For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: High 5 Sportswear Scores Big With A Smart SaaS CRM Implementation

by Pete Marston, William Band, May 7, 2008

What happens when your customer service reps have to blindly make decisions without having the right customer and sales data to guide them? High 5 Sportswear, an athletic apparel distributor based in the Pacific Northwest, faced precisely this challenge . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Best Practices: The Smart Way To Implement CRM SaaS Solutions

by William Band, Pete Marston, May 7, 2008

CRM software-as-a service (SaaS) solutions have moved beyond their previous status as a specialized deployment option and into the mainstream. According to Forrester's Enterprise and SMB Software Survey, North America and Europe, Q3 2007, more than a . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Equifax Builds A Business Case Before Investing In CRM SaaS

by William Band, Pete Marston, May 7, 2008

Equifax, a leading provider of solutions for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, and marketing tools, needed to deploy a CRM technology platform to support rapid growth. It decided . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Topic Overview: Customer Relationship Management 2008

by William Band, March 25, 2008

Forrester's customer relationship management (CRM) research helps CRM professionals embrace best practices — from process optimization to technology implementation — to improve the customer experience and drive top-line growth. Our research spans marketing, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

How To Evaluate Your CRM Professional Services Provider

Use Forrester's PSP Scorecard To Determine If You Need A New Partner

by William Band, July 12, 2006

Forrester surveyed 119 enterprises and interviewed 21 business and IT executives to understand how they select and evaluate customer relationship management (CRM) professional services providers (PSPs). We found that organizations use 12 evaluation criteria . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Global CRM PSPs Deliver A Full Range Of Services But May Not Provide Best Value

by William Band, June 5, 2006

The large international multiservice consulting and systems integration firms offer a depth of resources to assist with customer relationship management (CRM) strategy development, solution design, implementation, operations, application maintenance, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Offshore CRM PSPs Gain Acceptance But Need To Build Additional Skills

by William Band, June 5, 2006

Clients are increasingly turning to technology services organizations with primary origins and operations in Asia that deliver services on a global basis, including customer relationship management (CRM) specialty capabilities. For clients who are confident . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

North American Regional CRM PSPs

NA Regional PSPs Understand The Market But May Have Delivery, Technology Gaps

by William Band, May 16, 2006

There are a number of customer relationship management (CRM) professional services providers (PSPs) that have a primary focus on serving clients headquartered in the North America. These firms include multiservice providers with a special expertise in . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Market Overview Of CRM Professional Services

Many Choices Drive Need For Buyers To Make A Careful Selection

by William Band, April 28, 2006

Customer relationship management (CRM) professional services providers (PSPs) play an important role in helping enterprises achieve their goals to have more profitable interactions with customers and partners. Spending on CRM PSP services will remain . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

How To Select A CRM Professional Services Provider

Avoid Being Among The 40% Of Clients Who Are Disappointed

by William Band, February 23, 2006

Forrester surveyed 119 buyers and users of customer relationship management (CRM) professional services providers (PSPs). We found that, although enterprises place high importance on the quality of the firm that they engage to support CRM projects, four . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Hosted Versus Licensed CRM: Cost And Implementation Tradeoffs

by Liz Herbert, September 27, 2004

Hosted CRM has a lower upfront cost and is quicker to implement than traditional licensed software. But which option is more cost-effective in the long run, and which option is the best choice for your firm?

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Best Practices For Implementing Hosted Sales

by Erin Kinikin, Liz Herbert, June 30, 2004

Fast deployment with CRM application service providers (ASPs) can mean failing more quickly without the right implementation and rollout plan. End users we spoke with told us that what you do after installing the software is the most critical factor in . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

How To Choose A Hosted Sales Solution

by Erin Kinikin, June 25, 2004

Forrester conducted an extensive evaluation of the top four vendors in the fast-growing hosted sales market using our hands-on TechRankings methodology. salesforce.com leads today but must fight off cash-rich Siebel Systems and hordes of deal-hungry specialty . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Help Desk Outsourcing — Not "If" But "What Part?"

Insights From GigaWorld US 2004

by John Ragsdale, June 3, 2004

The comments from multiple clients in sessions and in one-on-one meetings showed that when it comes to outsourcing the IT help desk, the question is no longer whether to do so, but rather what piece of the operation makes sense and how to deal with the . . .

Making An IT Help Desk Outsourcing Decision

by Robert McNeill, John Ragsdale, March 29, 2004

Help desk outsourcing is increasingly being commoditized due to the standardization of service offerings, competition among vendors, and the introduction of advanced technologies. However, the risks of help desk outsourcing are high since the help desk . . .

Checklist For Help Desk Outsourcing

Structuring The Decision

by Robert McNeill, John Ragsdale, March 22, 2004

Prior to issuing a request for proposal (RFP) from help desk outsourcers, organizations should invest in a structured discovery exercise of help desk operations and how this group is perceived by the business. Four key areas need to be analyzed: a detailed . . .

Opportunities and Challenges in the Offshore Technical Help Desk

by Bill Martorelli, John Ragsdale, January 19, 2004

Although outsourcing the technical help desk is risky ¿ particularly if it involves offshore resources ¿ the market for outsourced offshore technical help desk services is poised for significant growth.

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

With Hosted CRM Adoption on the Rise, Vendors Expand Offerings to Increase Market Share

by John Ragsdale, November 3, 2003

Companies shopping for CRM software should consider hosted alternatives ¿ both traditional hosted vendors that have beefed up functional offerings, as well as traditionally licensed CRM vendors now offering a hosted alternative.

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

After the Thaw: How to Provide Customer Entitlement Data for Outsourced Technical Support Agents

by John Ragsdale, October 6, 2003

The two main approaches are allowing agents to have browse access to customer information stored in the client¿s CRM system or other customer information database, or loading the customer data into the issue tracking system used by the outsourcer.

EDS Gets Offshore Help Desk Right

by Bill Martorelli, September 30, 2003

EDS¿s experience underscores several challenges and opportunities that are also applicable to customers seeking to establish offshore technical help desk capabilities, either by themselves or in conjunction with external partners.

Outsourcing the Technical Help Desk Using Offshore Resources

by Bill Martorelli, September 25, 2003

Outsourcing the help desk offshore can be beneficial, but appropriate preparations are mandatory, including requiring a blend of effective knowledge transfer and process synchronization, along with reliable voice and IP links.

Best Practices: Creating an RFP for a CRM Implementation Project

by Elana Anderson, September 19, 2003

Potential systems integrators need to fully understand the business objectives and expectations for project execution as well as the organization structure, relevant business processes, the state of customer information and the technology infrastructure.

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Don't Forgo a Formal RFP Process When Selecting a CRM Integration Partner

by Elana Anderson, September 18, 2003

Although an RFP process can be time consuming, politically charged and arduous, it still serves as the best mechanism for managing the selection of a customer relationship management (CRM) integration partner.

Getting What You Paid for: Monitoring Service Level Received From Desktop Vendors

by John Ragsdale, August 21, 2003

If the service level received from one of your vendors slips, don't wait for the contract to come up for renewal to complain. Document the problem with times, incident numbers, product serial numbers, etc., and contact the account manager to discuss.

Pros and Cons of Hosted Customer Service Applications

by John Ragsdale, July 7, 2003

In general, hosted applications offer faster implementations and less upfront costs. But hosting may be more expensive in the long run due to ongoing hosting fees, and with some hosted offerings there are limited customization and integration options.