Organisations should consider a service-oriented integration approach if they want to reap the maximum benefits from Cloud CRM offerings, suggests David Akka, Managing Director, UK, Eire, Nordics, Magic Software UK.
The growth of The Cloud is now proving to be a lifesaver as the recession continues to bite into enterprise IT budgets. What company (or department, for that matter)—regardless of industry—would not want to adopt a proven, off-the-shelf solution that can be quickly configured, with minimal investment and setup, to match its needs?
Businesses adopting Cloud-based CRM solutions see it as an opportunity to save money by avoiding expensive up-front development costs; experience very fast implementation; garner immediate business value rather than waiting through a long application development or implementation lifecycle; and increase their business agility.
Looking at the sheer number of solutions available today in the area of Cloud services, it’s clear that the growth of vendors such as Salesforce.com is driving an equally strong knock-on demand for application integration – between the newly acquired CRM service and the company’s existing on-premises systems, particularly enterprise resource planning systems (SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, etc.).
Despite the benefits of the Cloud, industry analysts agree that one of the main challenges to successful implementation is integration i.e. how to tie the on-demand CRM system into the workings of the organizations’ existing IT systems, to gain the maximum value from them all.
While one of the primary benefits of Salesforce.com is its low up-front cost, the initial expense of integration using traditional integration tools may actually threaten to outweigh the benefits before a project even gets off the ground.
However, the integration process does not need to be long or costly. Ideally, organizations should be looking for a tool that allows them to continue operating their on-premises applications with no change - while simply integrating with their new on-demand system.
Those companies who have resisted the integration effort until now should take another look at the integration software marketplace. Despite the recession, there’s good news – with products and solution accelerators tailored specifically to allow for fast and cost-effective integration of Salesforce.com and other IT systems.
SOA
An effective approach to integration is based on a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). In fact, many modern SaaS applications offer some kind of an SOA-enabled interface that uses Web Services. Using similarly advanced SOA-based integration solutions, the challenge of integration becomes much less daunting. Such an approach is designed to fulfill the following criteria:
Enable a smooth sales operation, regardless of which back-office application was managing which activity.
Allow re-use of existing systems without any change to the user experience.
Cut down on processing time and the amount of manual work required.
Decrease errors, with a positive influence on both customer service and a decrease in operational costs.
Organizations typically run their different applications such as on-premises ERP (i.e. SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards), email systems (i.e. MS Exchange, Lotus Notes) and Salesforce.com as individual and isolated islands. By bridging the islands with a pragmatic integration approach, data can be shared across the organization and business processes synchronized to bring combined added value to the organization.
For example, Customer A is running a blend of old and new applications including:
- An on-premises ERP system
- An email and calendar application
- A Cloud-based CRM service such as Salesforce.com
By integrating these disparate systems, Customer A can supply its sales reps – working at the revenue-generating front of the business – with a full, 360-degree view of customer-facing processes – helping them sell better. Meanwhile, back-office functions designed to support the internal running of the business gain from streamlined work processes, with fewer work repetitions, fewer human errors and less wasted time.
Data from Customer A’s accounting system can be easily retrieved, and services exposed from the legacy environment are wrapped as Web Services that enable synchronous, easy-to-use integration between Salesforce.com and Customer A’s internal systems. These services are then easily re-used for any future interface with practically zero overhead.
And the benefits of this relatively short process are far beyond the initial effort invested:
- Automatic synchronization now takes place between Salesforce.com and ERP, with email workflow approval;
- Changes are now populated from one system to another;
- Updates can now be executed in real-time without administrator intervention;
- Sales staff and operations staff have common customer naming and language. The manual updates, mistakes, and workflows are gone;
- Sales and accounting audit checks now run smoothly;
- Salesforce.com users now view the complete financial status and history of the customer within their Salesforce.com interface;
- Salesforce.com users can now create sales processes based on financial data;
- All the calendars are now synchronized online with internal users using their Salesforce.com interface;
- External sales partners and field sales staff are now coordinated.
- Overlapping meetings are minimized.
Precisely because these are very challenging times for IT departments, with pressure from tighter budgets on the one hand and an increasingly complex software environment on the other hand, a smart integration strategy is important. It can help organizations sell better at the front end of the business while cutting running and maintenance costs at the back end - a win-win for the entire enterprise.
When the Cloud model is added to the organizational mix – with the intention of reducing the cost and running pressure, the above approach to integration can ensure that the benefits are not lost or diluted.
Make no mistake. Salesforce.com style offerings are here to stay and will play a major part in the new business reality that is now emerging. Business application integration must be seen as a vital process for those who wish to keep pace in today’s business world. Fortunately, with a service-oriented approach, integration need not be difficult to achieve, especially for companies that thought they had no affordable and effective alternatives until now.
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