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Integrating CRM across your Organization for Business success
Integrating CRM across your Organization for Business success

Integrating CRM across your Organization for Business success: Build your business processes around the needs of your customers by successfully integrating your CRM within your core business functions to drive improvement

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Profile Icon Andrew Blackmore
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AU$14.99 AU$23.99
eBook Jan 2016 180 pages 1st Edition
eBook
AU$14.99 AU$23.99
Paperback
AU$28.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at AU$24.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Andrew Blackmore
Arrow right icon
AU$14.99 AU$23.99
eBook Jan 2016 180 pages 1st Edition
eBook
AU$14.99 AU$23.99
Paperback
AU$28.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at AU$24.99p/m
eBook
AU$14.99 AU$23.99
Paperback
AU$28.99
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Free Trial
Renews at AU$24.99p/m

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Integrating CRM across your Organization for Business success

Chapter 2. How to Implement an Integration

In the previous chapter, we discussed the benefits of creating an integration between CRM and ERP. We also introduced some of the terminology and concepts that will be useful for the rest of the book.

In this chapter, we will first discuss the build or buy choice, and whether it is better to purchase an out of the box integration, if one exists, or to build it yourself.

We will then explore how to implement an integration. We will do this by breaking down the components of an integration into the four main technical integration challenges. For each integration challenge we will explore solutions that have been used, and weigh up the pros and cons for each solution.

We will cover a lot of exciting new topics such as synchronization, real-time views, and screen pops. At the end of each section is a short workshop to help you understand how to apply the knowledge to your business.

By the end of this chapter, you should have a good idea of the components...

Build or buy


At this stage it is a good idea to evaluate the benefits of building your own integration against the benefits of purchasing an out-of-the-box integration, if there are out-of-the-box offerings available on the market. The choice of integrations available for your business depends on which CRM application ERP application you have.

If you have a feature-rich, customizable CRM application, then there are likely to be one or two integrations available on the market, and you should check them out as part of your initial research.

The advantages of buying an out-of-the-box integration solution are that you reduce the development risk, and in theory it should be quicker to install. The disadvantages are that you lose control over the functionality that you get, so it may not be a correct fit to your own business, or it may just be a partial fit. If it is not a fit then you may be stuck with something that does not suit your business needs.

When you build your own integration, you have...

Building an integration


The building of an integration can be broken down into several design areas, or challenges that we need to solve. These high level challenges are the same for any integration with every type of ERP or CRM application.

The details of the solutions will depend on which CRM and ERP we are dealing with, which tools are available to us, and which use cases we are going to solve.

This diagram shows the four challenges that need to be solved to build an integration

The challenges can be broken down into four areas:

  • Extract the data: Extract the data from ERP

  • Transport the data: Transport the data between ERP and CRM

  • Store the data: Store the data that has been extracted from ERP in CRM

  • Show the data: Show the data in the CRM UI

Challenge 1 – extract the data

We first need to get information out of the ERP so that we can use it in the integration. We will discuss several methods that can be used. These are:

  • Direct access from the database

  • Access through the business API

  • Screen...

Adding CRM reports or dashboards


We talked in the previous chapter about how a CRM to ERP integration gives managers and team leaders greater access to information, which they can use to analyze the performance of their business.

The way to provide the improved management information is by adding new CRM reports and dashboards to the application that show the new data that has been added with the integration.

SageCRM integrated with Sage ERP 300 collections management dashboard showing graphs, lists, and summaries related to overdue invoices

An example of a new dashboard could be a dashboard that shows information about overdue invoices. This could be used as part of a collections management integration module. The screenshot above shows a SageCRM integration with Sage ERP 300, dashboard for managers, containing graphs, lists, and summary information related to overdue invoices. This information would not be available in a standalone CRM application.

SageCRM integrated with Sage ERP 300 screenshot...

Summary


In this chapter, we have talked about the different challenges in implementing a CRM integration with ERP. The details of the solution will be different for every CRM and ERP application, but the high level challenges are always the same.

We broke the challenges into technical areas, to make it easier to explain, giving several solutions for each technical area, and weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. The challenges were divided into discussions of how to:

  • Extract the data from ERP

  • Transport the data between ERP and CRM

  • Store the data in CRM database

  • Display the data in the CRM UI

In the Extract the data from ERP section, we covered the different methods that can be used to read data from the ERP. Direct database access may be the simplest, but there are drawbacks because it bypasses the business logic. Using the business API, if there is one available, is the preferred option. We also introduced the concept of screen pops, which will be an important tool in...

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What you will learn

  • Integrate CRM for sales, customer support, marketing and more Assess your business needs to develop an architecture and strategy that works for you Align your project with your wider business strategy Follow featured walk-throughs base on real-life use cases Perform Manage the cultural and operational change through dialogue and workshops Explore the future of CRM in relation to the latest technological innovations in cloud, hosted applications and mobile

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jan 29, 2016
Length: 180 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783001057
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Product Details

Publication date : Jan 29, 2016
Length: 180 pages
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Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783001057
Category :
Concepts :

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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
What is CRM Integration and Why is It Good for Your Business? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Implement an Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Build a Contact Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Build a Sales Management Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Build a Collections Management Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Build a Vendor Management Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Build a Support Management Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
How to Develop and Maintain Your Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Where Next for Integrations – the Cloud and Other Areas Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
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