Granicus has grown rapidly in the past three years. The cloud computing provider needed a way to streamline its business processes, including sales, finance, human resources, marketing, project management, technical support and deployment departments. Granicus was able to build and deploy applications to manage this growth and control its business processes by using Salesforce’s Force.com platform. Efficiency and productivity dramatically increased within Granicus’ departments because of these applications, allowing the company to expand and achieve its goals.

Some of the customized applications that Granicus built on Force.com include a human resources app, which makes hiring and recruiting processes faster and easier. Granicus also built a regionalized accounts application, which allows the company to assign accounts and run reports. Another custom app is the sales proposals app, which creates proposals and determines client product configurations. The sales proposals app was built in only one week.

Granicus executives are very pleased with Salesforce’s Force.com platform and the new CRM applications. The program and API manager at Granicus, Jay Killian, commented. She said, “The secret to making your company successful on Force.com is to find a specific business problem to solve. It’s easier than you think to get started with a proof of concept app and then get it rolled out. To manage our fast growth, we built 20 custom apps in 20 weeks and now have our entire company on Force.com.”

The cloud custom application deployment was a success. Now, Granicus can build a sales proposal in 10 minutes instead of 2 hours. Project deployments were streamlined through a web-based tracking tool. Also, workflow was automated and Granicus now has the ability to quickly and easily develop applications without taxing resources.

Sage’s CRM platform has a protocol that enables easy data sharing, thereby facilitating the creation of OnTheGo. “Sage SalesLogix Cloud doesn’t force us into a specific deployment method, nor does it restrict us only to specific aspects of its technology,” said CRM practice director, Danny Estrada.

OnTheGo mobile users for SalesLogix will be able to access real time CRM information from customer and prospective customer databases from their mobile devices. The OnTheGo app can be downloaded directly from the Apple or Android App Market, with a free trial available for skeptics. The OnTheGo CRM app will soon be available for the Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones as well.
“We built Sage SalesLogix to be extensibe and it’s great to see this new mobile application from Net@Work leverage the flexibility of our SData architecture,” said senior VP for Sage CRM Solutions, Larry Ritter.

Demand for OnTheGo is steadily increasing in other segments and industries as well, including: healthcare, financial services and media. The mobile CRM application is popular because it is easy-to-use and extremely efficient, due to its anywhere, anytime accessibility.

Net@Work and Sage plan on building their partnership by extending the OnTheGo platform. We expect to see great things foster from the Sage and Net@Work partnership.

“The Sage method of data sharing provides nearly unlimited opportunities to extend the value of Sage SalesLogix, and the OnTheGo application is a great mobile example,” said Sage CRM partner, Sam BIardo.

Research firms Forrester and Gartner agree, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is ahead of the pack in customer relationship management for medium to large sized businesses. Although recent reports have shown that Salesforce CRM is a cult favorite among SMBs, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has won the popularity contest amongst the bigger enterprises. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is praised for its ability to seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft products; Dynamics CRM is also structured to allow users to create customized solutions with the xRM framework.

Forrester’s report investigated 15 of the leading CRM systems including Dynamics competitors Salesforce.com, Oracle Siebel and SAP. The research agency conducted their CRM evaluation based on operations, sales execution, cost, customer satisfaction, deployment options, business model, and innovation. To further reinforce Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s leading position in the CRM world, Gartner produced a report naming Dynamics as the best option for large enterprises as well.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a leader in the CRM industry that is helping customers seize new opportunities and grow their businesses,” says New Zealand Dynamics Manager, Stewart Gibbs. “We deliver innovation and value to companies in New Zealand around the world by focusing on end-user productivity, business process flexibility and agility, and the ability of our customers to leverage cloud deployment models.”

What makes Microsoft Dynamics CRM so wonderful? The CRM suite is comprised of a comprehensive set of tools and capabilities that allow users to optimize their business relationships throughout the sales pipeline. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is also fully customizable and scalable, making itself a perfect fit for businesses of any size.

“Our customers have reported a number of benefits from Dynamics CRM, such as having the ability to identify and retain their most profitable customers, and being able to better target and manage their growing customer and sales disciplines around sales, service and marketing, while benefiting from a custom line of business applications built on the CRM platform,” explains Stewart.

With all the functions and features Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers its users, it comes as no surprise that both Gartner and Forrester have recognized the software as the one to beat.

