WEST MONROE PARTNERS, INC. · really deliver is the competitive edge agencies, carriers, brokers and so many other insurance professionals need to grow their successful businesses.

11/21/2013

WEST MONROE PARTNERS, INC. Technology Acquisition Project

Alexandre Peck, Adam Nilsson & Nico

Donato WENTWORTH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

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Table of Contents

Company Profile...........................................................................................................................3

Project Charter………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Executive Summary................................................................................................................4

Business Need.........................................................................................................................4

Project Objective....................................................................................................................4

Impact Assessment.................................................................................................................5

Measurement of Success........................................................................................................5

Scope......................................................................................................................................5

Risks........................................................................................................................................5

Time Constraints.....................................................................................................................6

Stakeholder and Sponsor Approval.............................................................................................7

Request for Proposal...................................................................................................................8

General Information..................................................................................................................10

Purpose of the RFP...............................................................................................................10

RFP Communications............................................................................................................10

Timeline................................................................................................................................10

RFP Preparation....................................................................................................................10

Vendor Responses………........................................................................................................10

Effective Dates of Pricing......................................................................................................11

Vendor Site Visits..................................................................................................................11

Functional requirements......................................................................................................11

Technical requirements........................................................................................................11

Right to Reject……………………………………………………………………………………………………………......11

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Vendor Guidelines…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………12

RFP Response Format...........................................................................................................12

Exceptions to the RFP...........................................................................................................13

Confidentiality......................................................................................................................13

Product Information..................................................................................................................13

Functionality Requirements………………………………………………………………………………………………….14

Negotiation Strategy……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..16

Summary...............................................................................................................................16

Initial Terms..........................................................................................................................16

Agendas................................................................................................................................16

Leverage...............................................................................................................................16

Objectives.............................................................................................................................17

Strategy.................................................................................................................................17

Potential Tactics....................................................................................................................17

Negotiation Team and Rules………………………………………………………………………………………....…17

Deal Sheet..................................................................................................................................18

Operations/Implementations Write-Up……………………………………………………………………………….19

Project Closure…………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..20

Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….22

Project Schedule...................................................................................................................23

Decision Scoring Matrix........................................................................................................26

Performance Evaluation Forms…………………………………………………………………………………….....28

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Company Profile

Vertafore was founded in 1969. Connection is what separates Vertafore from its competitors.

Their products and services are designed to help you connect more closely with customers,

prospects, and business partners not just within a single product category, but across the entire

insurance chain. To make that happen, they stay connected to you. Every touch point is an

opportunity to listen, learn and increase the tangible value of their products and services.

Vertafore delivers the most advanced tools and technologies available today. But what they

really deliver is the competitive edge agencies, carriers, brokers and so many other insurance

professionals need to grow their successful businesses.

For over 40 years, Vertafore has focused on helping insurance agencies, carriers and MGAs

harness the power of software solutions to stay ahead of the competition and stay profitable.

With more than 20,000 agencies, carrier and MGA customers, they are the leading provider of

connected technology and information solutions to the insurance industry.

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Project Charter

Executive Summary

West Monroe Partners currently sells individual insurance policies to people who own their

own business (LLC). There is an opportunity to acquire technology that will assist in creating

optimal client management solutions using an Agency Management System (AMS) software.

The software needs to accommodate about 100+ employees, and remain within their budget of

$250,000. West Monroe Partners has about 10,000 clients and process around 11,000 policies

per year. They are a high volume, low dollar operation with the average policy costing $250.

To be considered successful, all the employees will have access to all sales data since it will be

located in one, easily accessible, program. Therefore, there should be an increase in customer

satisfaction and a decrease in administrative costs.

The client is West Monroe Partners, which acts as our stakeholder and sponsor. Also involved in

guiding our Technology Acquisition Project is Jill Lambert, a current employee for West Monroe

Partners. Under the supervision of Ms. Lambert, our team consists of Alexandre Peck, Adam

Nilsson, and Nico Donato. We are working towards determining the best technology solution

for our client.

Business Needs

• Need the ability to offer clients a software that increases both internal productivity and

the optimal customer experience. This requires an Agency Management System (AMS).

• Need the ability to create optimum client management with a cloud based system.

• Need to implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy to aid

productivity and call resolution rates.

Project Objectives

Apply technology to enable development of optimal document management and customer

relationships.

