CRM Software – Hosted or In-House?

This Article Was Shared @ Mar 14, 2010 and has 1 Comments

Any software that a business comes to depend on for its continued existence is sure to raise lots of controversy when a change to the status quo is imminent. Customer relationship management software is increasingly being seen as the key business software due its power and capabilities. CRM software is being used for everything from online sales to market research to customer support, and has become a single source business decision making application. This integration of capabilities is one reason why Microsoft is getting into the CRM arena in a big way.

Many sales-oriented businesses have tried various CRM software solutions with varying degrees of success. This makes the decision to adopt new CRM solutions more controversial. The main end users, sales, cs rs, and the IT technicians may have preferences that conflict and there are cost considerations too. The choice then in whether to upgrade or to try a whole new type of CRM system is a difficult one, yet it managers and sales managers don’t have the depth of information to help them avoid disastrous choices.

All businesses however grow and reach transition periods where they may find their old software systems don’t meet their needs. New technologies such as the wireless revolution present service challenges for software manufacturers. CRM software is an information technology asset that sometimes can’t meet current business needs and must be upgraded. Sometimes, a company’s IT department and sales department experience bottlenecks in performance along with software bugs and glitches, that make them wonder if a better CRM solution is available. Then they learn of the bewildering array of options now available.

For medium and small business enterprises, there is a price and performance issue that forces managers to consider outsourcing CRM functions such as application development, hosting, training, and even to consider hosted, web-based CRM services (software as a service). On the other hand, some hosted software solutions can be hosted in-house with a little outside support and training. A completely new system may not be needed. In fact, an upgrade and installation may be all that is required.

While an industry trend is toward adoption of web-based CRM solutions such as Salesforce, in-house solutions such as Microsoft CRM and Sage Saleslogix CRM may be more appropriate for particular companies such as medium sized enterprises who need customization and good support. Popular hosted software choices look good at first, yet after sales support and assistance may not be what was expected.

CRM Software Reviews

You may have visited software review and comparison sites hoping they hold the wisdom to help you make an easy decision. The basic comparisons there however, may be biased and skewed to support the particular software, vendor, or type of solution they sell. Whitepapers are popular too as they appear to demonstrate real world applications of those CRM solutions. Since the matter is complicated and tainted by a particular Web site’s sales motives, it may present a picture that doesn’t respond to your real business needs.

While many medium and small business IT managers and sales managers choose to go it on their own in making decisions on CRM needs and decisions, approaching a CRM consulting firm that provides a variety of CRM solutions. Some CRM consulting firms offer design audits. These are fundamental precursor to successful CRM selection and implementation. It establishes the overall vision for your CRM solution and determines a direction to take that matches your business needs.

During a design audit, the CRM consultants study existing systems where there appears to be an opportunity for enhancement or migration to a superior platform, existing and proposed IT infrastructure, high-level business processes, existing reports and required documentation. The audit also assists in determining whether adopting a hosted or in-house solution would work for your situation and what the strengths either would have. There may not be a perfect match that solves all demands. For instance, a hosted service such as Salesforce may free you from technical costs initially, but may not be customizable. Hosted solutions such as Saleslogix may be more expensive initially yet offer outstanding features needed for modern sales forces including sales automation and support for Blackberry, Pocket PC, and Smartphone devices.

In making your decision on the right CRM solution, you’re vulnerable to the hype, flashy sales techniques, expert reviews, and the opinions of your technical team and sales people. Getting an experienced, third party view of your circumstances and real needs can save you aggravation and time and help you find the right hosted or web-based CRM solution.

Author: Gord Collins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets

http://opencrm.co.uk Graham Anderson

Interesting article, which given more time I think there are a shed load of comments that I would love to make, however in the interests of bevity, some “food for thought”;

You comment that (paraphrase) “popular hosted systems may look good at first, but support may not be what you expected”. Well that’s a broad brush! Some of us in the hosted CRM Market are very proud of the support and service levels we deliver, and in fact, our support, it could be argued, is better with a hosted client as there is less variable under the clients control, so is better in terms of fix time!

You also mention “salesforce and how this may not be customisable”, honestly, have you looked at the market? Salesforce.com are our main competitor, and we do very well taking clients from them, so I don’t want to shout too loud about thier merits, but come on, what about the force.com platform and the many add-ons already written in the app store. It is true that we win business from Salesforce because we can offer a more flexible solution, but that’s a commendation to OpenCRM, not a slight on salesforce. Flexability is as much about the relationship and how you can work with your chosen application and it’s author, but I would not say that salesforce fail for their app being ‘inflexible’.

Lastly, for any SME that I talk to, budgets are always an issue, however I agree that getting some third party assistance with your selection is a good plan, however, I would caution on two points, firstly, getting someone that knows what they are talking about is less easy than you might expect, I spend a great deal of time educating ‘consultants’ about CRM and the pro’s and con’s of hosted -v- inhouse, and second, ‘consultants’ often eat up so much of the valuble budget, that projects start lean, in some cases too lean, and can be in danger of failure before they get going. So, yes, engage with the right people, but don’t assume that all CRM providers are just out to sell you their solution, some of us, especially the successful providers, might actually be honest and have a high degree of integrity, only wanting to sign up solutions that work for both parties! It’s never in a suppliers interest to ‘stick it to a customer’, they always find out and when they do, boy will you get it with both barrels, more hassle than any up front payment could justify. As I say, good suppliers want to forge a good, long term relationship, never more so than the hosted market, as the revenue only comes in if the customer stays with you.

Regards

Graham Anderson
Managing Director
Software Add-ons – The Home of OpenCRM
http:\\opencrm.co.uk