I am currently facing the biggest challenge I ever faced in any CRM implementation, that of end user take up. I am never quite sure of what happens between the point when the managers of an organisation take the decision to take up a CRM platform and the point when it is delivered to those who are actually meant to be using it. No matter how helpful those in the end user are when you are in the middle of the build there is always the trenchant desire to stick to what they know instead of embracing what they have now.

 

It is an odd thing as this is the complete reverse of all those who work in IT, we are all obsessed with what is new, and what is new is always best and must be tried first before our friends get the opportunity. So although I have successfully implemented 16 Dynamics CRM platforms, I for one have been giddy with excitement over the latest as it’s my first go with Dynamics CRM Live. It truly is powerful and easy-to-use.

 

The 'Live' I had thought simply referred to its ability to be delivered over the internet, but it really is much more than that. I am not too sure how many of the differences are apparent to the end users between Dynamics CRM and Dynamics CRM Live, but that is the point. End Users do not want to have to wait for months to get started, they have made the decision and they want to use their new kit as soon as possible, all those endless possibilities that were pointed out at the pre sales meetings and during the meetings that go into building those functional specs.

 

End Users also do not realise how long Dynamics CRM, or for that matter Salesforce or Seibel can take to implement, so it is no wonder that they are not as bowled over by how quickly Dynamics CRM Live can take to implement, it truly is as close as a major CRM platform is ever going to get to working straight out of the box. We have been installing Professional Plus and there is a marked lack of functionality when compared to Dynamics CRM, but it is very much a case of using which platform is best for end user.

 

As this end user is a smaller company, and heavily focussed in sales it is no surprise that the choice was Dynamics CRM Live, and it has proved to be the right one, utilisation of the wizards and the point and click customisation tools has meant that we have been able to customise every field to make it easy for the end users to be able to work with, we have also been able to customise the way in which the sales staff are able to fill in the contact forms and even how to follow up with the data as it comes in. There is also the ease in which we have been able to connect the CRM data with their existing data in real-time by leveraging native Web services.

 

The best thing about Dynamics CRM Live from the end users perspective is the reporting functions, which given the emphasis put on the user allows them to create even the most complicated reports on their own. Now all that remains is to get the users to actually become as excited about the implementation as we are, either that or we will have to hope for a CRM platform to be invented that makes the sales for them.