Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    SAP Drops ‘Hybrid’ Term from CRM Offering

    By
    Renee Boucher Ferguson
    -
    December 5, 2007
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      BOSTON-Gone is the term “hybrid” to describe SAP’s deployment model for its CRM on-demand software unveiled in February 2006.

      In its place is an upgraded version, CRM 2007, which has had any signs of the h-word carefully stricken from the myriad descriptive materials. SAP announced CRM 2007 Dec. 4 at its Influencer Summit here.

      While the hybrid concept still exists with CRM 2007-the software is available both on-demand and on-premise, and users can switch between the two versions-SAP officials said the term was too confusing to resurrect for this latest CRM [customer relationship management] iteration. At the same time, the initial hybrid model did not see the pick up in sales SAP had wanted.

      “There has not been that much scaling as we would have liked [with CRM on-demand],” said executive board member Peter Zencke in an October interview with eWEEK. “Probably this is because [when] SAP customers talk about CRM, they talk about integration and processes [so] we cannot just copy the Salesforce.com model. … SAP customers have a different expectation-a closed loop from lead to execution. If that works, it has to work in the hybrid model. It is a different model than [single] tenant; it is not stand alone, it is an integration [to SAP’s back-end systems]. It was just not accomplished.”

      Click here to read more about SAP’s third-quarter profits.

      Officials hope the new features in CRM 2007 and distancing it from its previous model by dropping such terms as “hybrid” will help speed adoption.

      With the CRM 2007 release, which is available this month, SAP worked to conquer integration issues by enabling its customers to tap data in their back-end systems for use in CRM-likely an ongoing effort as SAP builds future versions. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, what is CRM really about? It’s about servicing customers at all touch points,” said Bob Stutz, senior vice president and general manager of SAP CRM strategy and product, said at a press conference here. “But it’s also being able to harness what is at the back-end, and that’s really what we’re doing because we own the back-end. The ability to take that data out of the back-end to enable end-to-end processes is really what we are trying to do.”

      David Macauley, senior vice president of CRM at Siemens, has plans to replace more than 500 separate CRM systems-from Salesforce.com, Siebel, Microsoft and Maximizer among others-with SAP’s CRM software next year. Much of that decision was based on the ability to tap back-end data, which Siemens has stored in SAP’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) system.

      “If you don’t have ERP integration, you have sales force automation,” Macauley said. “It’s a good place to start, but not a great place to finish.”

      Stutz said the CRM 2007 release is “radically different” from SAP’s 2006 version of CRM, which he said was designed as a beta release to “get more customers on the system, get more customer feedback and find out what was missing.” For example, users’ ability to add mash-ups is simple and fast, Stutz said, whereas mash-ups had to be coded in the 2006 release.

      Probably the most significant upgrade in CRM 2007 is a new user interface that Stutz likened to Google’s iGoogle custom portal application, which lets users customize Google’s homepage with things such as news and blog feeds, weather reports, sports statistics or any other information that is relevant to them. Stutz said SAP worked with about 100 customers over the past 18 months to study how they used the software to determine what they could do to streamline the user interface in CRM 2007. One of the things it added across the UI: drag-and-drop features.

      “Nothing was drag and drop in the 2006 version,” said Stutz.

      SAP has added additional user features beyond the redesigned UI, including multi-channel customer service capabilities that bring together SAP’s Business Communication Management software with CRM 2007 to expand call center-based processes out to field-based staff, as well as others in any location. SAP also has expanded its trade promotions management and marketing funds software to bring more visibility, control and traceability of funds and claims. Finally, SAP’s Real-Time Management software has been added to bring more intelligence to customer interactions.

      Check out eWEEK.com’s Enterprise Applications Center for the latest news, reviews and analysis about productivity and business solutions.

      Avatar
      Renee Boucher Ferguson

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×