OPEN INNOVATION How Lego lets customer ideas come out to play

THE FUTURE DEVELOPED Solutions for media and insurance companies

OPEN AND SIMPLE An overview of BSI CRM Release 12.4

meetingBSI customer magazine I No. 1/10 I www.bsiag.com

Published by: BSI Business Systems Integration AG, Täfernstrasse 16a, CH-5405 Baden

Editor-in-Chief: Catherine B. Crowden, catherine.crowden@bsiag.com

Editor: Christine Hinnen, Winterthur, hinnen@woertlich.ch

Design concept: corinta bürgi-cito artdirection, Kilchberg, artdirection@corinta.ch

Translation: Word+Image, Zufikon, work@wordandimage.ch

Photo credits: ©iStockphoto.com / Damaris Betancourt / Tamedia AG / various BSI employees

Lithography and printing: Linkgroup AG, Zürich

Paper: Plano Art 150 g/m2, woodfree

Frequency of publication: Twice annually in German and English, circulation: 2,900

2

Open innovation is on its way to becoming a brand must 4

BSI CRM Release 12.4 is simply easier 10

Break is worth taking a look at 12

Insurance companies rely on BSI CRM 14

Tamedia is close to its customers 16

Meet the team, an interview with Christian Döbele 18

“WHAT COMPANY CAN AFFORD TO PERMANENTLY IGNORE ITS CONSUMERS?”

meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Index meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Opening

BSI’s values

“WE KNOW NO INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL BORDERS AT BSI.”

We strive to drop the borders between BSI and our customers and users.

Whether something comes from BSI or externally, whether it benefits BSI

or a customer: if it lies in our mutual interest, we do it.

Christian A. Rusche

CEO BSI

3meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Index meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Opening

This issue of our magazine is dedicated to “openness” as a value, and everything

related to it: being open for ideas, for innovation and for inspiration. Because only

when we listen do we know just what it is that makes our products better and where

we have missed the mark. To dismantle the boundaries between inside the company and

externally, we are pleased to actively involve our customers in the product development

process, in which we enlist customer representatives as advocates and thus integrate the

accumulated knowledge of thousands of BSI product users.

Openness is also transparency: we give the code to you, our dear customers. It contains

all our work and our collected knowledge. We maintain standards and make our solutions

as easy to use as possible. And we are currently in the process of making Scout, the basis

software for our products, open source, which means that not only can the source code be

freely viewed (which was already the case) but also its use and further development are

both free. And to do it right, Scout has become part of Eclipse, the standard among devel-

opment environments, and BSI has become a member of the Eclipse Foundation.

While this dual, mutual openness is important, it only makes sense if we are also open for

changes and understand that change is inherent in this world, and that our products will

age and become obsolete. It is up to us to develop the successor products and new tech-

nologies. We should not do this as an end in itself, or out of pleasure in innovation, but

for the benefit of the customer, the user. Last but not least, that is why we are currently

presenting the new user interface of our flagship product BSI CRM. The patented user

interface remains, but has now become much sleeker, more transparent and more logical.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Christian A. Rusche

“Open innovation is becoming a brand must.”

TEXT: RAHEL WILLHARDT

PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS: VARIOUS SOURCES

External talent Companies are increasingly seeking know-how and

fresh product ideas outside the company borders.

Those who get it right are faster to market with so-called

“open”, “democratized” or “outcrowded” innovations

and thus generate more sales than their competitors who

stick to the traditional “find a need, fill a need” method.

Research of all kinds has proven that innovations are

made in this way. Take, for example, a sporting goods

shop; nearly everything that can be purchased there first

arose from the ideas of enthusiastic athletes. In this way,

mountain bikes can be attributed to bike freaks who

pimped their bikes with inspiration from motocross

sport. As more and more bikers began tweaking their

bikes for forest and mountainsides, bicycle manufac-

turers reacted with new products. There are many such

examples, such as the e-guitar, Wite-Out or the smart

infusion pump. They all document how impassioned

users have an early sense for needs and that visionary

manufacturers knew how to benefit from external talent

long before Web 2.0.

Consumers become prosumers In the meantime, increasing numbers of companies

challenge more or less preselected masses to partic-

ipate in anonymous brain sports: Swarovski lets

consumers think up crystal tattoos, while Nespresso

elicits future coffee rituals and Schindler gathers new

elevator ideas. Around 1,000 suggestions are sent to

BMW’s virtual innovation agents each year, while the

Dutch food merchant, Albert Heijn received 55,000,

of which 700 were carried out with an eye towards

customer-friendly store design. There are many signs

indicating that the influence of users on products and

services is increasing, a trend in which the consumer

becomes a prosumer.

But haven’t companies always made huge efforts to

find out what people are thinking? Are virtual and real

labs, competitions and forums simply modern sugges-

tion box channels? This should not be ruled out for

a considerable portion of projects that fly the “open

innovation” flag. Ground-breaking in the open inno-

vation approach are the systems and degree of trans-

parency which companies use to encourage and integra-

te external help. The customers and consumers not only

get a say in the process, they become co-designers.

Everyone is talking about Web 2.0. The trend scouts in

many companies know that the Internet has become

a place of self-realization in which they can let their

talent unfold among those who share their interests.

But now, product managers are also learning how

to tap into these talents for their companies. Those

who manage to efficiently involve a select number

of hobby creators, those who effectively tap into the

product popularity of their consumers, and thus gain

an interactive free leg, are actively applying the open

innovation approach.

