Virgin Mobile SA outsourced their MIS after the in-house system failed irreparably. 4C was selected as the outsourcing partner to implement a new MIS in 3 phases: extracting and configuring data from sources, implementing critical business processes, and configuring reports. The new MIS addressed issues with the old system like lack of redundancy, quality control, and documentation. Change was minimized by maintaining familiar interfaces. The successful project resulted in more work between the two companies.

1. The
Implementation
of
Virgin
Mobile
SA’s
MIS
MBA
Mod
2010
Group
5

2. Background
! Virgin
Mobile
SA
is
South
Africa’s
first
Mobile
Virtual
Operator
(MVNO).
! “Copied”
in-­‐house
developed
MIS
from
Virgin
Mobile
Australia.
! Integrated
business
critical
processes
into
the
MIS.
! Hardware
failure
resulted
in
unrecoverable
MIS.
! Business
was
blind.
! Made
strategic
decision
to
outsource
MIS.

3. Choosing
the
outsourcing
partner
! Major
business
impact,
management
realized
problem
and
was
prepared
to
invest.
! Immediate
requirement
to
implement
business
critical
processes
and
reports.
! 4C
consultant
contracted
as
DWHS
manager
during
vendor
selection
process.
! 4C
offered
pricing
model
in
line
with
VMSA’s
strategy.

4. Implementation
Process
! Project
implemented
in
3
Phases
! Phase
1:
Data
source
ETL
! Phase
2:
Business
Critical
Process
Implementation
! Phase
3:
Reporting
Configuration
Commission
Processes
Credit
COGNOS
Vetting
Old
DWHS
Prepaid
Billing
CRM
Allied
Shipping
System
–
Cell-­‐C
Cell-­‐C
Company
Nedbank
Roaming

5. Phase
1:
! Gathered
information
regarding
data
sources,
formats,
frequencies
and
samples.
! Configured
interfaces
on
new
MIS
resembling
interfaces
used
by
old
MIS.
! VMSA
concerned
about
progress
due
to
lack
of
visibility.
! Involved
VMSA
with
data
validations
to
improve
visibility
and
confidence
in
data
integrity
of
new
MIS.
Commission
Processes
Credit
COGNOS
Vetting
Old
DWHS
New
DWHS
Prepaid
Billing
CRM
Allied
Shipping
System
–
Cell-­‐C
Cell-­‐C
Company
Nedbank
Roaming

6. Phase
2:
! Prioritized
business
critical
process
to
be
implemented.
! Testing
done
by
running
processes
in
parallel
with
current
MIS
and
comparing
outputs.
! Interfaces
to
external
systems
kept
similar
to
current
MIS
output
to
eliminate
additional
development.
! Production
implementation
transparent
to
external
systems.
Commission
Processes
Commission
Processes
Credit
COGNOS
Credit
Vetting
Vetting
Old
DWHS
New
DWHS
Prepaid
Billing
CRM
Allied
Shipping
System
–
Cell-­‐C
Cell-­‐C
Company
Nedbank
Roaming

7. Phase
3:
! Started
by
prioritizing
reports
to
be
delivered.
! VMSA
already
invested
in
COGNOS
as
reporting
and
BI
tool.
! COGNOS
user
interface
embedded
into
new
MIS
user
interface.
! Several
new
reports
requested
by
users.
! No
clear
user
requirements
for
reports
caused
delay
in
project.
! Signed
Business
Requirement
Specifications
required
before
reporting
configuration
start.
Commission
Processes
COGNOS
COGNOS
MIS
UI
Credit
Vetting
Old
DWHS
New
DWHS
Prepaid
Billing
CRM
Allied
Shipping
System
–
Cell-­‐C
Cell-­‐C
Company
Nedbank
Roaming

8. Old
vs.
New
End-­‐of-­‐life
storage
with
no
redundancy
Data
quality
not
up
to
standard
No
knowledge
base
Lacked
MIS
review
processes

9. Conclusion
! VMSA
lacked
in-­‐house
MIS
expertise,
made
strategic
decision
to
outsource.
! New
MIS
would
reduce
risk
by
addressing
issues
faced
with
current
system.
! Consultant
from
4C
acting
as
DWHS
manager
provided
technical
insight.
! Change
management
minimized
by
utilizing
known
user
interfaces.
! Resulted
en
several
new
projects
between
VMSA
and
4C.