Procurement and smooth implementation of new CRM and ticketing solution compliant with PCR 2015
Museum Wales manages seven national museums and one collection centre located across Wales which together tell the story of the country. These include the National Slate Museum in Llanberis, St Fagans National Museum of History just outside Cardiff, and the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The charity’s aim is to inspire everyone it reaches through Wales’s story.
Keen to grow visitor numbers and improve the diversity of its reach, Museum Wales contacted eXceeding for help to procure a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and ticketing system.
The system needed to be operational within the budget year, and the process of procuring it comply with Public Contracts Regulations 2015 governing the expenditure of taxpayers’ money.
eXceeding consulted in depth with internal and external stakeholders to develop a detailed specification, before carrying out market research into potential solutions. Our experts recommended an easing of the budget timeline to allow for an open tender process that would enable a well-developed specification to be put before the highest number of potential suppliers, whilst driving best value for money.
A suitable single CRM and ticketing system was sourced and successfully implemented. The new system replaced multiple legacy technologies and came with increased functionality as well as the opportunity for further development and customisation down the track.
Time sensitive
A solution had to be sources and implemented within the budget year
Multiple stakeholders
Both internal and external stakeholders needed to be consulted prior to developing and specifications to take to market
Business as usual
The transition to the new systems needed to be carefully managed so as to mitigate any risks to business as usual
PCR 2015 Compliant
As Museum Wales is in receipt of public funds, the process had to comply with Public Contracts Regulations (PCR) 2015
eXceeding’s procurement experts held a series of workshops with stakeholders to understand how current systems were being used and the potential for any new system to bring improvements.
The team carried out extensive market research, but no existing off-the-shelf system was able to offer a single, holistic solution to meet the charity’s needs.
Frameworks were explored as a potential route to market, but an open tender process was ultimately recommended as allowing for greater freedom in requirements and contractual terms and conditions, as well as enabling the widest supplier participation.
eXceeding combined all of the sourced information to prepare a specification and requirements that were easy for potential suppliers to understand. A key feature was some built-in flexibility to cater for the future development, customisation and further configuration post-implementation that might be needed to future-proof any chosen system.
Our procurement experts made the case to the project’s executive sponsor for an easing of the budget timeline to allow for an open tender process to be conducted, successfully gaining their buy-in to the long-term benefits of taking a well-developed specification to the highest number of potential suppliers.
To mitigate risk during transition to the new system, detailed obligations were outlined in the Invitation to Tender (ITT) documented specification, including the requirement for the awarded supplier to provide a methodology and project plan for implementation. An internal subject matter expert and project manager was tasked with keeping the supplier ‘on plan’ with its stated commitments.
The result was the successful implementation of a new, highly integrated CRM and ticketing system to replace multiple legacy technologies. As well as enabling increased functionality, the new system resulted in improvements to processes and working practices. The ability to further develop, customise and configure the system following implementation means Museum Wales now has a CRM and ticketing solution that should fit their needs well into the future.
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