To get increasingly closer to customers and work with them more proactively, organizations need to look beyond traditional technology silos and apply synergies from related systems disciplines.

1. • Cognizant 20-20 Insights
Convergence of CRM, BPM, MDM and BI:
The ‘Fantastic Four’ of Customer Centricity
To get increasingly closer to and work more proactively with customers,
organizations need to look beyond traditional technology silos and apply
synergies from related systems disciplines.
Executive Summary the forefront, in a literal sense. Further, smart-
phones and tablet computers have redefined
In the name of improving the customer
how employees interact with their organizations,
experience, organizations have spent millions of
customers and business partners. So, while each
dollars in the past few years on the technologies
technology stack has its own individual merits, the
surrounding customer relationship management
more recent thinking is focused on convergence.
(CRM), business process management (BPM) and
This is encapsulated by Forrester Research, Inc.’s
master data management (MDM). However, many
recognition of emerging and disruptive trends
have not achieved the coveted ROI.
within this space: “process-centric CRM,” which
In the quest of understanding customer behavior is a convergence of CRM and BPM;1 “business
and improving every customer interaction, a few data management,” which is a convergence of
basic questions remain unanswered: BPM and MDM;2 and the importance of utilizing
a business activity monitoring (BAM) tool, which
• How have social media and virtualization trans- is part of BPM.
formed customer management?
Although there is a clear sign of convergence
• Why the sudden emphasis on “customer- within CRM, BPM and MDM, business intelligence
centricity?”
(BI) is an important addition to this trio, as it
• Why have investments in each of these helps to accurately predict customer behavior.3
technology stacks seldom resulted in expected When used in combination, these four tech-
returns? nologies enable immense insight into customer
patterns and behaviors, thereby assisting orga-
• Why does the goal of truly satisfying customers nizations in offering services to win customers’
remain a distant dream?
hearts and pocketbooks. Further, recent evidence
The answer to all these questions becomes proves that predictive analytics and effective BI
more clear with the understanding of how CRM, insights provide organizations with an edge over
BPM and MDM are converging. Social media and rivals when it comes to maintaining sustainable
cloud solutions have moved the customer to customer relationships.
cognizant 20-20 insights | november 2012

2. Fantastic Four of Customer Centricity
360-degree view of customer across all
channels and platforms
CRM
Consistent, accurate and timely customer data
Process-centric and robust business
rules-driven customer relationship
Customer BPM Accurate forecasting and better
BI
Centricity decision-making
Enhanced customer focus and loyalty benefits
Better segmentation, targeting and positioning
MDM Accurate total contract value throughout
customer lifecycle
Figure 1
These four technology stacks are very tightly Organizations will benefit if they combine initia-
coupled with every customer-related process, tives around these technologies, create a common
and they deliver the greatest benefit to organi- business case and approach the entire stack as
zations when implemented in tandem, in terms a single program. Only then can they achieve
of a universal, complete and accurate view of manifold returns from each of the technology
customer relationships. Due to their inherent stacks by driving continuous improvements that
bonding, we refer to them as the ”Fantastic Four result in happy and satisfied customers.
of Customer Centricity” (FFCC). Individually,
these technology stacks are at different levels of A good example of how these converged
maturity in terms of managing customer relation- technology stacks can ensure a strong customer
ships, but when coupled, they can help companies experience is in lead management. In tradi-
forge enduring relationships with customers (see tional CRM scenarios, organizations pursue lead
Figure 1). management as a sales initiative and involve the
sales team in designing the future state of their
How Organizations Benefit from FFCC CRM application. Therefore, the software is built
When it comes to implementing CRM, BPM, MDM in modules (Lead Generation, Lead Qualifica-
and BI initiatives, many companies have taken tion, Maintain & Track Lead, Closure), with limited
a fragmented approach. Sales, marketing and coordination or input from other departments.
customer service departments cooperatively Moreover, this approach eliminates the possibility
make investment decisions in CRM, but when it of incorporating updates or changes to the devel-
comes to MDM, IT organizations typically decide opment process to adapt to changing business
on the product that suits the business require- requirements.
ments. With the disparity in outlook, as well as
However, with an FFCC initiative, the organiza-
the diversity of people involved in shaping the
tion brings together the various teams (sales,
roadmap for each of these technology stacks,
marketing, IT, BI, etc.) under a single umbrella
an important component is often missed: the
to deliver individual customer-centric processes
customer. Inconsistent customer data shared
wherein various departments provide inputs at
across various systems within an organiza-
different points in time. The result: drastically
tion can undermine customer satisfaction, no
reduced times in which leads are generated, with
matter how strong the CRM system is. Similarly,
improved visibility and consistent information
without proper rules-based processes to power a
across departments.
CRM system, a great CRM strategy will not yield
desired results.
cognizant 20-20 insights 2

