CRM UK - the official blog of the CRM specialists at TSG

Choosing between On-Demand CRM and On-Premise CRM software

A fundamental choice for any CRM project: use on-demand CRM software, or have CRM software installed at your business premises?

On-demand or hosted CRM software is readily available and there are many different brands. On-demand CRM solutions can seem a good call in terms of convenience, price and initial outlay. They usually run using monthly contract costs, they’re quick to set up and don’t often need extra hardware to run.

So why do people bother installing on-premise CRM software? It’s a bit like whether you want to rent a flat or buy a house. Renting a flat – straightforward, no ties, small deposit, good monthly rate. Any problems call the landlord - along with all the other tenants.

Or choose to make an investment. Set it up the way you want, make it work for you, let it evolve with your company, have room to change or expand, and provide a good ROI. On-premise CRM software is more adaptable to your company’s needs, has better functionality and is ultimately in the hands of your IT staff. A strong initial reason for many companies for choosing on-premise CRM software is control of data (it’s stored on your system) and control over your software.

Though many businesses have taken up on-demand CRM, Concentrix has often seen companies moving from on-demand to on-premise CRM solutions. Sometimes it’s a natural progression. However we have also had companies approach Concentrix because they had taken up an on-demand CRM solution elsewhere and found it was not the right choice. Although on-demand CRM may be a good fit for a while, it can soon be outgrown and is often limited in what it can achieve. Costs can also start to creep upwards, making an on-premise CRM solution more appropriate.

Concentrix offer both on-demand CRM software as well as on-premise CRM software, although the majority of our business is through on-premise CRM solutions (we also have business partners we’ll refer companies to for certain hosted CRM solutions if we feel it’s the right solution for the customer).

So what’s the best choice? Clearly mapped business requirements produced at the early stages of your CRM project, allowing room for growth taking into account likely business trends, will go-along way to answering the question. As will a discussion with an independent CRM specialist.

More information about choosing an on-demand CRM or an on-premise CRM solution in this article: Is On-Demand CRM right for your Company?

Sage CRM v6.1 System Requirements

The system requirements for Sage CRM v 6.1 (the latest version of Sage CRM) are now on the Concentrix website here (as a pdf document). More information about Sage CRM 6.1 is in a previous post here.

SalesLogix version 7.2 - the latest update of Sage SalesLogix

Sage SalesLogix is one of the UK’s most popular CRM systems. Worldwide, according to Sage, SalesLogix is used by over 300 000 users in 8500 companies.

Sage SalesLogix is particularly suitable for organisations that have highly differentiated customer experiences, and is used throughout a wide variety of market segments. One of the key reasons for this is that SalesLogix offers straightforward customisation to suit the needs of different companies, different business processes and different workflows. It is also one of the most advanced CRM programmes for using via the web or accessing from mobile devices, and is compatible with all the common Office applications.

Sage released the latest version of SalesLogix (SalesLogix version 7.2) in June 2007. Sage SalesLogix 7.2 provides a variety of innovative features to help run businesses. As well as providing a highly functional stand-alone CRM system, SalesLogix 7.2 offers flexible integration options. These add to its ability to be adapted to suit the needs of individual companies.

The Sage SalesLogix 7.2 update offered the following new or improved features:

• A new Web Client and extended Mobile solutions. These enable true platform flexibility, with increased functionality and ease of use.
• An enhanced user interface which delivers a Windows-like experience on the Web.
• Straightforward integration with your existing IT infrastructure and applications.
• SalesLogix now reduces your administration costs through one-click deployment to multiple servers.
• Codeless customisation tools that enable rapid development of common customisations.
• A single development environment for Web and Mobile customisations.
• An expanded Mobile solution which supports Microsoft Windows Mobile for Smartphone devices.

Concentrix has found there has been significant and renewed interest in Sage SalesLogix since this latest update as offers a competitive, established and future-proof CRM solution.

More information about SalesLogix version 7.2, including a full product description, brochure and datasheets are available from the SalesLogix section of the Concentrix website.

Integrating Email Marketing and CRM Applications

Do you use the email marketing capabilities of your CRM software?

