 Dear
Readers,
Today's issue looks at industry trends like Analytic Applications, where the future
of business intelligence lies. According to industry analysts, the future of companies
like Siebel and Oracle lie in the small to midsize enterprise.
Our feature article today asks whether it's better for you to build a
CRM application from scratch, or to buy and modify a vendor solution. The author
seems biased towards buying a completed package, but I'm not convinced. I'd like
to hear what you think.
Our closing articles focus on your sales force. One is a case study of a bowling
supply company that botched its first attempt at SFA, but tried again. The other
looks at some non-technological ways to optimize your sales force.
I hope you find this issue useful. If you have any questions, or need any specific
information, please feel free to email me.
Best Wishes,
Garrett
Industry Trends
Analytic Applications: Beyond
Business Intelligence
Analysis is the root of all intelligence. This article investigates analytic applications
and their uses in the various aspects of your business. How do analytic applications
apply to your CRM initiative? As CRM migrates from the marketing department to
the forefront of enterprise, analysis becomes imperative.
Read
the Full Article
SMEs the last best hope for CRM
The CRM market shrank by 25% from 2001. Pundits see hope for the likes of Siebel
and Oracle in CRM applications that "incorporate whole business processes, which
sometimes involve supply chain or financials functionality..." The Vendors' other
hope is the small and medium-sized enterprise. Read the future of CRM here.
Read
the Full Article
The Killer ASP
Most application service providers went the way of Pets.com. Some lived. Oracle's
Larry Ellison is pushing an ASP revival, with lowered implementation and upgrade
costs to customers. Hire CRM as an ASP, rent a little mainframe power from IBM's
grid, and you may just decimate your IT budget.
Read
the Full Article
CIO's Need to Know:
Build or Buy?
Should you task your IT department with building a CRM solution
from scratch, orshould you call the vendor that specializes in your tier? This
article remindsenterprising CEOs of the long-term costs of building from scratch,
and asks, point blank, "Is that the best use of that person's time, creating something
that's already been built, versus taking that and deploying it in a more effective
manner that will automatically in the future be able to be maintained by someone
else?"
Read
the Full Article
Sales-Force Automation
Bowling for Customers
It's nice to read about a sales-force automation success story. This one comes
from AMF Bowling Products. It was a hard-won success though, involving close attention
from the VP of North American sales, and close involvement with the sales team.
Read this article if you use SFA software, or if you're considering implementation.
Read
the Full Article
Is Your Sales System Clogged with
Accumulated Gunk?
It will take more than SFA software to get your sales-force running optimally.
This article looks at some of the ways the sales system begins to slow, and ways
you can clean out that sales pipe to make way for a stronger flow of profits.
Read
the Full Article
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