SaaS Versus On-Premise CRM - Look Before You Leap!

Navint’s CRM implementation methodology is comprised of five essential steps including a strategy/assessment phase, a solution design phase, an implementation phase, a post-implementation support phase and a client care phase.

Consequently, in almost every CRM implementation we do, our strategy/assessment phase addresses the SaaS versus On-Premise questions – i.e., who the are vendors and what are the costs, benefits, and risks associated to each of the solutions identified?

Needless to say, with Salesforce.com’s ongoing NO SOFTWARE campaign and with Microsoft’s plans to launch Dynamics CRM LIVE in 2007 (yes, be very afraid Marc Benioff), the appeal of SaaS CRM solutions will only continue to grow.

But the obvious must be stated:

The decision to deploy any CRM solution should be driven first and foremost by an organization’s technical and business requirements (as well as by the weighting that the organization’s management and end users give to each of those requirements).

While numerous reports from multiple research houses argue the merits of SaaS solutions versus On-Premise solutions, a more level-headed article has surfaced.

In her piece titled, The Financial Economic Impact of Software-As-A-Service, Forrester Analyst, Liz Herbert stresses, “Buyers who ask only about the cost tradeoffs of SaaS aren't looking at the whole picture. To make a more informed assessment of the overall return on investment (ROI), firms must also consider the benefits, risk, and flexibility associated with their decision.”

Accordingly, the above graphic (taken from Herbert’s article) summarizes a number of key tradeoffs that should be considered when evaluating SaaS and On-Premise CRM solutions. Furthermore, it should also be mentioned (because I am certain that no one at Saleforce.com will) that On-Premise solutions typically find a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than SaaS solutions after year three of the investment.

For more information about the research referenced in this post and/or to obtain a copy of the Liz Herbert article, please feel free to contact me at skircher@navint.com.

Q&A: Microsoft CRM 3.0 From Your Zune?!

Question: What are my options when deploying Microsoft CRM 3.0 to end users?

Answer: Many (and the list of options keeps growing!)

The Details...

While the question of client options always comes up, it's important to note that each user license of Microsoft CRM 3.0 includes four standard client deployment options:

- Web Client (assumes an always online or persistent connection to the Microsoft CRM database and is accessed via an Internet Explorer browser)
- Desktop Outlook Client (assumes an always online or persistent connection to the Microsoft CRM database but is accessed via Outlook)
- Laptop Outlook Client (relies on a local web server and data store to provide offline access to Microsoft CRM via Outlook)
- CRM Mobile Client (a .NET CF 2.0 and SQL CE 3.0 based thick client that works in both connected and disconnected mode from any Windows Mobile or SmartPhone)

In addition to the four options outlined above there are a number of alternatives for accessing Microsoft CRM data from other devices. A couple of these options are listed below:

- CRM Mobile Express (a FREE online only browser client developed by the gotdotnet community which allows users to view and edit Microsoft CRM data from any internet ready handheld device that has at least a 240x240 pixel screen)

- Mobile Access For Microsoft CRM (a proprietary thick client designed by TenDigits for accessing Microsoft CRM from Blackberry devices which works in connected and disconnected modes)

While Navint has had great success deploying most of the client types listed, for handheld deployments, we tend to favor gotdotnet's CRM Mobile Express over the Mobile Client developed by Microsoft.

Furthermore, for Blackberry lovers, TenDigits' Mobile Access product is second to none - especially because there is no separate customization interface (i.e., any customization that you make to your CRM environment automatically updates to the Blackberry).

But the fun doesn't end there! Just yesterday I received beta code from Philip Richardson for accessing Microsoft CRM data from my Zune!

Nice work Phil...

Perhaps a new tagline is in order?

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - How, When and Where You Want It!

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - Far More Than CRM!

In the last year since Microsoft CRM 3.0 was released, at least 50% of the customer implementations I've worked on (and at least an equal percentage of prospects I've talked to about Microsoft CRM) desire to use the application in ways that are beyond the standard marketing, sales and customer service functions inherent in the application.

While the desire for application extendibility has existed for many years, what's been fantastic is the ability to show clients and prospects how easy it is to leverage Microsoft CRM's native utilities including custom entity builder, workflow manager, and a broad range of reporting (e.g., SRS, Excel) and application integration (e.g., CRM-GP Connector, CRM-Siebel Solution Accelerator) options to extend and verticalize the application to fit literally any business need.