“CRM is one of the fastest growing areas of our business. Customers are really starting to see how a CRM solution, both in its pure form but also in a tailored form, can help their businesses manage relationships of all types. The diverse application of Dynamics CRM is exciting to see- from organizations using the application to manage typical customer sales relationships through to managing training programs for apprentices, and even managing the heritage and location of guide dogs. Things have certainly matured since the days of failed large scale CRM implementations. Now customers are seeing fast ROI and benefits realization from a more agile platform. It’s great to see what can be achieved,” says Simon Bright a Dynamics customer and COO at Intergen.

Salesforce has been the recipient of a slew of awards and accolades, according to Forrester and Gartner. Salesforce was recognized as the ‘CRM Site for Mid-Sized Organizations’ and ‘CRM Suite for Large Organizations’ in June of 2010. Salesforce was also dubbed ‘CRM Suite Customer Service Solution’ a month later.

Much to Benioff’s excitement, Salesforce also swept the competition at the 2010 CRM Market awards and took home the gold in ‘Enterprise Suite CRM’, ‘Midmarket Suite CRM’, and ‘Small-Business Suite CRM’.

Alex Dayton, EVP of CRM at Salesforce explains: “We believe salesforce.com’s Magic Quadrant position reflects our continued leadership in the industry. And as we continue to innovate, delivering additional functionality like Chatter to customers at no additional cost, we are driving even higher levels of customer success with the Sales Cloud.”

It hasn’t always been easy for Cars.com to manage the highly dispersed workforce or learning how to efficiently process hundreds of thousands of transactions each year while still managing to gracefully revamp existing business processes to accommodate differences between B2B and B2C interactions. So they decided to find a better way to manage it all – with a cloud (of course) CRM solution.

Cars.com deployed Salesforce CRM Enterprise Edition and Salesforce CRM Service to more than 180 employees across the U.S and took about three months to complete with the assistance of Model Metrics – a CRM consulting firm and salesforce.com partner specializing in on-demand solutions. A painless implementation was one of the big bonuses for this big move.

Since implementing Salesforce CRM Service, Cars.com has changed the way it does business. The company is more efficient, with agent productivity climbing and shaving off case-handling time by 3.5 minutes per request. Additionally, they’re getting more bang for the buck since their peak agent capacity has jumped dramatically.

Thanks to their newfound team effectiveness in recent months, Cars.com has also been able to enjoy a new level of flexibility in its case management processes. With Salesforce CRM Service allows all case details to be captured and stored in a consistent way – hurray for standardization!

Cars.com is looking forward to evaluating additional ways to use CRM software to automate their growing business to simplify call handling and improve responsiveness to customer requests.

Before Sage’s software, RML was using a discrete system that was neither efficient nor easy to use. Now, with Sage, vouchers are quickly generated and dispatched to distributors. Customer information is automatically reflected in the customer relationship management (CRM) system. RML employees can see all relevant customer information, such as escalation history, calls received, interactions and support cases. This enhances customer satisfaction because the RML employees are more knowledgeable about the customers and their needs.

The Sage CRM system is also instantly synchronized with the profile management system, which then automatically activates an SMS service on the customers’ mobile phones. There is also a case management feature in Sage CRM. This tracks all complaints and issues to ensure that each one is assigned, managed and closed.

RML’s Vice President of Operations, Ranjeet Pawar, commented on RML’s decision to implement Sage’s CRM and ERP software. He said, “Today over 200,000 farmers rely on our service to get information which is critical to the way they work therefore it was important for us to automate critical processes which could ensure the information reaches the farmer at the right time and grievances are seamlessly addressed. We were looking for an integrated solution which could give us a single platform for serve our customers.”

Sage India is also excited to be working with RML. The Managing Director at Sage India, Thomas Abraham, said, “We are pleased to partner with Reuters Market Light in their initiative to empower Indian farmers using state of the art technology to provide timely information that enhances overall farmer productivity.”

RML’s business processes were automated and became a lot easier with the Sage CRM and ERP software. Now, RML will be able to grow and increase customer satisfaction.

Sybase wanted to take iPhone user needs into account while keeping security as a priority. Bryan Whitmarsh, the Senior Product Manager in the Mobile Enterprise Solutions Division of Sybase, said, “We all love our iPhones because of the apps and how easy they are to use, so we didn’t want the user experience to be degraded just to secure the device.”

