The software for business market developed in response to large organizations’ need to manage their assets and main activities. Be it customer relationship management (CRM), human capital management (HCM), or enterprise resource planning (ERP), initially only large enterprises were able to commission and acquire such products. But as with anything else that grows successfully in our global economy, software for business quickly became a commodity, and as a result today we can distinguish several flavors of CRM.

Even though CRM solutions are very “trendy” and in demand these days, CRM solutions do not follow a “one size fits all” approach. Medium and large enterprises have very specific CRM needs which are not typically applicable to small organizations, and these needs often require specific solutions or extensions to standard CRM solutions. For example, utility companies with tens of thousands of clients will likely need a field service extension of CRM. Also, companies that sell mass produced goods generally need more online retail options than the largest players such as Etsy or Yahoo, and will likely be interested in an eCommerce extension of CRM. Read the rest of this entry »