The key components of the Sales System should provide:

• Cloud Computing

• Partner Management

• Online Insurance Quoting

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• Client Management

Impact Assessment

By implementing this new technology West Monroe Partners will benefit greatly. They will be

presented with a technology upgrade that will be able to easily track their current customers

and easily access and monitor their client information. The reason they are doing this is

because their old system can’t keep up and they feel that an upgrade is necessary to keep up

with the competitors. There will be a period of training and implementing the new technology

but it will all benefit them in the end.

Measures of Success

This project will be considered successful if the existing number of clients increases by more

than 10 percent. West Monroe Partners is also counting on an increase in customer

satisfaction. Customers will receive an account on the new system and it will be easier for them

to track and monitor their insurance through their computer. The new system will also benefit

the employees of West Monroe Partners and will take away time from troubleshooting. Their

employees will as a result be able to focus on tasks that are more important. The real measure

of success will be to see how the new customers react to this new system and see a benefit in

partnering with West Monroe Partners.

Scope

This project addresses client management improvements for individual insurance policies that

are sold through an AMS software. It also addresses a new need for technology to become

better organized and to share insurance quotes quickly and easily. The project will be

completed once a new technology is in place and all past date has been transferred to the new

technology. The project will take no longer than 4 months and remain in the budget of 250

thousand dollars.

Risks

Unfortunately there will be some high stake risks in the project. There is a possibility that the

company will lose date during the changeover of software. When the company switches over to

the new system there is no guarantee that all of the date will save. Another risk could be that

we go over budget during the project. Even though our budget is 250 thousand, which is a good

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amount, however there is a chance we could go over. Having to train the staff on how to use

the new technology may risk exceeding the budget. That also leads to our next problem of the

employees having trouble learning the new technology. With technology being more and more

difficult to understand, people of an older age may have a harder time adjusting. Employees

must be able to acquire new skills and assume new responsibilities. The last risk that we can

think of is schedule changes and unclear due dates have put the team at risk of falling behind in

the research process.

• Client data inaccuracy will have a negative impact on projecting future data volumes.

• Employee satisfaction could suffer based on new technology familiarity.

Time Constraints

This project must be completed prior to the next holiday season to minimize the number of

potential clients lost due to not having the appropriate technology used to serve multiple

clients. The customer has given us four months, beginning September 13, 2013, to find a new

technology and present them with our recommendation. Moreover, due to our own semester

constraints we need to complete our project by December 10th, 2013.

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Stakeholder and Sponsor Approval

The company that will be receiving the technology recommendation also serves as the major

stakeholder of the project as well as the project sponsor. The company’s employee and its

profitability will be the two aspects that will be the most affected by the success of the new

technology. Jill Lambert, a current employee for West Monroe Partners, is also our stakeholder.

Ms. Lambert is working closely with us to help determine which technology will benefit the

company and the clients the most. Under the guidance of Ms. Lambert, our team consisting of

Alexandre Peck, Adam Nilsson, and Nico Donato, will also submit a decision on which

technology they should use.

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Request for Proposal (RFP)

October 17, 2013

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Dear Prospective Vendors:

West Monroe Partners, Inc., a leading insurance provider for small business owners, is in the

process of selecting a strategic vendor to partner with WMP in providing the optimal customer

experience through the application of an insurance agency management system within one of

our offices. We feel the opportunity exists to leverage the depth and breadth of delivery

solutions available through strategic vendors, allowing us to focus on our core competencies

and meet our corporate mission. A significant component of the overall solution is the need for

managing our resources effectively.

WMP offers its customers insurance policies via traditional delivery options: in-office, phone,

letters and faxes, and e-mail. WMP needs to spend less time on tedious, time-consuming tasks,

to have more time to spend enhancing customer service and building our business.

WMP uses the services of Liberty Mutual as its insurance provider. We currently only have the

ability to store our clients information manually, through our employee computers and/or

physical paper formats. The strategic plan calls for an upgrade in storing our clients’

information. Our company currently handles (100%) of client database offline.

WMP is currently handling approximately 10,000 clients and process around 11,000 policies per

year. This is a high volume, low dollar operation – our average policy is $250.

We expect that volume to increase by (35%) in the next 12 months.

The insurance agency management system is anticipated to provide WMP with the following:

Improved productivity and efficiency

Improved document management

Improved customer relationship management

Quoting by offering one-click access to carrier systems

Fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook

Vendor assisted technology solutions

Strategic partnership with a leading edge insurance agency management vendor

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This RFP is meant to define and document our functional needs and also establish a consistent

basis on which insurance agency management vendor proposals can be judged. WMP and/or its

designees will evaluate all proposals.

