I am trying to decide between Salesforce.com and Siebel CRM OnDemand for my company's call center and sales force automation (SFA) needs. Any recommendations? Which system should I go with?
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Hannah Smalltree, Editorial Director
This is a classic conundrum. I can't really answer the question without going through an entire process based on your call center and salesforce automation (SFA) needs. I'd need to do a requirements analysis and meet with your senior executives to understand your plans for the future and your customer service strategies. I'd need to understand your customers, the current processes that you use and how effective they are, the legacy systems, your technology requirements, the budget you're allocating and what you're looking to get out of such a strategy and commitment. The technology is the last piece of a process that takes a lot of time and effort.
I'm not sure what stage you're at in the process I mentioned above, but I'd consider all of that before I did a technology selection. You might find that neither Siebel nor Salesforce.com are the right choice. Maybe NetSuite, RightNow or SalesLogix end up as your choice – or none of them.
As we consultants love to say, "It all depends." And it does. Sorry I can't be of more help than that.
This was first published in December 2006