Funds group CIO conquers CRM project

In July 2004, Computerworld published an article on the successful implementation of a CRM system at the boutique funds manager MFS Group. The project was not only completed on time and in budget, but the system is seen as a platform for growth into all areas of the company’s business.

“We locked down our requirements specifically, picked the right product and vendor, and we chose the right people to work on it,” he said. “We picked a good core CRM product from Axcess Consulting Group, which is big in the financial services sector, and co-branded it. The investment side of the project was completed on June 28 this year.” Geoff Lazberger CIO said.

The article went on to say,

“Interestingly, MFS decided against calling the application “CRM” so as to make it more appealing and thus relevant to the business’ needs. Home Of MFS Electronic Records, or Homer, became the new name in deference to The Odyssey and a path to the future.”

“We see Homer evolving into one repository for our core business information including HR and asset management,” Lazberger said. “We were realising the value of the new system in the first week. It had a non-techie name, our own brand,………….The board can see real value in it as we don’t need data warehousing or middleware. All the integration work was done in-house with the help of the vendor.”

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