by Rich Benvin | Mar 4, 2016 | Big Data, Creating Competitive Advantage, Save With Data
Where Is Big Data In Every Day Life?
We all hear about Big Data and how it is changing industries and allowing companies like Target to stalk their customers, but do we interact with Big Data in our everyday routines?
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Will Europeans Get Left In The Dust Because They Refuse Big Data?
It is no secret that Europeans have been extremely reluctant to jump on the Big Data train. As Americans continue to indulge in Big Data and incorporate it into their businesses, we must wonder, what will happen to Europe? Will European companies fall behind without the technology to even the playing field?
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Utilizing Data in Business
Despite what industry you are in, you can use data to achieve a wide variety of goals. It doesn’t matter if you are a big, or small business. Simply put, data analysis converts raw data into the accurate and up-to-date information you need to know what’s going on in every facet of your company.
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Big Data In Cancer Research
Cancer is a horrible illness that has been nearly impossible to figure out. Scientists have had a difficult time finding a cure for cancer because no two cases of cancer are the same. Everyone’s bodies are different and therefore, those who develop cancer do not have identical cancer cells.
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by Rich Benvin | Jul 28, 2015 | Case Studies, Measuring Results
Reliable Reports and Metrics Improve Customer Service
In the initial phases of the telephony over Hybrid Fiber Coax, one of the largest Multi-System Operators (MSO) in the broadband industry knew they had issues with both customer installations and customer satisfaction, but lacked the ability to identify the extent of the problems or the reasons behind them. The organization called upon Cliintel to develop a system to capture reliable, actionable data and to assist them with interpretation of that data.
The Business Issue:
The corporate telephony field operations group at the MSO needed a better understanding of the total installation process. This group was receiving conflicting information around the daily installs from disparate markets across the United States, each of which were performing thousands of installs per day. Reporting was not standardized, and the accuracy of information was very much in doubt.
To manage the situation, the MSO needed to:
- Identify which data was important to capture
- Design a reliable means to obtain the data
- Determine how to interpret the data
Management wanted to know the reasons for procedural problems during an installation, how long the installs were taking, and set a reasonable baseline a true time per task. Additionally, they wanted to find out the causes of the number of “no shows” for service appointments
As new procedures were adopted, installation times and “no shows” were reduced resulting in revenue generation in excess of $10M.
The Solution:
Cliintel worked with the MSO to identify and source all of the critical data points. This included creating Reason Codes to describe why an appointment was missed, cancelled or rescheduled. Additionally Cliintel resources created business rules for allocating technician drive time. Once the critical data elements were identified, an automated reporting system was developed and deployed. This system greatly reduced the “human error” element that had confounded earlier attempts at manually gathering data. Meetings were facilitated between the corporate and individual market groups to define the standards against which the data would be measured, such as: How long each type of job should take? The meetings were continued as reports were made available to the organization on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. Charts, tables and graphs were utilized to help the organization understand the data. The meetings with the corporate and market groups continued to aid the organization in understanding what it was seeing and to develop strategies to deal with the identified problems.
The Results:
Trends were uncovered highlighting problems with provisioning efficiencies, installation times and customer satisfaction levels. These trends were identified in the reports and provided decision support and agnostic intelligence, actionable at the various levels within the organization. The publication of the results enabled the global installation standards team to identify new procedures to address the trends. As new procedures were adopted, installation times and “no shows” were reduced resulting in revenue generation in excess of $10M. A concurrent rise in customer satisfaction levels confirmed that the team had identified the important variables. This was a two-year project that left the MSO with a reporting tool that worked to help the organization understand and improve the daily installation process for the telephony product line across the enterprise.
We’re proud to help our clients solve tough problems and achieve stunning results. To see what kind of results Cliintel can deliver for you, please visit www.cliintel.com or e-mail askcliintel@cliintel.com.
by Tara Buck | Jul 27, 2015 | Case Studies, Measuring Results
Reducing Reporting Redundancies, Targeting and Consolidation Save 250 Hours per Month
Broadband operators rely on the billing systems to provide them with accurate and timely reports. These reports are crucial to day-to-day operations, and are increasingly important for both strategic planning and the execution of business goals.
The Client:
A region in one of America’s biggest Multi System Operators responsible for 250,000 customers.
The Business Issue:
The client was using time intensive manual processes to develop reports required to support ongoing business. Various queries were used to retrieve data from the billing systems, often times delivering inconsistent results across differing reports. The standard practice was to run and merge multiple reports from these queries, then copy the results from these queries and other sources into spreadsheets for further manipulation, all to arrive at questionable data. Coordination of reports between departments and groups was non-existent and there were no standardized Methods and Procedures (M&Ps) for developing these reports. The reporting group was stretched beyond capacity resulting in a multi-week backlog for the generation of new reports. The client retained Cliintel to help streamline and document the reporting process.
By identifying redundancies and targeting inefficient processes Cliintel achieved a reduction in internal resource workload by 250 hours/month, improved report accuracy, increased customer satisfaction and a return on the investment in less than 4 months.
