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On-Demand CRM software review Salesforce.com
  
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saas crm On-Demand CRM Software Review Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com CRM Software Review Summary

Key advantages include:

  • CRM software market share leader position. Salesforce.com is a marketing machine and the self proclaimed poster child for software as a service. The company spent $376 million in aggressive marketing, advertising and media promotions in 2007.
  • Very strong help content and online training materials.
  • A thin-client, browser-based application designed for hosted, on-demand Internet delivery.
  • Simple user interface that is well received by users new to CRM software systems.
  • Industry specific and vertical market software solutions – although fairly light in terms of deep functional foot print.
  • The AppExchange third party programs offer a foundation for extending the solution with deeper functionality from specialist application providers.

Key disadvantages include:

  • Simple user interface that is often quickly outgrown by experienced users.
  • Lots of screen refreshes and scrolling up and down; the transition between multiple screens to process transactions can make for a laborious user interface.
  • Marketing management functionality is extremely limited. Salesforce.com recommends using a third party partner application. This involves additional costs and vendor management.
  • Software customization utilities can be cumbersome and technically challenging to use.
  • Dashboards do not always reflect the application security for specific users; the security work-arounds represent significant administration effort.
  • Despite numerous service interruptions over several years, no Service Level Agreement (SLA) provided in standard contract.
  • Data center reliability has been questioned and several prior interruptions in service have been recorded.

Other Comparable Solutions To Consider

As a provider of on-demand CRM applications Salesforce.com faces an array of competitors in both on-premise and Software as a Service delivery models. Some of the primary hosted CRM software competitors are presented below:

Aplicor (http://www.aplicor.com)
Based in the United States with international offices in the UK, Costa Rica and Australia, Aplicor is a global software publisher of subscription-based and hosted CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Project Management and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) web-based software solutions for high growth, mid-market and enterprise organizations. The CRM system offers Sales Force Automation (SFA), Marketing, Customer Service and Partner Relationship Management (PRM). Aplicor also offers as part of the CRM system, a fully integrated project management module. The ERP application provides full back office financial accounting, distribution, manufacturing, human resources, job costing, fixed assets and multiple currency management. The combined CRM front office with ERP back office delivers a single, integrated, hosted business system which provides a holistic view of the customer relationship and consolidates front office and back office information for complete and real-time enterprise-wide visibility.

NetSuite (http://www.netsuite.com)
Incorporated in September 1998 as accounting software company 'NetLedger' and majority owned by Oracle heavyweight Larry Ellison, NetSuite is also a provider of an on-demand and integrated business application software suite that include accounting software, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and e-commerce storefront software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). NetSuite’s hosted ERP systems stands in stark contrast to the many software as a service (SaaS) best of breed solutions which attempt to assemble mission critical business software systems from different providers whom leverage different technologies, different user interfaces, different hosting locations, different Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and different help desks or customer support programs.

Sugar CRM (http://www.sugarcrm.com)
SugarCRM is a maker of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software for small businesses. The SugarCRM solution offers all of the standard CRM modules, including Sales Force Automation (SFA), Marketing and Customer Service. SugarCRM's open source technology allows companies to more easily customize and modify their CRM software to match their customer-facing business processes. Sugar CRM offers multiple delivery options, including on-demand, on-premise and appliance-based solutions to suit customers' security, integration and budget requirements.

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