Prospects for the development of CRM in web-technologies

Here is an excerpt from an interview with Alexey Fitiskin, Commercial Director of ASoft, about the current state and prospects of the SaaS ("Software as a Service") You can not go into all the details but just order custom software development services USA.

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- The company ACoft was one of the first on the Russian market among Russian developers who released a web CRM system and immediately began to offer it for rent. How do you assess the growth of interest in SaaS?

- Indeed recently there has been a growth in interest in SaaS. We started promoting rental CRM back in 2004, but at that time everyone was very skeptical about such a service. Now we are not just seeing interest, but the real use of CRM on the SaaS model.

- How has the ratio of SaaS customers to customers who have purchased a CRM property changed?

- Our practice shows that while in 2004-2005 there were not more than 10 SaaS consumers, in 2009-2010 we can talk about hundreds. If we talk about the percentage of companies that use SaaS and have implemented CRM (not including freelancers and individual entrepreneurs), in 2005 the ratio was 5/95. In 2010 we are approaching a 40/60 ratio.

- This growth is associated with an active promotion of SaaS or a post-crisis phenomenon - the inability of customers to pay for the implementation of CRM?

Our efforts to popularize SaaS have been supported by the largest suppliers of licensed software, who have launched "cloud projects" and invited us to cooperate. Now a lot is indeed being done to develop this area. But the interest of clients is based on objective reasons.

There is a need to optimize activities.

There is not enough money to buy software.

Rarely do representatives of medium and large businesses apply for SaaS, although we had the experience of a one-time connection of 300 users of the company in a rental mode. Medium and large businesses use SaaS before implementing a system to determine customization requirements. Small businesses take their example, also determined - it's just difficult for them to decide to spend on the purchase - the customer often never buys a system, and continues to use the lease, as it is really profitable.

- How?

There is no need to keep technical staff to administer the system and equipment.

You don't need to buy additional equipment.

No need to deal with hosting and access security issues.

All issues are addressed in one place - the SaaS provider company.

The benefit for the SaaS user is clear, but what is the benefit for the SaaS provider?

Frankly speaking, it is more profitable for the developer of the system to sell it as property. Yes, in a year or two the cost of system licenses is recovered, but at the same time there is a whole range of services that require a certain cost - this includes payment for hosting and salaries of professionals involved in this process (from technical experts advising users and system maintainers to accountants who periodically write out closing documents). The SaaS offer is more of a step to meet the customer who is not ready to pay for the implementation of the system.

- So, now more and more developers are taking a step towards the client, bringing to market web versions of their CRM systems?

- That's where the real progress is made, it's among the developers. Finally developers began to realize that the prospect of CRM development in web-technologies. About two years ago the developers of terminal systems developed the fears of potential customers about the insecurities of web-oriented products, persuading them by all means to buy terminal systems, and now they began to develop web-applications to them. But, in most cases, the understanding did not come completely. Web-versions of terminal systems contain only part of the functionality, and the developers of these systems continue to convince everyone around that you need to use terminal systems to work properly. As a result, only a limited part of the functionality is available for remote work.

- What prevents the active development of SaaS in Russia?

- We have spoken out on this more than once. This includes users' fears and the poor development of the IT infrastructure in most regions. If users' fears are a subjective reason, which system developers can handle, then a slow Internet or its complete absence largely prevents the large-scale development of SaaS in Russia. Therefore, only a part of those who want to use the software remotely as a service is able to do so. We, as developers of systems, do not stop to discuss the problems, we are actively looking for reliable communication service providers in the regions and encourage them to cooperate to develop SaaS in the regions.

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