Local launch of hosted Dynamics CRM service

Microsoft belatedly got into the hosted CRM market last year when it put its Dynamics CRM service online. Now local integrator Complete Solutions is offering the service to New Zealanders...

 

Complete Solutions has partnered with Revera to offer the entry-level Software-as-a-Service CRM service. Launched in the US last April, the hosted service provides online marketing and sales tools that can be integrated with Microsoft Office and Outlook applications. It can also integrate external data such as maps from Virtual Earth.

The online CRM service competes with that of hosted CRM software leader Salesforce. com. Indeed, Complete Solutions’ John Biggs says the $80 a month per user price the NZ service is being offered at competes “with similar services run out of the US”. Biggs is director of CRMNOW, which is what the new service has been called. Full support to deploy the hosted service is also being offered, for $2,000.

Biggs says the company’s decision to offer the Dynamics CRM online service locally was spurred by overseas trends and growing demand here. “Overseas, cloud-based CRM is being picked up by larger and larger organisations attracted to the flexibility of SaaS and its pay-as-you-go approach.”

The original US offering was initially aimed at small- to medium-sized businesses, with plans to scale up to suit larger organisations later on.

It was specifically released in response to customer demand to access business applications from “the cloud”, according to Yankee Group analyst Sheryl Kingstone, speaking when the online service was launched. She said Microsoft had to come out with a hosted CRM offering. There were some issues around integration with Microsoft’s unified communications technology, she added, although, a year on, these have hopefully been resolved.

CRMNOW’s Biggs says that the advantage of SaaS is its flexibility. “It’s extremely fast to market, and cost-effective to reconfigure as staff numbers change. This is almost a self-service offering for clients; if they have a little IT knowledge they can provision it themselves.”

He says users can be up-and-running in a day. The tools used also have the advantage of being familiar to most organisations using Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer. Staff can plan activities, schedule meetings, organise diaries and work collaboratively on projects.

Social CRM

Beyond basic CRM is an even newer aspect of CRM than its SaaS incarnation – CRM social media. This is the use of social networking tools like online chat, as well as alerts and text updates, to provide a better customer service.

One example here is local company RightNow, which includes chat sessions as part of its SaaS CRM service. This allows online users to resolve an issue without the need for multiple emails. TelstraClear has implemented RightNow’s live chat service to help with online sales with reportedly good results.

The use of text to aid customers and thus build better relationships is also emerging. Examples include Nokia planning to provide a repair-status text or email service, so it can keep users abreast of progress on their repairs. This service will be provided by Nokia’s new Auckland and Christchurch care centres.

Auckland’s Fullers ferry service offers a similar service around ferry time-updates, sending out text-alerts if a ferry is delayed or cancelled due to bad weather.

These are modest examples but they point the way to a growing sophistication around customer relationship care that web and now mobile technology is helping foster.

9/3/24_ex_m_h_nl

Visit the Microsoft Dynamics exhibit in the CRM Pavilion

Visit the CRM Research Pavilion

 

site by doubleclique