Every business needs to communicate with its customers, suppliers and prospects. Email has many obvious benefits, but in this world where a few spammers have given email marketing a dubious reputation, it’s important to get it right. Knowing who you are targeting, and targeting the right people is essential. The closer you can match a message to the preference of your target audience in terms of its content and delivery mechanism, the higher the probability of its success.

Many Concentrix customers use the marketing function within their CRM system to send out email campaigns. However, for our customers that need a really powerful email marketing tool we recommend Communigator’s email marketing software.

Communigator’s email marketing software integrates with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in order to provide effective and successful email marketing campaigns. It works with popular CRM solutions such as Sage CRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and FrontRange GoldMine.

Some of the benefits of using an email marketing application which integrates with your CRM system are:

-          Provides clear campaign analysis which shows open and click-through rates

-          Enables you to manage your bounce backs and keep your data up-to-date

-          Manages unsubscribes and updates the contact record in CRM

-          Allows creation of predetermined campaigns collating an audience at a specified time or triggered event (i.e. every Tuesday morning)

-          Enables creation of both HTML and text email (Two part MIME) for greater delivery rates and to avoid SPAM filters

-          Allows you to see the likelihood of emails being rejected by SPAM filters, due to unsuitable choice of words or content

-          Provides ability to personalise through fields from your CRM system to increase open rates

If you use email campaigns as a significant part of your marketing, integrating Communigator’s email marketing software with your CRM system should be a consideration. The in-depth analysis can be a real eye-opener, especially when you watch a campaign run. Monitoring the statistics, finding out what message titles work, comparing campaign opening rates and responses can be an education in itself, and the success rates of your campaigns can improve dramatically.

Business process and business performance in the modern workplace – white papers on the Concentrix website.

We’ve put four more whitepapers in the downloads section of the Concentrix website. Published by Microsoft, the whitepapers discuss business performance and business processes in the modern workplace and are directly relevant to companies in the UK. Although developed on behalf of Microsoft, they contain some useful information and make interesting reading whatever business solution or software you use.

Here are extracts from each of the whitepapers (to access full versions please see the note at the end of this post):

The New World of Work - Evolution of the UK Workforce

Extract:

"Britain has always been at the forefront of economic change. First, it was the agricultural revolution, then the industrial boom of the 19th century. Now the world is changing radically again, and it is critical that UK's businesses, public institutions and people meet that change creatively.”

“Today’s workplace is all about the network – not just in a technology sense (although that is crucial, too), but in the context of people and organisations. The technology gives us the power to connect with each other wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, at any time of the day or night. It has fundamentally changed our ability to access and use information. But without considering the effects of this change holistically – and analysing how they interact with society – we are likely to get the management of change fundamentally wrong.”

Drive Business Processes: “Achieving the Last Mile of Business Productivity”

Extract:

Since the mid-1990s, businesses, governments and other large organizations have poured billions into implementing ERP, supply chain and CRM systems to help them “re-engineer” work processes, eliminate inefficiencies, increase productivity and drive business change. These efforts have met with varying degrees of success. 

Clearly, many of the promises to dramatically increase business success, rapidly, profitably, efficiently and with minimal negative impact on the business have proven overly optimistic for many, and flatout fantasy for some.

Why is this? Why has the diligent effort of so many resulted so often in such marginal underperformance? Are there intrinsic weaknesses in the approach we’ve taken? Are there important components of business process management our current approach fails to address? And, most importantly, is there another way of looking at business processes that retains the positive aspects of large-scale system change, while minimizing its weaknesses and addressing unmet objectives?

Drive Business Performance: “Inside your company is a powerful force”

Extract:
 Today, executives must define business strategy in an extremely challenging marketplace. The company must implement the strategy through plans and budgets that guide the activities of individual business units.

However, without the proper tools, strategy implementations can be very challenging.

Implementations fail for several reasons, including lack of focus on common goals by enterprise units, inefficient decision-making processes and lack of alignment between business-unit objectives and the corporate strategy.

An effective performance management programme helps achieve corporate strategies by breaking down high-level goals into objectives that drive the actions of employees at all levels of the organisation. When individual employees can measure their performance against objectives, it becomes easier to achieve

strategic goals.

