We Blog CRM

An interesting interview of David Peterson — CEO of PowerHouse Consulting at VoIP-News throws light on the process of integrating CRM with call-center telephony. David talks about the issues that crop up when integrating a CRM solution with a call-center. These include selecting the right intermediary server for converting the proprietary language of the telephony system into one which the CRM system can understand.

Systems Integrators and consultants are useful as they speed up the deployment process. This is because they already have integration modules for major CRM vendors already in place. David also talks about the importance of management tie-in, on-demand and on-premise CRM, as well as the risks of shoddy integration.

InsideCRM has published an interesting piece that offers short snippets on the top movers and shakers in the CRM domain for the year 2007. Chris Bucholz who has written the piece has accurately picked up the trends and the trendsetters. The list is an eclectic mix of company heads, bloggers, analysts, and technologists who saw the trends coming and those whose ideas will drive the CRM industry in 2008.

Heading the list is Marc Benioff, Salesforce Chairman, CEO, and Founder, who is credited with turning Salesforce.com into an 800-pound gorilla, albeit an intelligent one. Salesforce is credited with raising the profile of on-demand CRM and piquing consumer interest in SaaS as a delivery model for CRM. The company also gained its millionth license in December 2007.

Ed Abbo Oracle Corp. Senior Vice President of Applications Development makes the list at number two on the strength of his efforts to bring out the Fusion application middleware which will bring together multiple Oracle platforms such as Siebel, JD Edwards, E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise and Demantra.

At number three is Greg Gianforte RightNow Technologies Inc. CEO and Founder because of his customer-centric philosophies that drive his business. For example the November 2007 edition of RightNow CRM introduced a knowledge-syndication widget that allows companies to distribute dynamic content across multiple sites.

Xpertise, which is one of the leading IT training facilities in the U.K, has added Siebel training to its already impressive list of Oracle training. The company already has a strong base in CRM training and this new addition adds further to its reputation. The company views the new addition as a natural progression since it already has industry-leading experience in offering Oracle training.

Given that CRM is not an easy area to train in, Xpertise has built up its capabilities slowly and is now one of the key training partners for Oracle.

I really like the concept of web-based and the unlimited possibility of SaaS excite me. This particularly delivery model has progressed so much that even enterprise applications such as CRM and ERP are now easily available on the web. One of the main concerns with distributing CRM on the web is security.

Web-based ERP provider BScaler has upgraded security at the system binary level to safeguard against intrusion or a breach. The company whose product range covers CRM, Service, Operations and Accounting functions for small and medium-sized businesses, has focused on increasing security at the data center, the internet, and at the application. The company has turned its Unix/Linux OS into a read only and has secured the system binaries. By doing so the company believes that it has increased the level of difficulty for unauthorized personnel trying to break in.

Newly installed security features include a secure 24/7 access-controlled data-center, commercial grade firewalls for the production servers, and state-of-the-art monitoring software. 128-bit SSL encryption over the internet and role-based accessibilities ensure appropriate access to data. The company hopes to broaden the customer-base of its web-based total business management product and hopes to implement a strategy for targeting Importers, VARs, Resellers and Distributors.

Mobile technologies have given us a lot of freedom in terms of when we communicate with and also whom we choose to communicate with. Audio, text, and video communication is now achievable on the move. Enterprise activities too can now be achieved on hand-held devices that support the Internet. CRM and ERP users are usually game to try new technologies in order to reach out to more people and portable devices that allow them to keep business associates in touch is welcome.

However, accessing CRM and ERP applications on mobile devices requires intelligent functionality with low bandwidth pull so that the software can be operated effectively. CRM functionalities such as workflow, alerts, escalation and notifications can be added to a mobile solution. The surprising thing is mobile CRM has a low cost of TCO.  

EnterpriseWizard has released version 2.0 of its CRM application built on top of its SaaSWizard Web application development platform. Customizability of tables, drag and drop style of building templates, and a browser-based interface are the key features of this CRM application. Version 2.0 also incorporates a new improved search engine and automatic transmission of information from a client computer upon receipt of a trouble ticket.

The company CEO Colin Earl chooses to describe the SaaSWizard platform as a representation of ‘man-centuries of development” and not just “man-hours”. EnterpriseWizard hopes to go one-up on its competitors like SAP, which has recently come out with CRM 2007, with the help of its business model that stresses partnership with system integrators and value-added resellers in an effort to make inroads into various verticals and sell applications based on the groundbreaking SaaSWizard. Colin argues against the direct sales model that most SaaS companies follow. He intends to share the pie, as he calls it with his channel partners.

EnterpriseWizard is one of the few CRM offerings that’s available as an on-premise and SaaS offering and over the years the company has done well to develop a customer base that’s just fewer than 400. The software costs $65/staff/month for the hosted model, $950/staff user when purchased outright for Linux and $1150/staff user when purchased for Windows.

CRM is becoming an increasingly collaborative phenomenon in which businesses are being forced to take increased cognizance of their customer’s wishes. This turnaround has been orchestrated to a large extent by the Internet which has enabled customers to have a say in the designing and developing of services and products. Customers are even choosing the mode of communicating amongst themselves and with the vendors; these include user-generated content, blogs, podcasts, social networks, user communities, and other various and other such Web 2.0 properties.

Mycrmcareer.com is a site that leverages web 2.0 and tries to bring customers and CRM companies closer.