People & Promotions

Bryan Kennedy, chief technology officer of Epsilon has been named the company's new chief operating officer. Epsilon, a marketing solutions provider, was recently acquired by The Relizon Company, a billion-dollar provider of marketing, billing, and document solutions. This move represents the first senior appointment by Epsilon's president and chief executive officer, Michael Iaccarino, who was recently chosen to lead Relizon's newly acquired business unit. nnel Value Qualification" survey based on interviews with executives from 225 Global 2000 companies, found that many of the respondents have not achieved "channel mastery" in CRM.

The problem facing many corporate CRM strategies is that companies are throwing people at the problem, says Sam Kapreilian, partner of PwC's Management Consulting Practice. "They have large call centers and it is a large expense for these organizations, and what they haven't done is adapted their infrastructures to support multi-channel requirements for their customers. That includes wireless, the phone and the Web," he says.

In many instances across large Fortune 500 type firms, the call center is usually not connected to the back-end operational system, Kapreilian says. "You place an order on the Web, you are not sure where it is. You call the call center and they don't have visibility to where it is or they have to go into another system." He says such infrastructure scenarios means there is a lack of a multi-channel integration that gives a 360-degree view of the customer.

The PwC survey found that about 75 percent of the companies polled are still trying to mesh their front-to-back office operations. In addition, 60 percent of the companies polled reported that their cross-channel integration still needs improvement, while only 25 percent reported that they reached their cross-channel integration.

Much of the disconnected CRM is related to infrastructure problems where companies have installed too many point solutions and where executives have not looked at their CRM and infrastructure initiatives as part of a broader picture, says Kapreilian.

But the good news, he says, companies are taking a step back and rethinking their IT architectures. "You will see more of a standardization around the number of platforms and see companies dealing with fewer vendors," he says.

In taking a more cautious look at their infrastructures, Kapreilian says, IT departments are being more careful in planning CRM initiatives with a three-to-five year view as opposed to increasing their investments in their stand-alone Web sites.ys.

In taking a more cautious look at their infrastructures, Kapreilian says, IT departments are being more careful in planning CRM initiatives with a three-to-five yetion of Walker's customer loyalty management program, Customer Action System, which offers an online system to help clients better understand how customers feel about their company. Kovacs joined Walker in 1991 as a database analyst in the sample department. He has risen through the ranks holding a variety of technology-related positions, including, most recently, vice president of information technology. Kovacs earned his bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from Montclair state University in 1989.

• CRM and marketing solutions provider Harte-Hanks Inc. has named Karen Ravas as president of two Philadelphia-area marketing services facilities. The two suburban Philadelphia facilities--a targeted mail preparation operation in Bellmawr, NJ, and a print division in Westville, NJ-- support a host of Harte-Hanks consumer and business-to-business direct marketing clients. Ravas joins Harte-Hanks after an 11-year career at Discover Financial Services in Salt Lake City, UT, and Moore Business Communications Services in Thurmont, MD. She and her family have relocated to the Philadelphia area. Ravas replaces a retiring Curt Byerley, the founder of the Philadelphia operation (formerly PMS, Inc.). PMSI was acquired by Harte-Hanks in 1998.

• Telecorp Products Inc., a global call center and contact center solutions provider, has announced a number of U.S. promotions and new hires that are effective as of February 1, 2002. Glenn Huey has been promoted from customer service representative to senior client consultant, Southern Region. This will mark Huey's third promotion in four years at the company. In his new role Huey will continue to manage an installed base of about 600 Telecorp clients in the United states, and additionally will supervise sales training for Telecorp's direct, distribution, and inside sales teams. Telecorp has also promoted Marsha Compton from customer service representative to client consultant, Northern Region--her fourth promotion in her career at Telecorp.

Within Telecorp's marketing department Robert Ruby has been promoted from marketing communications specialist to associate product manager, call center solutions. In his new role Ruby will institute, implement, and supervise a formal product management process from product inception through product launch. Additionally, Ruby retains responsibility for Telecorp's marketing and sales tools and external marketing communications. Jeffrey Becker will join Telecorp on February 1 as regional account manager, Western Region. Mr. Becker's most recent position was as an account manager for McDermott-Cue, a recreational products provider. Additionally, stephen Williams joins Telecorp. as regional account manager, Southern Region Williams, a University of Michigan graduate, comes to Telecorp from his most recent position as an account executive for Payroll One.

Send any promotion and new hire news to Managing Editor Ginger Conlon at gconlon@line56.com. Please include "People and Promotions" in the subject line.