4

When fans are at work:

Customers and consumers

today not only have some-

thing to say, but are active

co-designers of future Lego

products and worlds.

meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Keynote BSI Business Systems Integration AG

KEYNOTE

The technical author, Rahel Willhardt, explains how companies can successfully tap into consumer knowledge, using the toy manufacturer Lego as an example to illustrate her theory. The Danish company was flabbergasted when it let its biggest fans into the factory.

A wall comes tumbling down Lego is the modern poster child for open innova-

tion: the way in which the Danish juggernaut man-

aged to tap into customer knowledge elicits shouts of

joy from those in charge: “We did it! We have torn

down the walls between internal and external, be-

tween Lego and its enthusiasts,” crowed Jake McKee.

At the time, he was the Global Community Develop-

ment Manager at Lego, in charge of fan integration

as part of the development team. The end result of

this integration: Lego Mindstorms Robots dance to

music, follow the light beam of a flashlight or snap

photos with a mobile phone. Even raw beginners can

build rudimentary models in just 30 minutes. And

one thing is quite clear: these robots would not have

turned out as well without the cooperation of Lego’s

most loyal fans.

However, before this traditional family company

decided to integrate autonomous innovation efforts

in its value creation chain, a great many old pat-

terns of thinking had to change. Lego launched the

Technik model kits nearly ten years ago in order

to secure a place for its colorful building blocks in

children’s rooms in the digital era. Within the con-

text of education, as well, Lego Mindstorms should

help student to acquire contemporary technical and

programming skills in a playful manner. Lego cre-

ated the do-it-yourself robot together with the pi-

oneer of computer learning research, Seymour Pa-

pert, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT), using his child-friendly Logo programming

language and named the product after his book en-

titled “Mindstorms”.

However, in practice it all turned out differently. Inspired

children created all sorts of useful objects, such as bird-

feeding machines or comic book pager turners, using the

sophisticated toy. Less impassioned children often did not

manage to get the toy to move – the two-hour minimum

building time was simply too long for the Game Boy

generation and 200 dollars per building set was too expen-

sive. The product missed the mark of the target customer:

children aged twelve and up – but was more than a hit

with Lego-loving parents and software-savvy educators.

5meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Keynote BSI Business Systems Integration AG

Number of customers with this need

Time

Lead user Customers in the target market

Only lead user prototypes available

Commercial versions of the products are available

Concept– Identification of solutions (prototypes) that lead users have developed for their own use – Commercialization of the developments that promise success in the total market

Tools– Methods for the identification of lead users– User toolkits that support customer develop- ments and facilitate the transfer – Working with customer communities

Idea– Market research to identify the needs of rep- resentative customers in the target market– Internal development of appropriate products and services

Tools– Surveys, focus groups, observations, in-depth interviews– Multi-attribute analysis of the needs information – Ethnographic studies of the customers– Quality function deployment

Methods of lead user innovation Customer orientation in the innovation process

Sour

ce: R

eich

wal

d, P

iller

. “In

tera

ctiv

e Va

lue

Crea

tion”

(20

06)

Two types of customer retention

Innovation anarchy Mindstorms became a cult object among software

freaks right from the start. With impressive dedi-

cation, the community created more powerful

programs in order to build more intelligent robots

than was possible with the Lego standard. Just a

few weeks after the market debut, the source code

was cracked and the operating system was made

available as an open source variant. Dozens of ap-

plications sprung up all over the Net, with which

the building blocks could be converted into soda

servers, blackjack dealers or toilet bowl cleaners.

The tips exchanged on forums provided what was

needed to lend power to this children’s toy that far

exceeded the manufacturer’s wildest dreams.

This innovation anarchy caused headaches within

the company at first. Concerned about protecting

their intellectual property, those in charge asked

themselves: What if their competitors release a

competing product with LegOS? Or what if the op-

eration system programmed by users damaged the

hardware? Will the similar sounding names confuse

customers? However, the Lego management began

to grasp that the unsolicited demand for impro-

vement played right into their hands: “We finally

understood that this is a great way to make the pro-

duct even more interesting,” said Lego Vice Presi-

dent, Mads Nipper. “Without receiving any money

for it, the enthusiasts improved the experience that

is possible with Mindstorms.” In this way, the toy

manufacturer dared to take the step of accepting

the “right to hack” and removed the warnings and

prohibitions listed in the Mindstorms software li-

cense. This had the effect of making the company

more likable and credible in the eyes of its fans.

General overhaul with community creativity Lego recorded the worst year in the company’s history

in 2003, with a loss of USD 238 million. The business

management decided to focus upon their core compe-

tencies and reduced the number of products manufac-

tured in Billund from 12,400 down to 7,000. And de-

spite high development and manufacturing costs and

unmet sales prognoses in the children’s target market,

the Danes decided upon a general overhaul of this

future-oriented toy. It quickly became clear that the

test version introduced in autumn 2004 did not have

what it takes. The decision was thus made to man the

development boat with those who had already repeat-

edly provided their ability. The Mindstorms managers

compiled the names of well-known fans from online

support networks. After sorting them according to

their experience, fields of expertise and related devel-

opment work, only four remained: the electrical engi-

neer from New York, John Barnes, whose ultrasound

sensor enabled the robots to recognize nearby objects;

Ralph Hempel, who was responsible for the Mac/Li-

nux compatibility of the RXC building component and

the former Microsoft programmer, David Schilling, as

well as the software engineer, Steve Hassenplug, who

managed to ramp up the plastic robots to near indus-

trial performance.

Lego first observed its fans in blogs and competitions

and then selected those who were trusted by the com-

munity. Group representatives with above-average

skills and reputable power players were hired in a

manner that was also plausible for others and which

ruled out jealousies.

