We Blog CRM

OpSource Connect is a new SaaS solution released by OpSource, which is a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of infrastructure and application services. The service will enable companies to access web applications that are spread over multiple platforms.

OpSource Connect makes it possible for SaaS services such as those offered by Salesforce.com and NetSuite to connect to legacy enterprise applications that were hitherto protected by a firewall. This will allow businesses to make optimum use of their available applications.

Learn more here.

I would classify this collaboration as one of the rarer ones; maybe it’s a sign of times to come. One SaaS provider selects provider’s SaaS software and sells the packaged goods as a service to customers. This is exactly what has happened with Blink Logic, whose on-demand BI product has been picked up by CRMG. CRMG is a CRM vendor for SMBs and specializes in reporting and analytics tools.

With Blink Logic software in its arsenal, a company can conjure information out of data; generate reports when they want to, and take decisions quickly. The CRMG tools integrate smoothly and fast with the enterprise workflow and allow the company to move ahead without having to spend a lot of time in selecting, implementing, and adapting to software. CRMG implements the CRM in a phased manner such that the success of one phase depends on the success of the previous one.

Navigor has launched Oracle’s Siebel-on-demand solution for SMBs in South Africa. Navigor hopes to push the new Siebel-on-demand offering as a solution for the CRM requirements of SMBs. The CRM is available as a rental option thereby putting it within reach of businesses of all sizes. Low entry costs, good broadband connectivity, no maintenance costs are some of the advantages that small businesses can hope to avail with the new Oracle offering.

Navigor will help businesses modify and categorize the CRM solution as per customer requirements. A little strangely, Navigor feels that convincing SMBs about the benefits of a hosted solution will be a challenge. It would be interesting to learn of other places apart from South Africa where SMBs need to be educated about the benefits of a hosted solution.

Boomi, which is in the very interesting business of on-demand integration products, has announced that MDS Pharma Services has implemented its product to integrate Salesforce CRM application with its legacy on-premise Oracle applications. The Boomers are confident that their integration app is the right shot in the arm for MDS which will now be able to improve operational efficiencies by means of more accurate data and reporting.

The integration of SaaS and on-premise applications will enable MDS Pharma Services to maintain a smoother information flow without any additional hardware installations. Boomi apps work via point-and-click, drag-and-drop.

Learn more here.

A nation-wide survey conducted in England conducted on behalf of HTK as revealed that a huge 66% of SMEs are not happy with the procedures that they have in place for dealing with customers. The survey covered more than 200 SMBs. According to Cambridge-based research specialist, Analysys that carried out the survey a lot of SMBs were pretty open to the idea of hosted technology. Almost all SMEs considered were technologically aware and over two-thirds had a broadband connection.

A significant proportion, more than half in fact stated that it intended to deploy hosted software within the next twelve months. The survey covered businesses across a spectrum of technologies and industries. Capital cost, understandably was the main concern and stumbling block in implementing CRM. Traditional CRM is an expensive proposition and inspite of problems with marketing and customer management, many SMEs simply do not entertain thoughts of CRM. SaaS has offered a ray of hope as it’s a much cheaper software alternative.

On February 12th, RightNow announced its on-demand CRM solution designed for retailers. Existing features of RightNow CRM include self-service, call center and email management applications and knowledge foundation. These come preconfigured with the offering for retailers which also offers features like RightNow Chat to enable retailers to converse one-to-one with customer, Voice of the customer which allows retailers to capture and measure customer feedback, Shopping cart and post purchase surveys, and other features.

Visit the RightNow site to learn more about their retail CRM offering.

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.

Apparently, it is an effort by Boomi to integrate SaaS and on-premise software such that companies can extract maximum convergence from diverse applications and generate a healthy ROI. Integration is the key and an essential element in today’s application driven world where different technologies running on different platforms offer the same services. They may also lead in specific niches and have significant market shares. This forces companies to look out for devices that can enable disparate applications to communicate with one another. This in turn enables people to access data and information from anywhere using a range of devices. So, basically what companies like Boomi do is to enable businesses to execute their operations without being constrained by disparity in storage devices and assorted software; in doing so enterprising vendors are doing their bit to shrink the world and we are increasingly becoming inhabitants of a global village.

Where Boomi differs from the rest is in its efforts to integrate via the on-demand route. Boomi hopes that companies will appreciate the salient features of on-demand integration. The Boomi product is now available globally after an exhaustive beta testing that involved more than a 100 small and big companies. With Boomi, you can link almost any SaaS package with an on-premise application without investing in expensive software or hardware appliances that demand both space and financial resources. Boomi is in collaboration with established SaaS players such as Salesforce.com and NetSuite. It’s a win-win situation for Boomi and SaaS vendors such as Revionics, Intacct, SmartTurn, and OpSource who hope to make use of the Boomi product to facilitate better communication and data transfer between their product and other on-premise software.