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corp_logo.gif (4229 bytes) Roundarch Building Blocks Newsletter = Issue 3, January 2002 Contents Who We Are CRM Talk Back Did You Know? = In This Issue: Content Management and its importance to your Portal Strateg= y What is Content Management? 5 Challenges to Content Management Imple= mentation 10 Problems in Existing Enterprises that Content Management App= lications Can Resolve 5 Things to Ask Vendors When Selecting a Content Ma= nagement Product Critical Steps to Developing Your Content Management Sol= ution The Bottom Line: Content Management Value Propositions Problem So= lved: Content Management in Enterprise Portal Case Studies Roundarch Webs= ite Polling Stats Homework: Books and Links of Interest What's Going On: = Events and Conferences Roundarch Contact Information Who We Are Roun= darch helps organizations realize superior financial results by designing, = building, and supporting profitable customer relationships. As the world's = first Customer Relationship Architects, Roundarch combines strategy, market= ing, and technology professionals with formalized assets that truly jump-st= art and accelerate the solution development process. Roundarch's unique Sta= rtAhead? approach reduces the time and risk of implementing a customer rela= tionship solution by pre-selecting and pre-integrating market leading ideas= , technologies and specialists. Founded by marketing and systems integratio= n leaders WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY), Deloitte Consulting, and BroadVision (= NASDAQ: BVSN), Roundarch is equipped with best of breed consulting skills, = agency expertise, and technology know-how. CRM Talk Back Lessons Learned= - Holiday Shopping on the Net 2001 This year I decided to purchase all of= my Holiday gifts on the Internet - even down to the wrapping paper and tap= e. By using sites that offered free shipping or deep discounts I was able = to save over $100 dollars by not paying sales tax and I got to avoid the ma= lls. The following represents my Top Ten Observations: Be prepared to tur= n your home into a warehouse! I ordered over 20 items from Amazon that resu= lted in 12 large boxes. Why does Barbie need her own box that could easily= hold a DVD player? Consolidating orders could work for me, even if it me= ant a slight delay in arrival. Pet peeve number 1 - After many hours of "br= owsing" items and comparing prices, I settled on an item. Three days late= r I received an email saying that the item was out of stock. This reminde= d me of retail bait and switch tactics. If you don't have the product, tak= e it off your site! Pet peeve number 2 - Customer service representatives w= ho don't have information about your online order. If you are going to se= ll online you need to service your online customers. The days of being ab= le to say - "I will research this and get back to you" are over. Companies= need to empower their front line personnel with data. It's too easy for = me just to place my next order with the competition. Pet peeve number 3 - L= et me track my package. Those sites that do not allow tracking of orders c= ost company more money. It means you had to place numerous calls to their = service department to check on delivery status. Pet peeve number 4 - Shoppi= ng carts that "lock up". When this happens I not only abandon my order, I = abandon doing business with the company. Great stuff number 1 - After placi= ng an order some companies sent me an email with a discount gift certificat= e to use on my next order. This "25%" sent me rushing back to the site, wh= ich built customer loyalty. Great stuff number 2 - Payal. When buying on e= Bay, this service allows you to email funds directly to the seller. No mon= ey order, no checks, and the funds can come right out of your checking or s= aving accounts. It's a great way to do business and it's free. Great stuff= number 3 - There are a few things that really stand out on some sites. He= re they are: Allowing the customer to "search" the site - seems so simple= - but not everyone has the capability. Pre-filled forms. When I go back = to a site to place another order it's great when my shipping and billing in= formation is already there. It saves me time and also increases my loyalt= y. Great stuff number 4 - Comparison-shopping for price. Sites like mysimo= n.com and cnet.com allowed me to find the best deals. The price and shippi= ng rates differ in such a big way from company to company - a great tool es= pecially for electronics. Internet shopping has come a long way. Those com= panies that make it easy to do business with them have a great advantage. = However, that advantage is quickly lost when the user experience comes up s= hort in the service area. Companies that respond to emails, and can answer= customer questions over the phone help to bridge the gap between the expec= tations of the customer and the experience the customer has. As companies = strive to create their brand and the need to "arm" their sites and customer= service organization with best of breed technology becomes critical. I wi= ll gladly spend my money with the company but they have to give me a reason= to not spend it with their competitor. What was the last Internet custom= er service experience you had? Did the company go out of its way to satisf= y you? Or was it just the opposite? We want to hear from you. Please email= euffer@roundarch.com with your story. Did You Know? [IMAGE] In This Is= sue: Content Management and Its Importance to your Portal Strategy What is= Content Management? Content Management is defined as the people, process= es and the systems that organizations use to create, store, update and dist= ribute its key information and intellectual assets. Although this definit= ion may vary, the key concepts do not change across organizations. It has = become very apparent in the marketplace that with the proliferation of port= al and web sites the content management challenge is becoming an increasing= focus in large organizations. Clients are more and more driving technolog= y decisions based on content management requirements as opposed to portal n= eeds. Forrester defines Enterprise Content Management as "an integrated a= pproach to managing documents, Web content and digital assets". This is th= e broadest sense of content management. One way to gain a clear