#data pulse 17
Times have changed significantly since we built the first unified view of customers in Tesco in 2005 working with Clive Humby and the team at dunnhumby. We were cutting edge at the time and had to build all the systems and processes from scratch. Technology has improved with the likes of IBM Infosphere providing MDM systems , and new agile , start-up mentality ways of working changing delivery timetables.
Gone are the days of 12-24 month development programmes, with waterfall methodology and timescales that mean the business imperatives have moved on before they can be addressed.
Hello to technology and ways of thinking about data problems for the 21st Century where leaders can focus on the business problems and organisational process changes required to solve the problems for customers.
The MetLife Wall is a good example in financial services of creating a unified view. It joins all linked customer information in a single place, with one screen that gives all of the information needed to serve customers quickly and effectively. The Wall provides a simple 360 view of each customer across MetLife’s businesses. The interface shows interactions across all touch points (e.g. call centre, in-person interactions with agents, claims, policy updates), connecting more than 70 legacy systems. The application allows customer service agents to reach the information they need with far fewer clicks, and makes it much easier to effectively cross-sell.
The first prototype of the system took just 2 weeks to build. The entire development process, from conception to final product, took just 3 months.
The lessons to learn from Met Life are
- a clear focus on what problem you want to solve with the Unified View of Customers.
- an agile, start-up mentality where you build minimum credible product and then continually improve.
- unified view of customers is a start point to solve business problems not an end point,
Data Pulses storytelling 