Salesforce.com's Cloud Dissipated: Severe Outage

As seen in this latest weather report it seems Salesforce.com Clouds have dissipated yesterday as they experienced a 30 to 40 minute complete outage. Blogs have been talking and apparently not only their CRM Software services were lost but their entire web site was down.

With Salesforce.com down in the middle of a business day for 30 to 40 minutes countless organizations were without their data and the tools required to complete their work. As stated by PC World Salesforce services were largely unavailable across all regions between 12:39 pm and 1:17 pm PST in the US. It was also stated that even their trust.salesforce was down stopping customers from even retrieving outage updates.

Salesforce.com has acknowledged the issue but did not say what had caused the issue leaving some wondering. On a side note Salesforce.com does not offer its customer a service level agreement which would guarantee a certain amount of uptime. So far the only CRM vendor who offers a service level agree is Salesboom.com which promises a 99.8% uptime.

The “ABLE’s” of Online CRM in 2009

It goes by many names; Web Based CRM Software, Online CRM Software, Hosted CRM Software or On Demand CRM Software. No matter what name you choose it is all the same, Customer Relationship Management Software accessed via the internet.

This form of CRM has been around since early 2000 and is still considered by some to be a new form of CRM when compared to its more traditional relative, On Premise CRM Software. Whether it is thought of as new or not it has more than proven that it isn’t going anywhere but up anytime soon. Predictions by Gartner in 2007 stated that CRM Software was set to exceed 7.4 billion USD in 2007 with a main cause of this growth coming from “the explosive growth of software as a service [SaaS] solutions”.

With strong growth in the past and a bright future, Web Based CRM Software provided as a service has helped many organizations since early 2000 grow their company and achieve new heights. Throughout 2009 we are sure to see much advancement in the areas of Web Services API, development of Platform-as-a-Service, simplified Customizations and Integrations and an overall increased usability.

One way to sum up what to look for in 2009 is by looking at the “able’s”; customizABLE, IntegratABLE and UsABLE.

The advancement of Web Services API plays a key role in making Web Based CRM Software easily integratable, expandable, usable and customizable. Some CRM vendors provide an API which allows them to connect their platform to virtually any other software solution currently leveraged by businesses. Organizations can new view all their information within a single location which is updated in real time across their entire organization. This level of functionality will prove to be a timesaver and is sure to increase productivity since multiple logins to different platforms with different sets of data are no longer present.

Advanced customizability also comes in the form of AJAX which allows the common user to customize areas of the CRM platform such as fields and tabs. Users can now simply click on an area of their CRM and drag it with their mouse to a desired location. Users also have the ability to hide certain areas of their CRM allowing them to provide their users with only the information needed to complete their tasks.

These features are already available from CRM vendors such as Salesforce or Salesboom.com and we’re sure to see these ideas greatly expanded throughout 2009. There are practically no limits to what one can accomplish with Web Based CRM, an entire organization can now have all the tools they require within one place accessible from any location with the internet.

What does enterprise security, going green and going under have in common?

If you are wondering what enterprise security, going green and going under could could possibly have in common then allow me to elaborate. CRM.

That’s right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ties these three topics together since they can all be improved by implementing a CRM Software solution. CRM helps enterprises met SOX compliance and maintain a single secure database. Also, CRM aids an organizations effort to cut down on wasted time and resources in their attempts to green up their operations. Finally, with the condition of the market these days’ businesses are searching for ways to reduce operating costs and better track leads to ensure no opportunity ever slips through the cracks.

Enterprise security is not a new worry like the other two mentioned, this is always a number one concern to organizations. Although it is not a new concern I think it is safe to say that with guidelines like SOX compliance, efforts placed on ensuring security will only increase. CRM comes into play here by providing businesses with functionality like custom profile and user role security settings, record level security, field level security, login time and IP access restrictions, advanced administration and audit trails. These features are built into many of the major CRM platforms like Salesforce, Salesboom.com or Netsuite and aid businesses control who can view or edit what information. Leveraging this type of functionality will not only show you who are accessing what for security reasons, it also brings a new level of accountability to an organization.

Next up is going green and the efforts businesses are taking to better align with this concept. Organizations are following many avenues in hopes of making their operation earth friendly which in turn can also save them money. Out on the market today is a wide array of tools designed to clean up businesses by cutting out unnecessary functions. For example, I was recently looking at Interfax and other online fax solutions. In today’s age there really is not much need for the dinosaur way of sending and receiving faxes which wastes paper and time. Let me ask how long does it take you to send a simple fax? This small but still meaningful green solution cuts out the need to first print a document, take the time to walk to the fax machine which isn’t always in your office or even on your floor, stand there and wait just to waste one more piece of paper describing the transaction. All this can be cut out by SaaS solutions which allow you to send document or email to fax or receive fax to email. Tying back to SaaS CRM vendors some of them even integrate with fax providers, I believe Salesforce has this integration as well I’m pretty sure Salesboom.com integrates with InterFax now. This is just one area where organizations can cut down on waste but there are many with Online CRM. The simple ability to access your entire database from any location with an internet connection also cuts out wasted resources. When traveling or working in the field there is no need to print or bring documentation with you, just login to your CRM offline or mobile solution and you have everything you need.

