Roadmap for the implementation of Bitrix24 in a large company- Part 1

The essence of this article in a few sentences

Bitrix24 as a “single window of access to services” solves the problems of building communications in a large company. INTERVOLGA is able to launch such systems and integrate them with corporate software.

If you are interested in the implementation of a unified information space in a company of 150 people or more, this is the place for you. 

In the article, we give a detailed description of the sequence of steps, expected costs and risks, and techniques for implementing Bitrix24 in a large company.

INTERVOLGA is recommended by 1C-Bitrix for large implementations of Bitrix24. We have knowledge, skill, competence, experience in implementing Bitrix24 for Enterprises, and have developed our own solutions for Bitrix24.

Upon request, we carry out a pre-project analysis and give a detailed roadmap, taking into account the specifics of your company. 

Leave a request in the form below this article

Problem: Communication in a team of 150+ people

The more employees there are in a company, the more difficult it is to establish and maintain proper communication between them. Colleagues find it difficult to recognize each other when they meet, solving work-related issues becomes more complicated, and communication is broken.

The reason for this is simple - humans as biological species can have 5-10 close friends and no more than 150 people in their social sphere. 

In the 21st century, where companies gather large teams to solve serious problems, this fact about our biology poses a challenge - without special measures, communication between members of large teams will be poor.

Poor, inefficient, and requires tons of paperwork. Nobody likes bureaucracy, but it is almost always certain that a large company (even a modern one) suffers from exactly this - Too many documents in circulation.

Strange as it may seem, modern IT systems add to the problem - The “warehouse” has its own program, sales personnel have theirs, analysts work in Excel, the major means of communication is emails and chats.

All these lead to decreased efficiency. 

Here’s a paradox:
In the 21st century, the work done per employee in a team of 3 employees is many times more effective than the work done by an “office building” of 3000 specialists.

But it should be the other way around: Hiring more staff increases division of labor and ideally, should cut downtime employees spend on non-core operations - Everyone can focus on their specialized tasks. 

What's the problem? Where is the bottleneck in a modern office?

The culprit is excess information, people, and "programs" in use - 

for example, you’ll be unable to focus on your work fully if to request a change oа keyboard, you need to put out a memo.

The Solution: Bitrix24 - fewer “programs” for each employee

Bitrix24 should be a “single window” of access to corporate information and services. The corporate intranet portal reduces the number of “programs” with which each employee should work.

In the article, we will walk you through how to do this, and what you need to prepare at each stage. We developed a detailed roadmap for the comprehensive implementation of Bitrix24 as a single window for all companies services, both to clients and employees

Bitrix24 Implementation consists of five stages, each of which requires five steps. Each company has its own characteristics, but the general logic for implementing and configuring Bitrix24 is exactly the same.

The blocks are interconnected but easily disconnected. If a certain block is not relevant for your company, we will exclude it from the implementation plan, and the other blocks will be unaffected.

Our implementation plan is suitable for manufacturing, construction, pharmaceutical, service companies from 150 to 3000 people, where there are 3 or more hierarchy levels, departments, and branches. 

For companies with strong industry specificity (for example educational organizations, or pharmaceutical networks), we develop personal implementation plans. Leave a request.

Roadmap for introducing Bitrix24 in a large company(150+ employees)

Stage 1 “Initial setup-  Inviting employees"

The goal of the first stage is to provide a minimum viable set of services for employees to start using the system. 

At this stage, the organizational structure, basic information about the company and employees are uploaded, the first useful services are provided.

It is important that employees are pleased to receive an invitation to the Bitrix24 intranet portal, for there to be up-to-date information and useful services. Something like a "candy". Each company has its own.

Example of a portal home page for a large organization (the interface of the HR director is shown):

The original portal is in Russian. This is a translation

Questions

If you are the project manager handling the creation of an internal intranet portal, you need to answer the following questions to carry out the first stage successfully:

1. What software system currently stores up-to-date information about the organizational structure of the company: departments, divisions, managers?
   
   Typical responses:
   - MS Active Directory;
   - 1C: Salary and Personnel Management;
   - nowhere (in this case, Bitrix24 becomes the “point of reference” about the structure of the company).
   
   The first stage will be longer in these situations:
   - The Department structure is saved in AD, while roles and department composition are saved in another system - e.g 1C: Salary and Personnel Management;
   - there are several domains and instances of the system where department structure,  roles, and department composition are saved;
   - employee access rights are stored in a third-party system;
   - everything is complicated, you need a real-time exchange.

1. Where is the company's official information stored? Who will prepare the information for publication?
   
   

2. Are job vacancies organized digitally? Is there a specialized program or is there a possibility for users to create an account on the job vacancy website? How often do new vacancies appear? Do you need to enable automatic vacancy posting in the portal?
   
   

3. What “mini-gifts” can the company provide to employees in the first stage?
   here are some suggestions:
   - the menu of the nearest cafe or corporate canteen
   - a directory of phone numbers and birthdays
   - to automate “painful” processes.

INTERVOLGA knows what options can be offered and how to conduct a survey. Leave a request.

