How to create a business case for software implementation – Carl Lancaster, Peninsula
Often in business, we come up against challenges or problems which require investment in a solution. However, to justify the expense and ensure the solution delivers true value, it’s important to create a business case. This helps organisations understand what it is they want and need from new software and its overall impact on the business. This is something Carl Lancaster, Group Head of Collections at Peninsula experienced. In this guest blog, Carl explains the problems Peninsula was experiencing and how they went about creating a business case to solve the issues.
“At Peninsula, we had been a period of substantial growth, in which we acquired and absorbed other companies. This left us with credit management systems that were unable to cope with the growing volume of transactions and influx of business. As a result, it was necessary for us to put forward a business case to replace our existing systems.
“As part of the business case, the team here at Peninsula identified several key requirements from the new solution. Firstly, it was vital a new credit management solution could process large volumes of transactions and consolidate all debts. Secondly, we required the solution to improve the quality of communication between us and our clients, both visually and content. We also wanted to produce consistent outputs and improve reporting. Visma | Onguard’s solution was able to meet each of these requirements within the business case. It also offered a greater degree of flexibility with workflow integration, and so we opted to implement CreditManager.”
Providing value to your organisation
“It is important to see the software’s potential value to the business – an important factor when creating a business case. At Peninsula, we’ve already begun to reap the benefits of the new solution, like increasing cash flow by about 20%. The solution has also enabled us to maintain efficient and effective communication with the 100,000 customers across our client base.
“Prior to implementing the new software, all credit management activities were manual. So, as a result of automation, we have been able to save time, particularly in terms of our dunning process. Software allowing for repetitive and time-consuming tasks to be automated has enabled Peninsula employees to focus on more value-adding tasks. For example, an automated dunning process means our credit managers can dedicate more time to higher-value accounts and prioritise any problematic accounts. Consequently, we’re getting much more out of all of their credit management activities.
“Credit management provided further business value but ensuring a consolidated structure around all our credit management processes and greater organisation thanks to the workflows it established. This has made it easier for our finance department to plan their activities on a day-to-day basis. It has also improved the future work balance across teams. Unlike our previous structure of several legacy credit management systems, a single software solution has ensured we have everything in one place and that information is accessible by the entire team. Consequently, it’s much easier for all of our employees to understand where each account stands and any outstanding actions.
“Thanks to a solid business case, it was possible for us to overcome the difficulties we were experiencing with legacy systems and we are now rolling out CreditManager to the entire Peninsula organisation across the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”
