Russia’a Largest Cable Provider tunes into Customer Sservice with SAP

SAP NEWSBYTE - April 26, 2010 - National Cable Networks (NCN), Russia’s largest cable television provider, is using the SAP® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application for telecommunications from SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) to improve productivity and help provide better service to its 4.7 million cable television, Internet and telephone subscribers.

Operating in a dynamic and competitive market, NCN recognized the need to invest in technology in order to maintain market leadership and manage the rapidly growing demand for digital television, Internet and VoIP telephony services. To better serve existing customers and continue expansion, the company needed a solution to integrate customer information, billing, service activation and infrastructure management systems in one unified customer interaction center.

SAP CRM, part of SAP® Business Suite, plays a central role in improving productivity and service in NCN’s customer service organization, helping advisors resolve customer issues quickly by giving them fast access to subscriber information. Advisors also have the information they need at their fingertips to inform customers about new products and services, which helps retain and expand subscriptions. In addition, SAP CRM has helped reduce the length of calls, which has helped increase customer satisfaction.

To learn more about how National Cable Networks is using SAP Customer Relationship Management to improve employee productivity and help retain existing and gain new customers, view the SAP TV video, “NCN: Winning Customers in Russia.”

Media Contact:
Shabana Khan, SAP, +1 650 461-1332, shabana.khan@sap.com, PDT

For the first time Russian company National Cable Networks has been marked by Gartner’s award for a high level customer relation

National Cable Network (NCN) is honored by a bronze Gartner & 1to1 Customer Award in the ENTERPRISE CRM OPTIMIZATION category for a high level customer relationships service. SAP CRM allowed NCN to improve client satisfaction and gain significant benefits from customer-facing service.

SAP CRM 2007 Telco-based implementation project, that was one of a kind and brought valuable results, has been nominated for Gartner & 1to1 Customer Awards, a prize founded by Gartner and 1to1 (USA) to encourage businesses with the most successful and effective CRM strategies. The project was highly appreciated by CRM experts: NCN representatives picked up the bronze award at the annual Gartner Customer Relationship Management summit on September 14–16 in Scottsdale (USA). This is the first-ever award within SAP CRM implementations in Russia.

Integrated CRM system implementation within NCN for its customer relationship strategy adopted in summer 2007 became world’s first implementation of SAP CRM 2007 Telco. SAP CRM was chosen as the platform for the new system due to its broad functionality to bring customer-oriented business processes together, develop and offer innovative customer-oriented products and services.

The system allows managing key promo action, sales, service, customer satisfaction data. According to the NCN estimate the system allowed to get significant tangible improvements in customer service and boost satisfaction, telephone sales and decrease subscriber churn.

“After implementing SAP CRM we've got a tool for business support and development based on the world’s best CRM practices with a focus on telecommunications. We have already exceeded our expectations. New customer service concepts based on data completeness, unification and relevance allowed us to add business value and open up new possibilities for growth,” says Michael Berman, CIO. NCN.

Moving to a single CRM system as a part of the new CRM strategy was necessary to overcome some issues faced by NCN. Fragmented and incomplete customer information, insufficient service level, multiple heterogeneous systems with user details used to process orders, high risk level of insecurity and IT infrastructure uncertainty were the main issues. SAP CRM 2007 implementation was completed in September 2008 by NCN experts and Masterdata – a SAP partner – fadvisors.

“Single platform SAP solution allowed NCN to discard ineffective labor-intensive heterogeneous systems, consolidate customer data and gain visibility on all levels of customer interaction including marketing, sales and service. It is notable that the project was completed in time and within budget. This became possible due to high skillfulness, mutual understanding and efficient work of the whole project team," says Maxim Solovyov (Masterdata).

Gartner and 1to1 Media annually choose the most successful CRM companies that reach high level of service. Jury members including Gartner analysts, 1to1 Media editors, businessmen and professors consider all nominees and choose Gartner & 1to1 Customer Award winners in each of 7 categories, and 3 winners in the 2009 Customer Experience Excellence Awards nomination. This award is an acknowledgment of the CRM technology experience. The winners are the companies that succeed to demonstrate the best technology contribution into customer service and technology-based excellent results.

"We are happy that successful implementation of SAP CRM 2007 Telco by NCN has been acknowledged by the world CRM implementation community and by such an acclaimed analytical agency as Gartner. Effective customer relations are crucial for any business. Competent CRM impacts the market success and company’s reputation. We are sure that NCN’s experience will be useful for other telecommunications companies all over the world,” says Roman Zhuravlev, SAP CIS account manager.

About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 89,000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol “SAP.” In 1992 SAP AG opened its office in Moscow. During the past 17 years, SAP established offices in St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Almaty, Minsk and Kiev with more than 700 employees in total.
(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications.

About NCN
National Cable Networks is a part of National Telecommunications Group (stockholder is the National Media Group). NCN is one of the leading telecommunications operators that develops analog and digital cable TV, dedicated internet and telephone access. NCN has its affiliates in several Russian regions: St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg Cable TV), Ekaterinburg (National Cable Networks EuroAsia, Teleset Servis), Novosibirsk (NovAKTV), Kurgan (National Cable Networks Kurgan), and Elektrostal near Moscow (Eltelekor) promoting number of brands such as Tvoe TV, Tvoi Internet, Tvoi Telefon, КАБiNet.
In Moscow the company offers Internet access as OnLime.Telecomfort and develops metropolitan-area cable television project.

About Masterdata
Masterdata is an acclaimed leader on adopting customer relationship management (CRM) solutions and improving business performance. Masterdata has Russian and international customers like NCN, Solvey Farma, Technosila, Vedomosti, Xerox, Siemens, Efes, Inline Technologies, МТС Ukraine, AlbTelecom.

MASTERDATA makes debut in the Ukrainian market

On 13th - 15th June 2007 at the 4th SAP "Effective Enterprise Management" Conference in Odessa, Ukraine, MASTERDATA introduced its unique consulting experience of the SAP CRM in various industries.

MASTERDATA made presentations showcasing their expert knowledge on an SAP CRM mobile solution, an interaction center, and a SAP CRM for sales management. As part of the section devoted to SAP solutions for manufacturers of consumer goods, director of CRM projects Maxim Solovyov presented a report on SAP CRM Sales Express as the optimal solution for middle and small enterprises. Most of the participants of the conference took an active part in, and expressed lively interest towards the mySAP CRM solutions. They also received an opportunity to exchange expertise and to get an idea about the possibilities of solutions in such branches as consumer goods, telecommunications, pharmaceutics and high tech. The solutions and information presented make it possible for participant companies to make the right choice and to acquire new competitive advantages on the SAP CRM solution market in the Ukraine.