“We would like to make you an offer, but first you

must sign a secrecy agreement,” read the cryptic con-

tact e-mail sent to the selected individuals. Unaware,

the four chosen persons continued to type within the

framework of their virtual group within the secured

Mindstorms User Panel (MUP) – until Director Søren

Lund personally revealed the secret and told his team

about the invitation to cooperate. “We became aware

6 meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Keynote BSI Business Systems Integration AG

“ONLY GRADUALLY DID LEGO REALIZE THAT THEIR CUSTOMERS’ STRIVING FOR IMPROVE-

MENT COULD WORK IN THEIR FAVOR.” Rahel Willhardt

Sour

ce: R

eich

wal

d, P

iller

. “In

tera

ctiv

e Va

lue

Crea

tion”

(In

tera

ktiv

e W

erts

chöp

fung

) (2

006)

Challenges for companies

Development of new information and communication technologies as enablers

Hierarchal organizationTaylorism

Network organizationMarket orientation

Interactive value creationCustomer integration

Internationalization of competitionIncreasing innovation dynamic

and market insecurity Changing values and trend towards

customer individualization

Value creation concepts and mission statements

Productivity Flexibility Innovativeness

Interactive value creation in the business environment

that our contributions were more important than we

had thought,” remembered Barnes, who thought that

the invitation from Lego would turn out to be a request

to test the beta version of the product. Lego’s ex-Com-

munity Chief, McKee, stated in regard to the approach

taken: “We got involved in their discussion forums

early on – not as marketing people, but as interested

participants. The reaction we got was nearly always

the same: ‘You don’t listen; you just do as you please.’

But when they noticed that we were indeed listening

to it all, to what interested them, and respected their

rules of communication, they began to understand

what we were about: integrating really enthusiastic

people within the brand.”

Enthusiasts without the mustiness

The Lego staff worked on the development along

with the hobbyists for eleven months. At the end of

the process stood a wish list of what the 571-piece

building set should be able to do. Afterward, they met

two or three times a year at the Lego Happenings,

such as the Brickfilm Festivals, to try out prototypes –

otherwise the team communicated through the MUP

or per e-mail. McKee had this to say about the cus-

tomer integration: “You first have to show the fans

how Lego functions internally and how they really can

be of assistance. Our own people also found it difficult

at first to deal with codetermination from outside the

company. And yet with all the hurdles we had to over-

come and the frustration, there was never a situation in

which anyone wanted to throw in the towel.”

No one was formally required to take in and use the

users’ input. But particularly in areas where ideas went

flat, the transparency of the decision-making process

was appreciated. It often was not a matter of loss of

profit, but instead to the security standards or the sa-

les price of 249 dollars to which the additional inter-

faces or greater memory were sacrificed. Despite this,

the external people were never viewed as full-fledged

developers. According to McKee, “for us they remain

enthusiasts, as opposed to ‘developers’, who are peop-

le that we pay. Our people are responsible for security

standards, cost budgets and child-safe handling. They

come up with ideas that are different from someone

who just wants to have fun. The fine line between a

7meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Keynote BSI Business Systems Integration AG

Sour

ce: R

eich

wal

d, P

iller

. “In

tera

ctiv

e Va

lue

Crea

tion”

(In

tera

ktiv

e W

erts

chöp

fung

) (2

006)

Challenges for companies

Development of new information and communication technologies as enablers

Hierarchal organizationTaylorism

Network organizationMarket orientation

Interactive value creationCustomer integration

Internationalization of competitionIncreasing innovation dynamic

and market insecurity Changing values and trend towards

customer individualization

Value creation concepts and mission statements

Productivity Flexibility Innovativeness

Interactive value creation in the business environment

dumb and a brilliant idea is just as fluid as that between

necessity and narrow-mindedness – and that’s what ba-

lances a team so wonderfully.” Lego reaped benefits

from the mixture of overly zealous ideas and a more

restrictive professional way of thinking.

Building blocks and personal relationships Internally at Lego they were happy, because de-

tailed answers to questions were often supplied in

just hours and the development made visible pro-

gress. And the enthusiasts really enjoyed knowing

that their ideas were being listened to and that they

were able to have an impact on their favorite toy,

both for themselves and their kids. The fact that

Hassenplug and Schilling were permitted to visit

the high-security development laboratory during

their visit to the company headquarters – generally

strictly forbidden to anyone outside Lego – is an

indication of how the toy manufacturer dropped its

guard for its leading external suppliers of ideas.

The commitment and dedication of impassioned

Mindstorms fans – who did nothing else but talk

about Lego – were initially rewarded with beta test

versions and Lego cranes instead of money, and that

was fine with them. “I wouldn’t have done this for any

other company but Lego,” said Barnes. McKee said:

“Enthusiasts are the best brand advocates. But you

would be mistaken in believing that fans mainly want

something for free. The more powerfully a person

feels emotionally attached to something, the more

they desire an even deeper bond with the brand. It’s

not just a matter of discussion, but involves the perso-

nal relationships that arise, such as to the product ma-

nager with whom a discussion is conducted per pho-

ne and e-mail over a period of several months. Lego

decided to talk to the people who buy their prod-

uct. And just like in any friendship, here too there

is an ongoing balancing act. Sometimes, the external

people are rewarded with airline tickets, sometimes

a visit to headquarters, other times Lego blocks or

perhaps royalties.”

