Can a Web-based Solution Meet Your Needs?
Today there are numerous
Web-based Sales Management Tools available.
Their immediate appeal is the claim that they can have you up and running
in days, and that they won't require the purchase of server hardware, etc.
As with any new
technology, the ability to host your sales database over the web can be a
blessing or a curse, depending on your real needs.
The advantages of this
type of solution is that you can offload some system support tasks to another
organization. They will be
responsible to manage the server hardware and software for you. They will also be responsible for daily backups of your data
(hopefully), and will typically provide you with software updates as part of
your monthly fees. One of the
advantages claimed by this type of system is the reduced costs to get you up and
running. However, these monthly
costs do continue forever, so the longer you use the system, the more it costs
you in the long run.
The advantage of having
you up and running in days is true for any organization who can benefit from an
"off-the-shelf" type of system. However,
if you want to get the benefits of a system tailored for your specific needs,
and sales processes, a Web-based system will fall short of that goal.
A Web-based system also
assumes you have a "fast" and "dependable" connection to the
internet. This may be true for many
companies who can afford a T1 or better connection, however, it is problematic
if you have DSL, or Broadband where the download speeds are good, but the upload
speeds many not be so dependable. And
it is certainly not a solution for those who rely on dial-up access to the
internet. If you have remote sales
people who travel, they may not be
able to even get access to their data if they are on-site with a customer,
traveling on a plane, working at home, or in some hotels.
Another frustration
expressed by users of these types of systems, is the lack of user-interface
sophistication that you find in a typical PC application like Word®
or Excel® (Would you want to run Word® in a
Web Browser?).
The common complaint is that you spend a lot of time waiting for screens
to refresh (as you do whenever you use a web browser when the internet is busy).
For these reasons, Michael
Canton, wrote in an eWEEK Labs article entitled Web Sales
Apps Lack Depth, stated, "While the tools we examined each have several features
that will help sales teams increase productivity, all had significant shortcomings
when it came to allowing sales teams to work offline and all failed to deliver
the usability and performance most salespeople would expect."