For a long time I've been thinking to pen down my experiences on implementing Cloud for Customer system for many of our Customers...I can finally get some time to pen my thoughts down in this small yet informative blog, which I hope comes to use for anyone who is in the process of implementing this product & or in the decision making Phase.
The first thing that a Customer/Business needs to think of is WHY. This question should be answered by every Customer who is looking forward for a Cluod CRM product as different Business will have different Business needs.
After a Customer has gone through all the discussions & finalized on Cloud for Customer implementation, they come across several questions aout the product, its benefits, ROI, etc.etc.
Gere are some of the real time experiences shared for the readers:
=> Cloud for Customer will replace my existing SAP OnPremise solution OR will give me a one to one mapped functionality between the two systems! :
This is a myth!!
Believe it or not, For any Customer who has one of the OnPremise solutions like a SAP CRM or SAP ECC system in their landscape, this is probably one of the most challenging tasks within its team to make them understand that this Cloud product is not replacing any of their OnPremise solution, rather its more of a catalyst which will leverage their existing OnPrem systems if they have one, to bring in more advanced, user friendly, easy to use capabilities, flexibility & more importantly, bringing in a difference to the user experience in such a way that their way of doing things will change which will make a lasting impact on their efficiency & effectiveness of doing & getting more business!!
=> I have been using other SF Automation tools, which have functionalities ranging from A--Z..!! How does Cloud for Customer compete the competitors!!
Yes, you may be right that there are many other Cloud CRM solution providers in the market, however, not ALL of them have the kind of features/functionalities being offered by SAP's C4C solution. the differentiating factors amongst others is that SAP's OnPremise Solutions can be seamlessly integrated with SAP's Cloud for Customer solution with their Pre-Packaged integration contents/Iflows, which makes a lot of sense to Customers who are an existing OnPrem SAP Customer as their cost/effort/time/maintenance on establishing integration between OnPrem & Cloud system is ALL minimized to a negligible amount as compared to any other Product in the market which would otherwise have to go through a complete Custom Interface Development & Integration to be built if they have to integrate to any othe SAP's OnPrem systems. but with SAP's pre- packaged integration content, its just a matter of enabling & configuring those pre-packaged content without having to bother about the one to one field level mappings/interface mappings, and within a very short span of time, you are not only enabled on a Cloud CRM Product but you are also seamlessly intergated to your OnPrem world!! That's pretty simple!
=> What will happen to my exisiting SAP OnPremise system after we implement SAP Cloud for Customer?
Well, I can assure you that nothing wrong is going to happen!!
In fact, you will have a well distributed tasks & responsibility between your core team & sales team, where in SAP C4C will make sure that the Sales team is focused only on Selling with easy & quick access to the required back-end data without having the need to perform any manual activities of communication with the back-end core team...whereas the core team can stay rest assured that the pre-packaged integration shall take care of all their Master & Transaction data being flowing seamlessly to their Cloud CRM system.
Sales team selling more, enjoying an intuitive User experience, connecting seamlessly not just within their own team, but with Social & Service features, connecting with the everyone in the world who is interested in their Product. This not just brings in an extremely effective Collaboration to sell together with the team in most effective way, but to get a direct experience from the customer & connect & make them your best marketing advocates.
=> The Hardware/Software/Infrastructure/Network/Security/Maintenance...all seems to be a BIG challenge since everything is on Cloud & anytime/anywhere access should need that kind of infrastructure to support.
This is the best part of SAP Cloud solutions. Its virtually nil cost for all the things mentioned above, except for user Licenses which also includes the Support cost in it. so once you decide on purchasing Cloud for Customer from SAP, you just need to have users gives access after implementation...Don't worry about any hardware/software/infrastructure/maintenance resources in terms of manpower/costs. This all is being taken care by SAP Data center/Cloud Support teams.
Relax & enjoy the wonderful experience of using the SAP's Cloud solution!
=> Long implementation periods, too many resources involved, eats up a lot of precious time of the Organization & its resources:
Well, indeed it does, BUT NOT for SAP Cloud for Customer implementation. A Typical Out of the Box SAP C4C Implementation takes 4 week up to 12 weeks depending on the scope & its complexity, within this duration, integration to SAP OnPremise can also be achieved.
Now since you are relaxed listening to the duration of implementation, let me add to your satisfaction level by saying that this implementation does not need a whole army of resources, in fact a minimum of two to a max of 4 resource will be needed for a simple Out of the Box implementation Project which can also include a pre-packaged integration with SAP's OnPremise solution...So you the how much time/money/resources you start saving right from the implementation time up to the time you will be using this solution, as even after Go-Live, it is just one Administrator that a Customer needs to maintain the day to day operations of this system, rest ALL is taken care by SAP Cloud support.
So, these were a few takeaway/learning/experience from some real time Customer Projects of Cloud on Customer Implementation!
I will continue sharing many more such experience with more diverse experience & mantras for successful implementations, more importantly experiences which pave way for winning your Customers & making them your advocates!!!
Happy Reading, comments/suggestions are welcome.
Best Regards
Ankur Godre
