Jive Software is launching a social CRM software product to compete with Salesforce.com, the latest in what are sure to be several skirmishes between the cloud applications makers.
Jive Software (NASDAQ:
JIVE), which has always focused on social collaboration software, is going
after Salesforce.com's social customer relationship management (CRM) honey pot.
The newly public company is
launching the Jive Social Customer Service Solution to help companies craft
engaging CRM strategies that involve social tools. The goals are typical for
this type of software product: decreasing costs by deflecting calls, reducing
time to call resolution and creating happier customers.
Making customers happier is
hard to quantify, yet Jive hopes to do so through a number of components of the
customer service product. One includes "gamification," or jazzing up
applications with game mechanics to encourage and reward participation. Typical
gamification tools include badges or points.
These services will be
provided by gamification specialist Bunchball, Christopher Morace, senior vice
president of strategy at Jive, told
eWEEK.
Jive is also providing a
deep hook into Facebook, connecting a brand's Facebook Page with information
and conversations that are flooding through the company's customer service
database. Salesforce.com offers similar integration between customer brands and
Facebook through its Chatter service.
Moreover, Jive's social
media monitoring product will let customer service agents gauge conversations
popping up about their product or service across Facebook, LinkedIn
(NYSE:LNKD), Twitter and other social services.
This will give clients an
idea about what people are saying about their brands. Salesforce.com offers a
similar solution culled from its purchase of Radian6.
Like Salesforce.com, Jive is
also offering a mobile CRM component, allowing customers and CRM agents to
connect via iPhones, iPads, and Android and Blackberry smartphones and tablets.
Jive will enable support for Microsoft Windows Phone devices through an
HTML5-based mobile Website.
While it might be tempting
to think Jive is eschewing Salesforce.com for this CRM product, the company
desires to hook into as many popular CRM systems as possible. The Jive social
CRM will work with rival CRM systems from Salesforce.com, Microsoft
(NASDAQ:MSFT) and SugarCRM.
The Jive Customer Service
Solution isn't fully baked; it's launching to private beta. Morace said the
idea is to bring the service to the broader public at the end of the first
quarter. Even so, existing Jive customers T-Mobile, EMC (NYSE:EMC) and McAfee
are all testing the service.
When the service launches,
Jive will set the baseline cost for its CRM solution at $70,000 for an annual
license, though that fee will be higher for customers who require higher page-view
access for customers.
Don't expect Jive to stop
with this new social CRM venture. Morace told
eWEEK this was the first of what will be several software releases
focused on business applications, a sign the company is ready to branch out
from its social collaboration roots.
A Jive talent management
play could also be on tap, given the current trends toward cloud human resource
management software acquisitions in the market. SAP (NYSE:SAP) acquired
SuccessFactors, Salesforce.com grabbed Rypple and Oracle picked up Taleo.
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