Inspired by the joint development and driven by the

desire to push through to even more enthusiasts, be-

fore the definite rollout, he launched a call to test

the beta version. Those who were admitted to the

expanded development team received the beta versi-

on at the reduced price of 146.99 dollars. The testers

exchanged their remarks and shared experiences in

a secured forum. Those who actively participated,

received Lego bricks and a software update. 1,000

applicants would be good, 2,000 would be crazy, the

Danes thought in the run-up to beta testing, but they

never anticipated the 9,600 willing test participants

who signed up from 76 nations.

Three integration levels How porous are the company walls today for its broad-

ened customer base? McKee stated: “You cannot es-

tablish personal contact with every customer. This

makes it even more important to use a communica-

tion style in which each and every fan feels personally

addressed. We are continuously developing our cus-

tomer loyalty program. For example, anyone – even

without an invitation – can create their own model in

the Lego Factory.” The principle of the Lego Facto-

ry is quite simple: The passionate brick builder can

find the designer software in the virtual production

workshop. Using drag & drop, he or she can build an

animal, vehicle or building, brick for brick. And those

who would like to build their creation for real can or-

der the building brick set, including instructions. And

those who think that others might want to build their

creation can display their model in the gallery, whe-

re anyone can order the exclusive set. The manufac-

turer also does not rule out paying the creator roy-

alties as of a certain sales volume or making a good

selling creation into one of its standard products.

8 meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Keynote BSI Business Systems Integration AG

“WHEN LEGO INVITED THE ENTHUSIASTS INSIDE, THE ENTIRE COMPANY STRUCTURE

CHANGED.”

9meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Keynote BSI Business Systems Integration AG

The company now differentiates between three levels

of participation:

– Creations built and publicized by the customer.

– Construction sets developed by users that are sold

through Lego sales channels, such as the recent

“Hobby Train” set, a collection of all train models,

which was developed largely autonomously by ten

model train enthusiasts in an initiative launched by

Lego.

– Cooperation, such as with Mindstorms, in which

talented enthusiasts are added to the development

team to co-design the product.

Lego’s efforts to make their company walls more po-

rous have also changed the company structure. Today,

in addition to the traditional product and marketing

units, there is also the Community Education Direc-

tion department. While the former are in charge of

the product series for retail and develop fan participa-

tions, such as with Mindstorms, the latter looks after

perfecting the customer experience. This includes the

development of communities, viral marketing and co-

operation programs. And next to the Lego Factory has

arisen also the Lego Universe. This multi-user game is

to some degree the plastic brick answer to Second Life.

Around 60 Lego enthusiasts stacked virtual bricks to

create fantastic landscapes, creative in-places or sights

worth seeing in order to offer Lego fans an even more

attractive framework in which to exchange.

Not child’s play “The cooperation with consumers does not make

development any easer,” concluded Tormod Askild-

sen, Senior Director Business Development for the

Lego Group, who has been with the company for 25

years. “They do not save us any time or money. Yet

the enthusiasts hold strong convictions and work with

methods that we would never use. Through them, we

learn an enormous amount about what is important

to them.” A modern interaction with his most loyal

customers is closer to Askilden’s heart than the com-

panies operating figures: “Dialogue is the best way to

reach the fans.” If his personal vision succeeds, then

the Lego system will develop into a platform that has

something to offer everyone: a toy for kids, a creative

tool for adults, an educational tool for schools, a means

of company development for organizations and much

more. The potential seems to be practically unlimited

– once the company walls have fallen.

The fact that open innovation is on its way to becom-

ing a brand must is not doubted for moment by Lego’s

former community developer, Jake McKee. “The

current generation is growing up with companies that

take them seriously, that listen to them and react to

feedback. This is setting new standards throughout

the business world. The compelling question today is:

Which company will be able to continue ignoring con-

sumers in the long term?” l

Glossary– Crowdsourcing A form of division of labor in which activities that once

were conducted inside a company are outsourced to what is usually a

large network. The open calls for tenders can result in co-productions or

individual work.

– Interactive value creation (Wikinomics) A new type of value creation

generated by internal staff with help from people outside the compa-

ny. This blurs the company boundaries. Since the external participants

recruit themselves through self-selection and self-initiative, interactive

value creation represents an auxiliary alternative to hierarchical-indust-

rial modes of division of labor.

– Internet toolkits A Web-based configuration that makes it possible to

design standard products any way the consumer wants.

– Lead users These are users who have unsatisfied needs within the exist-

ing product range, which leads them to create their own solutions. They

often have a farsighted sense of the market.

– Open innovation This is an innovation process which actively involves

the customer in product development. The Internet facilitates the effi-

cient involvement of numerous external participants.

– Peer production These are user groups that work together to solve chal-

lenges set up through crowdsourcing.

– Social commerce This is usually an Internet-based business model that

involves customers, such as through writing, suggesting or co-designing

products.

Rahel Willhardt, “Open Innovation ist auf dem Weg zu einem Marken-Muss.”; in:

GDI Impuls Autumn 2007. Information and ordering: www.gdi-impuls.ch

(In German only)

BSI meeting I Nr. 2/09 I Meet the future/BSI CRM Release 12.3

BSI CRM Release 12.4: simply easier

Easier to useThe BSI software engineers have spent the last year

making BSI CRM handier in all aspects. A great deal

has been invested since the initial studies of the new

interface in winter 2008/2009. The first, revolutionary

ideas were tossed aside as were suggestions that “ev-

erything remain as it was,” and the focus was placed

on recognizing and retaining all the good ideas and also

implementing improvements for the user experience.

All this consciously contributed to maintaining the high

level of user satisfaction and towards keeping (training)

costs low.

