Prone to Failure: Why CRM and Billing Systems Implementations Are High Risk

The Nature of the Problem

Of the five companies studied, three were able to conclude the project after costly overruns and two decided to cancel it:

The European wireline incumbent successfully implemented a Siebel CRM solution, with the purpose of simplifying the systems architecture and decoupling the BSS and OSS layers to allow for rapid development of new services. Originally envisioned to require 1.5 years, the project demanded 2.2 years. The carrier is in the process of completing the migration strategy and dealing with lingering issues, such as data integrity.

The Asia/Pacific wireless subsidiaries tackled the simultaneous replacement of their billing and CRM systems with Portal and Siebel² solutions, respectively. The project was conceived as a template to be rolled out worldwide. The new platform was targeted to be installed initially in three subsidiaries and was expected to last 2.3 years. The final implementation timeline was 4.5 years. The objective of having the billing system become a flagship for other subsidiaries was not fulfilled since other carriers canceled the project mid-course.

The Latin American wireless carrier tackled the replacement of an obsolete, non-scalable CRM platform with Siebel to support the call center and PoS systems. In addition, the wireline side of the business decided also to purchase the same platform. The wireless project finally was implemented and the carrier now has the capability of handling in-bound campaigns, conducting cross-selling pilots, and cleaning up the portfolio of delinquent subscribers. However, the project required 2.5 years rather than one, as originally estimated. On the wireline side, project delays resulted in the cancellation of the project.