Clouds on the Horizon
If 2009 was the year of social media, I predict 2010 will be the year of cloud computing. To be honest, I will welcome the change. There were just too many newsletters and webinars on how to use facebook for lead generation. I am happy to change subjects. Of course, social media is not going away. If you don’t have this included in your CRM strategy, it is time to rethink that position. However, you are also going to be forced via the tech press to get your head in the cloud.
So, I am not planning on making this entry a treatise on computing in the cloud – you have lots of other places to go for an education. Instead, I think it would be useful to understand some of the ramifications around CRM technology, especially for those who are on the verge of making decisions regarding the investment of a new platform. The nature of the cloud is something to take into consideration.
Some of you out there are teetering back and forth on whether to go on premise or SaaS. Every day there are more reasons to go the path of software rental and it is all because of the cloud getting more and more populated with applications. Because so many software vendors are building their applications to be accessed via the web, the likelihood of finding a solution that snugly fits your business requirements is getting higher with every release.
Even if you do choose to buy licenses for an on premise CRM solution, there is a good chance you will be connecting SaaS applications to it because of this exact phenomenon. Somewhere out there is an app that fits what you need.
Perhaps more important is the selection to be made between SaaS CRM platform vendors. While all of these folks are up in the cloud, some are more connected to the cloud than others. Top tier CRM packages are like planets with gravitational pull. They attract moons into their orbit. However, these are not all created equally – some have more gravity and attract more moons, becoming more like a big solar system. This is to your advantage. The more vendors that write code to fit up nicely with a CRM platform, the greater the likelihood you will find one that fits your requirements with precision. You get a composite application that fits together seamlessly, reducing your implementation costs and driving up your adoption. This translates into higher success rates for CRM programs.
I prefer not to name names here, but with a little bit of research you will see for yourself which vendors have generated the most gravity. Back in the 90’s we used to talk a lot about having to make the choice between single vendor platforms versus best-of-breed approach. Well, that whole debate now goes away because you can get a best-of-breed galaxy and have it act like single platform. You just need to decide which vendor has the best options in their orbit to suit your needs.
If the transition from the atmospheric metaphor to the astronomical lost you, the connection is this. Vendors who write their software to be accessed via the web are operating in the cloud. This computing paradigm enables what can be seamless combinations of applications that are tailored to fit your business. In the universe of CRM some of these platforms have attracted many vendors to build their applications to play nicely together. If you are in the position of having to choose, I suggest that you consider the platforms with the most gravitational pull. Not only do they have the best chance of satisfying you now, they will likely attract more and more new apps – things are being built right now to satisfy needs you don’t even know you have yet.
Watch out for those asteroids!