E-CRM Deployment Options
A significant challenge facing companies today concerns investment in
electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) solutions. There are
a number of implementation options available to organizations, and I’ll
attempt to break down the pros and cons of the most popular deployment
strategies.
Option 1: In-House Implementation
By far, the most popular method of implementing an e-CRM solution is to bring the entire infrastructure in-house. Now, this approach affords companies the greatest degree of customization and flexibility. Application packages and networks can be tailored to address specific business requirements. However, owning your own e-CRM infrastructure carries many ongoing investment requirements and responsibilities.
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Option 2: An ASP for Specific CRM Solutions
An ASP manages and delivers packaged applications from an off-site location distributed via a wide area network. In most cases, an ASP aligns with a specific solution vendor to resell capabilities for a monthly fee. Although an ASP may offer a menu of solutions from various vendors, its service normally does not include building and maintaining integrated system architectures.
What ASPs provide is accelerated deployment speed and skilled support resources. Normally, an ASP will have significant service strength related to a specific package, accelerating implementation schedules. However, ongoing maintenance or integration with legacy infrastructures can be problematic if the provider has very limited industry expertise.
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Option 3: Outsourced Customer Contact Centers
The third option for companies seeking to implement e-CRM solutions is outsourcing specific customer contact point to third-party service providers. The classic example is contracting a call center support company to handle all inbound support calls. In the online arena, a number of service companies handle specific processes, such as email campaigns and response management.
Outsourcing specific functions to third parties is a rational choice for organizations seeking to lower the marginal costs of maintaining customer relationships. But there are system and process implications to consider. Data management with your support provider is a challenge, one that could sacrifice the quality of a customer’s experience.
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Option 4: e-CRM Solution Hosting
Service providers that host the entire e-CRM infrastructure offer many solutions to the challenges presented above. These service offerings, which are described as managed solution providers (MSPs), help companies address the technical, financial, and operational issues related to building a highly scalable infrastructure for e-CRM.
MSPs represent an evolution from first-generation ASPs. The greatest differentiator is that MSPs offer companies integrated solution sets rather than support for individual packages. MSPs invest their efforts in building the integration layer between applications and resell this capability for a monthly fee.
For example, an ASP may offer complete support for a sales force automation package. An MSP, however, typically offers to support the same package and integrate processes with other applications, such as customer analytics and call center support.
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What Is Your Plan?
As you have read, a number of options are available to companies seeking to implement e-CRM solutions. Overall, organizations should consider the following when deciding on a deployment strategy:
- Capital investment barriers
- Complexity of business needs
- Speed of deployment
- Appetite for ongoing maintenance and support
- Level of change within industry
These guidelines can often lead you to the proper decision for your organization. I would be interested to hear the decision criteria you have used in implementing your e-CRM solutions.
Reprinted from ClickZ.