select crm compressed

Practical IT Research that Drives Measurable Results

Select the Right CRM Software

Introduction

Info-Tech Research Group 2

• CRM market consolidation is over and new entrants are quickly becoming dominant.

• More organizations are considering lower-cost CRM products, especially SaaS deployments, with fewer upfront costs.

• Interest in complex CRM suites is waning in exchange for CRM solutions that operate more like platforms.

This solution set will help you:• Select both the right CRM feature set and the right application delivery method for your organization to deliver immediate value and be flexible over the long-term.

• Significantly shorten the selection process by examining the vendors that Info-Tech has pre-screened as being recommended for SMBs.

• Spend your consultancy budget on CRM implementation, instead of selection.

Shortlist Solutions

Review the SaaS CRM deployment option.

Review Info-Tech’s scenario-based product selection recommendations.

Complete Info-Tech’s selection tool to generate a custom Decision Diamond ™ .

Compare Vendors

Understand the changes in the CRM market over the last two years.

Review the evaluation criteria used by Info-Tech in the CRM Decision Diamond ™.

Compare the overall performance of products and vendors.

Executive Summary


• The CRM market has been transformed by low cost products and products deployed as software as a service (SaaS).

• Microsoft and Salesforce.com dominate the CRM mindshare among SMBs today, a laudable achievement for both vendors. However, Oracle Siebel is still the 10,000 pound gorilla in the corner, with unparalleled features and functionality. Info-Tech’s evaluation ranked Salesforce.com, Oracle, and Microsoft as Leaders in the CRM marketplace.

• Categories still matter. Sage SalesLogix, and RightNow Technologies CX both ranked as Competitors to the Leaders’ CRM products. However, Sage SalesLogix is a category leader in the sales automation domain and RightNow Technologies CX is a category leader in service & support domain.

• The position of SAP CRM remains the same. If you’re already an SAP customer in the ERP domain, then adopting SAP CRM is a good decision. But non-SAP SMBs should look elsewhere for CRM. Info-Tech ranked SAP CRM as a Follower.

• Concerns about SaaS immaturity are no longer biasing CRM decisions. While three out of four organizations are still choosing products with on-premise deployments, the majority of these organizations are not doing so because of concerns about SaaS.

• Organizations should not rely on generic analyst firm rankings alone to generate a CRM short-list. Use Info-Tech’s CRM Short-listing tool to enter your own weighting factors into the evaluation tool and generate a CRM Decision Diamond ™ customized for your organization.


Shortlist Solutions



Complete Info-Tech’s selection tool to generate a custom Decision Diamond ™.

Compare Vendors




It’s not your father’s CRM market anymore.Microsoft & Salesforce.com dominate mindshare.


• With Dynamics CRM V4, Microsoft went from nowhere to a market leader in only two years.• Salesforce.com has redefined the CRM market and has legitimized CRM software as a service (SaaS).• Organizations are pushing back on complex CRM suites in favor of more generic CRM platforms.• Price pressure is extreme, with on-demand prices at less than $10 per user per month for entry-level CRM.• Oracle Siebel continues to dominate in CRM features, but it’s reputation for cost and complexity are well-

earned.

We asked SMBs, “Which of the following CRM solutions have you used, implemented, or are currently implementing in the last 18 months?”

N = 78

Evaluation criteria should encompassvendor & product attributes.


Creating categories for company attributes separate from categories that evaluate product attributes allows organizations to prioritize and weigh vendor performance separately from product performance. Info-Tech chose evaluation criteria across seven distinct categories:

Vendor Stability/Viability• Revenue & Profitability• Ability to Fund Growth• Breadth of Market & Products• Strength of Brand & Market Presence• Size of Customer Base• Staffing Experience & Skill Level• Level of Intellectual Capital• Track Record of Success

Vendor Strategy• Client Service & Support Innovation• Products and/or Services Innovation• Level of R&D Spending• Target Market Applicability• Clarity of Sales/Marketing Messaging & Positioning• Willingness to Extend with Partners• Effectiveness of Sales & Marketing Strategy

Product Pricing• Purchase Price• License Terms & Conditions

Product Ease of Use• Ease of Setup, Administrator Component• Ease of Setup, User Component• Ease of Use, Administrator Component• Ease of Use, User Component

Product Features• Basic/Baseline Features• Enhanced/Differentiation Features & Partnerships• Performance/Reliability• Scalability

Product Support• Baseline Support• Enhanced Support Options

Product Architecture• Maturity of Architecture• Cross-Functional Integration• Front Office/Back Office Integration• Deployment Options• Breadth of Supported Platforms

Info-Tech’s CRM Decision Diamond™ cuts through the hype.


