ISM ranks SAP among leaders for Customer Relationship Management

SAP AG announced late last week that ISM, Inc., a leading consulting and analysis firm focusing on customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, has ranked mySAP CRM software as one of the Top 15 CRM software packages in its 2002 evaluation of providers.

mySAP CRM was selected out of all the leading CRM software solutions tested at ISM's Bethesda, Md., headquarters. Rankings were based on criteria set of 166, criteriaccciwhich include 107 business functions, 41 technical features, and 18 user friendliness/support issues. ISM's report cited mySAP CRM for its "integrated suite of products, which together comprise an enterprise-wide customer relationship management solution." mySAP CRM received high marks in the categories of contact, account, sales, and time management functions, as well as its customer contact center, customer service, telemarketing/telesales, lead management, and user friendliness/support features.

Barton Goldenberg, president of ISM and co-founder and co-chairman of the Digital Consulting Institute's CRM Conference and Exposition, announced the mySAP CRM honor during a special keynote session at DCI's 2001 conference, held in Chicago February 13-15. "SAP has demonstrated continued leadership in product functionality and as a provider of CRM solutions," Goldenberg said. "ISM congratulates SAP on their outstanding achievement as a Top 15 award winner."

"Being ranked two years in a row by ISM further establishes SAP as the provider of choice for companies seeking to implement effective, industry-based connected CRM solutions," said Carol Burch, senior vice president, Global CRM, SAP AG. "We now count 1,460 CRM customers and are experiencing outstanding momentum as we focus SAP's extensive e-business expertise to help our customers build and maintain valuable customer relationships. Our customers are looking for world-class, open functionality that can be easily integrated to their existing environment - which is exactly what connected mySAP CRM delivers."

"Locally and internationally SAP is gaining serious momentum with its CRM solution, because of its superior design and breadth of functionality," says Kris Tokarzewski, Solution Manager, Customer Relationship Management, at SAP Africa.

"mySAP CRM integrates the business processes, of marketing, sales and customer services, in real-time with the rest of the organisation, while most of other vendors provide stand alone applications that operate in isolation from the rest of the company. Additionally, mySAP CRM provides the front line employees with the 360-degree view of the customer, as well as the complete visibility of its company operations," says Tokarzewski.

Tokarzewski explains by giving the following example, "When a call centre agent receives call from a business customer to place a large order, he or she must be able to verify customer specific pricing (in reference of specific sales contract), check customer's credit limit, product availability and transport availability. Most will agree that taking orders that cannot be fulfilled doesn't make business sense. In this intensively competitive environment, it is increasingly important that company employees are empowered to make real-time decisions and that is what SAP supports."

mySAP CRM, part of the family of cross-industry solutions within the mySAP.com(r) e-business platform, enables businesses to focus on individual customers while providing the information and resources needed to manage those relationships more efficiently and profitably. The solution facilitates every phase of a company's customer interactions - from engaging the customer and negotiating business transactions through fulfilling orders and ensuring customer satisfaction - in a closed loop.

mySAP CRM supports customer interactions through all relevant channels - mobile devices, telephony, and the Internet - and enables companies to manage customer relationships from an operational, analytical, and collaborative standpoint. It delivers a greater value proposition than standalone CRM applications by seamlessly integrating with a company's e-procurement, supply chain management, business intelligence, and financial management systems as well as online marketplace hubs.

ISM's Top 15 rankings are featured in the 10th anniversary edition of The Guide to CRM Automation and can be viewed at: http://www.ismguide.com.