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Demystifying CRM in the cloud

By Nadine Arendse
Johannesburg, 21 Jun 2012

The first hurdle organisations face when wanting to move from a physical, on-premise customer relationship management (CRM) solution to a virtualised one is the generally poor perception of return on investment (ROI).

So says Rishi Pillay, CEO, Automated Clearing Business (ACB) at BankservAfrica, who adds that, in the past, on-premise installations were costly and never really lived up to the hype.

CRM is a suitcase term, he explains; the winners are those that define clear, realistic and measurable goals - rather than those that take a phased approach - and show value in steady increments, instead of trying to change the world with this technology.

Security concerns are another hurdle. Pillay describes these as “very real” risks that need to be understood and mitigated in a reasonable manner. He also notes that communication networks, slow response times and downtime are also concerns, but are less of an issue today.

ITWeb Virtualisation and Cloud Computing Summit 2012

In today's cut-throat business environment, it is essential to innovate in order to remain competitive. One such innovation is adopting cloud services in order to realise efficient service and performance. ITWeb's Virtualisation and Cloud Computing Summit takes place from 17 to 19 July 2012. For more information and to reserve your seat, click here.

There seems to be more momentum in moving CRM to the cloud in SA, he says, mainly due to lower costs. Companies can test a solution and see how it works and can then decide whether to stay in the cloud or adopt an on-premise installation.

There are many benefits of CRM in the cloud, including focusing on the business rather than IT implementation; better ROI due to reduced capex investments; and the facilitating of a test-and-learn culture within a business, he says.

Pillay is a speaker at the ITWeb Virtualisation and Cloud Computing Summit, where he will discuss the advantages of deploying CRM in the cloud. His discussion will focus on user adoption, executive buy-in, ROI, exit strategies and service management.

For more information about this event, click here.

Related story:
Why entering the cloud makes sense

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