More easily availableWe are not in the habit of blowing our own horn, but

BSI CRM will be available as an integral component

of Lotus Notes from autumn 2010, which offers many

advantages for users. All the tools they need are then

available together on a single platform: e-mail, calen-

dar and CRM.

MEET THE FUTURE

10 meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the future BSI Business Systems Integration AG

BSI meeting I Nr. 2/09 I Meet the future/BSI CRM Release 12.3

Simpler, lighter, cleaner: Release 12.4 is dedicated to ergonomics, both visually and functionally. The user interface has been redesigned and the cockpit reconfigured, while the search function has been upgraded with process control and the favorites administration has been updated.

Easier data entryPerhaps this situation is familiar to you: You are at a trade fair with your team and

holding many discussions with interested parties. Once back in the office, someo-

ne has to enter the collected business cards and write contact reports, while the

work that has piled up in the meantime also needs to be looked after. It’s no prob-

lem with BSI CRM. With the business card scanner and automatic contact report

creation you can enter your contacts directly on site: the system recognizes previ-

ously entered companies and individuals – you can conveniently fill in the missing

details, such as mobile phone numbers, e-mail addresses or company logos with a

simple drag & drop. In the process, the information from the business card is con-

verted to text with OCR (optical character recognition), which functions for near-

ly all languages and also the business card formats customary in various countries.

The Process Wizard guides you through the setting up of the contact report and

then concludes the entering process. In this way, you can be sure that all your

teammates know who discussed what challenges with which interested parties.

Easier analysesTo better evaluate valuable customer data, BSI CRM

now offers a standard integration with QlikView.

Analyses of companies, individuals and leads are in-

tegrated as a standard, as well as analyses for the

marketing department. A dashboard that compiles

and optically displays the relevant key figures in a

customized format increases the benefits of this ap-

plication. The great advantage of this integration

is that the administrator or user can fill in and edit

their own reports and also create new ones without

programming skills.

meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the future BSI Business Systems Integration AG 11

No duplicates: The system

recognizes companies and

individuals that have already

been entered.

New (old) locationsFurther BSI locations are being added in 2010. The

German subsidiary has moved into its offices at

Hahnstrasse 38 in Frankfurt am Main and thus

opened location number 5. With location number 6,

BSI shall become neighbors with the Swiss Federal

Institute of Technology (ETH). The sixth office is

being set up at Universitätstrasse 9 in Zurich in the

immediate proximity of the training center of fu-

ture BSI success factors. In May, BSI Berne will

relocate from Schönbühl to Berne’s inner city at

Villettemattstrasse 15. The central location and

proximity to Berne’s Central Station were decisive

factors for the move.

12 meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Break BSI Business Systems Integration AG

No time to waste This Swiss classic is at the top of the list of “green gifts”. The reusable beverage

bottle made of high-quality pure aluminum has taken on new significance in

the ongoing sustainability boom. The “Original Swiss Bottle” is a symbol of

quality and precision throughout the world. The beautiful bottle shape is just

one reason why the SIGG bottle has been honored by addition to the Museum

of Modern Art in New York.

Product: SIGG Swiss Cross 1.0 l

Size: 1 liter (also available in other

sizes and colors)

Price: CHF 16.50 each for an order of 100

(retail price: CHF 22/each)

Logo: Imprint (as of 50 units, wrap-around

design upon request)

Source: www.pandinavia.ch

Nice to Give Small gifts retain good customer relations. It‘s the thought that counts! In this section, we present innovative product ideas for effective give-aways.

Above: Frankfurt am Main

Below: Zurich ETH

Berne

Cold feet and hot eventsSnow, ice and freezing temperatures: Anyone staying at

the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometer north of

the Polar Circle, needs to dress up warmly. BSI’s invita-

tion to enjoy this icy adventure was accepted by 180 BSI

employees and their partners. The Mammut company

equipped everyone with fleece caps, which were greatly

appreciated. Friday’s BSI battle, complete with snow

forts, capturing the flag and a snowball fight, were as

much fun as was driving dogsleds and snowmobiles on

Saturday. And these were just a few of the highlights

that warmed glacially icy feet!

meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Break BSI Business Systems Integration AG 13

Nicolas’ iPhone Apps

GAMEDoodle Jump (CHF 1.10)

A funny, animated hopping

game for when you have a few

minutes. I’ve been using it for

months now whenever I have a

little time to pass. It’s no surprise

that this game has been among

the top ten paid apps for quite

some time now.

FUNSimStapler (free and still too expensive): From the “worst

apps ever” category, this app simulates a stapler – nothing more,

nothing less. Who bothers to program something like this?

TOOLSipcall (CHF 1.10) Those who want to

use the fixed-line telephone network

cheaply buy sipcall. Just open an

account at sipcall.ch, transfer some

money and you can call using VoIP!

You can especially save money with

international calls. WLAN reception is

currently required; however, Apple will

probably soon lift this limitation.

BREAK

And as the latest accessory, the new “F22 iPhone Sleeve” from Freitag.

14

“It’s important to continually surprise the customer.”

TEXT/PHOTO: CATHERINE B. CROWDEN

How do you explain BSI’s growth in

the insurance market?

The insurance market is hotly contested; the situa-

tion is tense. The insurance companies can no lon-

ger differentiate themselves with products. There-

fore, the manner in which customers are treated

and the handling of processes take on greater si-

gnificance. Particularly in Germany, we are fee-

ling a need to invest in CRM functionalities and

the standardization of applications. And are also

addressing the wish for tool-supported handling of

internal processes.

