Ivan Yerokhin, Jet Infosystems: buyers of CRM became more legible and customer-oriented

Ivan Yerokhin: The last 3-5 years the Russian CRM market develops steadily, dynamics unambiguously and confidently positive. Despite crisis conditions, sales volumes of this solution over the country annually grow in dollar expression approximately for 10 – 12%. To us both the analysis of own CRM projects, and a research of public data on large implementations allows to draw such conclusion. Now customers are interested not only in work with the CRM system as such, but also attraction, deduction and increase in a customer loyalty using it. The companies ceased to survive in new reality, began to live and put expenses on implementation of CRM systems in the budgets. And such situation inspires the Russian producers of CRM systems whose sales in recent years considerably grew.

Ivan Yerokhin: Import substitution - one of very important trends of development of the Russian CRM market, and it will be defining for the next several years. But until the Russian vendors were not ready to keen interest on the products. Before crisis the market of CRM systems was almost completely occupied by the western global vendors. Their solutions had and still have the extensive functionality covering all tasks which are required to be solved to business. As a result at the time of the beginning of crisis the gap between opportunities of the western CRM systems and the Russian solutions was too big. The Russian systems were more focused on a segment of small business and a low layer of an average. As a result many paid attention to solutions based on the free software.

Ivan Yerokhin: As the Russian CRM vendors as it was already told above, were not ready to compete successfully with the western systems in a segment of large business in respect of functionality and performance, we, having analyzed presented at the market of the free system code, stopped the choice on SugarCRM and its modification - SuiteCRM. Possibilities of this platform allow us to create the CRM system which then can be developed successfully according to change of needs of the customer on a customer site. Our extensive consulting experience got during implementation and support of the CRM systems of the western vendors gives the chance to our specialists successfully to customize a system according to needs of the client.

Ivan Yerokhin: Yes, still rather large number of customers return to a thought of purchase of big CRM solutions of the western vendors. We offer the similar companies in the main Oracle Siebel CRM. As for client expectations, the motivation of purchase of the big western systems now strongly changed. Before crisis existence of such systems was substantially the image component designed to increase the cost of the company in the western markets in the opinion of foreign investors. Now the decision on acquisition of an industrial CRM system is made proceeding from real business needs, at the same time more detailed and careful approach to the choice of specific vendor and a system practices. Buyers of CRM became more legible and customer-oriented.

Ivan Yerokhin: At the moment all large vendors begin to propose to the market specialized cloud solutions for automation of separate tasks, including of marketing and on service maintenance. The same Oracle company, as we know, already announced itself the cloud company proposing to the market cloud solutions. Our company also locates sufficient computing powers and already today is ready to offer cloud services, placing the software including CRM solutions, in the data center.

Ivan Yerokhin: Cloud solutions though look the perspective direction, but did not reach mass recognition in the Russian companies yet. Nevertheless, everything to that moves. So far the offer obviously exceeds demand.

Ivan Yerokhin: In Oracle Siebel CRM chat-bots – the accompanying, dedicated component for the organization of work of contact center via the portal. The truth it is not positioned by vendor as a disruptive element in the field of AI, it is rather as an interface element. In general, in my opinion, perspectives at artificial intelligence in CRM big, but today so far early to say that the artificial intelligence technology found broad application in a segment of CRM. So far it is more demanded in the field of a business intelligence for the purpose of the correct segmentation of the customer base, more exact positioning of services, their address offer to potential clients.

Ivan Yerokhin: Upon the Russian market of cloud solutions develops very slowly, especially – in comparison with western. But it has everything ahead. Cloud CRM is a good exit for small and partly for medium business as allows to save on own IT infrastructure. Large players are not ready to transfer to a cloud the databases on clients, first of all yet – for reasons of information security. Nevertheless, I will note that the American company Salesforce.com providing, as we know, services only on cloud model is present at the domestic market, and a quantity of the Russian companies uses its services in a subscription. The truth is the companies rather from among those for whom questions of security are not so critical.

