From legacy systems to modernisation: A case study on migrating to a new customer relationship management system

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of how one mid-size institution of higher education found themselves modernising their database of record with a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, while managing the realities of limited funding and staffing, changing strategies and organisational legacies of longstanding policies and processes. At their core, changes to systems are organisational changes. Software systems are updated in line with the changing technological improvements in global cultures and their intersection with the evolving needs of institutional strategies. At its best, a system and software update's primary purposes are to serve and amplify the people who design, build and work within those systems. As with everything involving change, there needs to be an honest assessment of the organisation's strengths and weaknesses in the areas of cultural readiness for the necessary human engagement and support for the updated systems, an actionable plan hung firmly on the vision and strategies outlining the specified changes and, most crucially, an evolving staffing alignment of skilled professionals to business needs. CRM conversions are a worthy test of these three essential pillars of successful systems change.