How do you deal with this within the

scope of the project?

The companies must identify and prioritize their

most important processes and assign a price to

them. Where does improvement potential exist?

Which processes are expensive, and by how

much? Then we can support them to integrate

these processes in BSI CRM and thus supply

standardized and improved procedures as well

as lower training costs.

What are the most important aspects of CRM?

A current study conducted by BearingPoint among

24 German insurance companies showed that four

out of five companies see improvement possibilities

in their own customer relationship management.

What is most important are the classic aspects of

CRM, such as contact management, sales support,

reports as well as insurance-specific functionalities,

such as partner management, offer and contract

management.

However, a modern CRM system offers more: functions for marketing and

customer services, including campaign management and support for contact

center procedures and tools for controlling and reporting. The basic point is to

gather more information about customers or to combine such information from

different, previously existing systems and departments and thus to achieve the

much talked about single customer view.

Just how important is this single customer view?

To serve customers quickly and effectively, users – especially those in the con-

tact center – need an interface that integrates all systems. I see a great need to

catch up in this area within many companies. They are working with parallel

systems and multiple interfaces at the same time.

So BSI CRM simplifies things for the employees?

Yes, we overlay the existing systems with an interface and insert the CRM func-

tionalities there, along with the process support. This means that users only need

to operate one system and are even supported by the Process Wizard when using

that one.

What is specific to the insurance business?

Some of our customers, including Generali, LV 1871 and partially also Swiss

Life, sell their insurance products through business partners or agents, which

means that they do not have any direct contact with the end-customer. Their

top priority is to support their business partners and agents as best they can

and to provide them with targeted information on product news and seminars.

Target agreements and commissioning are also major keywords.

What characteristics must be considered with direct insurers?

Because they have daily contact with their customers, they experience changes and

customer satisfaction directly. At ERGO Direkt Versicherungen, the contact center

is the most important sales channel. It receives calls, but also implements campaigns,

which means it is active in both inbound and outbound directions. ERGO Direkt

Versicherungen is the most widely chosen direct insurer in Germany – so you can

imagine just how many customer contacts the system has to deal with daily.

MEET THE CLIENT

meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the client BSI Business Systems Integration AG

15

BSI has grown powerfully over the past two years within the insurance market in Switzerland and Germany. The insurance companies Swiss Life and Generali in Switzerland, LV 1871 and ERGO Direkt Versicherungen in Germany are all using BSI CRM to manage their customer relations. Markus Brunold talked to “meeting BSI” about the reasons why.

Markus Brunold is the project manager for ERGO

Direkt Versicherungen (D) and the location manager

in Baden. He is in charge of the further development

of the Baden office and the BSI infrastructure.

One contact center serves customers

through different channels?

Yes, on the phone, but also through Web chat or

fax, letter and e-mail. Channel integration is vital

with this form of customer communication. It is not

really an innovative topic, yet it has only been im-

plemented in very few companies – continuity is not

yet in place everywhere.

Each customer contact in every department and

through every channel will be contained in such a

system. What other advantages are there?

The compiled data will naturally also be available for

other departments within the company. I can mention

Swiss Life here as an example. Swiss Life has already

used BSI CRM for six years and with the “Top” mod-

ule, has developed a controlling tool that shows how

meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the client BSI Business Systems Integration AG

many leads end up as contract signings. There is information showing how many

contacts were made, how many offers are pending, etc. This means that BSI CRM is

also a management tool.

ERGO Direkt Versicherungen serves as a further example. They are powerful

when it comes to cross-selling and up-selling. This is, of course, very important

in challenging times such as those we are in now. We all know that the acqui-

sition of a new customer is far more expensive than selling more to an existing

customer. They have developed sophisticated algorithms for this.

What are the latest trends?

Naturally, the new media are a topic, particularly Web chat and Twitter. The

questions here are: What does this information mean and how can it be integra-

ted? Twitter too, is not to be underestimated, especially when it comes to com-

plaint management. A #fail is not good news and must be responded to in some

way. Then, process support is currently most interesting to us. How can process-

es intelligently flow into software? What matters here is to find the balance

between closely guided processes and freely selectable work steps.

What methods do you use in development?

Each project is unique. For LV 1871, we work using the Scrum method, and we

also develop in an agile manner for ERGO Direkt Versicherungen.

Is there anything else that you would like to emphasize?

I especially like the collaboration concepts that we have with ERGO Direkt

Versicherungen and LV 1871, in which we train the customer on our technology

Eclipse Scout and develop in conjunction with them. This means that we can

actually offer a standard product that represents the CRM functionality and

the customer can then program their company-specific modules by himself.

What do you learn from our customers?

How important it is to surprise the customer again and again. ERGO Direkt

Versicherungen is the world championship in this regard. I hope we can live

up to them! l

16 meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the client BSI Business Systems Integration AG

The recession of the recent years has plagued the

publishing houses. The drop in advertising invest-

ments recorded since mid-2008 only grew worse in

2009. Tamedia, one of the largest Swiss media groups,

the publisher of leading titles such as the “Tages-Anzei-

ger” and “20 Minuten,” has not gone unaffected by the

economic decline, despite its wide range of daily and

weekly newspapers, magazines, online platforms, re-

gional radio and TV stations.

Such economic and structure developments are gener-

ally met with cost-reduction measures. However, Ta-

media also invested in the company’s infrastructure in

order to make even more efficient use of its customer

contacts. Tamedia began evaluating potential CRM

systems back in 2007. Fifteen different solutions were

analyzed. Among them was also BSI CRM.

