How Invenio integrated a new CRM system for ARM Holdings Plc

ARM Holdings Plc is a British multinational firm specialising in the design of semiconductors and various software. Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, ARM Holdings mainly focusses on the design of ARM processors and CPU’s. They also operate under a number of other brands, such as DS-5, Real View and Keli, designing software development tools, systems, platforms, a revolutionary system-on-a-chip (SoC) infrastructure and accompanying software. ARM prides itself on defining pervasive computing that shapes today’s connected world and orchestrated its performance. Founded over 15 years ago by a handful of engineers, ARM now employs over 4,200 people in locations across the globe.

Business Challenges

Up until recently, ARM had been using an Oracle CRM OnDemand system to support their pre-signature sales processes and customer engagement activity. While this set up had not been a problem in the past, it had become a legacy system that was no longer being actively developed or supported by Oracle. Due to their rapid growth, this became an unmanageable system, which was disconnected and replaced with manual processing. This lead to numerous problems which quickly manifested in real financial issues and efficiency problems for the business. Primarily, the new manually processed data was not standardised and consistent between the businesses SAP systems and the old CRM system, leading to constant duplication errors. Because it was a manual process, users were reluctant to maintain data, leading to outdated or incorrect data being used through the business.

ARM decided to switch to a new CRM to replace their aging model and after some thorough research, they opted to use Microsoft Dynamics. The challenge then faced was to integrate this new system with both the SAP infrastructure and other existing systems so that they could migrate historical data to the new CRM - ensuring consistency and accuracy while doing so.

Invenio's Solution

ARM were very selective about the partner they chose to take on this task. They wanted their partner for integration to be able to build the right interfaces for integration with SAP and own the data migration end-to-end, which required a significant amount of expert knowledge. This would need to be done through various workshops with the business teams and implementation partners. In the end Invenio was selected due its significant track record of SAP design, integration, implementation and successful data migration.

Invenio’s experts designed a solution which fully encompassed the new CRM system, which was to be integrated using SAP Process Orchestration along with other SAP applications, such as CRM Dynamics and BigMachines. We were also able manage the creation of Master Data sets, which meant a seamless flow of consistent information between the new CRM system and SAP infrastructure. To help unlock the full potential of all systems, other systems (such as Marketo and Web Leads) were integrated to track product, price and exchange rate.

Once implemented, the new flow created looked like this:

SAP sends information to CRM about Customer Master Data, credit limit and credit exposure. SAP also sends Product Master Data, creating and updating the relevant prices using information from SAP systems
The CRM then sends a proposal to SAP, and for each successful proposal a contract is extracted and sent back from the CRM
The above information is shared with the user and the status is updated as needed
Once the delivery is complete, the deal status is updated on the contract within the CRM system

Using this flow, Invenio managed a seamless integration of processing, from creation of customer rights through to delivery of products, utilising all available features of Dynamics CRM. Overall Invenio built over 30 custom interfaces for the transition and continued operation of the 2 systems, and the final integration was completed using SAP Process Orchestration and proxy calls.

The Results

The integration process went smoothly, without any data loss or disruptive downtime suffered for any element. Since the new CRM was integrated with SAP, ARM have seen:

A standardised business process

A standardised, repeatable business process designed to improve employees working capabilities as a global team

Better integration

Improved integration and view of customer process data

Improved customer facing processes

Significantly better integration of customer facing processes and data thanks to full integration with core operational systems

Increase in use of CRM system

Drastic increase in accessibility and use of CRM systems by all employees

Better operational effectiveness

Increase in operational effectiveness thanks to the removal of manual processes and the improved stability offered by the new system

Improved operations

Improved operations across the board thanks to the integration of process information through all service functions

Increased sales efficiency

Sales operational efficiency and effectiveness increased

With Invenio’s help, ARM were able to successfully migrate to a new and improved CRM system without any transitionary issues. The added inter-reliability of SAP and CRM means that all systems are operating from the same base information, reducing errors, improving customer service and having a positive impact on sales performance.