picture of= the term "content management" is to consider the various segments of the c= ontent life cycle. The most pertinent segments to content management are: = Content Creation - Includes creation/revision, collaboration, review and a= pproval. The review and approval process can utilize workflow built into c= ontent management applications. Content Maintenance - Includes content sto= rage, access control and version control. Content that has been created an= d approved is stored in a repository or database. This content can then be= combined with other approved content items to create rich sets of informat= ion. Additionally, previous versions of content items are maintained and c= an be accessed at any time to bring back a previous state of information wi= thout introducing rework. Content Delivery/Distribution - Includes the dep= loyment of approved content from repository to an information channel. Sto= red content can be aggregated and deployed to any number of channels (web, = print, call center, wireless device etc.) utilizing specifically defined fo= rmats. This is called channelization and is one of the major benefits to c= ontent management. Content Management streamlines the process of creating,= managing and delivering content, and puts processes in place to manage and= control information as it is moved across the enterprise and to customers = through the various information channels. Historically, content management= systems have not addressed all segments but rather focused specifically o= n one or two. Some systems may focus more on content creation, format and = delivery (Web Content Management) whereas others may be more focused on sto= rage and maintenance of documents and other forms of unstructured content (= Document Management Systems). Fortunately, content management solutions a= re maturing and these two worlds are starting to converge to better serve = the entire enterprise. Not everyone is there but the future is bright and = therefore, consideration to the type of content that is to be managed is im= portant input into making a decision on the system that will best serve an = organization's needs. As content management matures and addresses the ente= rprise in a more holistic manner, organizations must consider the change to= the enterprise that must take place to realize the benefits of such system= s. Content creation is no longer limited to a few but can be distributed = among many with little or no technical skills. Content approval and distri= bution can be handled programmatically in addition to manually and will req= uire careful consideration to future roles and processes. With so much cha= nge it is important to leadership to embrace the idea of content management= by recognizing the importance of managing that will most certainly take pl= ace. This may include conducting a change readiness assessment and a chan= ge management plan. Additionally, it is also important for leadership to h= ave clear buy-in so that the organization understands the importance of the= many steps that will be required to take on the road to content management= . 5 Challenges to Content Management Implementation Enterprises have comp= lex workflows to move information across departments, but limited control o= r collaboration on how that information is edited, managed, published or re= tired - resulting in inconsistencies across the enterprise and customers. C= onversion is a major undertaking of any Content Management implementation a= nd requires a solid understanding of existing content and how to best organ= ize it to improve efficiencies. This requires an assessment of structured= vs. unstructured content to understand how content will be organized and i= f more structure is required. Globalization increases the complexity of the= entire content lifecycle, as multiple versions of content assets must be m= anaged in addition to translation. Additionally, support of multiple langu= ages requires applications that can handle the required character sets and = becomes important when selecting software packages. Defining the appropriat= e content attributes (meta tags). Attributes define the meaning of content= and are integral to good organization and appropriate personalization. Int= egration with Enterprise Applications can present challenges to the develop= ment effort. This is especially true if the Content Management does not ha= ve a pre-built interface. 10 Problems in Existing Enterprises that Content= Management Applications Can Resolve As content assets increase in number,= it becomes more and more difficult for content authors and administrators = to find a single piece of content they are looking for, compounding confusi= on and efficiency. Increasing number of authors can quickly cause version c= ontrol and communication issues. As an enterprise expands nationally or ev= en globally, this issue can quickly be compounded by access limitations. A= bandoned protocol (manual approval processes being ignored). Authors with n= o technical skills depend on technical resources to get content published t= o the appropriate locations. This can create a bottleneck at the developme= nt team and cause significant delays to getting current information out to = customers. Changes to web content may be required daily, hourly or even eve= ry minute. This can quickly become and impossible task for a web master or= group of content managers who are manually making changes and deploying co= ntent to various media. Management of multiple types of content assets (tex= ts, graphics, multimedia etc.) is almost impossible to organize and deploy = efficiently without the programmatic organization of content management app= lication. Where different media (print, web, wireless, etc.) are supported = separately, it is often difficult to maintain consistency of content due to= development time a resource availability. Departmental ownership of conten= t. Client participation. Ongoing ownership and support requires the clien= t to be involved from beginning to end. Maintaining control of project scop= e is always challenging, especially when dealing with relatively new techno= logy such as content management systems. This is quickly compounded as app= lications to integrate with are added to the plan. Scope control can be ma= intained and expectations can be managed with a thorough definition of the = project up front. 