By Erika Morphy CRM Buyer Part of the ECT News Network
03/01/07 7:00 AM PT
At face value, the companies have little in common, other than the fact that they are providers of point applications -- as opposed to suites. However, after taking a closer look, several common themes do emerge, including the fact that many of the firms are leveraging on-demand and platform architecture to deliver new solutions to a specific field or task.
eMarketer Whitepaper: Optimizing the E-Commerce Experience
From the Web to the Contact Center, are you prepared to proactively engage and keep your savvy customers? Read how e-commerce leaders are optimizing their sites with ratings, reviews, live help, Web analytics, mobile and more.
As it does every year,
Beagle Research has investigated emerging technologies and developments in the CRM space, singling out for accolades a handful of leading companies in its report -- aptly named CRM WizKids.
"All of these companies are offering users technology or services that are completely new to the market," Beagle Research principal and report author Denis Pombriant told CRM Buyer.
The On-Demand Wave
At face value, the companies have little in common, other than the fact that they are providers of point applications -- as opposed to suites. However, after taking a closer look, several common themes do emerge, including the fact that many are leveraging on-demand and platform architecture to deliver new solutions to a specific field or task.
For instance, Sapias has developed an on-demand service to help utilities better segment how equipment and field services are used. Service trucks can be both equipment to be used in the field and for transportation, Pombriant explained, and gas for some of these tasks can be tax-deductible. The application tracks when a truck is used for such purposes.
Another example is Centive's incentive compensation application, which replaces cumbersome spreadsheets -- a typical tool in this space -- with an on-demand product that also enables sales representatives and managers to track performance and actual commission earnings, as well as forecast earnings based on opportunities in the pipeline.
Perennial Problems
Some of the winners addressed seemingly perennial pain points for users of CRM systems.
Cast Iron Systems has developed a new approach to integration that allows companies to more easily knit together disparate on-demand applications, such as Salesforce.com and NetSuite, by predefining integration for popular applications and delivering it as an appliance.
Market2Lead has leveraged a combination of data collection from various sources such as e-mail campaigns, Web search and e-mail with analytics to build a multi-step marketing application.
Pragmatech has designed a sales knowledge management system that manages reusable content modules that can be easily configured for any type of corporate content, such as proposals, brochures or presentations.
Skytide's application analyzes non-traditional data that typically does not fit within a standard data warehousing solution, such as situations with a large number of customer/client iterations.
The Mashups
Other WizKids this year have built advanced mashups that can provide more valuable services to companies than have been delivered up to now through these combinations. Typically, a mashup has been a combination of some kind of database application with a GPS-based mapping system, the report explained, with the most common mashup using satellite images from suppliers like Google Maps.
A next generation of mashups is on the horizon and already in use in some very selected areas, Pombriant stated.
"These companies have built mashups that deliver solutions different from anything that is on the market now," he noted.
For instance, Echopass, an on-demand call center service provider, teamed up with SecureAlert to combine the Echopass 24/7/365 call center service capabilities with SecureAlert's monitoring center to track parole or probation offenders.
Another example is EA's customization of Salesforce.com to fit its human resources needs.
In short, by developing mashups, these firms have opened up whole new areas of business opportunities -- which, when one thinks about it, is another common factor among the winners.
Salesforce Rolls Out Financial Services App, Lands Merrill Lynch February 27, 2007
With its new Wealth Management Edition, Salesforce is competing with all of the financial service industry CRM applications on the market -- a significant group, considering this is the largest industry to adopt vertical CRM tools in a big way. Salesforce is also taking aim at Bloomberg, which provides a robust desktop application for financial traders.
Related Stories
WizKids Awards Go to Next-Gen Customer Service Stars January 23, 2006
"What companies are trying to figure out is how can they use information about what their customers want to their best advantage -- and, just as importantly, how can they use that information to keep them from leaving when their competitors start offering the same products and services, as they inevitably will," said Martha Rogers, a founding partner of Peppers and Rogers.
WizKids Give Us Something to Think About January 18, 2006
What's ahead involves a lot of getting inside the customer's head, which was once an expensive and time-consuming proposition. Modern technology delivered by WizKids is changing that situation -- and it's what keeps me interested in research.
CRM Insights From the Walker Loyalty Report August 24, 2005
Walker has been able to put some numbers on what had, until recently, been a fairly squishy concept. That loyal customers spend more money over time has been common knowledge. But how much emphasis should a company put on loyalty? Does it have quantifiable bottom line importance? Based on this report, I'd say the answers are "A lot" and "Yes."
Related News Alerts
More by Erika Morphy
Ballmer Gives Shareholders - and Dell - Cause for Optimism November 20, 2009
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was all smiles at the company's shareholders meeting, as he touted the early success of Windows 7. Ballmer's cheer may have been contagious; after posting a massive earnings decline for the third quarter, Dell needed some good news to latch onto, and the prospect of broad enterprise adoption of Windows 7 could spur PC sales.
AA.com Sucks the Fun Out of Trip-Planning November 20, 2009
Using AA.com to book a flight was a painful experience. Densely packed, disorganized information was displayed in an unattractive format. On the plus side, it did seem as though the deals American Airlines advertised were real and not mere bait-and-switch lures. For anyone who wants a travel-planning Web site to inject a little pleasure into the experience, though, I say look elsewhere.
Salesforce.com Pumps Up Volume of Workplace Chatter November 19, 2009
Salesforce.com has developed a collaboration platform that puts social networking to work. Salesforce Chatter facilitates employee collaboration on projects through Facebook-like profiles, status updates, feeds and groups. The question remains whether employees will be as open to social networking in the workplace as they are in their personal lives.
Headline Feeds
Talkback: 