3. Traditional CRM Lead Management Processes
t t+1 t+2
Lead generated through Maintain and track Loss
marketing Opportunity Provide reason
opportunity win/loss
campaigns/advertising/ & close
progress
sales events, etc.
Win
Lead moves to
Leads assigned to Create customer
qualified prospect/
sales rep record
opportunity stage
Yes
Sales rep
qualifies lead Qualify success
No
Provide reason
& close
Figure 2
To further substantiate the point, we can look at a ability or any other predefined criteria. In the
typical lead management process and how FFCC case of nonavailability, the lead can be routed to
principles can be applied to improve response either the next available member within the team
time, as well as infuse efficiencies into the process or to the supervisor. These pre-set rules ensure
(compare Figures 2, 3 and 4). continuous tracking of the lead through multiple
stages and communication with the customer at
With properly configured CRM systems, lead each stage of the process. Predefined business
generation can seamlessly integrate with social rules can also assist sales reps with relevant
media to gather additional information around contextual information and intelligence to make
the customer. Captured leads can be automati- informed decisions in real-time (see Figure 3).
cally routed to relevant sales/marketing team
members for further processing, based on skill The final state of the lead management process
sets, territory (geographical coverage), avail- is fully automated, with built-in intelligence, time-
Improved Lead Generation and Assignment
t t+1 t+2
CRM + BPM Loss
Maintain and track Provide reason
Opportunity
• Automated lead capture and opportunity progress
win/loss & close
lead assignment process with
multichannel integration
• Pre-defined rule sets ensure Win
continuity and ownership of lead
Lead moves to
• Marketing and sales are in qualified prospect/ Create customer
sync with complete visibility opportunity stage record
Provide reason
• Improved and consistent & close
communication
Yes
Sales rep
Qualify success
qualifies lead
No
Provide reason
& close
Figure 3
cognizant 20-20 insights 3

