SAP CRM on-demand -- preview of Wave 3
I am looking to implement a system to address my company's customer service needs. We need a methodology to respond to customer inquiries, disputes and feedback management and the ability to send requested documents immediately. Fewer than 30 people are on staff to perform these duties. Is SAP CRM a good fit or will I be overpaying for what I need? What are the advantages/disadvantages of implementing SAP CRM in this context?

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It makes sense to implement SAP CRM if the SAP ERP or SAP R/3 back-end system is already implemented. It looks like your company needs a simple help desk application. My experience is that SAP offers robust service applications to meet any business requirements. SAP is a clear leader when it comes to service applications. Many of the 135 SAP CRM implementations done so far are predominantly service applications.

SAP CRM on-demand Wave 3 will be released around the end of third-quarter 2006. SAP CRM on-demand Wave 3 offers the following service functionality:

  • Customer service and help desk

  • Service ticket management and complaint management

  • Rule-based distribution and escalation of service tickets

  • Service agent and service manager

The on-demand solution is a simple, quick and easy to implement solution. You might think of moving to on-premise CRM when your company needs to grow, since the switch from on-demand to on-premise is easy. You can look read the Salesforce.com site for details.

Also, there are several open source CRM applications, including SugarCRM, that you can take a look at. (Infoathand ) is one of the SugarCRM developers. Compiere is an open source ERP and CRM software that I would recommend researching.

This was first published in July 2006