On Demand Web Services

There are a number of posts over on the CRM blog this last week about the future of on-demand or software as a service implementations of CRM.  Notably that companies are now embracing the ability to launch online tools quickly and getting over being hung up on the "we-need-to-own-it" mentality. 

Finally!  I have wondered for quite some time why companies have been so set on spending an extraordinary amount of time, money and the acquiring of expertise, that isn't related to their core values, to own and operate software and service offerings that can be managed and deployed more economically and robustly through outsourcing.

I also find it telling that in the post The Future of Customer Relationship Applications, they quote some analyst statements that are very telling about the direction of these implementations:

Liz Herbert from Forrester says: "An increasing number of businesses are choosing on-demand CRM solutions because of greater customization abilities, and integration with other services is the last hurdle for on-demand CRM to cross."

Sheryl Kingstone from Yankee Group says about Web Services: "This new technology foundation enables the assembly, distribution, and management of business solutions in a way not possible before, with the results being faster decision-making and a lower total cost of ownership for CRM customers."

David Cowgill's post is a good one, go read it.  But, for my purposes (and as you'll see mentioned in David's post) the successful deployment of on-demand software should point to other online offerings that can be integrated to a company's online Web presence, allowing them to extend and customize their tools to deliver more benefit than traditional vanilla CRM offerings.

CRM is about records management.  I think that if companies are smart in their thinking about this, they will create on-demand interactions in their marketing Websites, sales portals and partner extranets that feed information directly to their CRM processes seamlessly and do double duty by delivering immediate and useful tools on the user side.

Examples of this can be sales proposal tools on their sales portal and partner extranet that allow their sales reps to create complex proposals with correct component combinations and customer level pricing, format and email them and update the CRM at the same time.   From anywhere.

Another example is a sales letter generator that allows them to select relevant text options, customize the introduction and close, generate appropriate letterhead format, convert to email and send while updating the content of the interaction to the prospect to the CRM system.

These two ideas for sales portal extensions reduce the need for sales reps to do double data entry into the CRM system, allow them to quickly and efficiently communicate with their prospects and customers, speed the sales process and give management the information they need to monitor forecasting and activity.

And the tools I'm talking about can be delivered optimally by outsourcing.  There are many more options available, too numerous to list here.

Think about the types of on-demand interactions your marketing website can deliver that could be updated directly to your CRM system without an employee having to expend additional effort to get them into the system.  I think it's time for companies who want to utilize their Web presence as a tool that delivers increasing lead generation and customer service to begin thinking about how much more powerful their on-demand Web presence can be than just traditional CRM tools.

Start thinking about how the combination of online interactions can streamline your business processes and deliver seamless value in combination with the things you're already doing. 

It can be fast.
It can be cost efficient.
It can be flexible and scaleable.
It can be outsourced and delivered as a service.

Instead of looking at software as a service as losing control of something, look at it as gaining the expertise and support of a Web team/group that would cost you more in time, management and money to deploy yourselves.  Think about the benefit of getting a whole team of dedicated Web experts and strategic thinking outside the confines of your company's culture and structure to deliver beyond what you've come to expect.

And yes, you can also have the option to take it in house, should you lose your mind in the future.

What is your company doing to proactively broaden your on-demand interactions?