Many organizations fail to do their due diligence with selecting and implementing a CRM platform, leading to a misfire in creating business value. Root causes of CRM select and implement failure include poor business-IT alignment (and business to business alignment), inadequate requirements and inexperienced internal staff.Don’t be myopic: create a cross-functional project team that can run with the ball for both selection and implementation.Organizations that succeed with CRM don’t focus on the needs of the here and now: they focus on the organization’s future-facing trajectory and collect their CRM requirements accordingly. Not having a plan for vendor selection is planning to fail. Organizations that succeed with CRM vendor selection take a rigorous, RFP-driven approach that balances departmental needs across marketing, sales and customer service, and uses the CRM architecture model as a driving framework for shortlisting and selection.Many companies pick a solid CRM suite, only to fail to implement it correctly. Remember that IT should continue to “conduct” the CRM orchestra with the involvement of marketing, sales and service during implementation.CRM isn’t a “deploy and forget project”: you need an ongoing plan for maintenance that takes place after enterprise deployment – this plan isn’t just about maintenance, it must also be about governance.

http://www.infotech.com/research/ss/select-and-implement-a-crm-platform