tomer relationship management and to churn management. The thinking goes something like this: We don't know anything about our customers. We cannot get our hands on the information. Let's put all the information about customers into one place where it is easy to get at. Then our customer relationship management problems will be solved Seems like good logic? Thousands of companies and hundreds of telcos around the world have spent billions of dollars on the construction of customer data warehouses; yet many of them are no closer to getting a handle on their CRM problems. The Typical Scenario The idea that your business problems will disappear with a data warehouse is erroneous. The people promoting this solution tend to begin by showing the typical "data mess" diagram. They generally Chapter 10 argue that there are too many versions of data out there, that the data is scattered, too complex, and difficult to access. "The real culprit is the data!" they propose. Customer Customer Analysis Tracking System System Credit Marketing Tracking Reference Local Billing Marketing Customer System Database for Promotions Long Distance Product South Distance Region Tracking Figure 10-1: The Current Data Mess Data Warehouse to the Rescue After they present this bleak data logic situation, the people advocating the construction of the new data warehouse then show a diagram of the new, better, easier, simpler world, one with only one large repository of customer data. Now, they say, all of the problems are addressed. All of the smaller, confusing, expensive, and conflicting systems are replaced by one large, efficient new data warehouse. Centralized Customer Repository Figure 10-2: Data Nirvana eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook But It Doesn't Work! Many companies build a second, a third, and a fourth, believing each time that this warehouse will be the one that turns the problem around. Sadly, they find that they still have made hardly a dent in the core customer management problem. How is it that SO many p