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Is cloud CRM really that great?
Cloud CRM is considered the new norm in deploying your CRM for smart, forward thinking businesses, but is it really that good?
i. 2013 CRM Market Share Update: 40% Of CRM Systems Sold Are SaaS-Based, Louis Columbus, June 2013, http://www.forbes.com/
ii. Personal Cloud Market Will Experience Strong Growth Over Next Five Years, October 2013, http://
seagate.com/
Cloud CRM?
As cloud has matured, it’s reached a tipping point in its popularity, with consumers and businesses alike enjoying the no hassle approach to using the software they want, accessible anywhere at any time via web enabled devices or desktop browsers.
For many businesses, moving to the cloud became a make or break decision during the darkest years of the recession.
As businesses everywhere looked to streamline costs without hindering performance, many found moving their IT applications into the cloud a cost reducing exercise. And for many, moving their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution became a vital part of their success. So not surprisingly, cloud CRM developers are focusing their product development on cloud deployed solutions.
And cloud CRM’s rapid growth to date isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
In fact, it is expected to continue to grow rapidly, with cloud based CRM’s 40% of the CRM marketi share predicted to grow by a further 46% over the next 5 yearsii.
Why is it so popular?
Well, put simply, cloud computing and particularly cloud CRM can both increase profi ts and cut costs at the same time!
For the right companies, cloud CRM solutions can reduce costs usually spent on the popular on-premise CRM systems, whereby a company purchases and owns the software. Cloud CRM also enables the same companies to drive profi tability, by providing access to the latest CRM tools, functionality, integrations and enhanced mobile access, whether by tablet or mobile phone.
However, if you are considering migrating your existing CRM onto the cloud, or
if you are reviewing the deployment options of your fi rst CRM system, you can fi nd yourself drowning in the vast amount of information available on the benefi ts and concerns of cloud CRM. To make your research process easier, we have consolidated and summarised this information into one easy resource.
What options are there?
For those who aren’t familiar with the world of CRM deployment, there are various options available to pay for and utilise your CRM software.
It can be a daunting and complicated task to navigate your way through this mass of options, so before evaluating cloud CRM here’s a quick summary of the main choices you may encounter:
On-premise
Commonly seen as the traditional way to deploy CRM software and though rental payment models are available, on-premise CRM software usually involves up-front payment for the software in its entirety, which means you own it. The majority of on-premise CRM users, will access their system via a single location, where the CRM is installed. However, with a little internal work and expertise you can host your system yourself, making it web-accessible.
Cloud
The majority of cloud CRM solutions are rental based, leading to their description;
Software as a Service, as that is what you are really paying for – an ongoing
Cloud CRM at a glance How can it reduce costs?
❑ Low risk investment
❑ Low Initial investment
❑ Cut overall IT spend
❑ Ability to predict IT spend
❑ Best web hardware
❑ Easy to scale
❑ Faster to implement
❑ No security or backup issues
How can it increase profi ts?
❑ Increased collaboration
❑ Enhanced productivity
❑ Easier use of devices
❑ Easier to integrate
What are the concerns of cloud CRM?
❑ Long term costs
❑ Add-on fees
❑ Specialised customisation
❑ Legal requirements
❑ Security
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service. This model of deployment involves your CRM solution being publicly hosted externally on a server, meaning your data will sit along-side that of many other companies who are using the same provider on the same server.
Hosted
Hosting your CRM software can give greater fl exibility than the majority of cloud solutions, as you can actually own the software and just rent the hosting capacity, rent the software and the hosting or pay up-front for both. It also usually gives you the ability to decide if you want your data on a private server or a server shared with others.
How can cloud CRM reduce costs?
Low risk investment
No company likes taking on the risk of a large up-front investment. However, the usual payment model for owning a CRM system requires up-front investment for the software, as well as the required hardware, such as servers and resource.
For some businesses with signifi cant cash fl ow, this is great – you can purchase the software, receive the ‘box’ and take it away with you, but remember there will be some on-going costs associated.
Plus, what if something goes wrong?
What if the CRM isn’t fully adopted by your staff or you have to drastically downsize? You can’t walk away from the investment you’ve already made and it may come back to haunt you in a highly unpredictable global market.
In contrast, cloud CRM solutions popularly off er a rental model of payment, which comprises of scheduled payments, meaning you can walk away from it with minimal investment.
