Case Study

Sporting excellence with a technology edge

Avanade helps Melbourne Cricket Club streamline operations and enhance customer service

About Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a unique organisation. It is a private club boasting by far the biggest membership of any sporting club in Australia. The MCC also has the public responsibility of managing one of the largest and the most successful stadiums in Australia and the world the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Along with the playing of cricket, today's MCC is an umbrella organisation for hundreds of participants in 11 sporting sections - baseball, bowls, croquet, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, real tennis, target shooting, squash and tennis. The club's principal public role, however, remains the management and development of the MCG - a stadium which shares a unique relationship with its local community and boasts a rare magnetism in attracting visitors from all corners of the globe. The MCG plays host to a variety of events, both sporting and non-sporting. Business challenge With 102,000 members and more than 220,000 people on its waiting list*, the MCC manages a large amount of data on a daily basis. One of the clubs major sources of revenue is via annual membership subscriptions and eventrelated income associated with tickets and catering. A key objective is to

improve engagement with existing members and those on the waiting list for membership. The club was running a legacy Linuxbased proprietary platform which limited its ability to scale and provide the best possible service to members. It was limited and time consuming in terms of ability to generate reports for analysis, and less intuitive for users. MCC realised that it needed to improve the database system to include a customer relationship management (CRM) layer, enabling streamlining of operations and member management and strategically align with present and future needs. MCC wanted a system that would allow it to expand the products and services offered to members, and integrate with partners such as ticketing agents, as well as provide a single view of the customer across all of MCCs business areas. We wanted to have a 360-degree view of our members and the people on our waiting list, said Scott Butler, MCC General Manager, Membership and Heritage. We wanted to gain an understanding of who they are, what they do when they are at the MCG and what they spend their money on so that we can build profiles of our customers to provide the best service possible.

One of the main reasons we selected Avanade was for their project management skills... they assured us that the project would be delivered seamlessly and it was. Scott Butler, General Manager, Membership and Heritage Melbourne Cricket Club

The Avanade team is skilled and equipped at delivering solutions in an onshore and offshore delivery model. Our teams work using our methodology called Avanade Connected Methods, which provides a seamless delivery experience to our customers. Nicholas Png, Business Development Executive Avanade

2012 Avanade Inc. All rights reserved.

Business Solution As the largest sporting club in Australia, the MCC needed to ensure it kept up with world-class standards. The team from MCC travelled to various large sporting clubs around the world to find out what they were using. They then came back, analysed their business processes and decided on Microsoft Dynamics CRM as the platform to use. The MCC initiated the Affinity Project in 2009 to identify and deliver a robust and scalable solution that will enable it to enhance engagement with members and customers. They then identified Dynamics CRM as the best platform to use and build their system upon and selected Avanade as a technology partner. Our reputation as Microsofts Dynamics partner of choice provided the customer with the confidence to build that trusted partnership with Avanade, said Nicholas Png, Business Development Executive, Avanade. Avanade worked in collaboration with the team from MCC to design a membership management solution to meet the MCCs key objectives. The solution, based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, provides an innovative and up-to-date technology platform, aligned to the MCCs strategic direction. The solution will also provide the opportunity for targeted marketing and communications, customer profiling and better access to information through user-driven analysis and reporting.

One of the main reasons we selected Avanade was for their project management skills. Although they had their offshore and onshore model of delivery, they assured us that the project would be delivered seamlessly and it was, said Scott. Avanades global footprint and its maturity in its delivery methodology gave us the confidence of excellence in execution and delivery of a high quality solution with low risk. Their expertise in the CRM space ensured that the best Microsoft experts and solution designs were provided to support the MCC. The Avanade team is skilled and equipped at delivering solutions in an onshore and offshore delivery model. Our teams work using our methodology called Avanade Connected Methods, which provides a seamless delivery experience to our customers, added Nicholas Png. Results MCC executives have been highly impressed with the support and results achieved with the Avanade installation, which has been completed on time and on budget. Since commencing the relationship with Avanade, business processes have improved and been made more efficient. The club has improved its efficiency by having a single view of members their membership details, past interactions with the club and which tickets they have purchased, as well as how they wish to be contacted. The system has also allowed the MCC to integrate more closely with its ticketing agent Ticketek, allowing them to better manage issues such as lost or damaged tickets.

Avanades global footprint and its maturity in its delivery methodology gave us the confidence of excellence in execution and delivery of a high quality solution with low risk. Their expertise in the CRM space ensured that the best Microsoft experts and solution designs were provided to support the MCC. Scott Butler, General Manager, Membership and Heritage Melbourne Cricket Club

2012 Avanade Inc. All rights reserved.

The system has allowed for a much smoother processing of payment online when tickets are being purchased. It also allows us to manage and track ticketing so that on game day, our staff are able to issue tickets faster so that guests can get through the gates faster to enjoy the game, said Dean Burton, Member Business Coordinator, Affinity Project, MCC. Users have also found the system much easier to navigate and use because of the systems intuitive interface, an improvement from the previous command-based system. Members are also able to update personal details via secure login on the MCC website, which integrates with the CRM component to ensure that member details are always kept up to date. We now have better access to the data we have on file for our members and as a result we have better information for reporting purposes, and has allowed us to review their business processes and streamline those processes to manage things like events, dining and functions, said Dean. The system has helped us become a better customer service organisation overall, which is our primary objective. * Numbers accurate as of July 2012

The system has helped us become a better customer service organisation overall, which is our primary objective." Dean Burton, Member Business Coordinator, Affinity Project Melbourne Cricket Club

About Avanade Avanade provides business technology services that connect insight, innovation and expertise in Microsoft technologies to help customers realize results. Avanades services and solutions help improve performance, productivity and sales for organizations in all industries. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com 2012 Avanade Inc. All rights reserved. The Avanade name and logo are registered trademarks in the US and other countries.

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