Qualcomm expands lines of business with Salesforce, cuts costs 60%

Challenge

• Qualcomm Incorporated—a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and mobile data solutions—needed a cost-effective CRM solution that could accommodate anticipated growth in new businesses and geographies
• Time and energy spent managing existing on-premises CRM systems failed to produce equivalent value
• Sought an easy-to-use replacement that would encourage user adoption and seamlessly integrate with myriad systems and processes across diverse business groups
• Wanted to replace email and Excel-based processes with a robust, rapid custom application development platform that was easy to maintain and extend without requiring expensive infrastructure

Solution

• In 23 days, a Qualcomm analyst with only basic online training rolled out the Sales Cloud to 55 initial users in Qualcomm’s Enterprise Services (QES) group in 2006
• Following the successful implementation, the company replaced all of its existing on-premises CRM systems with the Sales and Service Cloud
•  Qualcomm has completed dozens of integrations of Salesforce with Oracle ERP and other business applications using Tibco and Informatica
• Employees can access Salesforce on their mobile devices, anytime and anywhere
• Service Cloud customer portals are now used by 25,000 customers, including access to custom applications
• FLO TV deployed the Service Cloud for its call center; the deployment included integration with a subscription management system and a public-facing knowledge base with 500+ articles using Salesforce’s knowledge functionality and Force.com sites
• The Qualcomm Global Security group transitioned from email-based support to the Service Cloud
• Developed dozens of custom applications, including loaner mobile phone and laptop tracking, export compliance license management, approval processes for manufacturing requests, developer challenges, and specialized college recruiting
• Extended Salesforce’s functionality with solutions from AppExchange partners such as EchoSign, iLinc, Informatica on Demand, and DemandTools
• Developed a Project Portfolio Management system in Force.com to manage an IT organization with a portfolio of 475+ projects and proposals, and assets across 18 business units
• Force.com Sites and CloudCraze by EDL Consulting are used by Snaptracs business unit for a scalable, easily updatable ecommerce site for its Tagg line of pet tracking GPS products

Results

• An enterprise license agreement (ELA) signed in 2009 allows deeper use of the Force.com platform and CRM, including deployments to all Qualcomm business units
• Salesforce.com’s cloud computing model saved an estimated $100,000 in hardware costs to upgrade existing, out-of-date, on-premises CRM solutions during the early rollout of the solution
• The success of early implementations created popular demand for Salesforce applications throughout the company, thanks to features like ease of use, regular updates, Outlook integration, and availability on mobile devices
• 350 custom objects, 20,000+ reports, 800 dashboards, and 1,100+ workflow rules are helping Qualcomm realize dramatic improvements in efficiency
• Changes are now deployed much faster than with the previous on-premises CRM system—with no system downtime
• User adoption is more than double that of the previous on-premises CRM system
• Improved turnaround time by 50% by automating a business process for requesting new contracts and leveraging electronic signatures via EchoSign for Salesforce
• With the Service Cloud and CTI (computer telephony integration), more than 70% of incoming calls automatically display the associated caller information using automatic number identification (ANI) to streamline customer identification, reduce call length, and improve the customer service experience
• Reduced time spent processing requests by the Qualcomm Global Security team, saving more than 2,800 hours per year
• A Force.com application for managing trade show approval and attendance replaced a third-party product and cost ⅓ less and took ⅓ less time than developing in Java
• UsingForce.com and Force.com sites, Qualcomm Ventures managed an international business plan competition that gave away $500,000 in early-stage capital
• A Salesforce-based portfolio management system enabled greater transparency into ongoing and planned efforts previously stored in multiple reports, spreadsheets, and a legacy client/server enterprise system; the easy-to-use Salesforce system has enabled cleaner and more frequently updated records and more effective collaboration and notification using Salesforce Chatter
• Improved review process times by more than 30% by creating a contingent workforce fixed bid tracking system that routes statements of work (SOWs) through HR, procurement, and finance for approval before work can begin