Customer proximity as a competitive advantageThe objective was clear: The CRM system should be

one that consolidates all relevant data from advertising

customers and makes it available; one that intuitively

depicts standard processes and simplifies preparation

for sales meetings. This means that sales staff has all

customer data, such as turnover and contact reports at

hand, and last but not least, is in a position to recognize

trends early and to more closely bind the customer to

the company.

BSI CRM made it to the shortlist after an attractive

and successful presentation by BSI. “We had narrowed

it down to just a few solutions at the end 2007. Now it

was up to the users to give their opinions. BSI CRM

impressed users right away with its easy operation and

received high marks,” recalled Michael Kammerbau-

er, the project manager in charge at Tamedia. Sim-

ple operability and the correspondingly short training

times needed were significant factors in the selection

process. “We simply are not able to train new staff for

four weeks each time before they are able to work with

the CRM application,” said Michael Kammerbauer.

After an initial pilot conducted early in 2009 at the

Espace Media Groupe, which contained specific func-

tions for multimedia sales, towards the end of 2009, the

staff of the “Tages-Anzeiger” received the first release

of the future solution to be used throughout company.

Based on BSI CRM, a CRM system was created for

the administration of business customers and the cat-

egory-related sales of advertising space, such as for

radio and TV, online and in print. The customer data

is depicted on the appearance level, which means that

the medium in which an advertisement was activated is

displayed for each customer: on which date, on which

Tamedia: close to their customersTEXT: CATHERINE B. CROWDEN

FOTO: TAMEDIA

MEET THE CLIENT

The economic crisis hit the pub-

lishing houses particularly hard,

and Tamedia is no exception.

That is why a uniform, consistent

CRM system is more important

now than ever before.

“THE CUSTOMER-ORIENTED WAY OF WORKING AND THE GOOD COMPREHENSION OF OUR PROCESSES BOTH IMPRESSED ME.”

Michael Kammerbauer, Project Manager in charge of the CRM project at Tamedia.

17meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the client BSI Business Systems Integration AG

Since the end of 2009, the Swiss media concern, Tamedia, has used a companywide, standard CRM system based on BSI CRM to look after its advertising customers, in order to keep a step ahead of the competition in a period in which advertising investments are suffering from the recession and declining budgets.

Facts:

– Company solution with

complex authorization

logic

– 300 users

– Mobile solution on the

iPhone

page, with which layout, black & white or in color, di-

rectly or through an agency. To accomplish this, the

CRM system must process huge amounts of data. Be-

tween 30,000 and 60,000 ads are booked in the CRM

alone for the “Tages-Anzeiger” each month.

“We now have a CRM system that can display a

customer’s consolidated data – throughout the compa-

ny and on the appearance level. The CRM system is

very powerful and gives us a decisive competitive ad-

vantage,” stated Marcel Tappeiner, Publishing Direc-

tor for the “Tages-Anzeiger” and committee member

of the CRM project at Tamedia.

The Sales department is currently working on the first

title with BSI CRM and the solution is now being in-

troduced in Marketing. The Call Center and Manage-

ment will following in the course of 2010. Then nothing

further will stand in the way of networking between all

departments.

Together and yet everyone for himselfMichael Kammerbauer is particularly proud of the

complex system of authorizations. As a leading me-

dia group, Tamedia combines around 40 different

media organizations under one roof. To ensure that

competition remains intact between the various ti-

tles, sensitive data such as conditions, prices or even

sales volumes can only be viewed by each title’s

own sales unit, while other information, such as the

customer’s future advertising behavior, is available

to all company departments.

Innovative CRM strategy – agile development methodsThe second release was implemented using the

SCRUM method. “Tamedia is one of the first cus-

tomers with which we used SCRUM,” Jan Nielsen, the

project manager at BSI, remembered. This entailed

dividing the project into so-called stories. “You could

say that one story always corresponds more or less to

one process. The BSI development team set the ap-

proval criteria and the necessary timeframe for each

of these stories together with Tamedia. On a so-called

‘customer day,’ which takes place every two weeks, the

stories go through an approval process and are reset,”

summarized Michael Kammerbauer. Kammerbauer

is satisfied with the result. “The collaboration using

SCRUM functioned very well. The most important

processes were implemented right at the beginning. As

a customer, you can see precisely what is happening

at the moment and can reset priorities, if necessary.”

Kammerbauer also mentioned the significantly more

effective test procedures as an advantage over cus-

tomary development methods.

Appetite comes with eating The solution is currently being rolled out companywide

and Tamedia is already at work on further project steps.

These include a mobile solution for the iPhone and also

the integration of QlikView, a data analysis tool, with

which new reports can be created very easily and re-

quire no programming skills. Both are functions that

have a certain “sex appeal” and make working a bit more

fun for users. l

“OUR CRM SYSTEM BRINGS US CLOSER TO OUR CUSTOMERS AND HELPS US RECOGNIZE TRENDS EARLY ON. PARTICULARLY IN OUR BUSINESS SECTOR, THIS IS A DECISIVE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.”

18 meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the team BSI Business Systems Integration AG

Christian Döbele

Born in: Karlsruhe, Germany

Birthday: July 6, 1982

Astrological sign: Cancer

Nationality: Swiss/German

Diploma: Graduate Engineer FH

Lucerne University of Applied

Sciences and Arts

Lives in: Frankfurt am Main

How did you end up at BSI?

