CRM

Business entities use Customer Relations Management (CRM) tools to track their relation with the customers, share information within the company regarding clients and to create new business opportunities. CRM tools ease the process of identifying, contacting, following-up and evaluating customer needs and satisfaction.

Ibergrid is setting up a [[ http://crm.egi.eu | CRM ]] tool based on vTiger to support the "Community Outreach" activity of the NGIs and EGI.eu in a number of areas: - Recording identified contacts & leads to user communities; associate information with these leads based on interviews, discussions - Gathering intelligence about scientific communities, institutes and projects and about topics of collaboration with them - Monitoring activities and progress in community outreach topics - Helping NILs and EGI.eu staff locate expertise inside NGIs

The CRM system has been tuned according to the needs identified by the "Intelligence Collection & Analysis Process" and "ESFRI Contact List" Virtual Team projects in the last two months. (https://wiki.egi.eu/wiki/Virtual_Team_Projects) The features and configuration of the CRM system were presented to the NILs in a [[ https://www.egi.eu/indico/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=818 | webminar celebrated in February the 12th ]]. Based on the feedback collected at this event the CRM is being fine tuned and will be opened for the NGIs and EGI.eu.

This document constitutes a short guide to use the system for different use cases.

CRM Basics

The CRM processes can be broken down into the following three categories:

- Operational: Automation of certain business processes. xxxx − Collaborative: Emphasis on client / institutes interactions. This is an important point for EGI. EGI clients and partners are distributed and have conversations among them can happen at different places, contexts and times. There is therefore a need to share information. − Analytical: Process that may lead to strategies or methods changes. Through the use of the CRM it will be possible to identify bottlenecks and new opportunities. A portfolio of prospective clients will be constructed.

The EGI CRM is based on the Open-Source tool [[ http://www.vtiger.com/crm-on-demand/help/ | VTiger ]]. It is easy to use and free, and can be customized. It provides features to 15 modules covering support, inventory, reports, security management, role provisioning, workflows...

The main concepts around CRM are:

• Account: A record for a “client” endpoint (project, institution, university, …).
• Contact: A record for a person associated under an account, used to record conversations.
• Project: Long term work (tasks, milestones) related to a Contact or to an Account.
• Activity: Short term work (calls, ToDos, events) related to a Contact or to an Account.

FAQ

• Who should access the EGI CRM?

EGI CRM should be accessed by NILs (https://wiki.egi.eu/wiki/NGI_International_Liaison) to form a network of trust and EGI.eu members to follow-on the process.

• How can I access the EGI CRM?

EGI CRM can be accessed through at XXXX by using the EGI credentials (EGI SSO).

• How can I contact CRM administrators?

Through the egicrm.helpdesk@lip.pt contact list.