Japan Post Network Builds Compliance and Customer Inquiry Apps on Force.com

Challenge

• Japan Post Network needed to create an exclusive system for the newly established Japan Post Service Company that integrated the systems of the three existing companies: Postal Savings, Postal Life Insurance, and Postal Service
• Wanted to consolidate paper-based customer data and feedback from Japan Post’s branch offices at headquarters for systems development
• Needed a way to issue timely reports to the group companies
• Needed to comply with regulations and compile a database of personal information usage agreements with customers that also supports cross-selling opportunities between Japan Post Service Company and the group companies

Solution

• Built retail banking compliance and customer inquiry management applications on the Force.com platform and deployed the applications and Salesforce CRM to 40,000 users at 24,000 post offices throughout Japan.
• With Force.com, services can be deployed rapidly, leveraging a rock-solid data center and security
• The interface and tabs can also be easily customized, even after deployment
• Users can easily access the application via an Internet browser from any of the 24,000 offices
• Management now has real-time visibility into business processes using reports and the dashboard

Results

• Force.com development costs are a fraction of the costs associated with on-premises solutions
• By building on Force.com, Japan Post Network has gained development productivity, flexibility, and the ability to change things easily
• Even with limited IT resources and constant change, the Force.com implementation has grown to 65,000 users
• The company plans to build cloud-computing applications to handle everything—e xcept core systems and detailed analytics—for its corporate and regional offices.
• Service representatives can respond appropriately to customers on the spot
• Japan Post Network obtained and confirmed personal information usage agreements with customers nationwide
• The company will move beyond its pilot program and analyze benefits of custom development vs. cloud computing and look into where cloud-computing deployment can be expanded