Relative Score - Vendor Index

Relative Score - Product Index

Relative score is derived from normalizing all vendor scores to a scale of 0 to 4 for each category.

For more information on how and why Info-Tech selected these vendors to evaluate, see the Appendices.

With its solid record of SaaS implementations, Salesforce.com proves you can be a CRM leader without

an on-premise product.


Strengths Challenges• Strong brand recognition and product innovation.• Good track record of implementation success.• Best ease-of-use reported from customers.• Architecture has become more mature and sophisticated. • Faster implementation times confirmed by many customers.

• Front office/back office integration is poor; no vendor alignment with ERP.• Issues reported with complex integrations having large volumes of data.• Different client used for offline accessibility; no common look and feel.• Poor market knowledge of offline capability suggests some strategy communication issues.

Organizations that need a rapid time to market should consider Salesforce.com, the leading SaaS CRM provider.

Info-Tech Insight:

Oracle Siebel is still a brute force in the industry.


Strengths Challenges• High degree of brand recognition due to extensive user base. • The most robust and functionally-rich CRM product on the market today.• High public sector R&D focus; strong penetration.• Heavy focus on loyalty functionality embedded in full product for specific industry products.• Oracle is actively embedding Siebel into its Applications Unlimited Architecture and has embedded other Oracle products into this Siebel release.

• Pricing continues to be the major barrier to adoption; Siebel is still priced like a Cadillac, which makes it a tougher sell if budgets are restricted.• Some negative stigma remains amongst consumers that Siebel is highly complex to implement despite a number of product innovations introduced to ease customization and integration complexity.

Organizations with extreme vertical industry requirements should look to Oracle Siebel to satisfy their needs because of Siebel’s unparalleled breadth of industry solutions.

Info-Tech Insight:

In only two years, Microsoft achieves leadership status with Dynamics CRM v4 Platform.


Strengths Challenges• True native integration with MS Outlook and other apps in the Office suite; the CRM client is embedded in the Outlook window.• Utilizes SharePoint as a document repository; can also be used in the absence of customer/partner portals.• Embedded Active Directory Integration• Hosted, on-premise and mixed architecture deployment options. • Most organizations will already have the skill set necessary to administer and customize the solution.

• First truly viable product from Microsoft after three less-successful previous products.• v4 was released in 2008, so there is very little track record of ongoing success or understanding of the upgrade cycle.• No pre-built customer-facing apps. Requires SharePoint or third-party for customer portal. • Connector with Dynamics GP recently released, but integration with the entire Dynamics suite needs to continue.

Organizations that need a CRM solution that can be used more as a platform, such as building multiple solutions on the same platform, should consider Microsoft Dynamics CRM, especially the data center version of Dynamics CRM.

Info-Tech Insight:

Sage SalesLogix is a category leader in sales automation with strong sales pipeline automation.


Strengths Challenges• Good understanding and targeting of relevant markets.• Ability to fund growth; not a stand-alone product; strong commitment from Sage.• Sells through channel partners; strong partner relationships.• Good basic features included with entry-level price.• Growing presence among Sage clients.

• Sales and marketing strategy is ineffective; still has weak brand and market presence.• Lack of a SaaS alternative for large implementations.• Success track record historically below average, but has significantly improved since last Info-Tech review.• Slightly less breadth in product scope; still strongest in sales.• Smaller customer base.

Organizations with complex sales processes should consider Sage SalesLogix.Info-Tech Insight:

RightNow Technologies is a service & support category leader with RightNow CX, but remains unknown and

undervalued.


Strengths Challenges• Market share is good.• Purchase price is very reasonable given the baseline features.• Social CRM/Web 2.0 integration into customer interaction/experience management.• PCI-DSS level-1 certification.• Private hosting available.• Very strong in customer service and knowledge management.

• Mindshare is poor, virtually unknown among SMB.• Small staff of CRM thought leaders relative to competition.• Clarity of messaging and positioning to small enterprise could be improved. • SaaS-only architecture limits reach for some SMB clients.

Organizations with strongest needs in customer service, customer service knowledge management, and multi-channel customer interaction management should consider RightNow Technologies because of its strong capabilities in these domains.

Info-Tech Insight:

Existing enterprise investment in other SAP process automation areas remains the top reason to select SAP

CRM.


