Customer Relationship Management SaaS Benefits and Risks

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CRM Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Reality

Select Although the promise of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been somewhat diluted among the industry hype and sensationalism, there is little question and universal acceptance that SaaS CRM is a disruptive technology that will transform the acquisition and delivery of CRM software and enterprise business applications from a procurment & ownership model to a subscription & outsourced services model.

CRM SaaS may not be the answer to the question of how to best run CRM (customer relationship management) systems and business applications for all organizations. However, SaaS CRM does bring significant never-before-offered advantages for organizations looking for new financial, delivery and staffing alternatives related to business systems operations.

Nowhere is the hypergrowth of the SaaS industry more visible than with the CRM software industry. While SaaS information systems exist among all types of business applications, SaaS CRM applications have pioneered and proven the SaaS business model both effective and successful.

The Realities of CRM SaaS

CRM SaaS Advantages

SaaS CRM solutions are a catalyst for how organizastions change their use of front office software systems and put users in control of customer facing business systems for the first time. CRM SaaS enablement of software utilization without extended implementation time frames, software modification without IT bottleneck, world class infrastructure without capital expenditures and 24 by 7 uptime without around the clock staffing are a few of the compelling advantages of SaaS. Other key benefits include the following:

Low cost of entry and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) - elimination of capital expenditures and dramatic reduction in IT salaries
Vested vendor interests - if the application utilization is not successful, the vendor loses the customer revenue opportunity
Much lower risk - faster implementations and outsourced expertise dramatically lower risk
A more powerful and secure IT infrastructure - few organizations can match the infrastrucure and security investments made by SaaS vendors

CRM SaaS Disadvantages

CRM SaaS isn't a silver bullet or magic - and will not provide the same benfits to all usuers.

Some organizations find it very difficult to relinquish control or trust third parties to manage their applications and data
Some vertical markets require industry specific business applications for which SaaS solutions are not available
Organizations without clear objectives and defined business processes will be no better off with a SaaS solution than with an on-premise solution.

SaaS CRM History