A couple months ago, I was emailing with a client that I helped blueprint their service. Well, about 18 months went by, and they still hadn’t started the project (glad I didn’t wait around for that gig). I emailed back and forth to see how things were going, and he asked me my opinion on CRM service. I was straightforward with him. I’m not a fan. Naturally, since they were thinking of implementing it, he wanted to know why. Well, here’s my opinion…
- Implementing CRM is no walk in the park. You need hardware, software, licensing, consultants to teach you how to configure it and keep it running. This all takes time and a lot of money. We’re talking potentially int he millions, depending on how long it takes and how expensive you consultants are. And, don’t forget training all your people to manage and use the new system.
- Middleware. This is one of my least favorite aspects of dealing with CRM. Inevitably, things always get lost in the middleware. Idocs get frozen, some strange piece of data crashes a bunch of records, and then you need someone to try to figure out what happened. Was is CRM? was it ECC? was it a network issue… who knows?!?
- Functionality, I just haven’t seen enough in CRM to make me believe it can handle all of the pieces in service. I confess, I don’t know every business model, and I believe there are some legitimate uses for CRM. My issue is always that you need a lot of ECC to handle the backend of service. Even if you are only dealing with the field, you still need inventory, you need scheduling and MRP, and all of these pieces are in the core ECC. When you deal with CRM, now you either need to replicate a lot of data, or you have to spend time in two systems to really get the full picture.
Now, admittedly, I’m biased. I like ECC (well as much as anyone can like a computer system), and I think it has a solid foundation. The only thing really missing, IMHO, is a nicer interface. This is obviously where CRM beats ECC hands down. But, an interface can be built. Between Fiori, personas, and UI5, I can build the same look and feel in ECC as I can in CRM, and I didn’t have to pay the 6 or 7 figure price tag to make it happen. Want to see it action? email me and I’ll give you a demo of just how nice you can make service in ECC. If there’s functionality in CRM that you need, talk to me first. I bet I can deliver it for a fraction of the cost of implementing CRM.
Thanks for reading,
As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,Mike
Hey Mike,
I can very well imagine how eliminating CRM can be cost effective, however there is one thing I would need clarity on. If the business model has an e-commerce solution as well (hybris), in addition to CRM and ECC, what is the advantage of keeping CRM , when the quotes are created and configurations are “actually” built in Hybris ?
Thanks
Ekata
Hi Ekata,
Well, I am no Hybris expert, so I’m not sure if there are dedicated connections that needed to use CRM w/Hybris. However, if Hybris can talk directly to ECC, I personally would do some investigation if CRM is needed at all.
I’ve run into organizations lately that are focusing on buying CRM just for service. So there may be a very cost effective model to use CRM with service, but only if you are using CRM for other purposes as well (ecomm, territory management, campaigns, etc.).
I hope this makes sense,
Mike