Low initial investment
There are many promising young start- ups and well established but small enterprises and entrepreneurs who can really benefi t from utilising CRM – it’s a great way for one person or a small team to quickly increase their productivity and data security. However, the higher initial payment of other CRM deployment types may simply be too much for these companies to invest in and this is where cloud CRM, with its popular rental payments, can allow these companies to take advantage of great CRM tools with limited initial upfront payments.
Cut overall IT spend
Many businesses which have purchased their CRM software and owned it over a long period of time, may have to spend time resolving software issues with their vendor or employ an in-house team to handle their IT needs. Both can be costly and time consuming, especially if you wish to keep at the forefront of CRM advancement by upgrading regularly.
Cloud CRM allows you to cut IT maintenance, as your monthly fee includes the cost of keeping your system in perfect condition and smart companies can start combining other business applications with their CRM in the cloud to dramatically reduce the amount they spend on in-house IT.
Ability to predict IT spend
The unlucky few may come across a big
technical issue with the CRM they own.
This may be caused by poor CRM vendor selection or by a change of internal IT infrastructure which impacts on the CRM system. Regardless of how it happened, for those unfortunate few, the unexpected expenses of restoring their system can be very costly, but for those using cloud CRM, these technical issues aren’t an issue – it’s all taken care of by a professional team who specialise in CRM and CRM only, so cloud CRM users can depend on one predictable fee.
Benefi t from the best web hardware
Most businesses will want their CRM accessible via the web, whether they resolve this by immediately implementing a cloud option or hosting their own deployment in-house, both are web accessible. Yet, this brings into question the ongoing cost of hardware and fl exibility. Due to the size of the data centres cloud CRM solutions utilise, increases in bandwidth or storage are easily dealt with and the hardware they use is regularly updated and constantly maintained.
However, if you are operating your own internally hosted CRM solution, you will have to update the hardware at some point, maintain it and conduct any advancements yourself, all of which can be costly if you don’t have the necessary internal expertise.
Easy to scale number of users
As the economic climate changes, companies can benefi t from fl exible scalability of their business software.
Whether venturing into new areas of business, streamlining operations or simply looking to expand your existing
“It is diffi cult to imagine how we would function without this invaluable tool to our business.”
Peter Hunt, Director, Multipix Imaging
The rental payment model cloud CRM usually allows companies to use the latest CRM functionality with minimal up-front investment.
market share, cloud CRM can empower companies to increase or decrease the number of user licences they require on a monthly basis.
Conversely, if you own the software, it is far more rigid and though you can add users, reducing your licences is diffi cult to process, as you have purchased the number of licences outright.
Faster to implement
Other deployment types are usually slower to implement than cloud CRM, which can be costly if companies underestimate the delay in enabling business critical processes. Start-up companies are particularly guilty of this mistake and may actually launch before their CRM solution is usable, meaning that they must fi nd a quick and usually more labour intensive alternative, which fragments their data. The time then needed to consolidate this data into the CRM when it becomes available can be extremely time consuming and if done incorrectly, can hinder your ability to use your CRM solution in a profi table way.
No security or backup issues
Many businesses will handle their backup separately to their CRM. This is simply because they want the peace-of-mind given by ensuring their vital company data is kept in more than one place. In many cases, this will involve the ongoing investment of a backup service of some type and depending on the sensitivity of the data, maybe even some security enhancements and a separate server.
Those who use cloud CRM don’t have this issue, as their data is automatically
backed-up and they benefi t from comprehensive and regularly updated data security and anti-virus protection.
How can cloud CRM increase profi ts?
Increased collaboration
Cloud CRM allows staff to collaborate more easily, due to its anywhere, anytime accessibility. This is especially useful for those who often have staff out of the offi ce, as they don’t have to be physically at their desks to work closely with other members of their team to resolve customer service cases, work on marketing campaigns, close sales opportunities or pick up calls on key accounts.
Enhanced access empowers productivity
The enhanced access that cloud CRM brings also increases company-wide productivity, empowering staff to work wherever and whenever they like. This can be fantastic for increasing the effi ciency of client site based staff , which can have their day planned according to location from the offi ce, with all the appointment locations one-click away on Google Maps, or managers who need to stay in touch and in control wherever they’re needed.
