Customer Relationship Management or CRM is the strategies and processes to identify, learn and analyze customers' needs and behaviors
in order to develop better relationships with existing customers and prospects. CRM software systems automate the processing of managing
customer relationship. CRM applications are traditionally developed as client-server software. The new generation of CRM applications
are web-based to ease the deployment and facilitate the remote access of enterprise information.
Characteristics of Hosted CRM
The major difference between online CRM and enterprise CRM is the user interface of the CRM systems. Enterprise CRM employees traditional
software as clients typically developed in VB, or C++. Hosted CRM is a Web based CRM and the CRM system is hosted at an Application Service
Provider (ASP). Organizations that use the CRM system don't own the CRM software, instead they subscribe to the CRM services by paying a
subscription fee. Web based CRM systems use web browsers as the clients.
Benefits of Hosted CRM
Hosted CRM option has additional benefits beside the benefits of online CRM.
- Low Initial Cost - CRM software is expensive and it costs hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in the life cycle of CRM implementation.
A yearly subscription fee to CRM services is only a fraction of that cost. Hosted CRM option allows organizations to try out CRM and they may
eventually choose to host online CRM in-house if economicallt and technically feasible.
- Low Cost of Deployment - The Webbased CRM eliminates the need of deploying clients for CRM backend software. Hosted CRM further eliminates
the need of deploying backend systems.
- Rapid Implementation - The implementation of hosted CRM involves initial setup, configuration, data migration and integration.
CRM ASPs usually accommodate custom requirements at a cost. Cost of implementing hosted CRM is only a fraction of traditional CRM implementation.
Hosted CRM can shorten the implementation from months or years to a few weeks.
- Accessibility - Users can access web based CRM from anywhere as long as they have Internet access and a Web browser.
- Instant information sharing - Information entered remotely on the web can be transmitted back to CRM backend for instant information sharing
across organizational lines and locations.
The major limitations and drawbacks for hosted CRMs are limited customization and risk of exposing sensitive information to third parties.
For organizations that process sensitive information, hosted CRM may not be the best option.
Vendors of Online CRM Systems
Hosted e-business systems are widely deployed for call center, workflow management, e-procurement, supply chain management,
document management, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and sales force automation (SFA) among other B2B and ecommerce applications.
Most CRM vendors (Siebel, Webmethods, SAP, Ariba and Peoplesoft) offer option of application hosting for their CRM systems. Some CRM vendors,
such as , salesforce.com and iqnavigator, focus exclusively on hosted CRM solutions.
Small organizations can develop their own simple CRM on the Intranet in PHP, CGI or cold-fusion.
Related Topics
CRM News Portal
Functional Modules of CRM Software Applications
CRM Technology Overview and Comparison - Online CRM, Hosted CRM and Wireless CRM
Web Based CRM, Online CRM - Benefits and Vendors
Mobile CRM and Wireless CRM - Infrastructures, Benefits and Vendors
Critical Successful Factors of CRM Implementation
Cost of CRM - What does CRM really cost?
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