Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology

The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) supports the careers of 19,000 marine professionals spread over 120 countries. IMarEST offer its members a range of professional registration levels, culminating it Chartered status. It supports its members in their career development through events, educational content, and the recognition of CPD activities.

Overhaul of CRM system

Recently, IMarEST were undergoing an overhaul of their IT Estate. Chief among these concerns was there CRM system. Gwynne Lewis, Chief Executive,  explained, “Our whole IT Estate had had minimal in investment for a number of years… And while we were looking at the physical capabilities of the hardware, we were also conscious that the software capabilities that we had were not really living up to expectations.”

IMarEST brought in Hart Square to run a Requirements Gathering, ITT creation and a Partner Selection for their CRM system. Gwynne stated that they had asked for Hart Square support because, “We had limited expertise in house both in terms of capacity but also the state-of-the-art knowledge – what the art of the possible would be.”

Through a series of workshops with various areas and teams within IMarEST, Hart Square were able to identify the challenges, processes and aspirations of those working on the ground to map organisation-wide system needs and priorities.  These insights were written into an Invitation to Tender (ITT) that could be shared with prospective technology partners. A series of engagements and meetings, facilitated by Hart Square, were then arranged to explore the offerings proposed.

Expert guidance and support

Gwynne explained, “We [felt we] needed someone to help with that step change, someone to help catalyse our thought process and move us from ‘we need to do something’ to actually taking us through that process.” Sue Arnold, Commercial and Finance Director, added, “We wanted someone with the right experience and the and breadth of work with other similar organisations to make sure we set off on the right path.”

We discussed the importance of the change piece and making sure that the correct messages were reaching across the organisation. Gwynne told us, “Quite understandably there was always that sort of question in the background that we needed just to reassure and support staff through that journey.”

We discussed the value added to the selection of the CRM due to Hart Square’s involvement. “It was a very thorough process.” Gwynne went on to say that “The [Hart Square Consultant] who led the gathering exercise was brilliant. Really, really good. An exceptional individual.”

With a new technology partner selected, Gwynne told us, “We’re very happy with the overall outcome.” IMAreST and Hart Square continue to work on the implementation of the CRM system selected from this work.