How does a business service organisation ensure current and future demand for its services is met with the right level of resourcing needed to deliver those services?
After fifteen years of growth this burgeoning financial consulting firm had become increasingly nervous about resourcing because they felt their management reporting system wasn’t up to the task of informing their people decisions.
The client desperately needed a single, sales-driven system that would provide visibility from sales all the way down the line to marketing, HR, finance, billing, operations and management. So they approached Kimble, a provider of professional services management solutions.
That’s how Clarasys got involved. As one of Kimble’s earliest customers, we’ve grown up using their software and we have a deep understanding of how to get the most from it. That, plus our specialist expertise in professional services operations – made us Kimble’s first choice to manage this implementation.
The CEO’s embrace of the big picture point of view fit perfectly with Clarasys’ own way of thinking. All too often, technology is viewed through the magnifying lens of solving a specific problem, rather than the telescopic lens of how a system might best serve the wider objectives of the organisation.
First, we observed and listened. Then we analysed and processed. Then, and only then, was it time to act:
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We started by mapping the entire business process: marketing, sales, delivery resourcing, finance, operations and billing. The objective was to define an end-to-end picture of how the different areas worked together and then map that process to the Kimble model
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Next, we helped the client through the process of testing to make sure the model worked for current operational needs, and that it would keep pace with their future plans.
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With the help of our training, the finance team were able to transform the reporting process, streamlining the information needed to manage the business.
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Clarasys played a significant role in readying the client’s data for migration and overseeing the transfer to Kimble.
Project managing these different elements over nine months of planning and implementation was a complex but satisfying job, and one that coincided perfectly with our skill-set. This comfortable fit gave the client confidence they had chosen the right solution – and the right partners to help them implement it.
Every part of the client’s business was affected by the changes. Rather than trying to tackle every piece of the complex puzzle at once, we moved forward in small, incremental steps, building up a logical picture of what needed to be done. Kimble promised to provide the end-to-end view that was so badly needed but, initially at least, the concept was greeted with unease by the staff, who couldn’t envision how sharing accurate information in real time might transform the way they worked
The CEO did have that vision. He understood that having clear visibility of the entire business flow was essential if they were to continue their success. He got right behind the project and we worked alongside him, helping to get the stakeholders’ buy-in while he neatly deflated people’s concerns.
