Today’s guest blogger is Jacob Cynamon-Murphy, a Sales Engineer at Sonoma Partners.
I have had the pleasure of delivering a presentation entitled CRM Mobility Options Demystified to several audiences across the United States. Although I continue to get requests to deliver the session in person, I thought I would also share the highlights in a blog post for our readers.
While it is no secret that there are a variety of mobile solutions in the market to support your field sales and service teams, there has not been a lot of solid objective knowledge shared about the pros and cons of each solution and how best to choose the solution(s) that are right for your employees. The following blog post outlines the three main option tiers– browser-based, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), and custom mobile – as well as the differentiators for each tier that can help you make the best decision for your team.
Browser-Based Mobile
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 conveniently comes with a free web-based mobile client that runs in the browser of virtually every mobile platform on the market today. Ideally suited as a quick reference to pull up data from your CRM system while in the field, it can be cumbersome to use for creating or editing substantial amounts of data.
Pros
- Free!!!
- Point-and-click configuration that leverages your existing system setup
- Nothing to deploy
- Universally accessible (HTML4+)
- Good for quick, read-only use
Cons
- Very simplistic - not specific to your needs
- Difficult to use on most devices
- Challenging for data entry
- No enhancements on roadmap
- No system access (camera, GPS, multi-touch, address book, etc.)
Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Native Apps
There are a variety of vendors offering off-the-shelf mobile solutions on all major platforms. However, two vendors stand out from the rest as the most innovative, broadly-available solutions – CWR Mobility and Resco. For this category, I’m providing a list of the pros and cons of the COTS category broadly, which covers both vendors; reach out to me directly if you want guidance on the trade-offs between the CWR Mobile and Resco MobileCRM apps.
Pros
- Extensible
- Quick to deploy via app stores
- Offline-capable
- Access to system features
- Supports all major mobile platforms
Cons
- Not specific to your needs w/o code
- Per-user license fees add up
- Dependent on a 3rd party to update
- Need to deploy app and updates
- Server components to maintain (CWR)
Custom-Tailored Mobile Apps
Sonoma Partners has an enterprise mobility practice and I have been an active contributor to sales and marketing efforts in this space; as a result, I’ve gathered a lot of feedback and expertise around the advantages and disadvantages of custom-tailored app development. In full disclosure, I don’t always advise custom mobile; from my experience, for many scenarios COTS or Mobile Express is a perfectly suitable option based on customer needs, but when custom mobile makes sense, it’s hands-down the best choice.
Pros
- Personalized to your business/users
- Offline-capable
- Able to access system features
- Able to extend app beyond CRM
- Targeted to the platform(s) you use
- Can change with your business
Cons
- Longest to implement
- Need to deploy app and updates
- Additional effort/cost for multiple platforms
- Cost-prohibitive for small user bases
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In closing, if your road warriors are clamoring for a mobile CRM solution, you have plenty of choice. By spending time to gather feedback about their needs and comparing it to the lists above, you can determine the optimal solution for them to be most effective. If you have any questions along the way or need help as you explore mobility options for your team, feel free to reach out to me – jcynamon AT sonomapartners DOT com – for mobile strategy guidance.