COMPARING CLOUD CRM AND ON-SITE OPTIONS
Choosing between a Cloud-based CRM solution and an On-site one is a critical part of any customer relationship management strategy. Although there are distinct differences between the two, both Cloud CRM and On-site CRM offer significant benefits to the companies that deploy them.
COMMON THINGS
Cloud CRM and On-site CRM solutions share many of the same characteristics. They both offer a comprehensive feature set, providing capabilities that span sales, marketing, call centre, and service operations, as well as advanced forecasting, reporting, analysis, and performance management.
Additionally, both Cloud CRM and On-site CRM solutions provide sophisticated role-based security, and the ability to seamlessly integrate with a variety of other business systems within your environment, including ecommerce applications and ERP packages.
They also have the same basic components, CRM Software, Business Processes, Users and Hardware. Where their paths separate is where the hardware resides. For Cloud CRM this means a computer centre somewhere on the internet – for On-site you will likely be able to see your hardware (and all its lights flashing).
| CLOUD | ONSITE | |
| COST-EFFECTIVENESS | Cost effective short term but can be more expensive long term | Large upfront cost |
| CUSTOMISATION AND INTEGRATION | May not be flexible or easily integrated | Flexible, easily integrated |
| DEPLOYMENT | Easy | Complex |
| INTERNET CONNECTION | Requires fast connection | Not reliant on fast connection |
| MAINTENANCE | Externally managed – no additional fee | Internally or externally managed – additional fee |
| REMOTE ACCESSIBILITY | Very accessible | Minimal/no accessibility |
| RETURN ON INVESTMENT | Faster | Slower |
| SECURITY | Secure but not in your control | Tighter security, greater control |
| SHIFTING VENDORS | Often hard | Often easier |
| UPDATES | Frequent | Infrequent |
SUMMARY
The choice between Cloud and On-site CRM systems is a trade-off between the control, management, price and security of a solution.
There is rarely one ‘right’ answer but what is key is that you have confidence in the vendor and the implementation partner to help you achieve your goals.
