summary For 5mica! providing high6+uality customer service represents a core element o" its business strategy! as well as an important source o" competitive di""erentiation. (ndeed! its practice o" directly writing personal insurance 66 whereby it eschews the use o" agents and brokers in "avor o" 5mica pro"essionals 66 is intended to ensure a )no compromises) approach to customer service. (n recent years! industry and market dynamics have attached even more strategic signi"icance to 5mica's service6based di""erentiation approach. 'peci"ically! slowing market growth has led to aggressive price cutting! as insurers nationwide have sought to increase their market share. /ith the consumer market Ethe segment served by 5micaF increasingly willing to shi"t providers "or lower rates! the need to increase customer loyalty has never been more acute. $he high level o" loyalty within the 5mica customer base attests to the success o" its service6centric strategy in keeping churn to a minimum. e*business %hallenge 5mica's e6business challenge is closely interwoven with its primary business6level challengeB continuing its growth in the "ace o" "lat industry revenues! "alling rates! and increased competition. $hus "ar! 5mica's main strategy "or growth has been geographic e.pansion 66 it now operates > o""ices in C states 66 as well as a ma:or advertising campaign designed to raise 5mica's pro"ile outside the 9ortheast! its traditional stronghold. 1ecogni4ing the need to e.pand its range o" channels! 5mica has also embraced the (nternet as a signi"icant new distribution and communications channel. 5ccording to 2argaret 2unroe! a 'enior 5ssistant ;ice 8resident closely involved in 5mica's /eb initiatives! the embrace o" (nternet technology posed both a strategic opportunity and a challenge to the company. )/e were committed to becoming an e6business early on!) says 2unroe. ),ut be"ore we "orged ahead it was important "or us to articulate e.actly how the /eb was going to "it into our strategy. 3ltimately! we concluded that the /eb would essentially "unction as a 'virtual branch o""ice' "or 5mica.) De%ision %riteria and pro%ess 5mica considered appro.imately hal"6a6do4en vendors in its search "or a solution provider! ultimately selecting (,2 Dlobal 'ervices to develop and host the solution. 5s 2unroe points out! the selection o" (,2 Dlobal 'ervices re"lected 5mica's trust in (,2's ability to build a truly end6to6end solution. )/e reali4ed that while any number o" vendors could create a compelling /eb "ront end! the ability to provide realtime access to legacy systems is where the rubber meets the road!) says 2unroe. )/e saw (,2 as truly uni+ue in its ability to build such a solution 66 and this is what really pushed our decision.)

*ames %evine! 'enior ;ice 8resident o" Corporate (n"ormation 'ystems! adds that 5mica has had a long and success"ul history with (,2 as a solutions provider. )@ur e6business initiative was a very important pro:ect "or the companyG it represented a strategic :uncture "or the company!) says %evine. )$he strength o" (,2As reputation 66 developed over a long and success"ul relationship 66 gave us the con"idence we needed to proceed.) (n addition to the sheer depth o" (,2's legacy integration e.pertise! 2unroe also points to (,2's proven ability to collaborate with 5mica's internal sta"" as a ma:or reason "or its selection. )/e chose (,2 because we wanted a collaboration that would re"lect the same kind o" dedication to us that we have toward our policyholders!) says 2unroe. )/e wanted a provider who could work with our own people in a team environment 66 and not simply drop a solution on our lap and walk away.) $he "inal "actor underpinning 5mica's decision to select (,2 as its /eb solutions partner was its "aith in the strength o" (,2's technology 66 a "aith bolstered by years o" success running mission6critical applications on (,26powered solutions. Having established the /eb enablement o" its business processes as a long6term goal! 5mica was acutely aware o" the need to build a solution that could keep pace with its changing needs 66 as the volume and comple.ity o" its e6business ramped up. 5s %ave %wyer! 5mica's /eb 'upervisor e.plains! (,2's 5pplication Framework "or e6business provided valuable guidance to 5mica as it was laying the groundwork "or its in"rastructure. )/e anticipate that e6business applications will become more and more ingrained in all our processes!) says %wyer. )5s such! we were drawn to (,2's 5pplication Framework "or e6business because o" its "ocus on scalability 66 which will help us as we grow 66 and its ability to integrate with other applications we've built 66 which will minimi4e our development costs and the length o" our development cycle.) Solution pro"ile and implementation strategy 5mica's /eb6based solution! known as 5ccess 5mica Ewww.amica.comF represents the company's main plat"orm "or interacting with both e.isting policyholders and the general public. (n addition to company in"ormation! non6policyholders accessing the general 5mica site can presently view in"ormation designed to support their insurance decisions as well as consumer sa"ety in"ormation. 3nder the 5ccess 5mica umbrella! 5mica targets its policyholder community with a range o" advanced services collectively known as )8olicyholder &.press.) 5mica customers using 8olicyholder &.press can gain access to detailed billing and account history in"ormation! pay bills and report claims online. &.amples o" recently added "eatures o" 8olicyholder &.press are the ability to obtain auto! homeowner and e.cess liability insurance +uoting online. (n the near "uture! 5mica will o""er policyholders the ability to view their policies online. $his "eature! known as policy presentment! represents an especially comple. aspect o" the solution due to its reliance on linkages to 5mica's legacy systems. 5mica's solution employs a rich array o" (,2 technologies! including ;isual 5ge "or *ava! /eb 'phere 5pplication 'erver! %, 3niversal %atabase! and 2< 'eries. 5mica's /eb server 66 running on a /indows 9$ server located at the (,2 hosting "acility in ,oulder! C@ 66 is connected via a "rame relay private line to another 9$ server running /eb 'phere 5pplication 'erver at a data center in 5mica's =incoln! 1( head+uarters. =ocated behind 5mica's "irewall! the server running /eb 'phere 5pplication 'erver is linked in realtime to a number o" %, databases via 2< 'eries. $hese databases!

