A durable blueprint that survived a "big replacement" pause - and enabled rapid, pragmatic delivery

Client: Murdoch University (Australia)
Program theme: CRM strategy, roadmap and ecosystem delivery across recruitment, admissions, retention, marketing, service and advancement
Timeframe covered: Late 2018 strategy foundation -> COVID-era pivot and delivery (2020-2021)
Lane8 lead: Principal Consultant, Bart Kuiper (CRM strategy, roadmap, operating model, cross-functional delivery leadership)

Background

Universities do not lack stakeholder relationships - they have too many, spanning prospective and current students, alumni, donors, researchers, partners, government, and community. Murdoch University had multiple CRM platforms in place (Oracle Service Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud and iMIS) and, like many institutions, faced the classic choice:

• Replace everything with one "enterprise CRM", or
• Build an integrated CRM ecosystem that incrementally improves experience and capability while leveraging existing platforms.

In late 2018, Murdoch engaged Lane8 Principal Consultant, Bart Kuiper, to lead the work that would define Murdoch’s CRM vision, capability model, and roadmap - initially framed to support a potential enterprise CRM replacement program in 2019. That "big replacement" program did not proceed due to competing priorities and funding constraints. The risk was familiar - a high-quality strategy pack becomes shelfware, momentum is lost, and fragmented delivery continues.

Instead, Murdoch used the strategy foundation as a durable blueprint, adapting it into an ecosystem approach and using it to guide practical delivery across work streams. When COVID disrupted student markets and operational priorities, the program pivoted again, redefining recruitment and retention priorities without losing strategic coherence.

Why this mattered

This is a strategy-to-execution story with a twist - the most valuable outcome was not a "big bang" platform replacement, it was a blueprint that survived budget shocks and enabled continuous value delivery.

For Lane8, it is a strong example of how to:

• Avoid "strategy shelfware" by making the strategy executable
• Define a CRM target state and roadmap that is platform-agnostic and resilient
• Lead cross-functional delivery that proves value quickly while building foundational capability
• Pivot under changing market conditions (COVID) without derailing the program

The challenge

1) Fragmented platforms, fragmented experience

Murdoch had multiple CRMs and supporting processes, with the typical issues that emerge over time - inconsistent data, inconsistent engagement practices, and uneven visibility across the constituent lifecycle. A university’s "CRM problem" is rarely just the technology - it is the combination of:

• Disconnected processes across teams
• Different definitions of leads, prospects and students
• Multiple communication channels and tooling
• Limited end-to-end journey orchestration
• Inconsistent governance and prioritisation

2) A replacement program that did not proceed

The 2018 strategy work was conducted with a view to a possible enterprise replacement program. When that program did not go ahead, Murdoch needed a path that would still progress capability, experience and outcomes - without the multi-year disruption and cost of a rip-and-replace initiative.

3) COVID forced a rapid pivot

COVID changed the landscape for recruitment pipelines, engagement patterns, and institutional priorities. Like many universities, Murdoch needed to protect enrolment outcomes while strengthening student retention - fast. This required a roadmap that could be reshaped, and delivery teams that could execute under pressure.

The approach

Step 1: Build a durable CRM blueprint (late 2018)

Bart Kuiper led the Murdoch360 CRM strategy work to create a shared foundation across business and technology:

• A clear CRM vision for a unified, relationship-centred experience
• A capability model describing what "good" looks like across the constituent lifecycle
• A practical roadmap balancing quick wins with long-term foundations
• A defensible view of platform options (replacement vs ecosystem), grounded in Murdoch’s context

The key design choice was to define the capabilities and target state first, not the tool. That way, whether the university replaced platforms or integrated them, the same north star would apply.

Step 2: Translate strategy into an ecosystem execution plan (2019 onwards)

When the replacement program did not proceed, Murdoch and Lane8 adapted the work into an ecosystem strategy, focusing on:

• Improving integration across existing platforms
• Standardising key processes and data concepts
• Enabling a more consistent engagement and service experience
• Building governance and delivery rhythms that could sustain progress

Step 3: Pivot the roadmap under COVID (2020-2021)

When COVID delayed the program, the Steering Committee redefined priorities and the program reshaped delivery around what mattered most in the moment:

• Student recruitment (pipeline, lead capture and nurture, conversion)
• Student retention (at-risk signals, nudges, proactive engagement)

This was not "abandon the strategy". It was re-sequencing the roadmap while keeping the target state intact, so tactical initiatives still built toward the same long-term blueprint.

