Case Study 11: Customer Relationship Management Heads To the Cloud

10:41 Amrie 47 Comments

Question 1:

What types of companies are most likely to adopt cloud-based CRM software services? Why? What companies might not be well-suited for this type of software?

Answer

Types of companies that may want to adopt cloud may be any company wanting to consolidate multiple services or applications into one, mainly to reduce electricity, personal or operating costs. Companies that need a Service level agreement or sense of data security would not want to invest into a cloud system. Companies who struggling with a lot of data to be store also prefer to use this. Cutting cost companies are also recommended to use this system.

Cloud-based CRM would help these companies to achieve operational excellent and customer intimacy and released from fixed and operational cost. Not only that, it also allow them to subscribe and cancel without losing large up-front software license and hardware investment.

Some companies are not suit with this software services. Those companies made large investment on solutions that already work, concern about security issues and control of their data are the examples not encourage to use such software. Companies which might independent on their provider also not prefer to do so.

Question 2:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using cloud-based enterprise applications?

Answer

Advantages:

Easy Implementation Cloud hosting allows businesses to retain the same applications and business processes without having to deal with the back-end technicalities. Readily manageable by the Internet, a cloud infrastructure can be accessed by enterprises easily and quickly. Another advantage is a lesser cost for in-house IT infrastructure maintenance. While some providers may say cloud hosting allows companies to save money by taking away the need for an IT support and management team, the opposite is true. We at Stratosphere Networks believe redundancy is key. While a backup can be an extra cost, it can be worth it in the event of a technical failure within the cloud.
Accessibility Access your data anywhere, anytime. An internet cloud infrastructure maximizes enterprise productivity and efficiency by ensuring your application is accessible from any place anytime, allowing collaboration and sharing among users in multiple locations.
No Hardware Required A physical storage center is no longer needed as it is hosted in the cloud. Again, a backup could be worth looking into in the event of a disaster that could leave your company's productivity stagnant.
Cost per Head Overhead technology costs are kept at a minimum with cloud hosting services, enabling businesses to use the extra time and resources for improving the company infrastructure.
Troubleshooting, installation and configuring Cloud hosting provides easy, optimal utilization and management. In addition to 24x7x365 monitoring, Stratosphere Networks will install, troubleshoot and configure your cloud software and handle any customization and upgrades your enterprise may need.
Flexibility for Growth Easily scalable so companies can add or subtract resources based on their own needs. As companies grow, the need to expand their cloud infrastructure will also grow.
Efficient Recovery Cloud computing delivers faster and more accurate retrieval of applications and data. With less downtime, it is the most efficient recovery plan.

Disadvantages;

Less control

When moving services to the cloud, you are handing over your data and information. For companies who have an in-house IT staff, they are unable to handle issues on their own by logging onto a server. Instead they have to open a ticket like any end user. This may be hard for clients to understand, especially an IT staff that is used to handling tickets and internal technical issues internally. Stratosphere Networks guarantees our 24/7 live help desk will rectify any problems immediately - we are just one phone call away.

Less availability all the features

Not all cloud services are the same. Your cloud provider may not provide every feature or customization you want as some tend to offer limited versions and enable the most popular features. Before installation, make sure you know what your cloud service provider offers before signing up.
Just because clouds require no hardwired, doesn't mean you should do away with your servers
Yes, you may have fewer servers to handle which means less for your IT staff to handle, but in no way does that mean you can let go of all your servers and your staff. While it may seem costly to have data-centers and a cloud infrastructure, redundancy is key for backup and recovery.
No redundancy A cloud server is essentially not redundant nor is it backed up. As technology may fail here and there, avoid getting burned by purchasing a redundancy plan. Although it is an extra cost, in most cases it is well worth it.
Bandwidth issues For ideal performance, clients have to plan accordingly and do not pack large amounts of servers and storage devices into a small set of data centers.

Question 3:

What people, organization, technology issues should be addressed in deciding whether to use a conventional CRM system versus a cloud-based version?

Answer

Difficult to understand for ill-trained users, attempting to contain a large and complex group of data. Poor usability and low usage rates lead many companies to indicate that it was difficult to justify investment in the software without the potential for more tangible gains. Large investment to build and maintain a customer database which requires computer hardware, database software, analytical programme, communication links and skill personnel. There was a risk assessment to the users because the using of this cloud-based software server is not the owner of infrastructure privacy. Dependability should be considered during the decision due to the issues of storing data, difficult to export data, and dependent of provider.