Online business Toolkit

CRM: Dream or nightmare?

Tags:
Siebel,
CRM,
Microsoft

Larry Dignan CNet

Published: 16 Apr 2002 16:56 BST

Harris said Gevity HR has used Oracle for its CRM applications since 1999, when it chose to use the software company's products for front- and back-office uses. The company has upgraded Oracle's e-business software a few times and has managed by tackling CRM in small pieces.

"A lot of these things fail because companies try to do everything at once," Harris said.

She said some problems were related to Oracle's software release schedule. "We went through beta testing with Oracle, so there were some normal bumps," she said. "We were thinking the software could do things it couldn't."

Specifically, some of the field names in Oracle's CRM application didn't apply to Gevity HR, leaving the company to tell customer reps to ignore certain areas.

Meanwhile, just because Oracle's e-business software was integrated didn't mean everything was tested. She said there were glitches with Oracle's ERP, human resources and payroll applications that had to be fixed. "In some cases Oracle did a patch right away, and for others we had to wait for the next release," Harris said.

Technology integration is a common problem, said CRM veterans. Mike Overly, Hewlett-Packard's Global CRM manager, said the company had to integrate more than 200 of its older CRM applications to set up its new CRM system. The company used CRM tools from PeopleSoft, Siebel, Epiphany and a host of others. "We had every tool you could think of," Overly said.

HP chose to use Oracle as a framework for CRM and took the job in phases as it tried to connect various departments across the globe. The company said it has cut down on the silos of customer data and is beginning to measure the payoff.

Of course, Overly may have more work ahead if HP's merger with Compaq Computer takes place. Compaq has its own customer data and largely uses Siebel for its CRM applications, he said.

While large companies sometimes struggle with CRM, smaller businesses can sometimes approve new processes and integrate CRM applications much more rapidly.

TidalWire, which distributes networked storage products, eluded many potential pitfalls largely because it is a company of only 25 employees.

The company, based in Westborough, Massachussets, began installing Siebel CRM applications in summer 2000 in preparation for being spun off from Akibia, its former parent company. Since TidalWire was starting from scratch, it didn't have to worry about older applications and changing processes, said Greg Augustine, vice president of information systems and applications.

"Our history was minimal, and no CRM tool was in place beforehand," Augustine said. "The processes were basically coming from nothing, so we were at an advantage. We also didn't have to get approval from a bunch of managers."

TidalWire says its CRM efforts have cut quote requests from 24 hours to four, boosted follow-up activity, and cut shipping mistakes by 15 percent.

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