Talcott Resolution
COMPANY: Life and annuity insurance provider
PROBLEM: Carve-out. Cornell Capital was acquiring Talcott Resolution from The Hartford Financial Services Group, and none of its IT back-office applications and infrastructure were being replaced as part of the transaction. To become a standalone company, Talcott Resolution would have to build and implement all aspects of IT on a tight, two-year timeline.
SOLUTION: Strategic scenario analyses, cost-modeling of various technology solutions, and a pragmatic approach to ensure the company understood which systems needed to be replaced, which could be re-designed to do more, and which could be migrated. Upon alignment, PIP moved forward with project execution, which included system selection, the design of underlying infrastructure, and system migration and implementation which spanned a total of 78 core IT applications.
OUTCOME: The complex carve-out and stand-up of Talcott Resolution was completed on-budget and within 20-months; almost half the time for previous, similar divestitures. Upon completion of the IT overhaul, Talcott Resolution onboarded 600+ employees and contractors onto the new hybrid-cloud systems, which enabled the company to deploy a fully operational remote workforce, and provided them with a scalable and efficient technology platform to support next level growth.
Healthcare TPA
COMPANY: $50 Million Healthcare TPA
PROBLEM: Lost EBITDA. Cost of the Portfolio Company’s IT function was significantly higher than the business could afford.
SOLUTION: Two Steps. PIP developed a business operations and information technology roadmap to identify ineffective work processes and determine if any gaps existed in required skill levels. The streamlined processes staffed with the proper personnel were developed over a nine-month period.
During the period of departmental transition and rebuild, the PE Client asked that PIP outsource the IT department. After a subsequent cost-benefit analysis, it was agreed that PIP IT Management Services Group should run the department during this interim period with an immediate out provision for the client. The entire PIP engagement had a one-time cost of approximately $350,000 which delivered a documented annual cost savings estimated to be $1,500,000.
Multi-site Consumer Products Manufacturer
COMPANY: $200 Million Consumer Products Manufacturer
PROBLEM: Declining key customer satisfaction. A multi-site consumer products manufacturing business was experiencing significant operational inefficiencies which dramatically weakened on-time product delivery to several high-demand retail chain customers. As a result, the company to install a high-risk, operationally-disruptive new $2 million ERP system.
SOLUTION: PIP was asked to provide a “second opinion” review to insure the ERP system solution and the estimated investment were appropriate. The PIP analysis strongly indicated it made more sense to re-implement their current system than to develop and implement of an entirely new enterprise system. Together, we upgraded the software, utilized more capabilities within their existing system and leveraged third party software. PIP also implemented process changes, tested the application with select users to refine functionality, and trained personnel in a conference room pilot (day in the life) scenario. The one-time project cost was approximately $300,000, an 85% savings in anticipated costs. The less disruptive strategy also averted the loss of key customers.
Software Evaluation & Implementation
COMPANY: $800 Million Branded Candle Manufacturer
PROBLEM: Failed ERP implementation and increased departmental disruption within Warehouse Management, Order Management, Accounting and Business Intelligence Reporting.
SOLUTION: Objective “third-party” identification and documentation of the most pressing issues to provide immediate solutions to short-term business and process problems while developing a long-term remediation plan. PIP quickly identified issues and then provided local project management support during the long term remediation. PIP Recruiting Practice also assisted in hiring a full time local IT Manager and provided transition, support and guidance throughout the process. The end result: the creation of an improved Warehouse Management system, a new state-of-the-art Oracle Business Intelligence foundation and more efficient Accounts Receivable, General Ledger, Order Management Processes.
EPM Tool – Financial System & Process Improvement
COMPANY: $350 Million Digital Media Company
PROBLEM: Rapid growth created uncoordinated and unreliable key metrics and cash flow reporting. International digital media company had expanded operations and revenues through acquisition. Business process infrastructure lagged, causing challenges in reporting companywide key diagnostic metrics and individual client and contract profitability. Additionally, cash flow reporting was regularly incorrect and data had become untrustworthy.
