Hassle-free CRM Software Implementations

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is a centralized system for managing and tracking all your business information relating to your customers. Like all technology, a good CRM system must be well thought out and planned before integration into your infrastructure.

Pre-Implementation
Aside from the hardware and CRM software, a properly planned CRM integration begins in the Pre-Implementation Phase. Most projects fail because of poor pre-planning. You must understand and quantify all the requirements, costs and stakeholder support. Below is a sample checklist of pre-implementation issues to address prior to any CRM integration project:

1. Create a realistic timeline
2. Specify practical hardware requirements the CRM software, factoring in intermediate term growth in storage and processing needs
3. Win key stakeholder buy-in by including them in the design/decision process
4. Examine the relevant processes against industry best practices; determine which processes require changing and make plans to accomodate those changes
5. Calculate a budget with some padding
6. Set your final implementation goals
7. Develop your integration strategy

CRM System Options
Any good in-house CRM system is driven by a mainstream database that’s widely supported. This type of CRM software requires a client/server infrastructure and a good technical support team. Your IT staff may require additional training and support, and you may need to expand your infrastructure. In-house systems are ideal if you are dealing with sensitive client information and you want to manage your own security arrangements

The other option is a hosted CRM software. In this case, the CRM database resides outside your organization in a secure environment eliminating the need for hardware investments. An internet browser and high-speed internet connection are the required elements. With a hosted CRM solution your business will still need to be networked, and a good IT team is crucial for user training, buy-in, and support.

End of IT Projects

The brilliant Paul Coby, CIO of British Airways led a session at Forrester's IT Forum EMEA in Lisbon. This event caters to over 600 CIOs, enterprise architects, application developers, infrastructure and operations professionals to share best practices.

The most notable quote from the session:
"There are no such things as IT projects -- there are only business projects."

If technology is going to make a real impact on business, then we must stop thinking of it solely from the IT perspective. The best CIO's will understand that IT is a function of the entire business and will operate accordingly.

Get your head out of the sand! Understand the real business case for the project and then get to work.

Preparing for $200 Oil

Regardless of when oil hits the $200 per barrel figure, it is time to start preparing for the realities of the energy crunch. As such, information technology departments must start preparing to support remote workers.

The cost of employees goes beyond the normal metrics tracked by the HR department. In addition to salary and benefits, the smart enterprise will also begin to track the energy consumption of their workers. Every time someone enters and leaves your offices, they are impacting energy costs. The figures skyrocket when you also include the electrical impact of computers, desktop calculators, personal digital devices, light fixtures, coffee machines, refrigerators, water heaters, electric staplers, printers and all other electronics.

So, the smart enterprise will encourage their workers to telecommute. Your employees will be happy because they will save money on gasoline, tolls and wear on their automobiles. They will also be spared the stress of the daily commute. With computers, worker productivity is easy to measure so you don't need to worry about employees wasting time.

What all this means is that IT departments need to start preparing for telecommuting now. They need to adapt to the realities of the energy crunch. While many pundits are touting the advantages of "greening" your IT, by implementing a telecommuting strategy you will be reducing your total business impact on the environment and saving money too.