In April 2001, Oracle launched a CRM solution that could be implemented in 90 days.
Although the final product hasn’t been tested yet, Oracle’s solution seems revolutionary in many respects. Many companies are spending as much as a quarter of their IT budgets trying to integrate their business systems. It is also commonplace for full-scale enterprise software implementations to take as long as two years. Oracle claims it can provide a CRM solution ten times cheaper than Siebel and in only 90 days.
Customers adopting Oracle’s solution will, however, have to make compromises. Apart from the fact that some parts of the software are not quite ready for use in mission critical applications, it is also an English-only software. Another problem is that it cannot easily integrate with back office systems.
The standardized character of Oracle’s offering also limits the choice offered to companies. It assumes that everyone’s customers are alike, while Amazon.com’s customers are different from Cisco’s customers, and there is a difference between an impulse purchase, such as a book, and a highly considered purchase, such as a router.
More importantly, because customers can’t modify the software, Oracle advocates that they should change the business around it. Some customers might not want to be told how to run their business because of inflexible software. Oracle will need to convince those customers that the lack of choices in customization are offset by being able to quickly and effectively execute specific business practices.
Oracle has many motivations to launch its product. Oracle’s initial market in databases is slowing because of a progressive saturation and CRM provides a new land to conquer for the vendor. In an economic downturn, companies are also more reluctant to invest in projects that don’t bring rapid returns on investment. In these conditions, a rapid time for implementation is a key marketing argument. A cheaper solution is also a way to attract SMEs that could not otherwise afford extensive CRM functionalities. Oracle’s offering is tempting, but it will need a strong marketing campaign to convince businesses to overlook the weaknesses.