SOLUTION: A pragmatic, action-oriented plan to produce standardized income statements and profitability reports across all dimensions, their clients, and their contracts; allowed for more timely action on poorly performing contracts and better quoting for future deals as a result of new insights; and, the creation of streamlined business process documentation that increased accountability ownership of specific activities. Solution included three phases.
Phase One: Assessment – Identification of all potential gaps in existing business processes and use of technology, now, and during the company’s continued growth via additional acquisitions and organic growth.
Phase Two: Software Selections – Selection of a contract management solution. Selection of an EPM solution for budgeting and financial reporting (vendors included Host Analytics, Adaptive Insights, Board International, Oracle Hyperion, Decisyon360, Microsoft BI, QlikView).
Phase Three: Implementation and Integration – Assist management with the efficient implementation of solution and integration of all systems and processes within Salesforce CRM, Operational Scheduling/Delivery and Microsoft Dynamics GP financial module.
IT & Digital Roadmap
COMPANY: Fast growing, $300Million International multi-channel jewelry retailer
PROBLEM: Existing infrastructure unable to support five-year exit strategy to quadruple the business. Multi-channel jewelry retailer experiencing rapid sales growth was lacking strategic planning for IT and eCommerce to support the plan to quadruple in size over 5 years. Poor IT leadership, a dysfunctional digital team, lack of solid project management, and the need for cost efficiencies all contributed to the problem.
OUTCOME: Development of a smoothly operating omni-channel environment supported by Magento as the eCommerce platform, and a full Oracle technology stack. To accomplish this PIP reorganized the IT department, restructured the PMO, identified interim digital leadership, developed a digital media plan and reworked the platform selection project. All efforts reduced costs and increased efficiencies.
B2B2C Portal
COMPANY: $500 Million Supply-Chain Solutions Provider for largest network of North American Optometrists
PROBLEM: Antiquated technology created poor current user experience and low-member utilization. Market leader continued to operate a cost-effective but outdated solutions portal to service its North American member network of 2,800 private practice optometrists. Portal contained an inflexible one-size-fits-all service mentality and an outdated social media component which in turn caused poor member engagement and the growing threat of lost market share to more innovative solutions providers.
OUTCOME: Performance Improvement Partners assessed the current situation through key stakeholder interviews, conducting a competitive market analysis and UI/UX assessment. PIP then cost-effectively re-architected and re-designed the entire member portal to meet and exceed competitive standards. The entire upgrade project was pragmatically and seamlessly achieved by redeploying current technology and out-sourcing the entire portal re-development under PIP direct supervision.
D2C
COMPANY: $400 Million multi-channel, International specialty retailer
PROBLEM: Behind schedule and over budget on launch of commerce-enabled mobile app. All members of management and department leaders agreed on the future importance of mobile commerce. Nevertheless, lack of strong project charter, clear performance metrics, scope creep, weak milestone based project management all contributed to failure to launch.
OUTCOME: Performance Improvement Partners rebuilt and managed the project plan, prioritized key go-live features, realigned budget, developed and implemented the marketing launch plan, and created an ongoing enhancement roadmap for the app. The results: a successful launch of iOS mobile app with over 70,000 downloads in the first month, a daily push notification strategy that has led to increased app engagement. The mobile app represented up to 5% of total e-commerce sales during Holiday 2015, with conversion rates significantly higher than mobile website.
Premise vs. Cloud Contact Center
COMPANY: $200 Million International Contact Center Business
PROBLEM: A significant merger occurred of 10 contact centers created the need to share resources and reduce costs. Each of the previously stand-alone core businesses had their own contact center tools and telecom infrastructure. To maintain competitive advantage while improving EBITDA, it was critical to move to a shared system for phone, email, workforce management, and overall telecom infrastructure. While cost was a key driver, there were several customer performance guarantees that had to be delivered flawlessly.
OUTCOME: Performance Improvement Partners performed a selection process to help the various business leaders come to consensus on what each business was looking for and the optimal tools to provide the solution. The selection instrument provided over 300 data points/requirements as part of the selection process. More than 10 cloud and premise vendors were reviewed. The selection process was completed and a suite of cloud-based tools were selected to support the integration of the businesses.