In my first year at school, I looked for a company

where I could work a few weeks over the summer. By

chance (or luckily), I came across BSI. Despite the

relatively short intern period, I was able to take on

some very interesting jobs. I liked the work and my

colleagues there were very nice, so I continued wor-

king at BSI during other semester breaks. The posi-

tive experiences I had made it easy to decide to work

for BSI after graduation.

What do you especially like at BSI?

BSI offers a unique working environment. Whereas I

must admit that I really don’t have anything to com-

pare it with, since this is my first job. However, I don’t

really see how it could get any better than this. There

is a friendly atmosphere among those who work here

and we also like to get together for a beer after work.

I also like how multifaceted and challenging the work

is. I am involved in nearly all phases of a project and

see all that is entailed in addition to programming.

I can also work here independently and can count

on support at any time if I get stuck.

What I really like at BSI is the very close contact that

we maintain with our customers. It is fun to work to-

gether with them, provides a change of pace and it

turns out that this work is a (nearly) inexhaustible

source of experience.

Allow us to introduce you?

MEET THE TEAM

TEXT: CATHERINE B. CROWDEN

PHOTOS: VARIOUS SOURCES

Favorite food:

Dumplings

Favorite color:

Royal blue

Pet:

Has a cat in Switzerland…

Never leaves the house without:

My Kindle (read FAZ daily)

19meeting BSI I No. 1/10 I Meet the team BSI Business Systems Integration AG

The allure of working abroad and the opportunity to experience the thrilling atmosphere of a start-up are what drew Christian Döbele to Frankfurt am Main. His desire for customer proximity, his preference for working independently, along with a healthy portion of curiosity, provided the perfect qualifications to help set up and shape the new BSI location in Germany. The backing of the financially robust parent company certainly makes the start-up even more exciting.

Why have you come to Frankfurt am Main?

Because I really enjoy working closely with custom-

ers and I wanted to discover something new. Here in

Frankfurt, I work onsite at the customer’s and at the

same time I can make a contribution towards estab-

lishing the new office. On top of that, I was born in

Germany, although I grew up in Switzerland. This

gives me the perfect opportunity to become better

acquainted with my native country.

What do you like about Frankfurt?

It’s a cool city. It’s a big city, yet is still somehow cozy.

It has everything, but isn’t hectic.

What kind of hobbies do you have?

I ride my racing bicycle once or twice a week through

the Taunus, a really nice hilly, forested area outside

of Frankfurt. I also like to fly model helicopters. I’m

still just a beginner, but at least I don’t crash it any

more. And I like films. There’s the ”CineSneak” once

a week here in Frankfurt, where films are shown with

no prior notice of what they are going to show before

the curtains part. With a theater full of film enthusi-

asts, a super atmosphere is guaranteed.

Do you have a dream?

Well, nothing lofty, more down-to-earth, something

along the lines of a house and family.

What do you like about yourself?

I am spontaneous and uncomplicated. And I am usually in a good mood.

What don’t you like about yourself?

That I sleep too long. It’s a shame when I sleep away half the weekend. But

sometimes I also manage to get up and each time I’m amazed at how beautiful the

morning is!

What tools do you work with at BSI?

I program nearly exclusively using Eclipse/Java. Our company’s Eclipse

Scout framework is seamlessly integrated in Eclipse and that enables me to

focus on what is essential when programming. Since there is nearly always a

database involved in our software (generally an Oracle database), I write my

SQL queries in the SQL Editor Toad – there is no better database tool – and

afterwards I integrate the SQL statements in my Java code. Depending on

the project, I use a wide range of Java technologies. Since there are nearly

always several developers involved in our project teams, we synchronize our

code through a subversion repository.

What do you think of open source?

I think it’s extremely cool. I’m a Linux fan, so naturally I really like this philosophy.

Do you have an objective at BSI?

I would really like to head a project in the near future.

19

Meet your BSI

www.bsiag.com Follow us on Twitter:

twitter.com/bsiag_com

twitter.com/EclipseScout

Swiss CRM Forum June 24, 2010

Hallenstadion

Zurich, Switzerland

www.swisscrmforum.com

be.connected. customer management community

September 23/24, 2010

Messe Frankfurt

Frankfurt a.M., Germany

www.beconnected-messe.de

4th User Group Meeting BSI CRM November 4, 2010

Hotel Radisson Blu

Zurich Airport, Switzerland

Eclipse Summit Europe November 2 – 4, 2010

Forum am Schlosspark, Ludwigsburg

Germany

www.eclipsecon.org/summiteurope2010

BSI will be present at the following trade fairs and conferences this year. Further events will be added. We look forward to talking to you about your challenges and our solutions.

BaarBSI Business Systems Integration AGZugerstrasse 74CH-6340 BaarPhone +41 56 484 19 20Fax +41 41 766 86 10

Baden BSI Business Systems Integration AGTäfernstrasse 16aCH-5405 BadenPhone +41 56 484 19 20Fax +41 56 484 19 30

BerneBSI Business Systems Integration AGVillettemattstrasse 15CH-3007 BernePhone +41 31 850 12 00Fax +41 31 850 12 99

Frankfurt am MainBSI Business Systems Integration Deutschland GmbHHahnstrasse 3860528 Frankfurt am MainPhone +49 69 962 37 53-0Fax +49 69 962 37 53 10

Zurich West BSI Business Systems Integration AGFörrlibuckstrasse 181CH-8005 ZurichPhone +41 56 484 19 20Fax +41 43 501 65 10

Zurich ETHBSI Business Systems Integration AGUniversitätstrasse 9CH-8006 ZurichPhone +41 56 484 19 20

meetingBSI customer magazine I No. 1/10 I www.bsiag.com