Quickbase Integration
Scott Remsen
7/14/2005
Company Background
Silicon Space is a provider of information technology
services. The company has several applications that are
currently being used by the federal government and in
the commercial sector.
The recent success of the company has been driven by
its quality products, support, customer services, and
outstanding sales efforts.
In addition, Silicon Space has established an offshore
partnership with a call center and technical solutions
provider, Active Intelligence, located in Aguascalientes,
Mexico.
Problem Statement
Silicon Space is transitioning from a provider of
technology consulting services to a product-driven
strategy.
Inefficiencies have been identified, resulting in the lack of
standardization for company-wide support process.
Incoming customer queries were routed directly to
software engineers, resulting in resource allocation
Project Objectives
To improve company-wide software support for Silicon
Space by streamlining existing disparate solutions.
To utilize common support processes and technologies
to increase resource efficiency and realize significant
savings.
To improve SSI’s company-wide product support and be
in a better position to outsource support roles to offshore
developers and call centers, reducing overall support
costs.
Project Characteristics and
Requirements
Quickbase web portal for each product to be supported
Customized Lotus Notes Agent for Quickbase case
generation and issue tracking for each product to be
supported
Dedicated support e-mail addresses and phone lines for
each product to be supported
Return On Investment Analysis
The current support processes are inefficient, demanding that a senior
developer devote twelve billable hours a week (at $105/hr.). Under
the new system implementation, only six hours of offshore support
will be needed per week to triage product issues and handle tier I
issue resolution, due to increased efficiency brought about by
response standardization and e-mail organization. Two additional
hours development hours from senior engineers will be required for
tier II issue resolution.
Risk Management Strategy
Risks of implementing the Quickbase support tools and processes:
80% Quickbase implementation will successfully reduce
costs
20% Quickbase implementation will not reduce costs
Risks of not implementing the Quickbase support tools and processes:
30% money will be saved using current processes
70% money will not be saved, or even lost
Communication Plan
Timelines/Information Type:
Project manager: Manager will review project
progress by holding weekly personal meetings
with key stakeholders. Additional meetings may
be held as needed.
Project team: Will participate in four analysis
and design meetings to review current processes
and proposed modifications. During product
implementation, weekly meetings will be held to
review progress and outstanding issues/concerns.
Timelines/WBS
Project Duration = 16 days
Final Analysis
Successful project implementation will be measured by
how quickly the new Quickbase tools and support
processes are adopted by support technicians and
offshore contractors.
Adequate training and post-implementation support
should be given so that the new product is easily
adopted and widely used.