Five Best Practices for Implementing SaaS CRM
Software-as-a-service CRM has gone mainstream, says Forrester Research. A new report identifies five key strategies and tactics, including building a business case and negotiating a good service contract, that companies have discovered and used to realize CRM SaaS success.
Two other support pitfalls that the analysts point out, include:
1. Abdicating all support to the vendor. "It is true that one of the key attractions of the SaaS model is that software upgrades, hardware, data management and ongoing support is mostly assumed by the vendor," Band and Marston write. "But final accountability for the solution in the eyes of end users is still with the IT shop in most organizations. Therefore, IT managers must make sure they know what elements of support they must provide, in addition to the vendor."
2. Not anticipating changes in SaaS vendor ownership. "The SaaS solutions space is filling with many new players," note the analysts. "There have been numerous acquisitions of solutions providers. Make sure you are comfortable with the fact that your selected vendor might become part of another company at a later date."