Before fixing the usability of the application, Sybase developers focused on secure segregation. The application was secured separately from the actual iPhone to ensure that no important sales or customer data could be compromised. Also, the Sybase app requires a password.

iPhone Screenshot of SAP Sybase Mobile Sales & Workflow App

The Sybase for SAP CRM application has a variety of features that are essential for sales professionals when they are away from their office. There is a day planner with a detailed schedule of meetings or activities in addition to relevant contact information. For example, if a business user is meeting with a colleague, the colleague’s contact information will come up on the schedule just in case the iPhone user is running late or needs to reschedule.

One of the most important features of the Sybase iPhone app is the analytics and reporting capability. Whitmarsh said, “This capability is huge. WE can create custom reports from the device if the user wants, or use some of our canner filters.” There are several filters, including top opportunities or the pipeline. The iPhone app is also customizable, as users can add different reports by exporting or importing information from the SAP system. Whitmarsh went on to say, “This kind of capability is very important to our users. The more they know about their business, the better off they are, of course. This way, they are always connected to what is happening.”

Another essential feature of the Sybase Mobile Sales iPhone app is its integration functionality. Using SAP’s Netweaver technology, the mobile application will integrate information on the iPhone device and on the main SAP system. This way, when something new is entered into the system it is instantly synced to the phone or main system.

The release of the SAP Sybase Mobile Sales & Workflow application is significant because it addresses the modernization of the workplace, as most business professionals are frequently on the go. This app will be very useful to users who need to access CRM, sales or workflow information when they are away from their desks. SAP ensures that using the mobile app is an easy and secure process. The iPhone app is free on the Apple App Store, with a SAP account.

On their seventh attempt (aka Version 7.0), the iPad Yellow Page CRM+ offers improved reporting and eContract automation, new customer service functionality and support for the iPad. Regular Version 7.0 will not see any price increase but its iPad CRM counterpart will be offered at a slight premium.

Why did they decide to move onto iPad pastures? Imagine the silent groan of prospects when they view yet another presentation on a clunky laptop. The iPad not only gives a wow factor but also allows the user to make use of the touch screen device to complete presentations, monitor customer service requests and execute contracts. Video presentations for clients can be managed and signatures can be done on the touch screen by using your fingertip or a Mac-based stylus with this convenient iPad CRM solution.

At the moment, there are two publishers participating in a closed test of the iPad CRM software. One company was quoted as saying “The Alauras iPad CRM offers the efficiency we need, and is proving it creates a speedy and extremely compelling sales experience.”

Alauras is striving for innovation for the yellow page industry with its leap into iPad CRM. With a flexible cross-platform publishing systems, we’re sure the industry will thank them.

What’s so special about SugarCRM’s Open+ program? The Open+ program is divided into five classes of partnership (which is further subdivided into channel partner, consultant partner, authorized learning partner, technology partner and referral partner programs). The membership provides access to cloud and on-site technology and solutions, field engagement, access to programs and resources to help develop and grow a partner’s business and sales and training enablement to enhance CRM knowledge and extend reach into the market.

With the help of their partners by selling and deploying SugarCRM’s commercial products, SugarCRM is able to focus on working with the new and existing partners in ensuring their success whilst using SugarCRM.

SugarCRM is also proud to note it has also added Emerge Business Consulting as a new channel partner that is dedicated to serving small to medium-sized businesses. With the great price point and functionality of SugarCRM, there really is no need to look elsewhere for CRM solutions.

Of course it wasn’t easy to get on the list. The winner is selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and industry experts spanning the globe based on a set of five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and media buzz. For SugarCRM, it was a sweet victory.

What does it mean for Global Silicon Valley? Simply put, innovation is alive and well while accelerating in economic power and scope. It wasn’t easy being chosen as the winner for AlwaysOn Global 250. It was a rigorous three-month selection process and SugarCRM faced competition from thousands of domestic and international technology companies nominated by investors, bankers, journalists and industry insiders.

A big winning point was SugarCRM’s open source model. Their CRM model enabled businesses around the world to have full access to the software’s source code and giving businesses complete flexibility through unlimited customization and integration capabilities. In addition, SugarCRM’s form of deployment has several options, including vendor-hosted SaaS supplied by SugarCRM and cloud-based delivery options powered by the Sugar Open Cloud ecosystem.