Strengths Challenges• High degree of brand recognition due to extensive SAP user base. • Natively integrated financials and CRM.• Strong vendor viability; SAP is a major player with a strong customer base.• Strong mobile support; large vendor platform stack (BI, ERP)

• SAP CRM requires mature CRM processes to ensure product success; changing business process mid-implementation will put the implementation at higher risk of failure than other CRM.• High barrier to entry and high TCO is not worth the expense if only implementing CRM but, if implementing CRM and ERP, high risk to doing both at same time.• Poor product strategy for expanding the CRM customer base.

Organizations that use SAP ERP products should strongly consider SAP CRM and leverage existing investments in SAP software to negotiate good pricing.

Info-Tech Insight:


Shortlist Solutions



Complete Info-Tech’s selection tool to generate a custom Decision Diamond ™.

Compare Vendors




Perceptions of SaaS immaturity are not influencing final CRM product & vendor selection. Don’t be fooled by SaaS

myths.


• Perception that on-premise CRM solutions are more easily customized and integrated with existing architecture were two most common decision criteria leading organizations to chose an on-premise solution over SaaS.

• Faster implementation time is cited as the principle differentiator for choosing SaaS. • A small number of on-premise implementers chose not to implement SaaS due to a perception of immaturity. This supports the idea

that organizations choose to implement on-premise for perceived superior functionality, not because SaaS is perceived as immature.

We asked SMBs, “BEFORE implementing the CRM solution, to what extent would your organization have agreed with the following statements? Was it a decision criteria?”

N = 59

No two organizations are alike.Use these scenarios to pinpoint the right CRM vendors.


1. Organizations that use SAP ERP products should strongly consider SAP CRM and leverage existing investments in SAP software to negotiate good pricing.

2. Organizations that need a rapid time-to-market should consider the leading SaaS CRM providers, Salesforce.com, or MS Dynamics CRM Online.

3. Organizations with strongest needs in customer service, customer service knowledge management, and multi-channel customer interaction management should consider RightNow Technologies CX.

4. Organizations with strongest needs in sales force automation should consider Oracle Siebel, Salesforce.com, or Sage SalesLogix.

5. Smaller organizations with complex sales processes should consider Sage SalesLogix or Salesforce.com.

6. Organizations committed to Sage ERP products, such as the AccPac or MAS product lines, should consider Sage SalesLogix due to the ongoing integration of front office to back office products across the Sage Software portfolio.

7. Organizations with extreme vertical industry requirements should look to Oracle Siebel to satisfy their needs.

8. Organizations that need a CRM solution that can be used more as a platform, such as building multiple solutions on the same platform, should consider MS Dynamics CRM, especially the data center version of Dynamics CRM.

9. Microsoft shops heavily invested in Office, Outlook, and SharePoint should put MS Dynamics CRM at the top of their shortlist.

10. Organizations heavily invested in Oracle ERP/BI products and/or Oracle Fusion should consider Oracle Siebel as their best choice in order to facilitate integration.

Identify scenarios that fit your organization before entering your own weighting factors into Info-Tech’s CRM Short-Listing Tool.

Info-Tech Insight:

No two organizations are alike.Use these scenarios to pinpoint the right CRM vendors.


Identify scenarios that fit your organization before entering your own weighting factors into Info-Tech’s CRM Short-Listing Tool.

Info-Tech Insight:

If… Then consider…Heavy investment in other SAP products SAP CRM

Heavy investment in Sage ERP products Sage SalesLogix

Heavy investment in Oracle ERP or Oracle Fusion Oracle Siebel

Need rapid time-to-market Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, RightNow Technologies

Strongest need is sales automation Sage SalesLogix

Strongest need is customer service RightNow Technologies

Have extreme vertical industry requirements Oracle Siebel

Need CRM platform on which to build multiple solutions

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Heavily invested in Microsoft SharePoint, Office, and Outlook

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Small organization with complex sales processes Salesforce.com, Sage SalesLogix

The CRM Shortlisting Tool generates custom results for your organization, based on weighting factors you choose.


Complete the Info-Tech CRM Shortlisting Tool to generate:

• A self-sorted ranking list of CRM vendors based on user input.

• A CRM Decision Diamond ™ customized for your organization.

Summary

• SaaS is a fully mature and credible application delivery method for CRM apps. Make decisions about the delivery method and licensing model after evaluating vendors on stability and product attributes.

• Use Info-Tech’s CRM Decision Diamond ™ to compare the vendors most appropriate for SMB, and reduce the amount of time and money the organization spends on a CRM software evaluation.

• There are many scenarios where organizations should choose vendors that are not ranked as Leaders. Your organization may be in a situation that indicates consideration of a vendor that does not rank as a Leader.

