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MS Dynamics CRM 2011 – The Come Back Kid
WOW! I am eating my words. Some of you who know me also know that I’ve been a certified MS Dynamics CRM consultant since it hit the streets in 2002. Needless to say I wasn’t a fan until now.
Eight years ago seems like yesterday now.. I recall the pains of v1.0 and honestly thought this could be Microsoft’s biggest failure. Let’s just be honest here, v1.0 was probably the worse hunk of junk ever published with the Microsoft label. Vista and ME at least were functional.
Version 1.2 wasn’t much better. A program that clearly wasn’t on the same planet as all the CRM systems out there it just seemed impossible to recover. I often questioned why even continue. They could have just bought another successful package and put their name on it (aka Oracle). None the less, it was a product that was extremely difficult to install and configure let alone a product that actually helped manage customer relationships.
About 2006… MS CRM v3.0 hit the streets. They did away with v2.0 since it took so long to get a version out. Marketing genius! Here we have a first generation product that was SO BAD… they had to SKIP version numbers to help the public realize how much of an improvement they made. I was able to help a number of clients achieve very modest success with v3.0. Unlike the first 2 releases, this product wasn’t a nightmare to install. The UI still wasn’t as good as the others. The so-called Outlook integration was ironically one of the worse out. However, it worked at least 90% of the time! A step up for 40% of the time… so hats of for at least making the software work.
Version 4…… ah yes.. We finally have a game! Although still severely behind other notables in the market space (Salesforce.com, Saleslogix, Netsuite), signs of a come back began to surface. Much better UI components and other key features that help users achieve success. By this time, I was into other products and watched from the sidelines. I began to see positive reviews instead of negative rants! Still a few major holes, but something I could live with and would actually recommend.
In pops v5 or MS Dynamics 2011
Is this Cloud CRM thing for me?
If you’re an IT person reading this, prepare yourself to be offended.
Cloud doesn’t equal better! Let’s just put that out there first. Because its the new wave and buzz word floating around everything assumes new equals better. Often times it does… but in the case of CRM…. not so fast sly one.
It is a fancy term to say your data will have foster parents, but you have visitation rights. The push for cloud comes as many IT directors are slow to get off their butts to implement new software for their user base. New software equals new drama for them. Often times the IT person is a third party company that is just too busy to help or the client is too small to work with a CRM Vendor.
If you have a very large in-house group of users (40+) and your data integrates with other in-house systems. Cloud is probably NOT the way to go. However, if you have nothing and your IT Director is slow to make a move. Cloud maybe a good first step. This action could prove successful in getting other non-crm committed managers to buy-in to what you’re doing. Its 2011 and the internet speeds are great and reliable, but still a cause for concern when mission critical data is outside your walls.
Also there is the myth about cost. Cloud is not cheaper despite what any marketing materials you may have read. Most companies say you have a lot of money on hardware and start-up costs. Well, hardware is not that expensive and most CRM packages will run on what you already have. Your first year on Cloud will cost you more than on-site software.
So when could Cloud be a good fit? If you are a virtual company with no other IT infrastructure. Cloud based makes obvious sense. You don’t have an IT person to turn to for setup and installation nor do you have a place install the software if you did. If you’re a start-up department in a large company with a completely different customer base than your parent company. The speed in which you can start is much faster on cloud. These types of departments get treated like double-step children. Not going to get any love from IT. You’re in a “just make it happen” type of situation.
So long story short …. if you need it fast and cost is not an issue. Cloud is for you. If you need it to run a large group of people or to keep cost lower, on-site is probably for you.
Levar Berry's Blog 