This RFP and all materials submitted by WMP are to be treated as strictly confidential. As a

prospective insurance agency management vendor, you must not forward any such materials or

otherwise disclose their content to any third party for evaluation or for any other purpose.

Please carefully review the guidelines for Proposals established in the RFP. Your proposal

should describe in detail your application’s functionality, technological merit, competitive

costing, ease of use, technical assistance plans as well as specify all associated costs.

Perspective insurance agency management vendors should develop and present their costs

with the intention that it represents the “last, final, and best” price. Your ability to meet clearly

and precisely the needs outlined in the RFP will directly impact our evaluation process. WMP

reserves the right to modify the general scope of the RFP prior to proposal submission.

Vendors who apply creativity and flexibility, along with their resident in-house knowledge and

expertise, will enhance the consideration their proposal receives. Multiple solution scenarios or

variations on a theme may be offered. The requirements outlines in Sections I and II must be

met.

We appreciate your consideration and assistance in this matter and look forward to receiving

your proposal.

Sincerely,

Alexandre Peck

Consultant

West Monroe Partners, Inc.

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General Information

Purpose of RFP

The purpose of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is to establish a more functional, operational and

technical requirements for the procurement of a workforce management system that best

meets West Monroe Partners.

RFP Communications

Please direct all communications/correspondence regarding this RPF to:

Jill Lambert

West Monroe Partners LLC

222 W Adams St, Chicago, IL 60606

[email protected] | (773) 456-6944

Timeline

Vendor research, review October, 2013

RFP Sample submission October, 2013

Proposal Due Date November, 2013

Vendor Selection November, 2013

RFP Preparation

The prospective vendors will assume all costs associated in the preparation and presentation of

an RFP. In the event that modifications or additions to the RFP become necessary, prospective

vendors will be notified in writing. All supporting materials submitted with the proposal will

become property of WMP unless otherwise requested at the time of submittal.

Vendor Responses

All prospective vendors are required to submit six copies of their proposals to Jill Lambert no

later than November 15, 2012. All materials and documentation must be included with the

proposal or the vendor may be eliminated from final evaluation.

mailto:[email protected]

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Effective Dates of Pricing

Prospective vendors should state in writing that all furnished information, including pricing, will

remain valid and applicable for a minimum of one hundred (100) days form the date their

proposal is received by WMP Corporation.

Vendor Site Visits

WMP Corporation reserves the right to inspect any and all vendor facilities, which will be used

to support the proposed workforce management solution. This includes the facilities of any

contractor or outside support organization that will be used.

Functional requirements

The product needs to be able to follow all of our technical requirements and be an upgrade to

the current technology West Monroe Partner is working with. The vendor we choose also needs

to fit the budget which we will get to later.

Technical requirements

The new technology acquisition needs to be have:

Needs to be able to track customers in a better way

Be able to have new customers show their interest in the web site and then have West

Monroe contact them

Simplify billing and quoting

Needs to be able to access on a tablet and phone

Right to Reject

WMP reserves the right to accept or reject any and/or all submitted proposals and request

additional information from all prospective vendors. WMP Specifically reserves the right to

negotiate a contract with the selected vendor. The vendor’s response to this RFP will be

included in whole or by reference in the final contract. At the discretion of WMP, a third party

financial institution or consulting team could be included in contract negotiations. Any contract

that is eventually awarded will be made to the organization who, based on the evaluation of all

responses, applying all criteria and oral interviews, is determined to be the best qualified to

provide the requested solution and support.

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Vendor Guidelines

RFP Response Format

Prospective vendors should make every attempt to use terminology in their proposal that is

consistent with that of WMP and this RFP. Comparable terminology may be substituted, where

appropriate, if the prospective vendor provides clear and concise definitions. Prospective

vendor proposals should address the requirements outlined in this RFP as directly and concisely

as possible. Extraneous information with no apparent connection to WMP and RFP could

detract from the proposal scoring.

The information furnished should be in specific response to this RFP. Specific answers are

required to specific questions were asked. Supplemental information should be prepared on

standard size paper.

Vendor responses to this RFP will become a part of the final contract between WMP and the

vendor.

Prospective vendors are requested to provide their proposal in the following format:

Letter of Transmittal

The letter of transmittal should be no longer than two pages and should include the

following:

o A brief statement of the vendors understanding of the mission-critical nature of

the workforce management technology to WMP’s business and market position.

o A brief statement of the services to be provided.

o A statement of commitment to provide the services requested within the time

and manner specified.

o The names of personnel authorized to represent the vendor, including titles,

addresses, phone and FAX numbers. WMP would prefer to deal with a single

representative.

o A summary of the prospective vendors’ qualifications to perform this type of

engagement.

