How to plan, execute and support your Salesforce.com CRM project - written by Sam Shane, Managing Partner of One Planet Associates, LLC What makes a Salesforce CRM project different from other projects? This whitepaper focuses on the following key areas that require refreshed thinking when planning, executing and building a support organization for your SaaS based solution: Refreshed Thinking in Planning Refreshed Thinking in Execution Refreshed Thinking in On-Going Support Rapid, iterative approach changes traditional planning and staffing conventions Real time design and build through conference room pilots and frequent releases Regional, real-time center-of-excellence support with business and IT resources Background SFDC is delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. The infrastructure loaded with the software is housed and maintained in SFDCʼs data center. This setup alone drives many of the innovations in projects that deliver capabilities based on the business processes delivered by SFDC. This paper focuses on Customer Relationship Management - SFDCʼs initial offering, but can easily apply to Partner Relationship management, Customer Service or any other SaaS offering from SFDC or their partners. (Note: There are many papers and internet posts that you can read to learn about the benefits of the SaaS model. What this paper focuses on is how the SaaS model changes the way you plan and execute your project, and how you support the solution after you turn the users loose.) Salesforce CRM is usually positioned with the Sales organization, not the IT organization. This makes sense because this is really about automating and standardizing sales processes and sales data. Salesforce.com delivers these capabilities on the Force.com platform that can be used immediately. In fact, many small companies are up and running within weeks. (For larger organizations, there are usually “global” standardization issues and integration challenges with existing systems.) Also included are security capabilities, administrative functions, backups, virus protection, 24/7 availability and other functions typically delivered by IT. The initial cost can be very low - starting with a small group of users if desired. There is little infrastructure to worry about (mostly in the network setup and possible integration servers). Users activate their licenses through an internet connection using most any browser, even mobile devices. And since SFDC offers sandbox environments, users can literally begin “playing” (and learning of course) immediately. July 2010! Page 1 But if you want to have a successful project moving users to the new CRM solution, there are aspects of project planning and execution that you need to think differently about. Also, you will want to begin planning for a support team that can support and extend the solution you implement. The following sections dig into these areas. Planning You need a well documented business strategy with associated goals and a business case. This is necessary to ensure the project stays focused on the right priorities to deliver the documented business value. It is very easy to get distracted with various CRM “nice-to-haves” that might be sexy but are not supported by the business case. Since the project team cycles through the requirements in an iterative fashion, it is even more critical to ensure everyone understands the business strategy, the associated goals and how they support the business case. A SaaS platform lends itself to an iterative plan / design / build / implement process. This is partly because all of the functionality exists on the platform, you are just activating those data fields and processes you want your user community to use. So with an iterative delivery process, you develop a high level program plan that lays out the detailed business processes and features according to the release they will be delivered. This gives both stakeholders and users a clear view of what is coming when. It also facilitates the unavoidable discussions of puts and takes that will move features from one release to another. For example, it is not uncommon for a desired transformational business process to require a business policy change. It may take longer to get the policy change approved, and that process with associated features may need to move to a future release. In that case, you may be able to pull another feature in earlier. The Force.com platform enables you to make frequent releases into your production environment. Your overall plan should include quarterly, monthly and weekly releases. Quarterly releases are for major deliveries of new or changed business processes and the introduction of new data fields. Not every individual user sees changes every quarter (maybe account executives see changes in release one and marketing professionals see changes in release two.) But the company will see regular major releases and feel confident that the program will deliver according to the business case. This instills confidence that userrequested features will be delivered in future releases. Quarterly releases usually require a bit more focus on training capability. Monthly releases are for minor enhancements and the addition of new users. A brochure or web article are usually good enough training guides. Weekly releases are for bug fixes and data cleanup (more on data later). They can be communicated via an on-line message or email. Next consider the makeup of the project team. You do not need the level IT support as with a convention software project. You do need business resources either familiar with the current sales processes, or the new sales processes you intend to implement. These resources should exhibit qualities such as progressive thinking, leadership, collaboration and accountability for the solution. The project must find a way to infuse leading practices into the July 2010! Page 2 business design, and engage people who have done this kind of project before. This can be done via business resources or consultants. Do not underestimate the need for an outside champion or facilitator who can challenge the current thinking on how things are done. As for project management, that capability is typically found in the IT organization, but not always. You still need competent program management to define and execute the project plan, manage the resources, manage issues and risk, the change control process and other project management activities. Of course, IT resources are needed when you begin to discuss integration with other enterprise systems. A SFDC project can be structured into the following tracks of work: 1 - Business process & policies track - this group is responsible for defining the business processes and associated data elements that will drive the processes - collectively referred to as business requirements. The business requirements are documented and published. Changes to existing processes are noted and passed to the User Adoption team. (Note: Many companies have a separate function called change management. I recommend rolling that up in the User Adoption Track.). What makes this project different is that this is also the team that “configures and prototypes” the solutions. So ensure that you have SFDC knowledgeable people in this track, either from your IT organization, SFDC professional services, a third-party integrator or from your existing business team. This team plans out the design / prototyping workshops and invites selected resources. Invitations are focused on progressive thinkers, people who can align on a vision of a simplified, effective business process without concern with “how things are done today”. There will be plenty of time for feedback from the naysayers. Based on the new business processes, there will probably be some business policy changes required. This team takes up the cause with company leaders to address those changes. 2 - Data - this track is responsible for the data quality in the SFDC system. Working with the business process track, they define the fields to be used along with valid values. If data needs to be acquired from either legacy systems or from third parties (ex: Dun and Bradstreet), this team drives that process - most likely working with IT data professionals. The data is cleaned and de-duped before it is loaded into the SFDC system. This track will also define a process to keep the data clean (thus useful), hopefully working with a corporate data governance team. The key to success for this team is to develop a list of milestones, integrated with the business process track and the project implementation plan and make sure the appropriate number of resources are assigned to hit those milestones. 3 - Integration / Development - only the smallest companies operate their CRM solution independent from other applications. Medium to larger companies integrate the CRM solution with master data solutions, order-to-cash solutions, finance solutions, HR solutions and data warehouses. This requires an integration / interface development strategy and plan. Also, many companies wish to add new data fields and processes to the standard salesforce.com CRM solution. While some fields can actually be added by business users, any data that will be created and shared outside of the CRM solution requires some development. And new processes, workflows and other features require development using Force.com development platform. Finally there is the connectivity to the SFDC platform and solutions like single sign on that need to be addressed. This is the team that takes care of all of these capabilities. July 2010! Page 3 4 - Testing - even with iterative prototyping workshops, there are still testing cycles that are planned and executed before turning the final solution over to end users. First you develop a test strategy. For example, how much of the solution will be tested, how much master data is needed for testing, how many failures are acceptable before a full-retest is required, will the testing team be co-located or virtual? Next you develop test scenarios - these are built using your business process design - ensuring that you cover most of the expected variations. Then you create test scripts which focus on one area of a test scenario. You need to establish a test environment along with test master data. Finally, you develop a test schedule and allocate resources to the testing. Most of the testing can and should be conducted by business resources - especially end users who will in turn become power users in the field. With a global implementation, extra care should be made to ensure localization requirements are tested by users local to the region. 5 - User Adoption / Training / Communication - this team is all about communicating the new solution. Starting early in the project, expectations are set with the user community about what capabilities will be delivered and in which release - making sure to link to the business strategy and goals. As the project defines new processes and most likely new data requirements, this team begins to communicate to the user community how to start preparing for this new solution. For example, they might ask users to begin consolidating records or adding a new value to a field now in anticipation of the new solution. Regular communications are established with stakeholders and users regarding the new business processes and solutions so feedback can be given to the business process team. Training often takes on a different flavor when working with a SaaS tool like Salesforce.com. This is because the underlying design is meant to make the tool intuitive. That does not mean that you can get by with no training, but opens more options such as self-training, webinars, newsletters, etc. A training strategy is built based on the scope of the project and the culture of the company. From that a training plan is developed. This includes both building the training materials as well as putting a training schedule together. All of these communications and training should make the “go-live” seamless from their existing solution. Once you have delivered a set of capabilities, it is wise to set up a user adoption feedback loop. This includes incentives for using the new solutions, tracking of issues and new requests, user satisfaction surveys, and user adoption metrics (like # of logins, records created, etc.) All of this feedback can be channeled to the team working on the next release. 