CRM 2011!

It is that time of the year folks - time when you, I and every IT guy worth his salt tends to get clobbered with analyst talk. This is all about the past year - how they prophesized just right, and how the world is converting to paradise or is getting destroyed in the nuclear winter next year. Since I too am finding myself putting together hard-to-comprehend words one too many times, I thought this is something ought to be addressed pronto (before you sink too deep in the holiday mood that is). Since CRM is what I am doing all the time (it is actually Siebel application development, but it feels liberating to be more generic), this is a short list of what I think should happen to CRM in 2011.

1. Fusion should come out of its wraps
   Inspite of Elison's jab at the implementable state of Oracle Fusion apps, I quite look forward to it. In the process, I also look forward to throwing out all the experience of developing lousy scripts using eScript/Siebel VB, half-baked COM interfacing programs, workflows with a clunky interface and all the configuration fun that can be had in any version of Siebel apps post v7. I will miss dismissing customer requests with a hard-hitting statement - "the functionality is tagged to SRF, and cannot be changed now". 2011 is a good year to brave up to J2EE, ODI, WebCenter, WebLogic and other hotchpotch. This is number one solely because I am associated with Siebel for too long a time.
   
2. SaaS triumps in Large Enterprises
   Yes, I know this has been said since the inception of SFDC and the glorious just-dream-forces unleashed upon us. But it is not hard to listen when businesses (not IT) is shouting at you about why they should be spending so much on CapEx and ongoing maintenance including upgrades. So there will be a slew of studies on SaaS take-over, hybrid architectures and how many millions one saved while firing the software and the dream-teams which were keeping them afloat. Well, this cannot happen in next year alone but will enable me to brag about how it came true to a certain extent at the end of 2011.
   
3. Mobile to the Rescue!
   Mobile phones with their ubiquity and affordability, should wield greater power over deciding the CRM strategy. How many of us wants to navigate the shiny website of Airtel when the transactions can be done through mcheck? CRM will get more focussed in the mobile space, true for developed and developing countries alike. App development, here I come!
   
4. Social CRM will bring down companies to their knees
   Well, I sort of made it up - companies don't have knees. Service companies especially will struggle to keep an eye on what is going on, and would have to resort to several IT adventures before they can get things right. A piece of copied advice - it is not about IT guys (a.k.a 'dont blame me'), set your focus on what you want to do when customers are talking all good or bad about you.
   
5. Paul Greenberg should be crowned the undisputed thought-leader of CRM
   I really like his way of writing - the book and the blog, even with my zero knowledge of baseball. Though I feel he vastly over-rates the power of getting Social, being a undisputed leader will push to the fore-front his genial thoughts on maintaining good customer relationship.