Event Title: Bridging the Gap -- A Customer Relationship Management Maturity Framework

DATE: May 23, 2002

PLACE: Rideau Room, Sheraton Hotel, 150 Albert Street

EVENT SPEAKER: Barry Shostak, CGI

EVENT ABSTRACT

In spite of the near-unanimous opinion of consultants that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is about business strategy, the availability of canned CRM solutions is more widespread than ever as is the temptation to view CRM as the silver bullet to greater profitability. An approach is needed to minimize the risk associated with such thinking and to ensure that CRM projects start off on the right foot.

This presentation looks at the principal issues underpinning the need to position CRM as a business strategy. A CRM maturity framework is proposed to assist companies in identifying the process and organizational issues which will promote success in their CRM initiatives. The method ensures that technology solutions address customer requirements, and not vice versa.

An application of the CRM maturity model is described. The case describes how CGI's CRM maturity framework was used by a university to prioritize their efforts in an e-learning program with respect to their customer-focused strategy.

The presentation will conclude with a brief look at the relevance of CRM to the public sector and how CGI's maturity framework may be used as the first step to implementing a CRM strategy.

BIOGRAPHY:

Barry Shostak is employed at CGI, where he led the development of CGI's CRM Maturity Framework and the design of the CRM Consulting Methodology. With nearly two decades as a software engineering professional, Mr. Shostak has been active in the area of process improvement since 1991, combining his expertise in organizational management and technology to assist client groups in successfully developing and executing strategic and tactical improvement plans. The focus of Mr. Shostak’s activities has been largely in the domain of the SEI's Capability Maturity Model and ISO 9001 in the aerospace and in IS/IT contexts. He has published articles and presented at conferences on the topic of improving software engineering.

Mr. Shostak is also a part-time member of the Faculty of Management at Montreal’s McGill University, teaching Managing Organizational Change in the MBA program and Human Resource Management in the undergraduate program, and has been a guest lecturer in the Computer Science program.