Microsoft is not only set to make a significant impact on the CRM application software space with the official availability of its CRM application scheduled for February 2004, but the company is also extending this - the business value of understanding customers better - to small and mid-size organisations.
Caron Mooney, director of Microsoft Solutions Provider, IS Partners, believes the timing to be ideal for the application. "CRM has traditionally been associated with a hefty price tag and no visible payoff, a consequence of poorly defined goals and a poor understanding of CRM.
"Microsoft has done its share to offer the market a viable alternative to the monolithic and exclusive applications of the past and, in so doing, is bringing the value of CRM to anyone from individual users to large enterprises at an affordable price," she adds. The importance of implementing CRM well cannot, however, be underestimated.
"Organisations have to ask themselves at what point they hope to get value from CRM, and in defining the answer will discover that it`s about more than just the technology; it involves a clear process methodology that relates to the implementation and fine tuning of the application, but also notes CRM as a state of mind, not software.
"It is up to the organisation itself to view CRM as a strategic component of the business mix," Mooney says.
She maintains that CRM is no longer optional, but has become a basic element of the competitive business landscape and, accordingly, attitudes and processes must change to make CRM work.
Most users are already engaged in contact management for sales and customer services. But organisations need to go that one step further to bring together information from all their individual systems to obtain one view of the customer. Ultimately, users will want to surf this data to understand trends in relation to all aspects of the customer.
"What might have been viewed as little more than an operational expense, justified very often in terms of customer service `value-add`, is fast emerging to become a true contender for quantifiable business significance, specifically in the mid-market where organisations are looking for well-priced CRM solutions that deliver instant recompense," Mooney concludes.
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Established in 2001, IS Partners addresses the need for quality implementations of Microsoft solutions. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Business Intelligence, IS Partners specialises in empowering sales, marketing, financial and management in its customer base. This includes various industries such as retail, distribution, finance and IT.
IS Partners uses its own proven, streamlined methodology for all implementations. It also specialises in bringing bottom line value to CRM systems, providing business analysis, technical design, application architecture, implementation, training and performance tuning of CRM implementations on the Microsoft platform and Microsoft`s own CRM solution. For More Information go to: www.ispartners.co.za.
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