Finally, going under is a rising concern when the market is feeling a pinch. During a time when banks are closing their doors and large corporations like Lehman Brothers are declaring bankruptcy businesses begin searching for ways to save money and secure their future. Hosted CRM Software helps organizations of all sizes manage and track their business which can uncover wasted resources or marketing campaigns with poor ROI. One of the greatest benefits to using Web Based CRM Software is the ability to closing track and report on leads, campaigns, opportunities and accounts. Accurate real time lead tracking is key to making sure no lead is ever forgotten about or passed by. Kind of on this topic, recently I have seen a lot of Real Estate agencies making the move to Web Based CRM. This is most likely for some of the reasons mentioned here like accurate lead tracking along with the fact that it is cost effective and quickly rolled out. Never missing an opportunity is extremely important when purse strings are tightened and consumers are less willing to part with their dollar. This is why businesses large and small need the tools to allow them to track opportunities and leverage analytical and reporting tools to uncover trends in the market, all possible with CRM Software.

Still Not Convinced Your CRM is Secure?

When a new business management solution is developed or for that matter when when a new anything is released it is bound to end up under the microscope. With Web Based CRM Software the area most scrutinized was how secure this web based application could really be. There has been many articles, white papers, webinars and so on discussing the security of online CRM Software and I thought I would add one more blog to this list to add further evidence of the tight security of online CRM.

First a list of 3 areas used to ensure the security of your Web Based CRM:

1) Data is housed in a highly secure Data Center and constantly maintained 2) Data is transferred using highly secure internet connections similar to those trusted by the banking industry 3) Customizable Organization Security Tools

There is no better place to start then the data center where an organizations information is stored. Prior to Web Based CRM it was up to each individual organization to house, maintain and securely network their own data center. This brings on a large cost and takes a lot of resources to properly house a data center. Involved in maintaining a data center is building the correct facility which is ready for all types of natural disaster and is constantly backed up as a fail safe. With this in the hands of an organization who's main role is to provide and protect such a data center combined with their ability to allocate a large amount of resources to this task, organizations can rest assured that their data is safely stored and backed up in a cutting edge data center.

Next we have the transfer of business information over the internet. In a time when I don't remember the last time I actually stepped foot inside of my bank and most people I speak with share the same trait, the internet has reached a point where data can be securely sent and received via the internet and a simple web browser. Using a file encryption like that leveraged by banks, Web Based CRM vendors can safely transfer an organizations data to any computer a user desires as long as they have a secure internet connection. The great upside to this functionality is the freedom it provides businesses and the money saved by no longer needing to have a hardwired office network. This feature allows SMB's to be up and running quickly with a secure CRM solution with little or no head aches, currently I even have an HP wireless printer which now allows me to sit in my kitchen, contact 2000 people simultaneously using Online CRM and print a confirmation of this act without a single wire to trip over.

My third point, is at the organization level. Many CRM vendors like Salesforce or Salesboom.com offer many means of furthering securing your CRM based on user roles and profiles. Using customized user roles and profiles an organization may set exactly who can view, edit or view and edit any given record within their system. Best of all this functionality is easy to use and modify as new hires join the team or staff advance up the ladder. Adding again to security at the organization level is functionality called the audit trail. This feature provides executives, managers or administrators with the ability to see who has been doing what within the CRM. Companies can easily see who has created, modified or deleted any record which also acts as a means of uncovering the most productive employees.

The mentioned above features and functionality of Web Based CRM Software are only some of the ways CRM vendors are protecting your data while at the same time saving you money. For added security you can take it another step and add two-factor authentication which involves a USB token which acts as your key to your CRM platform. Without having your USB Key with matching login information your user name and password are rendered useless thus being of no value to scammers. All in all I believe that organizations can now trust Web Based CRM Software with their important data and still receive a good nights sleep.

Church Management Software

With all the buzz around CRM Software for SMB's or companies of any size, we tend to forget about the management needs of groups and organizations. These groups need similar software to manage members, financial transactions and any other daily tasks. For example, Church Management Software can assist and ease the work involved in managing church members and all other administrative aspects, these organizations look to grow the same as any other business.