FOSS, Hillerød, Denmark

Foss has just completed the global CRM roll-out project of introducing SAP to all sales staff and technicians. SAP is now available on 600 employees’ telephones and tablets. Great potential for efficiency.

FOSS expects far-reaching effects when the group’s global sales and service departments fully embrace the new mobile CRM platform. This will improve the ability to respond to everyday tasks and optimize efficiency. In addition, FOSS will save a lot of time in registering and providing contacts with after-care based on “real life”. Increasing customer satisfaction and greater efficiency are the project’s most important targets.

“We will gain the benefits we expected. But this is a fundamental change, and its entire potential will therefore not be realized straight away. We will see the system gradually being used more over the next few years. We will get a completely different insight into our business, and this will enable fact-based management with close attention to detail when contacting customers,” says Tue Byskov Bøtkjær, IT Director with FOSS.

600 Have Mobile SAP

In practice, sales staff and technicians now take the new SAP system out with them on their telephones and tablets. This means that the entire control process will become faster and more transparent. Around 600 employees working in the field will save time on administrative tasks which do not generate value, therefore freeing up more of their time to spend with customers. The entire business will also become more transparent. For example, pipeline control will become more precise. Overall FOSS expects to be able to provide a better service to more customers while keeping the same staffing levels.

SAP CRM has been one of the biggest IT projects at FOSS for many years, and it will affect the daily workload of more than half of the group’s employees.

Consultants from NTT DATA Business Solutions have been responsible for the actual implementation, working in close cooperation with the management on both the IT and business sides of the operation, and in close cooperation with the departments that are directly involved in working on CRM.

“Governance has been another success factor. We have appointed a steering group including the Vice President from Sales & Marketing and Services, the Head of IT, management representatives from itelligence*, project managers from both FOSS and itelligence* as well as myself as chairman,” says Tue Byskov Bøtkjær.

CRM Project Within Budget

“We had already worked with the consultants from itelligence*. We know that they understand our type of company and the complexity of a global business. They have a good outlook and have helped to maintain a standardized and simple approach during the roll-out,” he says.

FOSS has now implemented the project within the timescale and budget. The roll-out has been based on a clear business case of a ‘uniform’ CRM to enable structured and shared control across Sales, Marketing and Services. The most important objectives included establishing worldwide control allowing FOSS to fulfill global service level agreements with its customers.

“We have managed the project with a keen eye on customer benefits. This has been the unifying principle in our use of SAP CRM. Everything we do must benefit our customers. We have also followed the standard closely. We preferred to adapt our business processes to the system rather than modifying the solution just for us,” stated Tue Byskov Bøtkjær, while explaining how the project was completed within both deadline and budget.

Frontrunner in Mobility

FOSS now leads the way in technology in a single area. There really aren’t many companies who have made the leap in making SAP available on telephones and tablets. “It almost breaches the principle of not being the first mover. In general FOSS does not wish to take the trouble to lead the way in technological development, but in this particular area we are sure that we are not going down a dead end,” the IT Director says.

“We have great potential because we have a large global network of technicians who are out helping customers on-site. If we can operate just a little more efficiently by moving the control of IT out into the field then it is worth the investment. We also gain a better insight into our overall delivery and develop new services better,” Tue Byskov Bøtkjær says.

FOSS chose SAP CRM rather than many other competing systems. At the end of the day the idea of having a single standard won because FOSS already uses SAP ERP. Experience gained from that SAP roll-out provided the basis for approaching SAP CRM in a collective, stringent and standard oriented manner.

The objective of implementing SAP CRM globally in both sales and service in only one move was ambitious. FOSS has just crossed the finishing line, and the business effects will now be realized.

*Since April 1, 2021 itelligence operates under the name of NTT DATA Business Solutions.