The way companies use and pay for customer relationship management (CRM) applications is changing. Moving from a predominantly perpetual license-based system, where companies paid a large up-front sum and then smaller annual maintenance fees, CRM software providers are now moving towards monthly or annual subscription fees to access CRM software on the Internet. The various … Continue reading »
Filed under Microsoft …
Will Salesforce.com Become a Data Player, Not a CRM Player in Time?
Salesforce.com seems to be blowing out its sales numbers and in a lot of ways that is great news. What is good for the market leader is good for everyone in the space: the great sales numbers validate our market message and really proves that all businesses need a great CRM initiative. One of the … Continue reading »
Search Versus Find, There is a Difference
While at the VRM+CRM conference a few weeks ago someone (my apologies I cannot remember who) did a nice job talking for a just a few minutes about the difference between ‘Searching’ and ‘Finding’. I have never really given it much thought, but there is a rather large distinction here. Wait, it must be Wednesday, … Continue reading »
Poll Results: Low CRM Adoption or Lots of Opportunity?
In my latest Outsiders monthly poll I asked the blog readership and the Twitterverse at large what NON-CRM system they are most using in their organizations. Here was the breakout: 43% – Email/Spreadsheets 22% – Online data Service (Hoover’s, InsideView, Jigsaw etc.) 18% – Social Network (Facebook, LinkedIn) 12% – Twitter 4% – Other OK, … Continue reading »
Taking My Turn at the 2010 CRM Predictions Game…
I think most of us are more happy than sad that 2009 is drawing to a close. In the global sense, 2009 sucked. Plain and simple. But if you’re a silver-lining type of guy (which I am not) you can say that at least we all learned about the value of hard work, the importance … Continue reading »
Defining the Cloud vs. Multi-Tenant SaaS…Yet Again
I received a comment/question on my last post. The individual asked me to explain how Microsoft is more application-centric in its cloud vision, and to better define my definition of the cloud. I responded in the comments section, but I liked my definition so much I wanted to make a post out of it. Below … Continue reading »
Why I Like Microsoft in the Clouds
It is odd to see a company filled with open source wonks excited about working closely with Microsoft. However, the guys in Redmond have a pretty strong vision for cloud computing in Azure – one that I personally feel is different than anyone making a major play for the cloud today. Why? Well, for a … Continue reading »
SugarCRM, Microsoft and the Open Cloud Come Together in Azure
It seems a little counter intuitive to say that it looks like blue skies for Microsoft shops looking to extend Sugar into the cloud…but that is the case with a newly announced SugarCRM and Microsoft alliance focused on the Azure platform. For those of you not cloud savvy, a bit on Azure: Windows Azure is … Continue reading »
SugarCRM and Open-Xchange – Managing Your Social CRM
SugarCRM is partnering with open source groupware provider Open Xchange, a move that offers yet even more choice for enterprises of all sizes looking for affordable, flexible software solutions. But the move is a little more than a “Microsoft alternative” situation. While Open-Xchange does of course handle a lot of the tasks as Microsoft’s tool, … Continue reading »
Looking for Great CRM for Your Mac? Try the BitNami Sugar Stack
One of the great things about SaaS or cloud-based software is that all you need is a web browser to be up and running. And for the most part, the web architecture of Sugar means that all end users need is a web browser to access the system. But on site software is still a … Continue reading »
