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The Inevitable Move Towards Cloud-based CRM
By John Vinson
Expert Author
Article Date: 2011-01-25
It's coming. Whether enterprise CRM is ready or not. Cloud computing continues to make its mark in the industry, as some of the smaller CRM vendors have found success with cloud computing. How about the larger, enterprise based CRM vendors? Are they going to be shifting towards cloud services, or are the risks not worth the rewards?
With Oracle, and Salesforce.com making a sizable mark in the industry, the enterprise cloud idea has continued to gain momentum. The benefits of cloud computing are easy to see. The cost is by far the biggest advantage when maintaining CRM on the cloud. Not dealing with the purchase, and maintenance of larger servers is probably the biggest boon cloud computing can provide the enterprise vendors.
Along with costs, offsetting maintenance and the hassle of keeping up with security will help alleviate many of the roadblocks which keep many companies from progressing forward.
While cost and hassle are certainly big selling points, there are just as many detriments to moving toward cloud-based CRM. First, and most importantly is security. While it might be more of a hassle to keep up with security using traditional enterprise CRM, it also provides companies with greater control.
The move to cloud computing is a huge security risk. Giving up control of customer information to the cloud is a step which many have seen as being a hazard not worth risking.
Another problem seen by many in the enterprise field also question whether the cloud can handle more complex processes that can come up with larger clients.
Many believe enterprise CRMs will switch to a hybrid system. Where many of the processes will be utilized in the cloud, while keeping many of the other complex systems with the traditional model. This will allow vendors to offset some costs, while only dipping a toe into the cloud pool, instead of jumping in.
The shift towards cloud CRM is inevitable. The costs, and lower maintenance are too big of a draw to ignore. How fast we get there is what remains to be seen. The authors in the article I linked above state that now is the time to truly make an investment, while cloud services are growing. Instead of waiting until the market is flooded, when many of the benefits of the service being lost in the shuffle.
Will you take the plunge?
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for WebProNews.
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