In my last piece, I wrote about five reasons why CRM software shoppers had created a buyer's market at the start of 2010.
Box.net's Aaron Levie wrote a guest article for TechCrunch this week, outlining some of the reasons why "cloud computing" technology faces a perfect storm for adoption by enterprise in 2010. In it, he reviews how many of the technology's early adopters have helped work out the kinks over the past ten years, ensuring that many popular services have achieved stability. Furthermore, Levie examines how some companies may have little choice but to adopt hosted CRM and other cloud computing services, based on some major trends.
Levie's ideas relate well to the discussions many CIOs are having with their teams right now about hosted CRM systems. For instance:
- Large companies have gotten out of the relocation business. Fluctuations in both the stock and the real estate market have forced companies to look at new solutions for top talent. It's no longer a top priority to help a sales executive sell her existing home and move near a central team. In fact, decentralizing teams through the use of cloud-based CRM software has become an essential component of many companies' survival strategies.
- Prospective CRM software buyers don't want to be "locked in" to major commitments in the event of a future downturn. Depending on whom you ask, the current recession is either already over or just beginning. Hosted CRM solutions allow companies to flex their contracts up and down over time to meet the demands of the prevailing economic climate.
- Recent college grads are "social media literate." It's no big deal for them to update the status on a pending sale using CRM software, since they're already accustomed to doing the same thing with their social status on Twitter and Facebook. CRM software won't face the same resistance it did from teams in the 1990s and 2000s, as long as solutions can keep up with demanding, mobile lifestyles.
While hosted CRM solutions won't always be right for every company, the security features and deployment options available today should be more than sufficient to meet the needs of many companies.