Effective performance management ensures alignment with overall enterprise business goals by driving empowerment, accountability, focus and resolve from the executive team down to managers and information workers across the company.

The Next Wave of Innovation in Manufacturing: Insights from the New World of Work

Extract:
Globalization, connectivity, regulation and demographics are the trends shaping the landscape for manufacturers over the next 10 to 15 years. In this “new world of work,” the ability to create, share and act on information can help manufacturers compete more effectively and operate more efficiently amid rapid change and relentless pricing pressure.

People are the critical factor. Only people have the agility and resilience to identify and act on new information quickly to meet challenges or capitalize on new opportunities.

By surrounding people with powerful tools and a culture of learning, manufacturers can bring innovative new products to market more quickly and mobilize a network of suppliers in deeper, more collaborative relationships.

Empowered people can drive operational excellence by constantly improving products, streamlining practices and sharing knowledge. And they can work responsively with customers to build high-value relationships to drive business growth. Microsoft uniquely delivers software and solutions that empower people to take their manufacturing business further.

Accessing the whitepapers

If you want the full versions of these whitepapers, registered users can log-in, go to the downloads section of the Concentrix website and access them straight away. If you’re not registered, you can register here (it’s free, and once you’re registered you’ll be able to access lots more information in the Downloads section as well).

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 (Titan) Release

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 (code named ‘Titan’ during development) is the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM software, due for release in the UK in January 2008. Because Concentrix is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specialising in Business Solutions, staff have been able to see demonstrations of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, evaluate the product and receive comprehensive briefings and training, prior to the official release of the software.

As independent CRM specialists, staff at Concentrix have been keen to take a look at this new product in the CRM market. We know that Microsoft has invested a significant amount of resources (even by their standards) into this software, so expectations have been high. Also, the differences between previous releases of Microsoft CRM software, for example, between Microsoft Dynamics CRM 1.2 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 (there wasn’t a version 2!) were major. 

A number of Concentrix staff visited Microsoft in late October to see the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. So what did they think?

The opinion of our Dynamics CRM technical experts were, in a nutshell, that Microsoft Dynamics v4.0 is “mind-blowing” – more than just added features, fixes and changes. They consider it extremely well thought out, well developed and programmed, exceptionally well designed and with high levels of functionality. Concentrix sales engineers who saw the product were equally enthusiastic about the new version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, albeit coming from a different angle. To put this in perspective, they considered Microsoft Dynamics CRM versions 1.x as, well, mediocre – other CRM products on the market were way ahead at the time. Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 3.0 is a good product: much better than its predecessors. However, Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4.0 has taken a massive step forward and will be a highly competitive product in the CRM market.

So what’s new in Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4.0? The staff that saw the product came back from Microsoft with long lists of features written in their notes. Rather than list them all, here are some of the features that stood out. It is by no means a list of all the new features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, just some of the key ones, (in no particular order and taken more or less straight from staff notes):

§   No need to VPN –when using Dynamics CRM 4.0 it works as if you are in the office

§   Can synchronise all activity types to Outlook

§   Multi-track

§   Auto completes on drop-downs

§   Multi-currency (base currency and alternative currencies)

§   Web access to mail merge

§   Easy data export (choose fields) with reimport (very useful)

§   Device CALs (Client Access Licences)

§   Multi tenancy

§   Uses Windows Workflow Foundation (a very powerful workflow tool to map and automate business processes)

§   Reporting wizard, with scheduling, plus filtered views available offline)

§   Wizard-based imports

§   Better automation of email campaigns

§   Improved dynamic links with Excel

§   Smart stages can be added to any entity

§   Cross-entity views

§   Office client diagnostics (“Fix” button)

§   Scales up extremely well (better than Dynamics CRM v3.0)

§   Template store

§   Multi domain support

We’ll be able to demonstrate the product shortly, so to book a demonstration of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, for further information about the product or to discuss it, please contact Concentrix.

Note Concentrix is still offering free trials of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, and aims to offer similar free trials of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 soon after it is released.