5 Things To Ask Vendors When Selecting a Content Manage= ment Product What enterprise applications do you integrate with/have partn= erships with? What unique capabilities does your product provide over your = competitor's? How customizable is your product? Does your product support s= tandards based programming (Java, XML)? How long has this product been out = and how many customers have implemented it to date? Critical Steps to Deve= loping Your Content Management Solution: Conduct a 3-4 week project to con= firm the content management and conversion requirements, assess the current= capability, develop client specific value proposition and develop a projec= t roadmap for a rollout of content management solution. The activities in = this discovery effort include: Content inventory - content type, frequency= of updates, formats, source Content management workflow - number of people= /departments authoring content, business processes and roles for authoring,= editing, approval and publishing content Content conversion requirements -= amount of legacy content, types of formats, structured or unstructured con= tent, technical approach (e.g. bulk conversion programs, manual conversion,= etc.) Repurposing of content - publish to multiple media formats (e.g. web= , wireless, pdf, paper) Integration to the portal - identify prototype data= model and build estimate for integration to portal engine Develop client s= pecific value proposition for the content management solution and identify = tangible benefits The Bottom Line: Content Management Value Propositions = Closes the gap to the goal of the 'extended enterprise', where organizatio= ns work closely together Provides a single content repository to store con= tent that can be repurposed, thus eliminating the duplication of effort for= creating the same content for multiple channels (Websites, Portal, Extrane= ts/Intranets, Wireless, Print) Provides business user the power to manage = content Enables efficient communications across the enterprise Presents d= ynamic and relevant content to the constituent user Provides corporations = with the ability to reach global audience with a localized message An embe= dded workflow facilitates content creation and editorial process, which inc= reases the business unit's commitment to quality and accountability Provid= es content assurance - share proprietary content with partners and supplier= s Provides capabilities for authors in different geographies to create, up= date, and publish content Separates the content from the application logic= Rapid development to keep pace with information updates on various medium= s Problem Solved: Content Management in Enterprise Portal Case Studies Th= e State of California needed a content management system that would allow i= ts communications department to rapidly deploy new content and features wit= hout the intervention of technical staff, yet maintain control over the con= tent creation and deployment processes through workflow. Roundarch impleme= nted and integrated a content management solution that answered this need, = and put in place an infrastructure that empowered the State to quickly diss= eminate information to constituents on the My California portal. For infor= mation, contact Paula Itagaki pitagaki@roundarch.com or Dan Loos dloos@rou= ndarch.com or go to www.ca.gov . A Blue Cross Blue Shield Company wanted = a content management solution that demonstrated seamless integration with i= ts portal solution, strong tagging capabilities to target public and secure= content to specific constituents, and a simple content entry interface tha= t put the power of content in the hands of business users. Roundarch devel= oped a single content management solution that provided centralized content= creation and publishing processes to deliver personalized content for prov= iders, members, and employers. For more information, contact Paula Itagaki= pitagaki@roundarch.com or Manish Bharadwaj mbharadwaj@roundarch.com . = This company is a leading global supplier of cement, aggregate, and concret= e. Roundarch developed the global content management solution and commerce= site that uses six languages, three currencies, and integrates to differen= t ERP systems. Business users rather than the IT department maintain site = content. With the new streamlined content management workflow established = all the content is reviewed and approved before it is published. For more i= nformation, contact Ray Paty rpaty@roundarch.com . Roundarch Website Pol= ling Stats During the periodof November 29 - December 9th, 2001, visitors = to the Roundarch website were asked: "Have you ever switched service co= mpanies due to poor customer service? i.e. banks, transportation, telecommu= nications, insurance, financial services?" Never 3% Once 9% A few ti= mes 52% Many times 36% During the period of December 10th- 31st, 2001= , visitors to the Roundarch website were asked: "When you contact a cal= l center, which scenario aggravates you most? Not being able to solve your= problem or answer your question 24% Being put on hold 12% No way to = reach operator 27% Being told to call another number 37% To participa= te in the current CRM question of the week, go to the Roundarch website. = Homework Books of Interest: Content Management Bible -- Bob Boiko Web = Content Management: A Collaborative Approach -- Russell Nakano .NET Conten= t Management Systems Development (With CD-ROM) -- Stephen Fraser Links of= Interest: CRM Guru.com Delphi Group RealMarket Tech Republic Strateg= y+Business What's Going On: Events and Conferences Call Center & CRM S= olutions - Las Vegas 2002 February 11-13, 2002 Las Vegas Convention Center = Las Vegas, Nevada Roundarch will be participating in Avanstar's Call Cent= er and CRM Solutions Las Vagas 2002 Conference and Expo where we will be s= howcasing our Enabling Technology Platform solution and discussing related= case studies. For more information or to register, call (800) 854-3112 o= r go to www.cc-crmvegas.com . Roundarch Contact Information: Roundarch C= orporate Headquarters 350 North LaSalle, 12th Floor Chicago, IL 60610 Phon= e: 312 529-2400 Fax: 312 529-3400 http://www.roundarch.com/ To subscribe= /unsubscribe, please visit the newsletter section of the Roundarch website= . Copyright Roundarch, 2002 =09
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