Band and Marston advise these best practices: Define your objectives ("before you begin the rollout, take a step back and reconfirm the critical business objectives that the CRM SaaS solution will support"); Build a team (these four roles are key: an executive sponsor, a steering committee that includes a user group representative, a CRM SaaS solutions administrator, and a CRM SaaS vendor developer or consultant); Define the timeline ("CRM SaaS professional services providers tell us it is a best practice to define a timeline upfront that outlines the major tasks, milestone dates and accountabilities for implementing the solution"); Configure the solution for user relevance ("the final step is to configure the CRM SaaS solution to the specific needs of the users in your organization").

4. Adopt the Right Data Security Procedures.

One of the most common fears among companies rolling out SaaS CRM programs relates to data security and management.

Band and Marston advise SaaS customers to require data protection guarantees and compliance with industry standards. You should insist that SaaS vendors provide detail about security levels of data centers, disaster recovery capabilities, and how each customer's data is protected," the analysts write. "If your applications are hosted by a third party, get your hosting provider to detail its security and redundancy capabilities and conduct a site tour to verify its claims."

Next, be sure to clearly define role and access rights. "The role and access rights for business and IT users are exactly the same as for on-premise solutions," notes one CTO interviewed by Forrester, "and we administer these centrally." In addition, SaaS customers should establish vendor data integration, conversion and exit blueprints. "If you are concerned about how easy it is to integrate the solution into your environment," write Band and Marston, "ask for a list of partners that have integration expertise that you can leverage."

5. Establish the Right Support Structure.

The analysts point out that SaaS solutions usually have easy-to-use, point-and-click tools so that business users can set up and configure solutions with little technical knowledge and minimal specialized training. "However," they state, "a clear governance structure is still required to make sure your organization achieves the benefits intended."

To that end, the analysts advise companies to decide how SaaS will be managed, who will be responsible for meeting IT standards, where the support resources will come from, and how IT will work with third-party providers. In addition, the support staff needs to be clearly identified for users, help desk and training support offered, and backup procedures established—just as any company would with its in-house systems and support procedures, note Band and Marston.