The following describes a fictitious project. Please take me longer than 45 minutes to prepare the deliverables listed below, which he will use as the basis for discussion during a 30 minute presentation:
• online ordering‘s business drivers
• Proposed scope for the solution (business and technical)
• High-level project plan, highlighting any proposed phasing in prioritization please include major critical activities and repair list of several relevant next steps
• conceptual systems architecture diagram of your proposed solutions to the business problem presented, including your assumptions
• list of relevant dependencies
• list of items you would need to help prep the project team if the farmers business sponsor decides to move forward with your proposed solutions.
• List of open questions or additional information you need from the business sponsor.
Online Ordering is a marketing literature delivery service that allows distributors (brokers insurance and agents) to order products brochures application forms and giveaways online. The service has no branch outlets and distributes materials through a toll free number or a website (FarmersLink) that was launched three years ago (maintained by Farmers development center in India) Online Ordering currently sources it’s materials from five well-regarded print houses/fulfillment centers vendors who ship directly to the “customers” (Farmers distributors). In addition, Farmers is the process of negotiating with five other print houses/fulfillment vendors. These vendors promised like brochures and giveaways. Online Ordering processed and shipped 500,000 items last year and the service is expected to closely match farmers growth over the next five years. The company expects Online Ordering volume to grow by 20% annually.
The service's key differentiator in the past had been the personalized, one to one service provided to distributors, but with the launch at FarmersLink, the level of service has dropped off noticeably. In an attempt to integrate the two channels Farmers implemented a common crm solution and database that is used by the call center staff and FarmersLink. However the order management and fulfillment systems are still separate inventory in order status information gets updated once a day by a nightly batch process. Therefore the call center staff doesn’t always have access to the most current data when the distributors call in.
Another reason for confusion in the ordering process is that the vendors email in reports on order status and inventory once a day, and the team at the call center is dedicated to updating the systems with these reports. Overall vendor management is quite costly and inefficient, especially since the call center staff has to physically contact vendors when there’s an order issue or when distributors change their mind and cancel/modify their orders.
In order to achieve desired results, Online Ordering his business sponsors feel strongly that Online Ordering needs to reclaim it’s excellent customer service reputation and be able to support all of the new vendor relationships that are being developed. She is especially concerned that the existing problems will compound exponentially because it would be physically impossible for the call center staff to continue the manual handling of customer issues given the projected volume growth. Her goals include:
• Providing tier levels of customer service, while maintaining a strong base level of customer service for all, including better visibility into order status.
• Reduced number of call center staff.
• Empower the remaining call center staff with access to real-time inventory and order status information.
• Streamline the vendor management process and make it more efficient.
• In particular, ‘Automate’ the vendor nightly process before the next tax season (eight months away) because she expects to start engaging her new suppliers in active business at that point (changing regulations require new tax forms more disclosure mailings in customized instructions)
The business sponsor believes that any further responsibilities on the development staff in India would straining too much and Farmers cannot afford expanding the team because the returns may not be worth the expense. Farmers provide materials to distributors free of charge. Also, for the Farmer senior leadership team to agree with her strategy, the business case needs to be presented (Proposal and CBA) and significant changes must be implemented within a year to justify any further expenditure. In the past, the sponsor his face significant challenges and convincing the conservative senior leadership team and other stakeholders to expand/enhance such baseline services and so she needs quick wins to allow her to demonstrate the soundness of her strategy, and seek additional funding for Online Ordering enhancements.
