CRM and Cloud Computing

For the past few months now, I have been following developments in the cloud and those are all cheery and bright. CRM being one of the not-strictly-in-house applications, is one of the prime candidates for "clouding" and obviously those of us who depend on CRM for a living are going to look at the developments closely. I am of the opinion that for better or for worse, moving services to the cloud is where we are headed. Software as a Service (SaaS) has already proved its mettle and has not limited itself to SMBs. However for those of the companies who just want their application but not the hassles and for those who may want independence to scale hardware and infrastructure as they wish, moving services to the cloud is an option. And that option has been picking up lot of heat with Amazon & its cloud services, Microsoft & Azure and so on & so forth.

With the above as backdrop what I really wanted to discuss is the recent McKinsey report, which has been interpreted at many a place as "cloud services are ineffective". In many ways, I see this hype/anti-hype as similar to that generated when initial SaaS discussions were on. SaaS came and is here to stay. But that did not make the current software market vanish (though I understand Mr. Benioff has been trying to do just that). Though the dust is not all settled today, we still see a lot of software vendors out there who are making a profit (with a decline on the cards) and at the same time there is a aggresive growth in SaaS market. With the ever lessening costs of SaaS, ever increasing competition and the ease & sophistication of customization options, we might see organizations moving to SaaS over a period of time - nothing overnight. Who knows SaaS vendors may unveil even better strategies to capture new segments by addressing many of the critical issues that face the customer today - yes, including data security concerns.

I see a similar analogy in the cloud services market that will include more than just the one-fits-all software. No data centers are going to move to cloud over night, but will be a gradual process. From where I stand, it makes business sense for the provider to put together a bunch of options and let the users use remote servers and services without the hassle of maintaining one. This has to be cost effective and can result in better resource utilization in the long run. But, not all organizations will be able to do it - may it be geographic constraints or plain "sense of ownership" thought-process. The McKinsey report does deal with such questions and the observations are simple:

• Cloud reduces upfront costs
• Almost immediate access to servers
• Smooth scaling up of services on demand

Cloud services already has made a dent and does make a lot of sense for the SMBs but large organizations would be better off by not investing too much too quickly. Hosting your services in-house costs lot cheaper than putting them on Amazon. New technologies tend to garner lot of interest and that sometimes over-cooks it - too much hype will not automatically translate into benefits. I for one sincerely believe cloud computing will be mainstream and will define the standard in not-too-distant future. Ultimately what will work is the same mantra as IT outsourcing - "We want to concentrate on what we do best and let the IT part be handled by specialists". Here we will have organizations who want to be agile in their response to market and leave the infrastructure & software to be maintained elsewhere. What do you think?

Desi CRM Anyone?

This other day, while hunting for CRM news at work, I encountered a surprising Google ad – “ImpelCRM, the market leader of OnDemand CRM in India”. Wait a minute now – where was I when a player, hitherto unknown, is already claiming to be a leader? I do try to keep tab on the happenings in CRM market, and this would be too big a splash to go unnoticed. Something is indeed going on – I decided to check it out.

I am taken to this slow loading website that may not be termed “pretty”. Some last minute collage could be put up, no? The site also tries to install an ActiveX control – at least now I am not willing to risk installing it and checking out its purpose.

Anyhow, Impel CRM is the wonder boy and the promoters are from Kempapura in “namma Bengaluru” - PK4 Technologies, quoted in a listing site as “delivers software solutions in a revolutionary manner: by reducing team-size and increasing the use of tools and technologies”. “Adaptable, Affordable, Adjustable – CRM for India” goes the tagline. Why India I wonder? Well, I cannot be too skeptical, have to see what is going on.

The Company

PK4 Technologies, the Bangalore based company, was selected as one of the finalists in NASSCOM's 100 IT Innovators 2007 for its framework ZeroCode, an on-demand web application development framework that enables users to quickly build and instantly deliver browser-based applications. PK4 exhibited the product at Startup City trade show on 24-May-2008, held at the NIMHANS Convention Centre. Expectedly, “ImpelCRM is India’s only completely OnDemand CRM solution”. The release also says they have garnered lot of interest in the six weeks from launch. Whew, I have not distanced myself too much from the CRM happenings.

The Solution

Is a typical hosted CRM solution, datacenters are based in India. Vendor claims scalability to thousands of users. The application is customizable and “integrates with any system”. While writing about comprehensive CRM, the focus points have been provided as:

• Sales Force Automation
• Marketing Automation
• Customer Service Automation
• Partner management

Since most vendors claim whatever they do and that alone as CRM, we will try to drilldown into how Impel satisfies these functionalities.
There are “verticalised” solutions catering to Manufacturing, Healthcare, Government, Insurance and Real Estate. But the message I get is that their “product” fits into the various verticals – which I read as “You can use this product, but is not really tailored for your processes”.

Mobility

Accounts, contacts and opportunities can be added using SMS. All that and orders can be reviewed through SMS as well. Users can add or view accounts, contacts, opportunities and activities through the browser on mobile phone using “Impel Mobile SFA”, while “Impel Mobile Customer Support” lets users add trouble tickets and view resolutions. Getting mobile comes at a price, Rs.1500 setup and Rs.200 /month thereon. First 50 SMS are free while anything additional costs Rs.2/SMS.

Technology

Ajax and JSON technologies are used to auto fill data entry forms. Apparently, PK4 uses its ZeroCode under the hood. Will update further details if I find out any.

Service & Support

Impel guarantees a 99.99% uptime other than scheduled maintenance. Support is provided 8X5 – that is 8hrs/day on regular working days. Phone, email along with chat support through a bunch of Gmail, Yahoo IDs? Email support is unlimited, we are told.

Security

We are assured of data security through legal and procedural measures to limit access to data. Each customer gets a db on a virtual server and is not shared. Hosting is in Level 3 data centers. Servers are monitored real time and I suspect this is largely done by the data center, while Impel relies on SMS sent during disaster. Relevant data backups and replication are in place.

Cost

Is the pricing is confusing or is it just me? Probably, they could have best taken it to the end user and make it transparent to the first timer visiting the site. In short, the more you use it, the bigger discounts you will get ('Big Bazaar' CRM!?). It ranges from Rs.1000 per user per month at the higher end to Rs.700. Setup is Rs.1500 per user and mobility charges are extra.

My gripes

• The website itself needs a hand in content management and aesthetics. Though I am no website freak (you have seen this, yeah?), a more professional look & feel would do good. The server going down and coming back up in some time reminds me of the way we manage our CRM applications, but of course demoing it to users on the web can be disastrous.
• There are featured customers on the website, but we don’t know what they are doing with the product. Maybe, the company will do that as time progresses
• There are claims of ROI within 12 months. What is the data to back this up? Is it just that other products can do it and hence, we can do it? Or were they in business before the product launched?
• Lot of copied in posters, case studies & gyan – Just providing lot of information will not translate into “my product will do that”

What's Good?

Well, you may say I had time to waste to go through the vendor’s offering before it catches the eye of the people. But, that is precisely the point – I have nothing but admiration and appreciation for the team involved. I want people in India to stand up and notice. Launching a CRM product is no small feat and innovation is not that widespread in that area. Coupled with their technical expertise I am sure this will make its mark in the market. Hmm.., I want them to succeed.

• Created an impact with their ZeroCode (http://www.zerocode.com)
• Their blogs are cool (http://blog.impelcrm.in/?cat=11,12,13,14,15,18)

You want more? Check out their site. I couldn't find more because I was not given a "Try" license in my personal capacity.

References

http://www.impelcrm.in