Earlier this month, SAP released an expansion of its mySAP CRM, the SAP CRM on-demand solution, which is designed to offer both large and mid-sized companies an Internet-based tool to manage customers and sales organization.
Partnering with IBM, this new product offers a hybrid CRM solution that can provide functionality for companies who don't have an enterprise CRM system or it can integrate with existing IT platforms.
"The software-on-demand phenomenon has broken the purchase-and-usage paradigm broadly for enterprise software but especially in the CRM applications market," said Mary Wardley, vice president, CRM Applications, IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based IT consulting firm. "IDC believes hybrid CRM solutions and coexistence of delivery models are essential for meeting the varied needs of organizations."
Commenting specifically on the new SAP product, Robert Bois, of Boston-based AMR Research says, "Given the long wait for this release, those expecting broader CRM functionality will be disappointed. However, SAP's aggressive development schedule certainly indicates the company's commitment to this strategy. Simply outlining its plans for hosted CRM will at least give SAP customers the roadmap they need to plan future investments in customer management strategies."
Bois delves into the pros and cons of using this new product versus others on the market and also discusses how this product can be integrated with others CRM products in an article entitled, "At Long Last, SAP Unveils Hosted CRM Strategy: How Much of a Market Threat Is It?" at http://www.amrresearch.com/Content/view.asp?pmillid=19157
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