Choose CRM software with caution or risk heavy customisation costs - Ovum

Many companies are considering implementing CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, but they need to give serious thought to their customer delivery channels before making their choice. Otherwise they could be facing the multiple costs of extra customisation, delayed implementation and frustrated or lost customers. So says independent research and consulting company Ovum, in a report released today: Ovum Evaluates: CRM in the Front Office.

The core functionality of any CRM software product is its ability to maintain a single, cohesive view of the customer for the customer-facing functions of sales, service and marketing. This includes being able to provide functionality across different customer delivery channels; for example the call centre, self-service web interface or field sales. However, current CRM offerings tend to specialise in one channel or another, and one function or another - so resulting in products which are very good at supporting field sales operations, but with no support for call centre operations, and so on.

But since all vendors claim and promote the same functionality-based message, it is difficult to distinguish what channels each vendor actually serves best. Because none of the products support all access channels equally, companies choosing software will have to carefully match up the channels for which they require support against vendor offerings.

"The CRM software market has some way to go before offerings are more or less equal in this respect," said Cassandra Millhouse, lead CRM analyst and author of the report. "It`s easy to see how users could get tripped up by the claims that the vendors are making for their products. They are claiming `complete solutions` when they sell only part. It`s a bit like a vendor assuring you that they are selling you `everything you need to play tennis`, you purchasing a racquet and then being told that you`ll have to build your own court if you want to play on grass."

Ovum`s research shows that the CRM software market is maturing and growing rapidly, with all products still betraying their origins. So IBM`s CRM offering is heavily call centre oriented, while Siebel`s is best developed for field sales operations. Vantive offers facilities specifically for self-support, whereas many of its competitors simply provide customisation facilities from which users must develop their own. Interestingly, some of the players focused entirely on Windows NT systems have a better understanding of the need to provide capability equally well across multiple channels, such as Pivotal Corporation.

Ovum`s report also covers the ability of the products evaluated to support the separate functions required by sales, marketing and service, as well as customisation and integration capability. Finally, all-important is the ability to improve the productivity of the end-users - sales, marketing and support staff - via ease of use and productivity tools. As Millhouse points out, "You can`t force your customer-facing staff to use the software effectively if there is no direct benefit to them. No company can afford that - it could turn an expensive investment into an expensive mistake."

About Ovum Evaluates: CRM in the Front Office

Authored by Ovum industry analysts Cassandra Millhouse and Clive Burrows, the report evaluates products from Applix, Baan, Clarify, IBM, Onyx Software, Oracle, Pivotal Corporation, POINT Information Systems, Siebel and Vantive via in-depth 40 page evaluations. For further product or sales information, please visit http://www.ovum.com.