Problem Identification Paper
Legendary management consultant Peter Drucker once said, So much of what we call
management consists in making it difficult for people to work. AT&T recently discovered
how true that statement is, and in doing so cost the company both financially and in
reputation.
The focus of this paper is on the botched attempt by AT&T to gain their competitive edge
back from their main competitors. This paper will identify the problems associated with
the project and discuss how project management principles were not used to reach project
goals while adversity caused the project to implode. The discussion of relative legal
compliance aspects causing difficulties for the company will be shown and
recommendations will be given as to how this project could have had a vastly remarkable
outcome under different circumstances.
The Project
Two years ago AT&T Wireless implemented a project to upgrade their Customer Resource
Management system (CRM). The project was a huge undertaking and was the leverage
company executives thought was needed to reposition the one time communications giant
as worldwide leader in communications. At least, that was the plan.
Background
After the turn of the century AT&T Wireless began to fall behind in the world of wireless
communications. Customers jumped from carrier to carrier and AT&T lacked the
technological advances to retain their customer base and remain profitable. Market share
was slipping and changes were necessary as AT&T was losing ground on its most
important asset, its phone network.
While the advances in cell phone technology advanced at blazing speed, AT&T antiquated
system could not transfer data via cell phone. This was a monumental problem that was
costing the company millions. Combine that with a shift is technology that actually
diminished the quality of cell phone calls with AT&T subscribers and the scene is set for a
tsunami of problems for the company.
The Problem
AT&T Wireless executives frantically tried to complete a CRM upgrade to Siebel 7, a
CRM wireless number porting system. Since the company had dropped in market share
and fallen behind Verizon and Cingular, the project was undertaken at a fever pitch. The
new CRMsystem had to be up and running in time to handle an FCC deadline for allowing
customers to change carriers without changing their phone numbers (number porting). The
effort was a failure and the system not only crashed but also was not able to be brought
back on line. The collapse affected not only AT&T Wireless services, but also other aspect
