IBM's Journey Towards a Market-Driven Process-Managed Business Model

in 1994, the IBM Corporation undertook several massivereengineering projects with the objective of dramatically changingthe way we do business around the world. One of these initiatives,the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) reengineering project,was intended to support our evolution to a market-oriented customer-focusedorganization. It was clear that we had lost touch with our customers,and had become an inward-focused organization mired in our owninternal policies, procedures and systems—radical changewas required. The driving force behind the reengineering of ourCustomer Relationship processes was a clear set of customer prioritieswhich formed the basis for the major design principles guidingthe project. This article provides a glimpse into this reengineeringeffort, with a focus on the business drivers as well as somekey issues and obstacles to both the design and deployment ofCRM.