4. sensitive updates, pre-set business rules and cess framework that coordinates with differ-
comprehensive information at every stage of ent departments (e.g., sales, manufacturing,
qualification. The outcome and conversion rate customer service and finance) and fulfills the
improves drastically (see Figure 4). customer requirements. Further, based on past
orders, customer service agents can provide
Here are additional examples of how FFCC real-time intelligence to cross-sell and upsell to
principles can be applied to add efficiency and customers during the quote process. Customer
effectiveness into existing processes: information is shared across the enterprise in
real-time to enable informed and effective de-
• Quote to order to cash: Our FFCC principles cisions.
can help define and drive organizational flex-
ibility and agility at every level of the process. • Capacity planning and inventory manage-
For example, say a cus- ment: These principles can be extended be-
yond CRM processes. One example is in the im-
The final state of the lead tomer prefers to have provement of capacity planning and inventory
multiple orders deliv-
management process ered to various ware- management, overseen by supply chain man-
is fully automated, with house locations and use agement (SCM) systems. Based on the prob-
ability of getting an order from a prospective
built-in intelligence, multiple payment meth- customer, an integrated CRM/SCM system can
ods to complete the or-
time-sensitive updates, der. The process under generate prior estimates for capacity resource
pre-set business rules an FFCC approach can planning, and as soon as the customer places
the order, it can trigger automatic inventory
and comprehensive execute in real-time be- management processes. This dramatically im-
cause the front end of
information at every CRM is built on top of proves the cycle time of the customer order
stage of qualification. a robust business pro- and adds transparency to the system.
Lead Management Process Using FFCC Principles
t t+1
Lead Generation and Opportunity Conversion: Create customer
Assignment: CRM + BPM CRM + BPM + BI record
• Automated lead capture • Pre-set business rules automate
and lead assignment process the qualification and approval
with multi-channel integration process for the opportunity
• Pre-defined rule sets ensure • Business layer provides revenue
continuity and ownership of lead potential and other financial
metrics associated with opportunity
• Marketing and sales are in sync
with complete visibility • BI provides comprehensive
probability and scenario analysis
• Improved and consistent to increase conversion rate
communication
Lead Qualification: CRM+ BI
• BI provides relevant, contextual and real-time intelligence
• Historical and competitive comparison offers a different
perspective to better qualify leads and lead scoring process
• Any update in social circle of customer gets fed into
qualification analysis
Figure 4
cognizant 20-20 insights 4

5. FFCC Market Landscape gies, but they are both far from realizing and
delivering all the four forces under one platform
At one end of the market spectrum, CRM product
and offer it as-a-service.
vendors are building their capabilities across the
CRM, BPM and MDM technology stacks through a On the other end of the spectrum, many system
series of mergers and acquisitions. However, they integrators remain rigidly organized on each of
are still at a nascent stage of integrating these the four technology stacks; in fact, to some SIs,
technology stacks onto a common platform to each technology stack resembles a business
provide it as a platform-as-a-service (PaaS). unit. The result is a lack of coordination as they
compete with each other in spaces where these
Pega recently launched its Sales Force Automation
technologies converge.
framework, in addition to its Customer Process
Manager (CPM) framework on the One-BPM We have already realized the potential of
layer in order to provide a true customer-centric combining the FFCC forces and established
process. Similarly, SFDC has launched Virtual enterprise application services as one business
Process Manager (VPM) on a cloud infrastruc- unit that provides business solutions around CRM,
ture to enable use of business rule automation, BPM, MDM and BI. Through an established global
workflows, etc. Oracle’s Fusion platform and collaboration platform that we call Cognizant 2.0,
SFDC’s Force.com are slowly delivering a common we are delivering FFCC principles to clients across
platform to integrate customer-centric technolo- all engagements.
Quick Take
U.S.-Based Railroad Transport Giant
In a recent engagement, we defined a customer- • Disparate CRM modules are broken into
centric roadmap for a major railroad transpor- broader processes that involve coordination
tation company in an attempt to transform its across various functional areas.
redundant legacy applications into more agile, • Common and uniform processes are defined
flexible, scalable and business-centric processes. across all business units and are processed
Sales, service, operations and engineering were through common business services. Business
completely fragmented, resulting in a time- unit-specific processes and underlying business
consuming, manual and ineffective customer services are minimized to avoid customization.
management process. Sales and service teams
• A common knowledge base across the
used more than 40 applications to perform their
enterprise provides increased visibility to
day-to-day operations. There was no common
customer information.
platform for knowledge sharing, and BI and
reporting across the enterprise and customer • A completely scalable and flexible process, data
data resided in multiple disparate systems. and BI solution can accommodate business
changes.
To provide the roadmap, we incorporated FFCC • A customer hub will provide a single source
principles to streamline the disparate processes of truth for accounts, contacts and addresses
and technologies. The suggested business archi- across the enterprise.
tecture integrates sales, marketing and service
• Data governance and data quality initiatives
processes with the common business service
ensure consistent, clean and accurate data is
layer (CRM and BPM), which is backed up by
available across the enterprise.
reference data and enterprise BI initiatives.
• A centralized data warehouse and common
The proposed solution provides several client reporting platform is available across the
benefits: enterprise.
cognizant 20-20 insights 5