6 - Program Management Office (PMO)- all of these tracks of work do not work seamlessly without a good program management office working to keep the project on track. The PMO is responsible for the overall program plan, integrated project plans, risk & issue management, stakeholder management, change control, quality management and cost management. The PMO can also be the point for managing the business case - and updating as required. The PMO also makes sure this program is tied into other corporate initiatives and other projects. It is important to have resources in the PMO who have experience with this type of project, who can apply lessons learned and educate others on the opportunities that a SaaS solution delivers. July 2010! Page 4 Governance - One of the key functions of the PMO is to establish the governance for the project. Here is an example of a program governance chart. Program Sponsors SVP Sales, Chief Marketing Officer, CIO, Director Customer Service, Director Finance Project Oversight A mix of representatives from: Sales operations, Marketing operations, Field sales, Channel operations, Field marketing, Customer service, Finance, IT • Establish business success metrics • Monitor project status • Monitor/resolve risks & issues • Approve business process and policy changes • Approve implementation strategy • Define Data Governance • Establish corporate strategy & goals • Allocate resources • Resolve corporate issues • Approve business case User Community Representatives from business functions, sales organizations and regions Project Leadership Sales Lead, Marketing Lead, IT Lead • Develop project plan and success metrics • Monitor and review tasks • Resolve issues, mitigate risks • Manage executive communications Business Process & Policy PMO • Manage project plan • Track issues • Track risks • Track costs • Project reporting • Track business case • Change Management • Define business processes • Define business policies • Define roles & security • Define data • Configure Solution Data Integration / Development • Assist data definition • Build interfaces • Clean existing data • New development • Load data • Develop data conversions • Maintain data • Manage resources • Manage costs • Manage quality • Develop implementation strategy Testing • Provide feedback from the field • Report Issues • Recommend enhancements User Adoption / Training / Communication • Build test plan • Define target users • Define test criteria • Develop & deliver training • Manage testing • Manage user Centers of Excellence / Ongoing Support • Coordinate user support • Monitor user adoption • Collect & prioritize user requests communications • Fix data issues • Monitor user adoption • Report bugs • Support business processes • Individuals could participate in multiple tracks of work, or could rotate across different tracks of work over time, • Full-time resources are proven to be more successful on large projects • Third-party resources are assigned where needed A successful program starts with the Program Sponsors. These are senior leaders who have a vision of how the new solution adds value to the company, allowing them to deliver on their business goals. The sponsors must act as champions, encouraging the program to develop transformational solutions, resolve differences and drive towards project schedules. If you are using the recommended iterative approach, then sponsors must stay involved with the project teams to ensure they do not get bogged down with irrelevant or lower priority items. The senior leaders assign valuable resources from their organization to the project, either as full-time project resources, or as part of the Project Oversight team. The Project Oversight team helps to clear the path for the project teams, handling resources issues, resolving business process issues and providing overall guidance to the project team. Typically the project oversight team acts as a proxy for the sponsors and provides approvals for new business processes, business policies, budgets, implementation schedules, etc. Regular updates to both of these teams is required - both via electronic means (emails, websites, newsletters) and via face-to-face meetings. The project leadership team consists of business leaders representing the functions in scope and a technology leader. This group defines the success metrics of the project and manages the day-to-day operations of the project against those metrics. They are also accountable to July 2010! Page 5 ensure the solution delivered is aligned with the business goals, aligned with the budget, meets the timelines and is of sufficient quality to be successful. When you construct a project that is using an iterative, prototyping, approach with frequent releases, it is a good idea to have an active user community. The User Community Team is a valuable sounding board and is actively used in conference room pilots, user testing and as part of the user adoption follow-up meetings. Execution You have successfully planned your project and are now into execution mode. (well, you never really leave planning - you are always doing some planning and re-planning right through go-live.) One of the best ways to take advantage of SFDC is through conference room pilots. With process and SFDC experts, you walk through the standard processes, changing them as needed for your new processes, and making the changes in the development environment as you go. (note: the changes could be real-time in the meeting for simple changes, or overnight / offshore for more complex changes. In any case, changes are reviewed before the end of the conference room pilot.) This follows some of the good concepts of agile development - providing instant feedback and validation to the business team about how the new process will work. On the one hand you have set up an environment for quick and valuable feedback. On the other hand, this can create huge change control issues. Now is the time to activate your change control process. You will find the need to swap out capabilities and features from time to time, and have a structured approach will keep your program on target. Develop a change control process that can be activated quickly, and ensures authoritative sing-off on the changes. Utilize your project