Allows easier use of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend is being fuelled by the increasing ownership of private devices, such as tablets and smartphones, which are being used for corporate purposes. The
new norm for mobile device ownership is currently 3 devices, with Gartner predicting 70% of people will conduct business via a personally owned smart device by 2018iii.
Cloud CRM empowers companies to take full advantage of such trends, most coming with purpose built mobile apps to allow CRM access on nearly any mobile device to allow greater access at no extra hardware cost to the company.
Easier to integrate with other software
In an online world, most businesses will make use of multiple pieces of web-based software – like CRM. With the increased development of Application Program Interfaces (APIs), it’s never been easier to integrate other business applications with your CRM for a complete system. In such situations, a cloud based CRM can act as a central hub, syncing customer and prospect data from all business applications into one central repository, to give your CRM users quick access to an amazing depth of current business information.
What are the concerns of cloud CRM?
If cloud CRM solutions are so wonderful, why isn’t everyone using cloud?
This is a common question and it completely depends on what you really need your CRM software to achieve.
Many companies choose a diff erent
iii. Bring Your Own Device, 2013, Gartner.
“Having implemented Maximizer CRM, our company saves at least 250 hours per year.”
Marco Karman, managing director, Ecoratio
The increased accessibility cloud CRM off ers empowers its users to increase their productivity.
CRM deployment to that of the cloud as the potential concerns simply outweigh the benefi ts, the most popular concerns include…
The cost calculation
Well established CRM providers implement solutions that last; considering what your other software needs are or what they’re going to be in the near future, it may be worth calculating the longer term costs of subscribing to cloud CRM vs owning your CRM software. Paying in one up-front investment may reduce your total cost of ownership.
Add-on fees
Be aware that many cloud CRM solutions are advertised under a monthly fee, but may require unexpected investment. For example, some may require a full-year payment up-front or have add-on fees for functions such as sending email campaigns or for modules which you thought were included.
Specialised customisation
Though cloud CRM off ers easier integration with other online applications, fl exibility can be restricted, especially if you require customisation or integration with other business software applications that are not available online.
If you want to heavily customise your CRM system to match your exact business requirements, or need to use a vital piece of software which you cannot integrate with a cloud-based solution, then a diff erent deployment type, such as on-premise, may be more suited to your requirements.
Legal requirements
Some industries are legally obligated to store their data on-site or within national boundaries. In such cases, cloud CRM may not be a viable choice, as some providers will only store your data in a few select locations.
However, there are other options for those in this position, such as CRM vendors who off er a locally hosted CRM solution, whereby the data is held within your geography, or an on-premise CRM solution which off ers you the ability to host the system yourself, whilst storing your data within your company offi ces.
Security
Cloud CRM usually operates from a shared server, meaning your data will sit alongside the data of other companies and could potentially be aff ected by what they do in certain situations. Some companies may wish to add an extra layer of security or rent their own dedicated server, which some mainstream cloud CRM off erings provide.
Finding a balance
As cloud becomes an increasingly developed technology, your options are expanding. Though the concerns explained here are valid and you should be aware of them if thinking about implementing fl exible cloud CRM, the majority of established CRM providers can off er you a cloud CRM solution which resolves all or many of the issues listed.
More importantly, don’t consider web accessible CRM as only available through
cloud CRM, in reality it’s far more complex than that – there are diff erent types of web accessible CRM – cloud CRM being only one of a very large range of options.
This is one factor anyone considering CRM should be aware of – that they aren’t trapped into narrow options of either payment or deployment; with the right provider, you can pay how you like and have your CRM where you like.
Finding a fl exible CRM provider
It’s easy - you’ve just read the guide of one:
Maximizer CRM!
We specialise in aff ordable, but highly fl exible CRM solutions, both in the cloud, on-premise and anywhere in between.
If you would like to learn more about Maximizer’s award winning CRM, why not try Maximizer CRM for FREE. Or if you’d like to discuss your requirements, call our friendly team of CRM experts on
+44 (0)845 555 99 55 or email [email protected].
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“Since our regional representatives have been able to access Maximizer on the go, we have seen a big improvement in the quality of customer contact.”
Steve Davison, Managing Director, Minus 40
There isn’t just one Cloud CRM option, but many, each off ering their own benefi ts. Make sure you get a deployment which is exactly
right for you.
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