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September 27, 1999

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From creative Web interfaces to linking back-end systems, IT differentiates service companies

By Mary E. Thyfault

n professional services, the goal is to use IT to deliver skilled, knowledgeable human resources to meet a customer's needs without turning people into commodities. "We have to have the right person, with the right skills, the right culture fit, able to stay the right length of time," says Tommi White, executive VP of Kelly Services Inc., the Troy, Mich., staffing specialist. "We need to know where people are and where they'll be next, and we need to be able to do that without bar coding them."

There may be no bar coding, but Kelly and others are developing innovative ways to use IT and the Internet to track and deploy employees and match their skills and knowledge to the needs of customers. "Everything is going dot-com, and everyone is merging IT and their network," says Howard Anderson, president of the Yankee Group. "Professional service providers need to have a Web site that is at least state of the art if they want to have credibility."

Kelly Services-which used to use 3-by-5 index cards to match temporary help with customers-is moving in that direction. By October, customers will be able to order temporary help via the Web. Behind Kelly's Web interface are sophisticated front-office systems built with Compuware Corp.'s Uniface tools, which will automatically match potential employees with Kelly customers.

The system will even use a customer's historical practices to identify potential needs and provide a temporary employee match. For example, the system will note that a customer needed accounting help in October of last year and will proactively call the customer in September to see if it needs temporary help this October.

"If we give the system more intelligence, it lets Kelly supervisors manage the relationships with the customer needs and the employee's career in mind," White says. It will also help Kelly order services from other temporary suppliers with which it subcontracts.

Kelly is also starting to implement Oracle Back Office this year, with plans to complete it in 2002. The goal: collect, measure, and report transactions for a customer with a single office in Nebraska in the same way Kelly handles a global customer with offices in 10 countries. "We've gone from the one-on-one small business to servicing customers globally," White says. "We want to provide the customer consistency of service whether they are in Nashville, New York City, or Milan."

The Web is also important to ServiceMaster Co., a Downers Grove, Ill., company that describes itself as doing all the home and commercial duties that nobody else wants to do. ServiceMaster's residential customers can log on to a Web site to order cleaning services from Merry Maids or a home warranty from American Home Shield.

ServiceMaster will continue to add Web-access capabilities with the goal of cross-selling its high-recognition, brand-name services to all of its customers. ServiceMaster wants to sell pest control to those who order carpet cleaning and maid service to those who order lawn care. "We want them to think of ServiceMaster but not lose loyalty to TruGreen, ChemLawn, or Merry Maids," says Stephen Reiter, ServiceMaster senior VP and CIO. "IT will be our differentiation."

Those who are focused on selling knowledge are also moving toward a Web-centered strategy. Towers Perrin Foster & Crosby Inc., a Stamford, Conn., company that provides health and other benefit management and consulting services, has a Web interface for its employees who service customers and another for business customers. One reason it went with a browser interface: The browser is improving faster than many other development tools, says Peter Jessel, Towers Perrin CIO.

The company decided to move to a browser interface last year and completed a pilot program during the first three months of 1999. It finished converting all 2,500 call-center representatives to the browser in June.

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