CRM Systems Integration

David Vidmar (2011) CRM Systems Integration. EngD thesis.

PDF Download (1487Kb)

Abstract

Company management policy, that includes CRM (Customer Relationship Management) that is implemented with CRM computer system is rapidly growing in importance in Slovenia and worldwide. But just implementing CRM system is not enough if we want system that is well accepted and used daily. Integration with other systems in company is very important when implementing CRM system. Four types of integration are defined and they are usage, replication, synhronization and business process integration. Successful CRM system implementations include integration with e-mail systems and e-mail clients, ERP systems and other business software, document management systems, reporting systems and business inteligence systems, phone systems, web pages, social networks, external data sources and other systems. Integration should be done in phases and with great deal of planning and analysis. Only integrations that are identified as usefull for business should be done as every integration costs money and time to implement and maintain. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a system that is well prepared for integration with other systems. Some integrations are out-of-the-box (Outlook, Dynamics ERP systems, SharePoint, phone systems), other integrations can be done with free or comercial 3rd party solutions (smarh phones, web site integrations, social networks) and there are couple of integrations tools and platforms that can connect to Dynamics CRM (BizTalk Server, Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, Scribe Insight,...). Cloud computing is proving to be a difficulty when trying to integrate system. Data in the cloud is typically less available than on premise, access to data is also slower. Replication cloud data to local data stores solves some of these problems.

Actions (login required)