WhiteConcierge

WhiteConcierge provides concierge and lifestyle management services on behalf of a host of leading financial services brand names. The business was bought from Travelex in 2007 by a management buy-out team led by WhiteConcierge's managing director Jonathan Breeze. WhiteConcierge is a fast growing business with around 160 employees based at prestigious office headquarters in Peterborough. The business is focused on delivering personalised services for clients ranging from recovery/emergency, travel and leisure through to lifestyle management. WhiteConcierge serves a global, high net worth customer base who demand high standards of service. The company offers services for clients based all over the world. As such, 36 different languages are spoken across the WhiteConcierge team. There is a real pride in delighting clients, whether that means assisting them if they have run out of petrol in the middle of the French countryside or sourcing a camel for a client's Arabian-themed party. Challenge WhiteConcierge works with some of world's leading financial services brands who use WhiteConcierge as a 'white label' solution to provide their own branded concierge services. As a result, WhiteConcierge manages thousands of high net worth customers on behalf of its clients. Working with these financial services brands and handling the financial and personal details of their clients, WhiteConcierge naturally operates in an environment where data security is paramount. WhiteConcierge needed to deploy a complete customer relationship management (CRM) system that would allow the business to improve the delivery of the high quality, personalised service expected by customers. In addition it was essential for the new CRM system to demonstrate that it met the highest security standards and was compliant with the standards set out by the payment card industry (PCI) Security Standards Council. Additional requirements for the CRM system included the need to integrate multiple data flows to provide a single agent view to further improve WhiteConcierge service agent delivery. With regards to compliance, the PCI Security Standards Council was formed by the leading global payment card companies such as American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Its PCI-DSS standard is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protection measures. The standard is intended to help organisations proactively protect customer account details. The standard is enforced by independent Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) which are trained and certified by the PCI. To gain the PCI-DSS Level 1 standard, WhiteConcierge had to submit its new CRM solution to a PCI-certified QSA who would test any vulnerability to attack. WhiteConcierge had an Avaya CRM system which was an extension to its existing telephony system. This system no longer met the needs of clients and employees and was not PCI compliant. WhiteConcierge needed to explore the available options and establish the CRM solutions available in market place that would meet its needs. Solution Ben Sewell is head of IT for WhiteConcierge and was responsible for the CRM project. WhiteConcierge had defined a set of pre-specified core requirements for their new CRM system. These were focused around flexibility, efficiency, lower cost delivery and most importantly, achieving the PCI-DSS Level 1 standard.  WhiteConcierge conducted a supplier search for appropriate solutions and approached CRM vendors such as Salesforce, which offered some of the flexibility and adaptability required for the new CRM system but could not meet the PCI-DSS Level 1standard. After this initial vendor review, Ben Sewell, head of IT for WhiteConcierge felt that the CRM solutions offered by the main CRM vendors did not totally address the needs of his business and certainly did not offer the necessary level of PCI-DSS compliance.  The solutions that WhiteConcierge investigated appeared to require extensive reprogramming and customisation to meet their business's needs. Following the review, WhiteConcierge had decided that a custom-made CRM system that would be specifically designed to meet the PCI-DSS Level 1 standard was the best route forward. An initial search for a solutions provider quickly pointed towards Datadialogs and their business solutions development platform called Eden. WhiteConcierge contacted Datadialogs, who undertook an initial investigation to establish the scope of the IT project ahead. Eden offers a code-free, 'what you see is what you get' (WYSIWYG) business solutions development platform which allows complex solutions to be built quickly and efficiently. Within a couple of weeks of presenting the brief to Datadialogs, their team had scoped and presented a solution back for WhiteConcierge for review. With WhiteConcierge already defining the specific requirements that the solution would need to meet to ensure the CRM system was PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant, the Eden platform was ideally placed to allow smart solution delivery to break new ground and meet a robust challenge such as achieving PCI compliance. The Datadialogs professional services team are all highly experienced consultants who worked very closely with Ben and his team and with future users of the new CRM system at WhiteConcierge. The Datadialogs team had a very different approach to most software vendors and spent most of their time working alongside WhiteConcierge staff, optimising the CRM system to meet the exact needs of their demanding customers. Eden offers an environment where any solution can be modelled and deployed rapidly, making it easy to gain rapid feedback for process optimisation and improvement. To achieve PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance, Datadialogs ensured every security requirement was met, building in the strongest levels of security around verification, connection and encryption. At its core, the Eden platform separates out each of the main system components and wraps security around each component to substantially reduce the vulnerability of the solution. Working together, WhiteConcierge understood how the CRM system would more than satisfy the needs of the PCI Security Systems Council.   The Eden business solutions development platform took four months from scoping to completion and roll-out - similar CRM implementations typically take at least 12 months. The system was welcomed by the employees with an intuitive, user friendly front screen which closely mapped how the employees worked and offered greater flexibility to accommodate the diverse needs of WhiteConcierge's customers. To minimise disruption to the business, Datadialogs provided full training for over 120 employees, with consultants on hand during the 'go-live' phase to ensure business continuity and project success. Ben submitted the Eden solution for PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance in December 2009. An assigned QSA from WhiteConcierge's preferred partner used all available techniques to attack the integrity of the system. The new Eden CRM solution passed with flying colours and Ben was awarded PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance. Result Ben Sewell, Head of IT, WhiteConcierge, is delighted with the Eden CRM system and the overall approach of Datadialogs. He knew that CRM solutions already out there could deliver some of the required benefits, but none could guarantee PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance without substantial and costly reprogramming and a significant change to a business process, that time again has proven customer satisfaction, which is of paramount importance. Ben also had drawn up a clear set of requirements in terms of what was necessary to achieve PCI compliance, and although this was the first time Datadialogs had been asked to develop a PCI-compliant CRM system, it was clear to Datadialogs what needed to be built into the Eden platform to meet WhiteConcierge's system requirements. With Datadialogs, Ben knew he was working with a team of professionals from the start who had been involved in countless solution implementations. Datadialogs explained how the Eden platform can be utilised and modified. With that knowledge, Ben gained confidence that the solution could deliver rapidly. Ben was also impressed with the Datadialogs team and their ability to understand requirements and clearly translate these requirements into a working solution. The flexibility, speed and effectiveness of the Eden platform has now made Ben question more traditional vendors 'one size fits all' approach. As most senior IT managers know even the most respected commercial 'off-the-shelf' (COTS) solutions require substantial and costly customisation to get a solution which meets requirements. Ben Sewell, Head of IT, WhiteConcierge, concluded; "Many people in IT procurement go for the large, established vendor solutions but are disappointed with the end result. Solution implementations take too long, generally run over budget, don't deliver the promised objectives and often need radical re-development. Where ultimate flexibility is key I would advise going for a scalable and flexible solution which you can design and control yourself. I would recommend the Eden platform and the Datadialogs team wholeheartedly. We are now working again with Datadialogs on a second Eden based project and they will also be ensuring our CRM system maintains PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance." WhiteConcierge Worldwide House Thorpe Wood Cambridgeshire PE3 6SB United Kingdom Reference www.whiteconcierge.com

Company WhiteConcierge Website www.whiteconcierge.com Industry B2B lifestyle management and concierge service Solution Eden Enterprise Edition Results: 1. Delivered complete CRM system tailored to the exact strategic needs of the business in <5 months 2. CRM awarded PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance 3. Deployed CRM training and roll-out to over 120 employees. "I recommend the Eden platform wholeheartedly.  We are now working on a second Eden based project and they will also be ensuring our CRM system maintains PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance."