business case

BUSINESS CASE: Customer Support Office Suite Upgrade

eXECUTIVE SUMMARY

BUSINESS NEED

Customer Support Team cannot keep up with volume of customer request

EXPECTED OUTCOME

Increase efficiencies to enable customer support team to accommodate demand surge of up to 30% above normal operations

RECOMMENDATION

Implement upgrade of current customer support office suite

JUSTIFICATION

Currently approximately 20% of customers are served outside of the company established response time window. This leads to customer satisfaction issues reflected in documented customer satisfaction survey responses. Proposed solution also results in a cost reduction of 1,700,000 USD over a 10-year period

The Team

Company IT – supporting project implementation

Ajax Solutions – outsourced implementation firm – HW, SW, and FW.

Business Process TIGER team – define requirements for the upgraded system

Business Need Definition

Problem Statement

20% of customer calls are put on hold over the expected standard wait time. Majority of this takes place during three surge periods 9 – 10 am, 11 am – 1 pm, 5 – 7 pm.

Impacts

Customer satisfaction surveys result indicate 90 percent of respondents and very unsatisfied with the expected wait time. This condition has led to a 10% decrease on initial sales and a 15% decline in repeat sales.

Project Overview

Project

Customer Support Office Suite Upgrade.

Project Description

Upgrade existing customer support office suite to enable at least 30% above normal volume during surges in demand.

Project Goals and Objectives -

1. Incorporate upgrade operating system to enable a 40% decrease in customer engagement process time.

2. Enable real time customer information to customer service agents

3. Enable customer service agents the ability to create and issue customer work orders and provide immediate confirmation via email and text to the customer

4. Enable an automated follow up mechanism to ensure work completion is within the stated timeframe

5. Enable a real time customer satisfaction survey and feedback loop for immediate response to customer complaints

Project Performance Indicators

1. Proper capture of project requirements from the TIGER team

2. Proper development of project requirements with traceability to TIGER team requirements

3. Immediate implementation of objectives 1, 2, and 3 (within six months)

4. Implement objectives 4 and 5 (within 9 months)

Assumptions

1. Existing customer support office suite is compatible and can be upgraded

2. Current office space, server locations, existing Hardware, and the current Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) will not need to be altered or modified.

3. Customer service agent training is not needed after the implementation

4. Surge time are as follows

a. 9 – 10 am

b. 11 am – 1 pm

c. 5 – 7 pm

5. English will be the user interface language

Constraints

1. Due to the need for immediate implementation, the traditional project develop schedule will be accelerated with associated risk assumed.

2. To minimize interruption to daily business operations, implementation team will conduct project activities during off hours and at remote sites.

Project Milestones

Cost Benefits Analysis

I. Initial Cost estimated for system upgrade (HW, SW, and FW) at – 150,000 USD

II. Eliminates the need for two (2) SW licenses estimated at – 10,000 USD per month

III. Breakeven expected at 15 months after full implementation

IV. Upgraded system expected to support business needs for next 10 years without further upgrades

V. Savings over expected lifetime is 1,700,000 USD

Alternatives Reviewed

1. New system – “Customer Serve”

Initial cost 500,000 – expected savings 12,000 per months

Total Savings – 940,000 USD

Untested system – additional ramp up time, training, and learning curve impacts. Expected operating period between upgrades is 5 years.

2. Keep existing system and add additional customer service agents – Initial cost – 0; expected savings 0, estimated monthly cost for 4 additional agents with a need to expand existing office space and acquire additional workstations.

Non-recurrent – 50,000

Recurrent (monthly) – 30,000 (includes labor and benefits)

Total expense over 10 years – 3, 650,000 USD

Approvals