sponsors and project oversight team, communicating regularly so they know what changes you are making. The worst feeling in the world is to hear an executive announce to a large team upcoming capabilities, when in fact you have moved that out to a future release. Maintain your communications to the field - both on the status of the project and more importantly, on the solutions that will be delivered. To keep program momentum, update both project sponsors, and their peers, regularly. This helps to prevent unforeseen barriers from popping up late in the project. Post your project success metrics along with actuals where people can see it. This type of transparency benefits all projects. Regular communications to the field on aspects of the new solution allows for different absorption timelines. The key is to hit the ground running at go-live in order to deliver business value as quickly as possible. For many reasons, most projects underestimate the effort needed to ensure clean, consistent data to drive the new business processes. Whether they lack good governance processes, are a collection of businesses that have been smashed together with proper integration work, or cost cutting has had an impact, this is an area that undermines many a project. In the SaaS world of realtime transactions and analysis, having good master data is a requirement. Large and medium companies will tie their CRM solution back to other enterprise systems like ERP, HR, etc. It is critical that the master data is synched and clean between these systems. July 2010! Page 6 Ensure you have the necessary number of resources assigned to data cleansing to ensure success. You will find gaps in the solution. At this point, you have three choices. 1 - Rework your business process to eliminate the gap. This could compromise the solution or reduce the expected benefits. On the other hand, you might have a false gap - that is one that some people think is a gap, but once implemented really is not an issue. 2 - Add a partner solution. Salesforce.com has an AppExchange that is full of partner solutions that meet niche needs. These are very easy to activate, even if just for demo purposes (most offer a free demo period.) 3 - Develop your own solution. You have access to the Force.com development platform and all of the tools that saleforce.com uses to develop their solutions. Any development you do on your own is easily integrated with the delivered business processes and data elements. On-Going Support Now is the time to implement a Center-of-Excellence (COE) concept. Sales and marketing processes have regional differences, and often the supporting data and operational systems are slightly different. There might even be some regional business process differences. And of course time zones factor into any support organization structure. Regional COEs provide support to the users in that region. These centers provide real-time, local-time support to users, helping them understand the processes, fix data, fix bugs, etc. They can be used to lead data definition and data cleansing efforts. The centers also allow for early detection of issues, and can be used to prioritize enhancement requests. They work together with other centers of excellence to ensure that global processes are followed and are working. Regional COEs greatly accelerate the adoption of the new solution, and contribute to the overall health and operation of the systems. The COEs are staffed with both business and IT resources and linked together as a global, virtual team. Often the members of the COEs are key participants in either the project team itself, or in the user community mentioned earlier. Once you have spent the effort to clean the data necessary to fuel the new business processes, you must establish a data governance body to ensure that the data stays cleaned. There will be requests for new data fields, new values in existing data fields, new master data solutions and new reporting requirements. A governance body is required to ensure that the data - which is integrated by its nature - continues to support the overall requirements of the company. There should be a high-level, corporate owner responsible for master data quality, and a dedicated team of people working to ensure the data is accurate and usable. Conclusion All projects must follow good, proven project management processes to ensure success as defined by the project goals and deliverables. But by tweaking your methodology, your project structure and the resources assigned to your project, you will better take advantage of the SaaS solution from SFDC. Take advantage of this new platform - design your program and project methodology with an engaged business community to deliver business value faste July 2010! Page 7 About the Author Sam Shane is a seasoned information technology executive specialized in leading transformational projects for global companies in many industries including chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive, high-tech and consumer products. He has led multi-location, multi-vendor teams in both cloud and on-premise environments - on projects ranging in size from $250k to $25mm. The teams he led have delivered extraordinary results in challenging situations where others have failed. In addition, Sam has made significant contributions to the transformation of IT organizations: leading strategic partnerships with business organizations and 3rd-party vendors; delivering strategic solutions based on future-state business needs; changing personnel mix to ensure long-term success; and driving reductions in operating costs. About One Planet Associates, LLC One Planet Associates, LLC is a team of proven veterans experienced in leading transformations including business, information technology and cloud computing. Working with our customers, we identify where your teams need a boost, and match up our resources supercharging your team. Through this supercharged team approach, your team gains the experience to move up the maturity model in your transformation. We have broad industry experience and proven success with cloud computing including Salesforce.com, packaged software packages including SAP, and Web 2.0 collaboration tools. July 2010! Page 8