Resources

For the first stage to be successful, you need to involve:

1. Competent Bitrix24 implementor with integrator competencies. Choosing a license, installing a system, and creating a common vision with project leaders in the company is the basis for success.
   
   

2. IT specialists. The configuration and number of servers for the required load (disk, number of users, computing tasks, integrations) will be calculated by the implementing company.
   
   

3. HR, marketing, and PR departments to provide information.

Table of required resources for the first stage of implementation (for a company employing 150-200 people).

Gantt chart of the first stage of implementation

We are ready to develop an implementation project plan and a Gantt for you.  Leave a request in the form below this article

Results

Expected results of the first stage:

1. Organizational structure is imported and automatically updated when changes are made in parent systems.

2. Employees log into the intranet portal using a single domain password (or a separate password).

3. All official information required by employees is available to them within the portal.

4. Informal life updates, corporate events, and announcements are available.

5. Employees receive work regulations and guidelines, news, and updates on company events from a single source.

6. Employees can work with their files from any location. Files they have access to are determined by setting up access permissions.  Synchronization with local disks at workplaces is available. 

7. A convenient mobile application with a modern interface for work.

We prepared some materials for the success of the first stage

• How to involve people in working with a corporate portal

• Quick implementation of Bitrix24

• Correct installation of the boxed version of Bitrix24

• Synchronization of Bitrix24 with Active Directory. Problems and solutions

• Step by Step Guide (with screenshots) to implement Bitrix24 by yourself
  
  
  

We are ready to develop a roadmap adapted to your company's specifics and needs. 

Leave a request in the form below this article

Stage 2 "Internal Processes"

In the second stage, our task is to help employees “start living” inside the corporate portal. If in the first stage we gave a "candy" to help ease employee transition to the portal, in the second stage many useful sections should be launched at once.

The second stage is key.
If implemented successfully, an employee will be able to solve their design and organizational tasks in Bitrix24 every day. 

Here’s a New Employee Page from an Implementation project for a client.

For another project, we developed gamification to simplify the path of new employees.

Questions

For the second stage, you will need to collect requirements to prepare a lot of information:

1. Project management.

1. In what format is the corporate database presented? Some popular formats include:
   - MS Office / PDF / Google Docs documents
   - a site or a set of web pages
   - software requiring a password
   - paper catalogs and reference books
   - a table of contents and some documents, the knowledge base is under development

2. Do you need to split access to the knowledge base (according to job title or department)?

B. Project management.

1. What systems are used in the company for project management?
   - PlanFix / Jira / Youtrack / Redmine / MS Project / Special programs?
   
   

2. Do users of these Project Management systems want to switch to another system? (For example, using the “Tasks and projects of Bitrix24”?)
   - if yes, you need to collect the requirements and configure Bitrix24 - what features do the systems which they already use have? implement the same in Bitrix24.
   - if not, you need to plan an integration between Bitrix24 and the project management system.
   The most common integration style with Project Management Systems is  

1. Pms create tasks in B24, 

2. Task progress is tracked using the Specialized Project Management systems

3. get a report on the status of tasks and projects in the Bitrix24 Feed.
   
   

3. What important company projects are typical and often repeated? For example:
   - start of production of a new facility
   - opening a new outlet
   - launching a large marketing campaign
   - corporate events: contests, holidays, conferences, dealer meetings
   For planning, tracking, and carrying out analytics of typical projects in B24 INTERVOLGA has developed a special ready-made solution that can be integrated with MS Project.
   
   

4. How are meetings scheduled, conducted, and recorded now? How are tasks related to meeting outcomes?

C. Accounting and personnel, Applying for certificates.

1. Do you have your accounting and personnel records in SAGE, Asana, Mirro?
   What industry-specific features are there in the design of vacations and working hours? For example - "Rotational work schedule for some employees"
   
   

2. What types of documents (3-5) are most often requested by employees from the accounting department and HR?

Employee Services

1. What services and items require “booking” to be used in the office? Meeting rooms? Courier services? Vehicles and special equipment? What does the approval process look like?
   
   

2. How many services (IT and other equipment) are received in the office per week? Which of them have the most tedious processes of booking.
   
   

3. Which IT systems track the statuses of applications made by employees?
   
   

4. Do the IT and administrative departments want to change their systems to Bitrix24?
   - if yes, you need to collect their requirements and configure Bitrix24 according to their specific business processes.
   - if not, you need to decide on the features and requirements for integration between Bitrix24 and the project management system.
   The most common scenario is  -  “employees apply for a service through Bitrix24 or email and get a response”.
   
   

5. What are the most commonly repeated processes in the office which are ineffective? For example, what does a “business trip” look like in real life?
   
   
   
   
   

D. Document flow.

1. What document management systems are implemented in the company? Are you satisfied with them? How much of the required workflow do these systems cover?
   
   

2. What documents should be approved quickly along simple routes (for such documents, the business processes will be set up in Bitrix24)?
   Examples:
   - applications for bill payment with an entry in the company’s payment calendar;
   - help;
   - commercial offers.
   