Table of Contents

The table of contents should include a clear and complete identification of the materials

submitted by section and page number.

Product Overview

Prospective vendors should follow the instructions in the Product Overview section of

this RFP.

Functional Requirements

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Prospective vendors should follow the instructions in the Functional Product

Information section of this RFP.

Technical Requirements

Prospective vendors should respond to all technical information requests in the

Technical Product Information section of this RFP

Strategic Partnership Potential

Prospective vendors should provide the information requested in the strategic

Partnership Potential section of this RFP.

Cost Requirements

Prospective vendors should provide the information requested in the Cost summary

section of this RFP.

Appendix

Prospective vendors may provide any other information that the vendor considers

appropriate for this proposal in an appendix.

Expectations of the RFP

Prospective vendors may find instances where their operations do not function in a manner

consistent with the specifications in the RFP. In such cases, it is permissible to take exception to

portions of the RFP. The expectations should be clearly identified. If necessary, attach an

additional page describing the scope of the exceptions, any additional costs, and a summary of

any advantages these exceptions represent to WMP.

Confidentiality

This RFP and all materials submitted by WMP must be considered confidential. WMP requests

that this RFP not be copied and not be forwarded to any third party for evaluation or for any

other purpose without WMP’s express written consent. All prospective vendor personnel

should note that they are under a signed, mutual confidentiality agreement.

Product Information

Prospective vendors should include an overview of what is on their cloud service. Define each

product that is offered in the cloud service and provide a brief description of each product for

the solution. Vendors may include screen examples and/or diagrams in this section.

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Functionality Requirements

Agency Management System

# Requirement Rating Response

Functionality

1. Personalization

2. Integrated with West

Monroe

3. Tracking of new customers

4. Holding more than 10,000

clients

5. Access Account at any time


Technology

1. Simplifies billing and quoting

2. Tablet/Mobile Version

3. Provides client database

4. Being able to access from

home

5. Not having to be tech-savvy



1. Supplier Profile

2. Business development and

growth

3. Shared

milestones/accomplishments

4. Support

5. Training


Costs

1. Initial Costs

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2. Ongoing Costs


Support

1. Warranty policy

2. Company policy regarding

system updates

3. Frequency of maintenance

checks

4. Emergency recovery plan

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Negotiation Strategy

Summary

The project team has decided to select Vertafore AMS 360 as the vendor of choice. Gen4

Systems was a close second, while we feel confident that both systems would fill the need for

this project. For this reason, the negotiation team has full authority to negotiate the best

financial package with either of the two vendors.

Initial Terms

Initial cost Vertafore Gen4

Software $100K $150K

Hardware $15K $15K

Consulting $50K $50K

Total: $165K $215K

Agendas

West Monroe Partners Agenda:

Negotiate the best financial package

Negotiate the most effective future support agreement

Vendor Agenda:

Maximize Revenue

Name recognition

Leverage

West Monroe Partners Leverage:

Name recognition

Ability to walk away from the table

Vendor Leverage:

Time

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Objectives

Negotiate the best financial package with either of the two remaining vendors.

Strategy

Leverage the fact that both vendors are capable of meeting our project objectives and that the

financial package will be the determining factor in who gets the deal.

Potential Tactics

Make it known to both vendors that a decision is made and this is their last chance

to improve the deals in order to get the deal.

Create a time based bidding war

Negotiation Team and Roles

Project Manager: Act as the good cop and facilitate continued communications.

Purchasing Lead: Strive for the most aggressive deal. Act as the bad cop.

Business Lead: Communicate the potential future business to the vendor.

Legal: Negotiate with vendor legal staff and advise negotiation team.

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Deal Sheet

Deal

Sheet

# Term Initial Minimum Goal

1 Software 85,000 100,000 95,000

2 Implementation 10,000 15,000 12,000

3 Consulting 45,000 50,000 50,000

4

Annual Support

Costs 10,000 15,000 12,000

5

Implementation

Date January 1 January 1 January 1

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Operations/Implementations Write-Up

We are going to have a support team who will help the customers with trouble shooting. A 24/7

service that will help you as a customer and making this service a pleasant one to use. There

will be three different levels of customer service, first level will be support people who answer

the phone to resolve common questions. Second level will be the senior support people who

are more knowledgeable with the system. The third level will be the vendor support

organization, they will track down the issue and respond to the user.

