RobAndre : CRM

Make or Buy part 2

robandre — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:58:17 GMT

In the previous post I started to talk about the Make or Buy dilemma.

I think that it is strongly linked to my previous post 50-30-20 Theory.

I'd like to describe it with two images. What do you think? Please le me know your opinion.

and here the second one that describes the Solution Value Map.

Make or Buy

robandre — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:48:12 GMT

In the BusApps space the old and actual question is related to the Make or Buy dilemma.

I have a clear idea about it, but I would like to get additional contributes.

The only thing that I can say it that probably there is no an unique approach valid for CRM and ERP, but we need to mix them.

What do you think?

-roberto

PS: there are a lot of CRM books already published, but I'd like to write a new one to summarize my thoughts/theories. I saw a lot of books related to the CRM genesis and theories but no one related to REAL field experiences!
What do you think?

50-30-20 Theory

robandre — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:27:14 GMT

In my answer to Stefano Demilani related to my post Why Microsoft will be the leader in the BussApps space? I said that I do not consider our Dynamics CRM a step below to Dynamics Ax or NAV in terms of functionalities. And the reason of this consideration could be explained with my 50-30-20 theory.

Our CRM Product obviously will evolve in terms of functionalities in the next releases but I already consider it a great CRM Product. I talk about Product because Dynamics CRM is not the only Microsoft product that can cover all customer needs and when I propose a CRM Solution I will put other Microsoft Products togheter to create the right solution for the customer (just think about Dynamics Analytics Foundation with SQL Server Analysis Services, Proclarity, MOSS integration to realize a CRM Composite Application, Office Integration).

There is no CRM solution in the market that can fit exactly all the customer needs. Usually the customers buy a CRM Solution that, on the paper :), can cover all business requirements out-of-the-box. Is not possible!

During the project, the customer will realize that

does not use the 100% of the functionalities out of the box (probably the 50% will be not used)
the 30% of the functionalities will be customized
the 20% of the out of the box functionlities will be strongly customized or completely re-writed

My experience is that in the CRM space the business requirements are different for every customer!

So usually my suggestion for my customers/prospects is

Do not think about technology, talk with me about your business needs and I will design the right solution for you!

Our CRM can be consider a great CRM Application Framework where I can build and realize the CRM Business Model for my customers. If some functionalities are not covered by standard Dynamics CRM Functionalities I am sure that I will find another Microsoft product natively integrated with our CRM. Another Microsoft Products that based on the same Microsoft Technolgy Stack of our CRM will fit all customer needs!

I consider Microsoft Dynamics CRM a complete CRM suite that leverages the power and productivity of the Microsoft platform (see picture below).

With Titan we will create additional great fucntionalities that will expand the potentialities of our great product!

Roberto

This post contains only my ideas and please do not consider it as a Microsoft Offical Statement. To get the official information about Dynamics please visit Microsoft Dynamics Official Web Site

Why Microsoft will be the leader in the BussApps space?

robandre — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:41:58 GMT

Because … because is very simple! Let's start to see the picture below. This is my view of "Holistic CRM" but you can apply it to all kind of Business Application. The concept is very simple, as you can see a Buss Apps must cover structured processes and unstructured activities in an integrated way.

Figura 1: Holistic CRM

Microsoft with Dynamics and the OBA (Office Business Applications) is the only company that can provide a complete coverage of Structured and Unstructured activities/processes. We cannot suggest to our customers to use monolithic applications, today the paradigm is completely changed. Instead of a monolithic approach we need to design flexible applications with an high level of interoperability with existing systems, there is no just one product that can cover all customer needs. We should provide to our customers solid Business Capabilities with an Innovative Technology that can put these capabilities together to create a solutions that fit the customer needs!

Microsoft is following the right way. Try to see the following picture (it is just an example)

Figura 2: A complete suite to realize Buss Apps

The picture above is just a simple example on how Microsoft can cover customer needs to create a business application. We have the Base Services, the Base Capabilities and all the Microsoft products are based on the same platform stack. We have a strong EAI infrastructure that provides the right level of interoperability with existing systems. We have the Core Business Capabilities and through MOSS we can provide Collaboration services. Last but not list, we have just one Dev Platform and with Visual Studio we are able to customize and adapt all our solutions to customer processes.

In the next posts I will show how Microsoft technologies and solutions can be adapted to create innovative solutions for our customers.

Please let me know if you think that Microsoft is following the right way and can play a primary role in the Business Application space. I think so and you?

Roberto

This post contains only my ideas and please do not consider it as a Microsoft Offical Statement. To get the official information about Dynamics please visit Microsoft Dynamics Official Web Site