Case Study - SMMP

Case Study - Enterprise implementation of Cvent for a global meetings and events agency as their internal SMMP platform

Client:

• A global meetings and events agency with a presence in 35 EMEA countries and a further 18 in the rest of the world

Problem:

• Disparate systems and processes across different departments, offices, countries and regions - no common standards
• High reliance on emails and spreadsheets with no version control
• Duplication of data within and across offices
• The incumbent meetings management system was slow and difficult to use but had been in-situ for nearly a decade, so all staff were familiar with it
• The lack of standardisation meant reporting was very time-consuming and difficult to verify

Objective:

• To implement a global meetings and events management platform with centralised data management and standardised processes across all global offices

Solution:

• The agency selected Cvent as the platform and needed assistance in implementing it to its EMEA offices as part of a global strategic meetings management program
• The implementation had to be coordinated with an initial rollout in North America and configured for future deployment to a global workforce of 600+ users
• After an in-depth analysis of the incumbent meetings management system (Ungerboek), and all associated processes, Smartec project managed the full business process re-engineering and change management for the agency in EMEA, while working closely with the North American project team.
• After firstly implementing Cvent to the UK and Ireland office, deployment strategies were replicated to offices in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, while respecting local nuances, localisation and internationalisation requirements
• Nominated departmental 'champions' were identified during training sessions, who were given further training and mentored to provide 'first line' support to their colleagues
• At the same time, a 'centre of excellence' team was built in Poland to provide Cvent support globally
• SOPs (standard operating procedures) were created and distributed to all staff, as well as incorporated into staff induction programs
• Website and registration builds for events were identified as areas that required specialised skills, so a separate team was created to perform this function. Processes were put in place for using this team
• Sharepoint was implemented as new document management system

Challenges:

• Cvent does not support an internal CRM module, so the configuration had to allow the agency to be able to manage its hundreds of clients, most with different reporting needs
• The agency, a subsidiary of a global TMC, had to use a back-office system that was not fit for the purpose of a meetings and events agency - this had an impact on the configuration of the system
• Although the Cvent budget module is feature-rich, it is challenged when it comes to handling commissions and markups for an agency. Further, each country office had its own commercial nuances which had to be accommodated
• To create client-facing proposals from the budget report, an Excel macro solution had to be designed and developed
• Transfer of Value reporting for pharmaceutical clients required some engineering to generate efficiently