The Approach:
Cliintel takes a holistic approach to every business issue presented for resolution. Our project professionals evaluate the situation, design a solution that fits, gain adoption and optimize performance. Cliintel’s focus was on increasing productivity and reducing costs by examining and evaluating reports for each department – independently and thoroughly. Using this holistic approach, Cliintel interviewed and met with end users in 8 departments to assess their reporting needs and to identify redundancy. Cliintel performed a gap analysis and inventoried and performed an audit of many of the crucial reports needed for day to day business operations. Labor intensive and inefficient manual processes were targeted and re-engineered. Consolidation opportunities were identified and redesigned.
The Solution:
Cliintel designed and developed new queries extracting only the relevant data necessary for each report. Database clean-up tools were created to ensure the accuracy of the data and work processes were streamlined to consolidate redundant reports.
Additionally Cliintel:
- Identified and re-designed current reports and procedures
- Implemented a strategic plan that included process re-engineering and system enhancements
- Implemented a KPI plan and provided ongoing KPI analysis framework
- Provided recommendations for further enhancements
- Provided a base for future reporting development
The Results:
By identifying redundancies and targeting inefficient processes Cliintel achieved a reduction in internal resource workload by 250 hours/month, improved report accuracy, increased customer satisfaction and a return on the investment in less than 4 months.
We’re proud to help our clients solve tough problems and achieve stunning results. To see what kind of results Cliintel can deliver for you, please visit www.cliintel.com or e-mail askcliintel@cliintel.com.
by Rich Benvin | Jul 27, 2015 | Business Transformation, Case Studies
For the burgeoning satellite radio industry, competition drove the market. Improving service delivery meant the difference between continued growth or a quick decline. To address this, the client, one of the world’s most aggressive providers of satellite radio, chose Cliintel to align its billing and operational support systems. The success of this project enabled the satellite radio provider to achieve their aggressive implementation objectives and advance their competitive position.
The Client:
The client, one of the largest satellite radio service providers offering a digital radio service that transmits 100 streams of digital-quality music and entertainment from its broadcast studios.
Through the utilization of Cliintel’s evaluation framework, the client was able to select the new billing system, configure, implement, convert the old data and scale the new system to 4x its original size in less than 7 months.
The Business Issue:
For this industry, the Subscriber Management System (SMS) holds the key to service delivery, facilitating gains in market share and ultimately shareholder returns. The client knew that their current SMS had functional shortcomings that were directly impacting its ability to collect revenue as well as provide the desired level of customer service. The system needed evaluation, and the client was prepared to implement a replacement if necessary. The client needed an aggressive assessment and plan that would work within operational and financial constraints.
The focus of the project was to evaluate the current billing system, define desired functionality and select a replacement subscriber management system if necessary.
The SMS needed to:
- Capture and make available timely, accurate, customer and partner data
- Enable testing and timely implementation of new services, marketing programs, and strategies to leverage continued growth
- Contribute to the growth and retention of customers, as well as partners, with cost-effective, reliable technologies.
A system strategy would also be developed to enable the client to grow the business aggressively, accommodate new business models, and respond to changing business conditions, without undue expense or over-reliance on manual processes and procedures.
Through the utilization of Cliintel’s evaluation framework, the client was able to select the new billing system, configure, implement, convert the old data and scale the new system to 4x its original size in less than 7 months.
The Solution:
Cliintel broke down the work structure into smaller, more manageable processes, which ensured the capture of all business-critical requirements. The methodology allowed for the collection, documentation and prioritization of system requirements without disrupting the ongoing operations of the client, or placing an undue burden on the team members who represented the functional areas. From this foundation, a requirements matrix was developed that enabled the client’s executive steering committee to highlight current critical business needs as well as identify areas requiring enhanced scalability.
Cliintel performed an SMS Gap Analysis on the current system, focusing on the best-practice constructs of features and functionality, adaptability, vendor risk, architecture and scalability, deployability and economics. As a result of this analysis the steering committee concluded that their current SMS provider lacked the stability and scalability the client would require. Cliintel was further engaged to help find a more suitable replacement solution.
This process involved an initial request for information (RFI) from 45 SMS service providers. Cliintel tailored the information requests to the clients business and system requirements and the same six constructs that were used to evaluate the legacy system. Analysis of the responses to the RFI led to the identification of the top five SMS providers, which were sent requests for proposals (RFPs).
Cliintel reviewed the RFPs and created executive “wrappers” for the steering committee, highlighting their evaluations. Invitations for product demonstrations were sent to the best candidates from this group. Cliintel created scenarios to test the extent of product functionality provided by the vendors. Cliintel also created scorecards to assist the client in ranking vendor performance during the demos.
Based upon the demonstrations, requested documentation, and interviews with the potential provider’s customers, Cliintel worked with the client in the selection of their new SMS provider. In addition, Cliintel created a high-level implementation plan and cost-estimates for the implementation, integration and management of the recommended solution.
The Project Results
Cliintel’s SMS evaluation allowed the client to select a system more suitable for their expanding business needs while keeping their focus on their core business. By prioritizing the requirements, the gap analysis enabled functional departments to more fully understand their business and establish a common goal. Through the utilization of Cliintel’s evaluation framework, the client was able to select the new billing system, configure, implement, convert the old data and scale the new system to 4x its original size in less than 7 months.
We’re proud to help our clients solve tough problems and achieve stunning results. To see what kind of results Cliintel can deliver for you, please visit www.cliintel.com or e-mail askcliintel@cliintel.com.
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