Archiving CRM InaVIS

Initial position
In order to enable a successful client relationship management, the SFS-Group has used since 2002 the tool InaVIS CRM provided by Itartis Ltd. InaVIS provides a basis for an effective and efficient processing of various types of client information, such as address, activities, appointment planning, reporting, as well as offers and contracts with the target of guaranteeing client satisfaction and an efficient client processing. With around 1'000 users and 21 databases for diverse market organisations, including SFS Intec Ltd, SFS Unimarket Ltd, SFS Locher Ltd, and SFS Services Ltd, InaVIS CRM follows the SAP applications as the undisputed number two in the market in relation to the strategic applications of current IT portfolios.

In the last eight years of productive work with InaVIS CRM, the required targets have been achieved, this involved the realisation of a centralized and unified view for the client, this to assist SFS employees involved in the sales process. During this period of time the centralization process has resulted in a considerable growth of data volume (pictures,films,drawings). This led increasingly to bottlenecks in system performance in the related Lotus Notes server, as well as in the data verification with the local databases of the field staff.
The standard InaVIS archiving is already in use with the AP/IP, and can be considered as outsourcing on the Lotus Notes server. This outsourcing of productive data reached a size of 64 GB, before the switching on of the external archive(The software supplier IBM guarantees a reliable system availability only up to 64 GB).

Targets and benefits
By deploying a central archiving system (OpenText) the InaVIS AP/IP activities archive database should be made considerably smaller. The regulated outsourcing of attachments and documents by a control system is at the middle point of an optimal archiving system. This optimization of the archiving process can alo be used in the future by SFS Unimarket Ltd, SFS Locher Ltd and SFS Services Ltd.

With the streamlining of the productive and archiving InaVIS databases, the following positive effects will be achieved:

- The physical limits of the Notes database will be maintained,
  thus enabling stable operations
- Lotus Notes server operations will be simplified
  (shorter processing times and data backup)
- Fewer interruptions / higher level of system availability,
  a more productive Lotus Notes server
- No future memory constraints from
  Lotus Notes databases
- Higher perfomance from the InaVIS CRM applications

The InaVIS live activities database, remains in existence and is continually accessable to the user . In the outsourcing database (activities archive) the attachments which are larger than 100kb will automatically be outsourced to the OpenText archive.

Activities DB
Everyday activities will be generated in this database, whether mails, letters or fax. This database will also be replicated in the notebooks of the field staff. In a further automated step – with automatic timing – the data from the area (AP/IP) will be transferred to the outsourcing database.

Outsourcing DB
In this database it is still possible to view the activities but no replication takes place on the notebooks. The attachments in the activities will be transferred once a week through an agent in the OpenText. Should a user wish to read a mail with an attachment then the user can open the mail as usual and the attachment will be temporarily played back from the archive within the mail. During the overnight processing this attachment will again be again removed from the outsourcing database.

As a result of the project ‚archiving InaVIS CRM‘, a lean and high performing database can be guaranteed, which in the end will create added value for the company.