Mobile CRM technology — long hailed as the solution to keeping
mobile sales and field service staff connected and armed with
up-to-date information, only to see disappointing returns — is now
grabbing the attention of Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors.

Last week, San Francisco-based Salesforce.com released new mobile functionality based on its acquisition of Sendia, a one-time partner and mobile application developer. That follows last
month’s release of eMobile from Entellium, a Seattle-based startup that
is taking on established SaaS CRM vendors such as Salesforce.com and
NetSuite. Entellium’s release features a sliding menu that allows users
to navigate the system with just a thumb — similar to Apple’s popular
iPod.

SaaS (or on-demand) CRM, generally praised for its intuitive user
interfaces and widespread user adoption, would seem to have an
advantage when it comes to winning over a mobile salesforce that can be
fickle when it comes to welcoming new technology.

"Yes and no," said Sheryl Kingstone, senior program manager
with the Boston-based Yankee Group. "Primarily because Salesforce
acquired Sendia, they have a leg-up in embedding into a mobile
architecture."

Simplicity does matter in mobile CRM, she added. Because
Entellium is relatively new, "they can start fresh instead of how the
traditional CRM vendors just shoved their CRM onto the device to see if
it works."

For more on mobile CRM Read how a welding firm is getting "wows" from its mobile deployment" See why mobile CRM is ready to make its move

First Rate Financial, a Bellevue, Wa.-based mortgage lender,
looked at both Entellium and Salesforce.com when it went shopping for a
new CRM system five months ago. The company selected Entellium for its
24-hour support, price and adaptability, according to Mike Colagrossi,
president and CEO. First Rate Financial also adapted Entellium to fit
its 10-step sales process, which is similar to a traditional loan
process.

Now, the mortgage company is leveraging the deployment on
eMobile, connecting its mortgage sales team while they’re on the road
at open houses, CPA and real estate offices.

"From a manager’s perspective, I don’t bring a laptop in the
field. It’s just very clunky," Colagrossi said. "When we looked at
Entellium and Salesforce, we had ideas of price point, versatility, and
customizability. When we launched the mobile application, it pulled
from modifications we did."

According to research from the Yankee Group, users of mobile
CRM are warming to hosted applications. In a recent survey, more than
40% of mobile CRM users said they were interested in having a service
provider manage their applications, while more than 70% said they were
somewhat interested.

However, companies such as Antenna Software Inc., a Jersey
City, N.J.-based mobile technology platform provider that focuses on
sales and service, can offer a bit more.

"If a customer has Siebel and SAP and lots of databases they
want to expose, that’s where Antenna has the advantage," Kingstone
said. "Most of the time, unless users just want accounts and contacts,
they want to get into extra databases. If you just want account
management and call logging, that’s where Salesforce and Entellium have
the advantage."

Yankee Group recommends that companies considering mobile
deployments let business process frameworks that enable best practices
drive the project; that the tools span multiple systems; and that firms
make the deployment part of an overall application roadmap, such as
CRM, SFA or service implementation, considering business cost, form
factor and connectivity.

By Barney Beal
Source: SearchCRM

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