Ivan Yerokhin: Among the large players focused on an enterprise segment it is necessary to select Oracle and SAP. Historically it developed so that Oracle Siebel CRM it is more submitted in bank and insurance segments, and SAP CRM - in retail. On the average segment close to large, two players - Microsoft and Terrasoft are provided. I will note one feature of work of these western companies: all of them place the offices in Russia, sign agreements with clients on behalf of the Russian representative offices, respectively positioning the solutions as domestic goods. About one and a half tens various Russian CRM solutions, mostly – highly specialized are presented at the market of small business. On this field two players are selected with advanced functionality and universality: 1C advancing the CRM system, first of all, among those clients where other products of the company, and Bitrix already work.

Ivan Yerokhin: Work with Oracle Siebel CRM remains the main direction for us. And more than 10 years we in it is mute actively we grow. In work at us constantly about 10 - 12 various CRM projects. As for absolutely new projects, as we work generally in a segment of large business where practically all companies already have CRM solutions, our new projects are connected not with implementation of new CRM, and with development of functionality of already implemented systems. In this case as the customer of such task other department in the same client acts. The second kind of new projects – upgrade of the outdated version of a product. Execute it clicking of one button in case of such huge industrial systems as Oracle Siebel CRM will not turn out, required serious work which is made by our specialists. From among new projects in our CRM portfolio I can call the project in Uralsib.

Ivan Yerokhin: In spite of the fact that we began to propose our solution based on SugarCRM not so long ago, we by right are proud of the achieved results. We have implementations and in the industries, traditional for us, for example, we implement and we support the solution based on SugarCRM in the Sviaz-Bank, and in segments of small and medium business, and the non-commercial sector, new to us. On average business, for example, there is successful implementation in WWPass - the company dealing with issues cybersecurity in the American and European markets. There is a successful implementation project of a system in the NPO Midday which is engaged in socialization of children from orphanages. A system conducts volunteers, donors, the staff of the NPO working with children and also children.

Ivan Yerokhin: Special problems which cardinally would distinguish implementation of CRM from software implementation of other class, no. All arising problems as usual can be separated into technology and organizational.

In respect of organizational it is important that the client understood purpose of a CRM product, realized the fact that it is only the tool and it was internally ready to change of the business processes. It is necessary to designate also initially limits of the project successfully to manage the new wishes and requirements arising on the implementation course from the customer, holding them within the budget put under the project. For successful conducting works on implementation we use all modern methods of project work. For example, we apply Agile methodology, working in one command with the customer and showing to business at early stages prototypes of future system, at the same time, quickly considering changes and the new ideas. Moreover, we can apply flexible methodologies of maintaining projects not only on T&M projects, but also in Fixed price contracts. Thus, we reduce time of input of a system and we increase satisfaction of the customer with a project deliverable.

Technology problems are connected most with integration of CRM with other information systems of the company or bank which are supported often by other integrators or vendors. It creates additional difficulties as it requires tripartite interaction for the project.

Ivan Yerokhin: First, we are going to continue to work with large customers based on the solution Oracle Siebel CRM. The enterprise segment is our target segment. We are not going to wind down the work in this direction, and on the contrary we plan expansion by the offer to customers of additional services and the specific CRM solutions preconfigured taking into account domestic realities. On average a segment we see for ourselves new opportunities of promotion based on the SugarCRM platform.

Secondly, we conduct work on optimization of cost of our services with high-quality preserving of service successfully to compete with the small companies ready to work for smaller money.

Ivan Yerokhin: Exit to foreign markets – one of strategic tasks of our company, generally in the context of promotion of Oracle Siebel CRM. Oracle is global vendor, and Jet Infosystems have extensive and in many respects unique experience of implementation of this solution in large banks and the companies. Already several preseyl were carried out, and we with optimism look at this direction of our activity as the cost of work of domestic specialists is lower, than abroad (even in comparison with Eastern Europe), and qualification is often much higher. And we were convinced of it more than once in practice when the solution of high-level tasks was found by our specialists much quicker and it was more effective.