GSA to Start Customer Relationship Management Pilot Program

The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service awarded Unisys Corp. of Blue Bell, Pa., a task order to develop and integrate a pilot customer relationship management system.


Unisys will implement Siebel eBusiness application software in some of GSA's sales offices in the United States and Europe. Unisys is a strategic partner of Siebel Systems Inc. of San Mateo, Calif.


"Unisys is in the process of implementing Siebel across our own company, and since our internal approach matched GSA's requirements, we were a logical fit for the pilot," said Drew Cramer, vice president, Services and Infrastructure Outsourcing Practice.


The pilot program will begin in February and provide a consolidated view and analysis capability of historical customer buying information, customer contact and opportunity information, and market research.


Data for the system will be gleaned from the GSA data warehouse, the FTS customer database and a commercial market research service. FTS and Unisys will use the Siebel e-business tools to house customer data and intelligence, provide a sales analysis and planning capability, introduce to and train FTS employees in an industry-standard sales funnel methodology, and establish and measure sales performance.


"This groundbreaking project represents FTS' first foray into using [commercially available] tools to support its sales and marketing functions," said Mary Whitley, assistant commissioner for sales at FTS. "It is a key component of Commissioner Bates' customer relationship management initiative and will enable us to offer creative, timely and cost-effective solutions to our customers for their IT and Network Services needs."


If the pilot is successful, GSA could expand it to up to 900 seats throughout the agency.