Inmarsat

Overview

Global satellite communications business Inmarsat is a leading provider of data connectivity to the maritime industry. As an airtime service provider for many global fleets, Inmarsat enables the lifeline of connectivity for thousands of vessels.

Elsewhen worked closely with Inmarsat to create a new customer-facing online analytics platform, providing real-time and historical data insights on the connectivity experienced by each vessel.

Highlights

Creating a customer platform for service performance analytics at global scale, integrated into existing enterprise architecture.
We designed a blueprint to address throughput issues, improving our understanding of bottlenecks and providing strategic workflow recommendations.

The challenge
Giving customers data insights for better operational decisions

Our services

Data insights
Product strategy
UI & UX design
Front-end engineering
API design

Fleet owners wanted more insight into the connectivity services they receive from Inmarsat. They increasingly need to know how, when and where airtime is used – and to confirm that their connectivity meets Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Previously, if a customer wanted to understand the connectivity performance for its vessels, Inmarsat would have to manually create a report from its various data logs, requiring cost, time and effort.

Inmarsat had gained interest from a number of enterprise customers in the idea of a self-service platform for analysing connectivity. The rising level of demand meant that Inmarsat now had to deliver a customer-ready platform – fast.

Our strategic approach
Researching and analysing the pain points in workflow

To generate a comprehensive view of the problem, Elsewhen conducted interviews with both leadership and teams. We asked leaders about their ambitions and their overview of the implications of congestion. That view was crucial in framing the problem and getting maximum buy-in to the second stage of our research.

During the second stage, we conducted interviews with more than 50 key teams and a total of over 250 employees. We learned about their process, pain points and ambitions, with regards to the planning and execution of complex cross-organisational projects. Such projects require the collaboration of different teams, potentially from different parts of the company.

Based on these interviews, we catalogued and categorised the pain points to identify recurring themes. We visualised these pain points by marking them on a service blueprint. Creating a live and shareable artefact provided a pivotal communication tool with stakeholders. It helped create a shared understanding of where and when workflow congestion was happening – and the factors that led to this congestion.

We also constructed a larger-scale team survey to corroborate our qualitative research findings from the interviews and increase confidence in our findings.

By crafting a mixed methods approach, we were able to provide a 360-degree view on the issue at hand, allowing us to identify opportunities and suggest ways forward.

Our solution
Empowering B2B customers with service insights

8 months project timeline from start to customer launch

Elsewhen delivered a powerful new digital platform that achieved Inmarsat’s demanding objectives. Both Inmarsat and its customers were able to see value fast from the deployment of the new solution.

Maritime fleet owners can now access online dashboards that provide visual data insights on a range of metrics. The platform provides a responsive interface for display on a range of devices – and is quick and easy to use, even when working with data for very large fleets.

The close alignment of design and engineering on the project ensured an elegant user experience, with smooth functionality based on robust engineering principles.

The outcomes
Boosting customer satisfaction, loyalty and revenue

Insights on fleets of 1000+ vessels can be visualised in seconds

Creating a modern platform for visualising connectivity data is enabling Inmarsat to unlock new value for its customers. The anticipated benefits include a reduction in manual work to resolve customer queries, as well as improved customer satisfaction, loyalty and revenue.

The dashboard UI helps Inmarsat demonstrate to customers that they are getting a good service and value for money. Fleet owners can see at a glance where each of their vessels has travelled, the connectivity it has experienced, and what airtime was being used for.

The new platform has helped Inmarsat hit a number of its strategic targets. As well as reducing burden on customer support teams, it helps sales teams prove Inmarsat’s contract value and ROI to customers and prospects.