Summer heat got you feeling a little crabby?  Stop on by Skips Bar and Grill for a cold one, and leave with something to crow about. (Photos by Charlie Kemmerer)

I read an excellent article at SearchCRM.com, titled “Gartner Debunks SaaS CRM Myths” which supports what I recently wrote about in my Cloud article.   You can read the original article at http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/news/2240019899/Gartner-debunks-SaaS-CRM-myths, but we’ve also included it here (on our website) for your convenience. (more…)

By Charlie Kemmerer

While attending Sage Insights Partner Conference last month, the big CRM buzz was focused around the cloud version of SalesLogix scheduled for release later in June.  What surprised me was the strong messaging not only for new clients, but for existing SalesLogix customers.  In fact, existing on-premise SalesLogix customers can migrate to the cloud for only $35 per user, per month.  This is an unbelievable value for clients who haven’t customized their SalesLogix systems, and could represent a significant IT savings.  The cloud version of SalesLogix is yet another solution to our growing arsenal of tools to help our clients with their CRM needs. Additionally, special incentives were announced to get former SalesLogix customers back to SalesLogix and back on track with their support plans.  Special financing terms were announced for brand new SalesLogix clients.  There has never been a better time to take a new look at your CRM system, and we look forward to walking you through that evaluation process.

It is one of the most frustrating aspects in this business. We work hard to show value and ROI for implementing a CRM solution, the customer assembles a selection team, we go through the ‘us vs. them’ selection process, sometimes for months on end, then the customer makes a decision. 

The implementation starts: evaluate the processes and business requirements, design customizations, decide on implementation methods, assemble prototypes, convert data, and create integrations.  Then, the work with the users starts so that we can try to get a solution that provides all people in the organization value: the sales people have a tool to manage their prospects and customers, sales managers have a tool to forecast and evaluate their direct reports and the sales VP has a tool to see what is going on in his/her organization from a high level view. It’s the ultimate, all in one solution to everyone’s prayers. (more…)

Photo by Charlie Kemmerer

With summer upon us, I wanted to share a photo I took a while back while on a business trip.  I hope your summer is filled with friends, fun, and sun (and a nap or two).

Cloud Computing is a deployment method where the software is provided as a service rather than owned and hosted on-site. Cloud Computing can reduce a company’s costs by allowing them to avoid the capital investment in hardware and software and the recurring costs of your IT infrastructure. Wikipedia has an excellent discussion of Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing is a deployment method and deployment is typically only one aspect in the selection of a CRM solution. We use the multi-year total cost of ownership (TCO) to compare on-premise and Cloud applications. Most companies rank usability, security, flexibility and ability to meet a company’s needs as well as the TCO in the selection of a CRM solution.

Our customers who are hosted all tend to be smaller companies with no IT resources. The cost for locating their CRM system elsewhere is less than building a server room with firewalls, routers, servers and Windows domains. Other customers with more than 25 users have elected to host the application themselves. They already have server facilities and IT departments and have found that hosting adds very little to their workload.

Selecting an Enterprise solution can be challenging. There are many aspects to consider – total cost of ownership is only one aspect. Below is more information on the economics of Cloud Computing as found on Wikipedia:

Cloud computing users can avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use. Consumption is usually billed on autility (resources consumed, like electricity) or subscription (time-based, like a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost. Other benefits of this time sharing-style approach are low barriers to entry, shared infrastructure and costs, low management overhead, and immediate access to a broad range of applications. In general, users can terminate the contract at any time (thereby avoiding return on investment risk and uncertainty), and the services are often covered by service level agreements (SLAs) with financial penalties.^[15][16]

According to Nicholas Carr, the strategic importance of information technology is diminishing as it becomes standardized and less expensive. He argues that the cloud computing paradigm shift is similar to the displacement of electricity generators by electricity grids early in the 20th century.^[17]

Although companies might be able to save on upfront capital expenditures, they might not save much and might actually pay more for operating expenses. In situations where the capital expense would be relatively small, or where the organization has more flexibility in their capital budget than their operating budget, the cloud model might not make great fiscal sense. Other factors impacting the scale of any potential cost savings include the efficiency of a company’s data center as compared to the cloud vendor’s, the company’s existing operating costs, the level of adoption of cloud computing, and the type of functionality being hosted in the cloud.^[18][19]

Below is a post from Todd Hardin who used to be a partner at CRMPlus Consulting and now works for Sage’s Professional Services Group. I’ve followed his postings for quite some time as he is an advocate for Best Consulting Practices. This one was good enough – and applies to just about anyone who works on projects and also has e-mail – that I thought it was worth sharing with all of our readers.

People who have worked on projects with me over the years will be familiar with these tips that I’ve often evangelized about – some might even mention the phrase “Todd’s favorite soap box” if asked. Admittedly, I am passionate about the following: (more…)

With the New Year underway and a full economic recovery predicted this year, we wanted to let you know how truly thankful we are for each and every one of you, and we are so appreciative of your business.

We are looking forward to all the positive things 2010 is positioned to bring, and all the amazing advancements we expect to see this decade.  I can only imagine what the software and IT industry will look like in the next ten years, but I can tell you that CRMPlus will be there with you to continue to support your company in your sales automation needs.

Thank you for your continued support, and from all of us at CRMPlus, we are looking forward to growing with you in 2010 and beyond.

Charlie Kemmerer,

President, CRMPlus Consulting

Welcome to my first blog post!  We just implemented the CRMPlus blog as yet another resource for our clients.  Here you will find all of the articles sent in our monthly newsletter, tips and tricks from our team, learning opportunities (most of which are free by the way), and so much more.  We hope you’ll find it usefull, in fact, you can even subscribe via RSS feed so you’ll never miss an update! 

I welcome any feedback you have .. especially ideas on things you’d like to see here!

Charlie