Business Process Improvement at Microsoft

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Overview

Challenge

Microsoft sought a solution to centralize and optimize business processes for its Customer Velocity Program, and engaged Wimmer Solutions’ Business Process Improvement service to deliver a process mapping and optimization solution to meet this need.

Wimmer’s team brought together expertise business analysis, process modeling, technical architecture, content management and UAT to produce a three-year business process improvement plan, which included design and delivery of a process mapping system that enables users to access streamlined, centralized, actionable process documentation through a user-friendly interface.

By centralizing and optimizing processes, our teams reduced the overall cost of program ownership, reduced cycle times across all functions, and drove increased adoption of the new Process Library to ensure consistency and efficiency.

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Solution
Innovation

Challenge

Microsoft engaged Wimmer Solutions to provide accountability for leading the business strategy, business design and end-to-end implementation of processes and tools for the company’s Customer Velocity Program.

Solution

Wimmer’s approach was centered around building a partnership with senior management to lead, define, and implement a new customer engagement model for the Microsoft World Wide Sales Ecosystem. The strategy, design, and implementation of the solution was intended to exact a substantial change in the way Microsoft conducts business moving forward, as defined by the extensive ‘as-is’ process analysis our resources provided. Wimmer consultants were accountable for leading and driving changes in online engagement, customer experience, licensing, revenue accounting, customer and partner relationship management, campaign and rebate management to successfully enable the end-to-end strategy and associated solutions.

In order to achieve the above deliverables on schedule and in a quality manner, the Wimmer Team utilized the following technical skills:

  • Project Management
  • Business Analysis
  • Process Modeling
  • Technical Architecture Planning & Design
  • Content Management
  • User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Wimmer Solutions Business Process Improvement Technical Skill Set (Content Management, UAT, Project Management, Process Modeling, Business Analysis, Technical Architecture)

In the initial phase of the project, Wimmer continued the support activities it had provided in the past for MS CVP, including requirements gathering; architecture and platform design reviews; test planning; deployment planning; deliverable identification and communication between key business and IT stakeholders. As prioritized by the client, our process modeling resources supported strategic process definition (both ‘as is’ and ‘to be’) in terms of overall scope and design dimensions. Next, with the help of Wimmer’s dedicated Process Librarian, our resources supported the development of a 3+ year plan addressing SMB, PS and Dynamics (CRM) needs around user profiling, relevance, relationship marketing, transaction aggregation, user experience, and cross-business integration. Relative to the ongoing support of process library release, they coordinated alignment between releases to ensure on-time delivery, and increased engagement across the business cycle for self-serve capabilities, including a simplified user experience utilizing web services, product roadmaps, and unified customer profiling to increase targeted communication.

Innovation & Impact

Wimmer’s Business Process Improvement solution leveraged our strategic partnership with Triaster Process Navigator to document, analyze and optimize Microsoft CVP’s existing business processes and to define ‘to be’ process maps that would streamline delivery, increase engagement, and improve overall user experience of CVP properties amongst its user base. By centralizing and optimizing processes, our teams reduced the overall cost of program ownership and drove increased adoption of the CVP Process Library, which is managed by the group’s dedicated Process Librarian to ensure currency of content for all user groups.

Wimmer Solutions Business Process Improvement (BPI) infographic
Wimmer Solutions Business Process Improvement UI
Wimmer Solutions Process Navigator Library Infographic