which reside on 5mica's (,2 '7H9# 8arallel &nterprise 'erver as well as a small number o" database servers! are used to store a wide variety o" customer! policy and pricing in"ormation. $he development team employed ;isual 5ge "or *ava as its primary development plat"orm! and used (,2 2< 'eries to create realtime linkages between /eb 'phere 5pplication 'erver and the %, databases running on 5micaIs '7H9# plat"orm. &mplementation approa%h and timetable 5mica's e6business solution was developed in three phases. 3nder the "irst phase! begun in *uly 1999 and launched in 9ovember 1999! 5mica introduced its newly designed /eb site Edeveloped :ointly by (,2 Dlobal 'ervices and the Center "or (,2 e6business (nnovation in 5tlantaF. 5mica's 8olicyholder &.press and online +uoting "eatures were also introduced during the "irst phase. 3nder the second phase o" the deployment! begun in *anuary ### and completed in *une ###! 5mica broadened its online +uoting capabilities and added the ability to view account history. 3nder the third and "inal phase o" the current engagement! the (,2 Dlobal 'ervices and 5mica team is developing online policy presentment capability! under which policyholders will be able to view a copy o" their insurance policies via the /eb. 5s part o" the current development phase! 5mica also plans to introduce the ability to track the claims appraisal process Ethe standard procedure "ollowed when a claim is "iledF via the /eb! providing real time in"ormation on whether and when the process began and its current status. $hroughout the process! the (,2 Dlobal 'ervices team collaborated closely with 5mica sta"". %uring the legacy integration process! the (,2 development team worked closely with 5mica's technical! underwriting and marketing specialists to ensure that the solution con"ormed to 5micaJs vision. 5s the second phase o" the development e""ort wound down! (,2 Dlobal 'ervices again worked closely 66 and success"ully 66 with 5mica's technical sta"" on trans"er6o"6knowledge. 'usiness results 5s 8atricia 'tadnick! 5mica's Communications 2anager! e.plains! 5micaAs /eb solution is designed as an e.tension o" 5micaJs traditional! highly personali4ed approach to customer contact 66 and in this regard! it is clearly succeeding. )'ince we introduced 5ccess 5mica! we've e.perienced a dramatic increase in our /eb site tra""ic!) says 'tadnick. (n the "irst month "ollowing the introduction o" 5ccess 5mica! the number o" site re+uests rose 1C#K! while the number o" visits increased by 1>0K. ,ased on the latter metric 66 which provides a measure o" the number o" customers and prospects using the 5ccess 5mica site 66 the number o" users has since increased nearly every month. 'tadnick believes that an e.panded "ocus on delivering services will aid 5mica in both attracting new customers and in keeping e.isting policyholders satis"ied. ),y providing a rich array o" services and in"ormation via the /eb! we e.pect to strengthen our customers' satis"action even "urther!) says 'tadnick! )which is consistent with our mission o" being a completely customer6"ocused insurance provider.) 5mica also believes that its /eb initiatives will have considerable appeal to prospective customers who see the /eb as an ideal tool "or making in"ormed decisions about insurance. Case epilogue

=ooking back on its (,2 Dlobal 'ervices engagement! 2unroe sees the overall +uality o" e.perience as e.ceeding 5mica's already6high e.pectations on a wide variety o" "ronts. )/e really can't say enough good things about (,2's pro:ect management skills!) says 2unroe. )9early every aspect o" this pro:ect has been on time and under budget.) 5mica's %wyer! a"ter working closely with the (,2 Dlobal 'ervices team! points to an unremitting sense o" pragmatism and )can6do) attitude that pervaded all aspects o" (,2's development e""ort. )5ny issue that we have had! the (,2 pro:ect manager has been willing to go to the ends o" the earth 66 literally 66 to obtain the necessary resources "or its success"ul resolution!) e.plains %wyer. )$he (,2 team has also shown an ability to think unconventionally! pointing us in directions that we didn Jt think o".) %wyer also reserves high praise "or the (,2 technology elements that were used to create a secure! seamless solution linking 5mica's /eb environment to its server environment. )/e're satis"ied not only with the best6o"6breed per"ormance o" solution building blocks like %, and /eb 'phere 66 but also with the way they interact and generally make "or a more streamlined application development process!) says %wyer. $he "inal phase o" the 5ccess 5mica engagement! begun in *uly o" ###! will add a number o" new "eatures to the 5mica solution. @ne such "eature! an online appraisal status tracker! provides policyholders that have "iled a claim with in"ormation on the status o" an in6process claim! including whether it has been done and when it was done. 5nother service now under development is the ability to save +uotes that are generated online. 2unroe believes that the (,2 Dlobal 'ervices and 5mica team succeeded in the challenging task o" building a /eb6based solution that "ully re"lects 5mica's service culture. 5s a mutual insurance company 66 that is 1## percent owned by our customers 66 all our e""orts are directed toward the interests o" our customers. /e "eel (,2 really helped us capture that special relationship on the /eb. $he success o" 5ccess 5mica shows that in today's technological age we can still emphasi4e simple! core values that have led to customer satis"action since our "ounding almost 1## years ago. Certainly it puts us on solid "ooting as we approach the ne.t 1## years.)