• Employ Info-Tech’s CRM Shortlisting tool. This tool allows you to chose your own weighting factors for the evaluation criteria, yielding a custom shortlist and a custom Decision Diamond ™. Play around with the weighting factors to produce multiple outcome scenarios, especially if your organization has different CRM needs across different business units.


Shortlist Solutions



Complete Info-Tech’s selection tool to generate a custom Decision Diamond ™ .

Compare Vendors




Need Additional Support?

Info-Tech goes beyond research: Speak directly to an analyst and/or engage on-site consulting services to help your team achieve results.

Trigger Point: Understanding CRM

Defining Customer and Organizational Focus

Making the Business Case

Our Advisory & Consulting Services

Definition of preliminary CRM requirements across the organization

Identification of primary drivers for CRM and business case development

Trigger Point: Developing a Strategy for CRM Selection

Understanding the Current StateDefining Functional and

Technology Requirements for CRM


Definition of existing CRM business processes; assessment of existing

policies and technologies

Identification of process, policy, and technology areas that can benefit from CRM and documentation of

requirements

Trigger Point: Comparing CRM Vendor Offerings

Reviewing the Vendor LandscapeIdentifying and Selecting

Solutions that Meet your Needs


Preliminary vendor short-listing, based on established functional and

technology requirements

Request for Proposal (RFP) development and vendor response

evaluation

Email our Advisory Team to find out how we have helped other clients and get your CRM initiative started today!

mailto:[email protected]

21Info-Tech Research Group

Appendices

22

Info-Tech Decision Diamond™ Methodology Overview

Info-Tech Research Group

Info-Tech’s 2010 CRM Decision Diamond™ evaluation process started with an SMB customer survey. Customers told us which vendors and products they’ve heard of and which ones they use or plan to use. They also told us that while they rarely select Oracle Siebel or SAP CRM, they wanted us to evaluate these products anyway. Adding Oracle to the evaluation significantly altered the relative scores of other vendors, especially SalesLogix and RightNow, compared to the 2007 Info-Tech CRM evaluation. SalesLogix and RightNow did not get worse since 2007, despite dropping to the Competitor Zone; in fact, they improved. However, Oracle’s Siebel CRM simply dominates almost every category and its inclusion this year has reshaped the outcome of the entire evaluation.

From these survey results and the domain experience of our analysts, a vendor/product shortlist was established. Then, a comprehensive survey was sent to these vendors, asking for basic information as well as embedding various knock-out criteria, criteria that our team used to screen out vendors and products that we could not recommend to our clients.

Evaluation Results


About Harvey Ball Scores Info-Tech generates a classic chart mapping the raw Vendor and Product Index scores for all vendors, called a Decision Diamond. However, for comparison of vendors across individual evaluation categories, we normalize all category scores to a scale of 0 to 4. This allows clients to compare the relative performance of each vendor against the others for each category, regardless of what the spread was for that category. A normalized score of 0 (zero) is depicted with a hollow circle. Each increment in relative score fills in a quarter of the circle, ending with a fully filled-in circle, representing a relative score in the category of 4.

What if a product is not a Leader?The six vendor/product finalists we evaluated for our mid-market CRM evaluation, while ranked as Followers, Competitor and Leaders, are all vendors and products that we would recommend to our mid-market clients under a variety of scenarios. For example, SAP CRM was ranked as a Follower, because it is simply inappropriate for most SMBs as a standalone CRM product. However, if your organization is an SAP shop already, then SAP CRM should be at the top of your list because of the built in SAP data integration. If we would not recommend it, then we did not evaluate it.

For More Information…

Customer Relationship Management Solutions

• Customer Relationship Management Solutions

• The 2009 Mid-market CRM Landscape Summary: SaaS Fully Matures

• On-Demand vs. On-Premises TCO Calculator

Customized Results for Your Organization• CRM Vendor Shortlist Prep Tool

Leader Zone Solutions• Salesforce.com• Oracle Siebel• Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Competitor Zone Solutions• Sage SalesLogix

• RightNow Technologies

Follower Zone Solutions• SAP CRM

http://www.infotech.com/research/customer-relationship-management-solutions

http://www.infotech.com/research/customer-relationship-management-solutions

http://www.infotech.com/research/the-2009-mid-market-crm-landscape-summary-saas-fully-matures

http://www.infotech.com/research/the-2009-mid-market-crm-landscape-summary-saas-fully-matures

http://www.infotech.com/research/on-demand-vs-on-premises-tco-calculator

Vendor Evaluation Criteria


Info-Tech used the following weighting factors for the evaluation. Organizations can use the CRM Short-Listing Tool to changes these weighting factors.

Product Evaluation Criteria