For instance, following is a sample of how Navint's Microsoft CRM customer base is using and/or planning to use the application:

- An Independent Practice Association is relying on multiple custom entities to help its users manage the complex relationships among its member doctors, practices and related points of care

- A CPA firm is leveraging Microsoft CRM and SL's open architecture to create an integrated cross-enterprise environment between the applications which allows users to schedule client services in CRM and/or SL to drive and better manage client scheduling and billing

- A university Center For Career Education will rely on a series of custom entities, an ISV plug-in, and a number of custom SRS reports to help users track data on the services that they provide to students, alumni, faculty and parents

To further the point, Arash Ghanaie-Sichanie has posted an article on his blog that does a very good job outlining the architectural components of Microsoft CRM which shows exactly why Microsoft CRM can be used as a platform for addressing needs beyond the standard marketing, sales, and customer service functionality expected of a CRM application.

Error Installing Microsoft CRM 3.0 on Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2

Are you getting an error when trying to installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 on Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2?

There is a known issue that involves Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Release 2 (R2) and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 that prevents you from doing a "Standard" installation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Download these instructions and use them to successfully install Microsoft CRM 3.0 on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2.

Multi-Tenancy and Microsoft CRM 4.0

Simon Hutson posted an interesting primer on the expected multi-tenant functionality of the next release of Microsoft CRM (codename Titan). Notably, Simon's post includes links to a couple of useful white papers on the subject of multi-tenancy as well as some preliminary thoughts on what multi-tenancy will mean for developers, ISVs and others who desire to customize the next version of Microsoft CRM.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 for Vista and Office 2007 Released!

The project codenamed V3C, a compatibility update of the CRM 3.0 Outlook Client for Vista and Office 2007 has been released.

The improvements in V3C are not simply a rollup of fixes - rather, V3C includes features and updates originally reserved for the Titan release.

With the V3C release, many aspects of the CRM Outlook Client have been touched and/or updated including:

- Integration with the Office 2007 “Ribbon”
- Custom MAPI Store (no more PST files)
- SQL Express Edition 2005 SP1
- Inclusion of all existing client hotfixes
- Windows Vista Support
- User Access Control
- GPO deployments
- Internet Explorer 7

The V3C release also supports:

- Clean installations of V3C
- Upgrade from CRM V3 Outlook Client to V3C
- Support for hotfixes and patching using MSP technology

The following versions of Microsoft Windows and Office are now officially supported:

- Windows 2000 SP4
- Windows XP SP2
- Windows Vista

- Office XP SP3 (with Windows 2000 and XP only)
- Office 2003 SP2
- Office 2007

Download V3C here.

News on related items include:

The 90-day trial site has also been updated. Currently the release is English only, but all other languages are undergoing localization testing and are expected to be released in waves beginning in January.

An updated set of scripts for Terminal Server deployment will be released in early January.

An update to the Exchange E-mail Connector (including the Rule Deployment Wizard) for Exchange 2007 compatibility will be released in early January.

A date has not been set for compatibility updates to the CRM v3i and v3 SPLA Clients, but these are in the plan and forthcoming.

Stay tuned!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution Accelerator For Siebel

Microsoft has announced the release of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution Accelerator for Siebel which integrates Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 with Siebel Server thus allow organizations the benefit of us Microsoft Dynamics CRM while continuing to access existing data and process definitions in Siebel.

A Microsoft CRM Solution Accelerator Installation and Customization Guide (including code samples, maps, schemas and other integration artifacts) are available on the downloads page of the Microsoft CRM Sandbox.

A couple of notable points regarding the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution Accelerator for Siebel include:

- The solution accelerator is built on top of BizTalk Server 2006
- A run time license of BizTalk is required (which is provided via download free of charge)

Welcome To The Navint Microsoft CRM Blog

Welcome to the Navint Microsoft CRM Blog.

This blog will serve as a medium for:

1) Sharing our CRM team's experience in designing, configuring, and implementing Microsoft CRM

2) Aggregating the glut of information and resources related to Microsoft CRM (i.e., from other blogs, from Microsoft, etc.)

Thanks for visiting!

Stay tuned...