What was delivered

1) Murdoch360 CRM vision, capability model and roadmap (2018)

The Murdoch360 pack defined the target outcomes and core capabilities to support a unified relationship approach across Murdoch’s key constituent groups - prospective and current students, alumni, donors, and partners.

What made it durable:

• Capability-led, not vendor-led - clear capability definitions (for example, segmentation, prospect lifecycle management, service experience consistency) that could be delivered through different platform paths
• Roadmap logic - foundational work plus incremental value delivery (rather than waiting for "the new system")
• Ecosystem-ready - when replacement was not viable, the blueprint naturally supported a more integrated ecosystem approach

2) Execution foundation: governance and pragmatic delivery rhythms

A durable blueprint still needs a way of working that makes progress inevitable. Across the program, Lane8 supported Murdoch to establish patterns that made strategy actionable:

• Clear work stream ownership and cross-functional collaboration
• Prioritisation that balanced "Do Now / Do Next / Do Later" sequencing (and made trade-offs explicit)
• Practical stakeholder engagement across marketing, admissions, student services, and advancement
• A delivery approach that proved value quickly while steadily strengthening data and process foundations

3) COVID-era pivot: revised recruitment strategy (2020)

As conditions changed, Bart Kuiper led work to reshape the recruitment agenda to address the practical reality - fragmented lead capture and nurture processes, multiple platforms used in parallel, and limited visibility across the prospect pipeline.

The recruitment work focused on tightening the front end of the funnel and improving conversion capability through:

• Better alignment between lead capture, nurture and downstream admissions processes
• Reducing duplicated communications and improving consistency of engagement
• Enhancing pipeline visibility so teams could act on the right signals at the right time
• Creating a more joined-up approach across marketing automation and service and admissions workflows

The result was a recruitment strategy designed for the new operating environment, while still moving toward Murdoch’s long-term CRM target state.

4) COVID-era pivot: retention strategy and "nudge" capability (2020)

Retention became an urgent priority - not as an abstract goal, but as a practical operational need. Lane8 supported Murdoch to define and prioritise a retention backlog that connected:

• Learning services and student support interventions
• Identification of at-risk students (signals plus timing)
• Targeted nudges - manual and increasingly automated - enabled by analytics and workflow

This established a scalable pattern - use data to identify risk, use orchestration to intervene, and use measurement to improve - a foundational capability for modern student experience and retention outcomes.

Outcomes (what changed)

This case study is not about a single "go-live". It is about a program that kept moving through uncertainty, because the foundation was designed to survive it.

1. Strategy that did not become shelfware
   When the enterprise replacement program did not proceed, Murdoch retained the most valuable asset - a clear CRM target state and capability roadmap that could be executed via an ecosystem approach. Momentum continued without waiting for a replacement program to reappear.
2. A resilient roadmap that could pivot under COVID
   COVID delayed the program and forced re-prioritisation. The roadmap was reshaped around recruitment and retention needs, while still advancing toward the Murdoch360 vision - protecting outcomes in the short term and building capability for the long term.
3. Cross-functional execution that delivered rapid value
   By focusing on practical work streams - recruitment pipeline improvement, nurture alignment, retention backlog and nudges - the program created tangible progress, not just conceptual designs.
4. A repeatable blueprint for ecosystem execution
   The bigger win was a pattern - define the capability target state, decide what to deliver now versus later, integrate what already exists, and keep improving. That approach remains relevant to any institution balancing ambition with constraints.

What made it work

A blueprint that was designed to be executed

Strategy survived because it was not written as a glossy "future dream". It was:

• Capability-based
• Roadmap-driven
• Explicit about sequencing and foundations
• Adaptable to multiple platform paths

A pragmatic delivery posture

Instead of treating the program as a single dependency (for example, "progress cannot happen until replacement is approved"), the program was treated as an ecosystem execution journey, where every initiative strengthened experience, process, data and integration.

The ability to pivot without losing the north star

COVID demanded changes in priorities and pace. The program did not stall because the target state remained constant and sequencing changed, moving the highest-value outcomes forward while preserving coherence.

The Lane8 angle

This is the work Lane8 specialises in - helping organisations move from CRM ambition to delivered outcomes.

• Define the CRM vision and executable roadmap
• Create a capability model that transcends platforms
• Align stakeholders and governance
• Lead cross-functional delivery teams to deliver rapid value
• Adapt under changing conditions without losing momentum

In short - build the blueprint, then make it real, even when the original plan changes.

If your CRM strategy is at risk of becoming shelfware - or your "big replacement" program is uncertain - Lane8 can help you build a durable CRM blueprint and deliver value through pragmatic ecosystem execution.

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