NZ Milk picks Pivotal for worldwide network

By ADAM GIFFORD

Customer relationship management software specialist Pivotal has scored a major win in the New Zealand market by being chosen by Fonterra's consumer products subsidiary New Zealand Milk for its 22 small and medium operating companies in 18 countries.

New Zealand Milk employs more than 12,300 people in more than 30 operating companies worldwide.

Fonterra maintained its usual wall of silence over the way it was using shareholders' money.

But Pivotal New Zealand and Australia vice-president Helen Robinson said her company's ability to install and support the product in all the countries where Fonterra operates was a factor in the multimillion-dollar deal.

"It was an excellent fit across the board for the operating companies," she said. "This is very much about extending customer intimacy."

Pivotal chief executive Divesh Sisodraker said that when completed it would be one of the largest implementations for the software.

"New Zealand Milk is taking the right approach. It is taking small steps, rolling out the system in selected geographies and letting it grow naturally," he said.

That approach fitted New Zealand Milk's "global reach, local touch" strategy.

Sisodraker said customer relationship management (CRM) software was oversold during the dotcom boom, with many projects failing to deliver. Since then, many vendors had closed or had been incorporated into enterprise suites.

"In the past couple of years we've seen a more realistic approach as people realise CRM is not just technology but an enabler for business strategy." The Vancouver-based company has about 50 customers in New Zealand, including many non-profits such as the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, the Blind Foundation, the Northern Employers and Manufacturers Association and chambers of commerce.

Sisodraker said CRM intended to use its experience building systems for New Zealand chambers of commerce to tackle the North American market.

Pivotal started with software for sales force management before expanding into managing call centres, marketing campaigns and service delivery.

Sisodraker said since Pivotal was bought by Nasdaq-listed Asian software conglomerate Chinadotcom, its annual revenue had reached $91 million.