6. Although many industry leaders have acknowl- ening customer relationships. The key to estab-
edged FFCC, they have still not evaluated product lishing an enriching customer experience is to
vendors on FFCC capabilities. Doing so would acknowledge the power of FFCC and implement
result in more effective analysis to help organi- these technology stacks as a single large
zations make the right choice with a high prob- initiative. Progressive organizations have already
ability of realizing ROI faster, as the benefits started putting serious thought and effort into
are magnified almost instantly. Further, such achieving this unified architectural goal. Success
an analysis would also reveal the maturity and will primarily depend on the extent to which
capability of product vendors, in terms of how companies synthesize the essence of the four
seamlessly they align all four technology stacks forces of customer centricity to address their
to provide consistent, effective and meaningful needs and those of their clients.
customer interactions.
The earlier that companies assimilate the
A Way Forward synergies of these four forces, the closer they will
The convergence among CRM, BPM, MDM and be in achieving their ultimate goal of building a
BI technologies is changing the way organiza- customer-centric enterprise that “truly under-
tions need to strategize and invest in strength- stands” the customer.
Quick Take
How CRM, MDM and Process Analysis Redefined Customer
Service for a U.S.-Based Health Insurer
We were engaged by a major health insurer to The proposed solution provides several client
improve the technology, processes and infrastruc- benefits:
ture of its current customer service environment.
The client wanted us to define and implement • Created a five-year roadmap, with total savings
its next-generation customer workstation for of $7.8 million.
customer service and enable an integrated • Recommended automated case creation and
workflow for the tracking and resolution of rules-based routing, leading to operational
customer queries, service delivery issues and efficiency. Recommended workflow manage-
service requests. Customer information resided in ment improvements.
multiple systems across different source systems;
• Improved data insight through a centralized
hence, the client envisioned a “360-degree view”
repository of accurate product, customer and
of its customers to support query resolution and
consumer information and more accurate
proactively monitor customer satisfaction.
reporting.
We performed a business process analysis and • Improved response time for compliance-relat-
suggested improvements to increase efficiency. ed queries.
The process analysis was backed up with CSR
• Generated a high level of data quality, accuracy
workbench functional specifications and key
and uniqueness, resulting in better reporting
contact center metrics. To improve data quality
and customer targeting.
and establish data governance, we developed a
data governance blueprint and data steward- • Helped the client achieve economies of scale
ship structure. The proposed solution took into with a single global system rather than siloed
account synergies between CRM, BPM and MDM systems across business units.
to build a comprehensive contact center solution
for the client.
cognizant 20-20 insights 6

7. Footnotes
1
William Band, “CRM And BPM Solutions Converge To Domesticate Untamed Customer Processes,”
Forrester Research, Inc. blog, Jan. 9, 2012, http://blogs.forrester.com/william_band/11-12-20-crm_and_
bpm_solutions_converge_to_domesticate_untamed_customer_processes.
2
Rob Karel, “MDM in 2012: What Was, What Will Be … And Won’t Be,” Forrester blog, Jan. 5, 2012,
http://blogs.forrester.com/rob_karel/12-01-05-mdm_in_2012_what_was_what_will_be_and_what_wont_
be.
3
Holger Kisker, “On the Convergence of BI and BPM,” Forrester blog, Feb. 16, 2010,
http://blogs.forrester.com/holger_kisker/10-02-16-convergence_bi_and_bpm.
About the Author
Partha Chatterjee is Consulting Manager within Cognizant Business Consulting’s Customer Solutions
Practice. He has more than a decade of expertise in assisting global organizations with their CRM process
improvements, CRM cloud initiatives, customer experience management and customer analytics. He can
be reached at Partha.Chatterjee@cognizant.com.
About Cognizant
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