   

3. How are new Contracts negotiated? How many stages, responsible persons, possible contract routes are there? (If the answer is “less than 10” for each question, it is recommended to install and configure Mini-SED for Bitrix24).

4. Are there requirements for document flow in accordance with Government standards or protocol that involve accounting, storage and quick access to a dozen types of documents?
   
   

Results

Expected results of the second stage:

1. People actively use the corporate intranet for frequent tasks.

2. The number of emails and physical papers decreases.

3. Employees switch less between different programs and can devote more time to their basic responsibilities

4. The management receives a clear picture of all company processes and the tools to control them transparently.

INTERVOLGA ready-made materials for the success of the second stage

• Bitrix24 single-window service ;

• Negotiation of contracts in Bitrix24. Mini-SED;

• Methodology for the development of routes for the approval of documents in the EDMS ;

• Typical project management ;

• Service requests and technical support on Bitrix24. 

• "Holidays in order" for Bitrix24: coordination and synchronization with Personnel management Systems

The second stage is a key one in the whole Bitrix project. This stage covers the core reasons why a company implements an intranet portal. It also has the most questions to be answered of all the stages.

Resources

The table of required resources for the second stage of implementation requires a preliminary analysis of the state of affairs of the company. For this stage, we usually conduct a survey and prepare a project. Leave a request.

Stage 3 “Employee comfort”. HR tasks 

The next key task after launching the main processes in Bitrix24 (step 2) is personnel happiness and comfort. It is important to make things “easy” for staff. When a company grows, the intranet grows with it. It's a whole world that needs proper management. 

Questions to answer before embarking on the third stage
"Employee satisfaction and HR functions"

1. What formal and informal actions are required of a new recruit? How is the process of adaptation for a newbie organized? For example:
   - Is there a beginner training course?
   - Are there tests that employees need to pass in order to gain access to certain sections of the portal?
   - Is a tour of the company premises organized for newbies?
   
   

2. How is employee training organized?
   For example:
   -Training could be organized completely Offline, Employees take courses and tests;
   - If there is no such process, it must be built.
   
   

3. Is there a process and special software for building a “Corporate University”? Has a Learning Management System been implemented?
   - yes, for example, iSpring or Moodle;
   - not yet, but there are plans to do so.
   If the answer to the two previous questions is “no, but there are plans to do so”,Our recommendation is to configure and adapt the standard Bitrix24 Training and Testing module. Its capabilities are sufficient for the first few years.
   
   

4. Is there a process for measuring, analyzing, and publishing quantitative indicators? How are KPIs gotten?
   
   

5. Has the company implemented the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) methodology?

6. What software products are used to plan and track OKRs and KPIs?

7. Is HR ready to migrate processes to a digital environment?

8. How is the job posting process organized? 

9. What are the features of the processes of hiring, firing, adaptation and transfer?
   This point refers to the formal side of the issue, personnel records management
   
   

10. Is the company ready to apply gamification to workflow and communications?
    What are the challenges facing the gamification process?

Results

Expected results of the third stage:

1. New recruits are not stressed when starting work.

2. Employee work in the portal is accompanied with positive emotions. 

3. The processes of training and development of employees are carried out in the intranet portal and are transparent.

4. Achievements and KPIs of employees, progress on OKRs are transparent (to the extent that the company needs it).

5. The HR department solves both technical and strategic tasks faster and easier

6. Employees are happy to communicate in B24.

INTERVOLGA ready-made materials for the success of the third stage

• Recruiting automation and HR opportunities in Bitrix24 ;

• Bitrix24 as an HR portal, personnel development center and corporate university ;

• An example of collecting KPIs for an employee on the speed of work in CRM ;

• Special reports on efficiency ;

• Chatbot for fast document search. 

The third stage is to bring joy to work. It is very important for the future of the company and its internal climate. When HR is easier to work with, employees smile more often. This is important.

Resources

The resource requirement table for the third stage of implementation requires detailed conversation with the HR department and planning. INTERVOLGA will conduct a survey and prepare a project. 

Leave a request in the form below this article

Stage 4 "Sales"

Money is the lifeblood of business.

Selling to customers is the main goal of all commercial companies. When building an intranet portal for a large company, the topic of sales does not immediately arise.

But why is that? After all, Bitrix24 is positioned as a CRM system, a sales tool? There are many ready-made tools for working with clients: open channels, sales in chats, trade probability analytics, and so on..

First, a 150-person company always has sales and customer service processes. They may not be optimal, but they exist. Sales are not the main pain, this is not why the portal is being introduced.

Second, these processes are almost always quite complex. There are many types of contracts, special wholesale prices, the ability to make deferred payments, project sales, claims. Bitrix24 CRM is not suitable for this “out of the box”.

For Bitrix24 to be a useful sales tool in a large company, the CRM must be adapted to the company’s processes. This could include the creation of a dealer management unit, management reports, control of accounts receivable, and analytics of the work of the sales department employees. 

This is exactly what Stage 4 “Sales” is about.

Questions before the fourth stage of B24 implementation in a large company "Sales"

Part 2

The cost of a quick Bitrix24 Implementation