Siebel Systems, a leading provider of CRM solutions to the SMB market, has experience in more than 1 200 deployments globally. Siebel Systems recommends the following critical selection factors:
Rapid deployments and rapid returns:
Few small businesses have either the resources or the inclination to take a Big Bang approach to their initial CRM deployment. Most will want to begin automating only a single critical function and then building on that investment, as their business needs change.
A good CRM solution for SMBs must also be fully functional out of the box. Look for a provider whose basic functionality provides the visibility, ease of use, ease of integration and fully embedded support for best practices than an SMB's business and industry requires.
Avoid solutions that require extensive customization, as these require maintenance, slow the process and cost resources.
Avoid incomplete solutions that force an SMB to become its own CRM vendor and integrator.
Ease of enhancement:
No matter how fully functional an initial system may seem, business expansion and changing market conditions always dictate enhancing the functionality.
Planning for this enhancement is especially critical for SMBs, because re-implementing a solution is too costly. SMBs do not want to spend time developing and deploying software; they want to use it. Choose a vendor that will make the enhancement process painless.
Choose a system with a consistent and readily upgradeable architecture, one on which modules can be added or deleted as desired and one from a vendor with easy-to-use configuration tools and proven support capabilities.
Consider the possibility of future integration needs with a company's internal systems as well as external suppliers or other partner networks.
The emerging standard for integration is the application network, which is built on open standards so that it can easily integrate with all applications - not just one or two.
Lifetime support for upgrades
CRM application vendors routinely upgrade their product lines at least once a year. To protect the initial investment, be sure that upgrades to new releases are genuine upgrades and not re-implementations.
A well-defined, well-documented and proven upgrade path is a minimum requirement. Vendors that stand by their products never abandon their legacy customers.
Ask for plenty of references of happy customers who have upgraded from older versions.
Total cost of ownership
Lowest initial cost is not best. Only an estimated 30 percent of a CRM solution's costs can be attributed to the initial software purchase; the remaining 70 percent goes to:
Unless these costs are accounted for in advance, the SMB opting for a 'bargain' application is very likely to be shocked with a higher than anticipated total cost of ownership. The result is often a failed deployment.
To ensure low total cost of ownership, look for a provider with rich out-of-the-box functionality, one of those applications can be customised through simple, declarative configuration rather than custom coding, and one that offers prevalidated, off-the-shelf solutions for integration with other vendors' applications - often a hidden cost of complex integrations.
The availability of vendor-certified training professionals can help to lower the cost of user training, while the presence of 24x7 service support can keep maintenance and administration costs to a reasonable level.
Provider reliability
The software applications industry has been notoriously volatile since its inception and this fact becomes increasingly salient in a troubled economy. Investment in a CRM system is a major decision. Protect it by entrusting the future to a company with a proven industry track record and market leadership.
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