The response time should be somewhere between a minute or two. If something cannot be

solved within the first level it will then get a tracking number and upper level support will take

care of the issue. The issues should be documented so future support employees know what to

do in certain situations and it will educate them as they are working. Taking the time to do this

will minimize confusion and improve consistency and dealing with the vendor effectively.

For common Q&A you would be directed to first level support and we would also provide a

Q&A on our help page online. If you have trouble getting a quote or other business impact

questions you will be directed to the second level support. The third level support will help

anyone with assistance towards system crashing and high tech problems.

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Project Closure

Project Documentation

Our project was documented into a binder. This is the primary source of documentation of our project

with West Monroe Partners. This binder will have many benefits, especially for the company. If they

ever need another technology acquisition they can look back at how they implemented this technology

and get the information they need from it.

Supports the Decision

The decision we made is all documented in the binder. The people who look in our binder will see the

documentation and the supporting facts to why we chose the vendor we did. There will be no question

that we chose the right one. For next time, people can look back and see what facts we had and

compare it to what they currently have to see if that is enough to make a decision on a new technology

acquisition.

Provides a great source of education

As mentioned, our documentation is a great reference for future technology acquisition project

managers. They will understand what worked and what didn’t by looking at our project. It will also help

managers organize their project because they have the project schedule and the other parts of the

process documented.

Accountability

The documentation we provided shows the business need of West Monroe and what they needed from

a vendor. It also clearly states the expectations and goals that they had from the project. We also had

regular communication with our project sponsor that helped and agreed on what we came up with in

the project.

Insurance

Having this written document is very important for the legal terms. It will be a backup for other projects

that West Monroe does and prevent a litigation from taking place.

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Measures success

A look back at what has been accomplished in the project is important. In the project, we did set goals

and measurements to see how successful our project was. Because of this, we can now take a look back

and measure our success and see what worked and what didn’t.

Celebrate success

It is important as a manger to look back and see what was accomplished in this project and what we will

take away from it. The worked we did, and the experience we gained along the way is something that

you are going to bring with you for the rest of your life and it is important that you take a look back to

see what knowledge you gained from the project.

Resource evaluations

We unfortunately had a project member dropping the class, which made us step it up and do more work

together. Since we did that we don’t feel the need for the individual evaluations because we feel that

the work was distributed equally between the three of us. At the same time, it gave the team member

to learn more about the technology acquisition process.

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Appendix

Project Schedule

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Decision Scoring Matrix

Functionality Requirements

Agency Management System

# Requirement Rating Response AMS GEN4

Functionality

1. Personalization 8 8

2. Integrated with West

Monroe

8 8

3. Tracking of new customers 9 8

4. Holding more than 10,000

clients

8 9

5. Access Account at any time 10 10


Technology

1. Simplifies billing and quoting 10 10

2. Tablet/Mobile Version 9 8

3. Provides client database 9 9

4. Being able to access from

home

9 9

5. Not having to be tech-savvy 9 8



1. Supplier Profile 8 7

2. Business development and

growth

9 9

3. Shared

milestones/accomplishments

8 8

4. Support 10 9

5. Training 9 6

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Costs

1. Initial Costs 10 8

2. Ongoing Costs 10 8


Support

1. Warranty Policy 9 9

2. Company policy regarding

system updates

9 9

3. Frequency of maintenance

checks

9 8

4. Emergency recovery plan 10 9

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Performance Evaluation Form

Individual Performance Evaluation

Evaluate each of your team members, including yourself, in terms of performance using the criteria below. Use the

following scale: 0 = Unsatisfactory, 1 = Satisfactory, 2 = Excellent. Include comments and justifications, especially for

Unsatisfactory or Excellent ratings. Use the back of the sheet if necessary. Total the scores for each member. List in detail

the roles and responsibilities of each team member in the table at the bottom.

Name of Team Member

Criteria Self______

1. Attending meetings

Comments/Justification:

2. Contribution to idea generation


3. Contribution to decision making


4. Communication skills


5. Assuming fair share of work


6. Completion of work assumed


7. Team spirit and respect for others


8. Negotiation and conflict resolution

skills


9. Time management


10. Dependability and preparedness


Totals =

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Name Roles and Responsibilities of Team Member

Print name of evaluator ___________________ Signature ____________________ Date________

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Name of Team Member

Criteria Self______
















skills


9. Time management




Totals =


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Name of Team Member

Criteria Self______
















skills


9. Time management




Totals =


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WEST MONROE PARTNERS, INC. · really deliver is the competitive edge agencies, carriers, brokers and so many other insurance professionals need to grow their successful businesses.

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