Mobile enabled CRM vs CRM enabled Mobile

The replica of a Mobile Enabled SaaS CRM is not a CRM just as the thought of a process is not a process.

I had no intention to return to my blog anytime soon until I received a mail a few minutes ago.

Mobile CRMs come to stalk my work more than ever now. Just when I thought I had him reasonably compelled the CIO of a hot prospect sent me an email asking my views on a flier he had just received. A cheap, to the point, friendly mobile CRM provided and supported by the largest mobile instrument company in the country (by user base).

I am not surprised. While the big guys are busy putting together and selling flashy expensive and mostly overburdened CRM systems that are "Mobile Enabled" here is an example of a basic mobile CRM that is also "Internet Enabled". Alas! the SaaS biggies know less of mobility then they like to think.

Are mobile CRMs like these an elusive competition to conventional SaaS CRMs or a supplementary component that improves their capability? (Or something else that is still to take shape) Anyway, here is a honest opinion.

Mobile CRM is-

> About 140 times cheaper and does not need BBs or iPhones to run on

> Pre-existing install base across the spectrum

> Extremely Limited Functionality

> Further limited product road-map

> Super limited sponsorship

> Valuable for low value - have volume transaction environment

> Definitely not a CRM, a data gathering tool at best

> Clearly a useful extension to the typical CRM that helps improve their capability.

Do drop a comment if you'd like to deliberate further.

The SaaS Dilemma - Guest post by Houston Neal of Software Advice

The SaaS Dilemma

ERP Software Advice recently published an article on "The SaaS Dilemma." That is, how enterprise software vendors have a difficult time moving to the software as a service (SaaS) model because it could canabilize their cash cow business. While this isn't news in 2010, it's interesting how closely this maps to Clayton Christensen's book, "The Innovators Dilemma." Using his disruptive innovation framework, we can gain insight into what’s to come in enterprise software.

For some background, disruptive innovation refers to new solutions that are able to disrupt existing competitive dynamics. SaaS which offers a new delivery and pricing model is a classic disruptive innovation. Disruptive innovators often target the least profitable customer segments, then over time they improve features and performance to meet needs of larger, more sophisticated buyers. In the enterprise software market, SaaS is starting to gain serious momentum.

Today we're seeing SaaS vendors and on-premise vendors in a real battle for market share. But will these large incumbent vendors succeed in making the transition? With Christensen’s disruption innovation as a guide, we can expect to see a large number of on-premise vendors stall, fade and become irrelevant over the next decade. To continue reading, visit: The SaaS Dilemma