Nearly 60 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) view the cost savings potential as the major advantage of cloud-based CRM solutions, according to new research from U.K.-based Maximizer Software.
The biggest attraction of cloud-based CRM is the ability to avoid incurring high upfront costs, including the need for additional infrastructure and IT staff, necessary to implement an in-house solution – along with the rapid return on investment delivered by the subscription model. The survey also showed that the scalability of cloud-based CRM is also a major part of its appeal, as is the potential to upgrade the applications as the technology and functionality improves.
A cloud-based solution and the subscription model not only offers savings on the upfront cost of implementing a CRM system, but also scalability and the potential to upgrade easily to the most up-to-date technology at a reasonable cost, which would enable SMEs in particular to achieve greater efficiency while remaining flexible, according to Mike Richardson (News - Alert), managing director, EMEA, at Maximizer.
“At a time when businesses are looking to optimize their productivity, making the move to a cloud-based CRM system is one way in which SMEs are able to deliver savings while making the most of their resources,” Richardson said in a statement.
In terms of concerns about adopting a cloud model with their CRM systems, more than 70 percent of companies surveyed said the risk of service outages or interruptions topped the list.
At a time when businesses of all sizes are focused on cutting costs, the highest proportion of SMEs surveyed (58 percent) consider the economic advantages to be the main benefit of cloud-based CRM. However, the economic advantages of hosting data in the cloud are only one aspect of its appeal.
With cloud-based CRM, SMEs are also able to scale their system according to the number of users, increasing or decreasing the number of licenses to mirror their business needs. This aspect is particularly useful for SMEs, enabling them to respond to sudden growth without worrying about knock-on infrastructure or maintenance effects.
The flexibility of cloud-based CRM also extends to the ability to upgrade the system at little or no cost, which is the third biggest plus for SMEs – listed as a key advantage by 4 percent of the businesses surveyed. With a cloud-based solution the software is upgraded automatically on the host server, enabling SMEs to keep pace with the latest features without having to make significant reinvestments.
“SMEs are less interested in the capacity of cloud-based CRM to deliver remote and multi-device access or real-time database updates, largely because these functions are also available with in-house solutions,” according to the statement.
In addition to concerns over the reliability of a cloud-based solution (71 percent), SMEs are also worried about the speed of service it would deliver, with 52 percent citing this as a major source of anxiety, and slightly less than half are also concerned that the security of their data will be compromised by hosting their CRM system off-site.
“The research reveals legitimate concerns amongst SMEs over moving their CRM system to the cloud. Smaller businesses can ensure that the major concerns of data security, service interruptions and slow performance are not a worry by choosing a technologically advanced and well-established provider,” Richardson added. “There are affordable systems out there offering cloud options that include all the necessary features and safeguards for SMEs.”
Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli