A lot of things happen these days in the enterprise software market. It is interesting sometime to watch the life in PLM neighborhood. CRM is one of them. I watched a video interview with Brad Wilson, General Manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, to discuss the state of the CRM software market. This video is one of the multiple episodes published on ERP and more yesterday. Watch the video and make your opinion.
Brad mentioned 4 things that that challenging Microsoft CRM these days: 1/ offering of full suite of products, 2/ flexible configuration and customization, 3/ improved user experience and 4/ product affordability. I found these top 4 things very complimentary to PLM trends. Some of them like improved user experience and product affordability are in the list of customer’s communities for years. Flexible configuration and customization is another one that on top of PLM requirements for many years.
What is my conclusion? I can see these challenges as a common problem in enterprise software. The complexity is growing and old ways to solve problems might fail. In my view, to grow the portfolio, increase flexibility and hope for affordability – it is simple doesn’t work together. Granular applications and openness are the way to produce affordable tools to solve business problems. Just my opinion…
Best, Oleg