test_IT

4 5
browser-based approach is going to catch on.
“the ease of operation is somewhat limited,
but it works on every device,” he says.
in the meantime, Korb thinks it’s a must
for Crm providers to offer at least one solution
for mobile end devices. except for a few
small suppliers, almost all manufacturers also
provide a corresponding application whose
slimmed-down functionalities keep the
information flowing between sales / service
employees and the company. one of the three
biggest Crm providers is a pioneer. “since
2001 – 2002, oracle has been active in this
field and thus has the most experience with
enterprise-related solutions in the mobile
realm,” says Korb. based on their own individual
analyses of user behavior, each company
needs to decide what functions and
inputs are offered.
there are currently five operating systems
on the market: symbian, android, Windows
mobile, apples ios and blackberry by
research in motion (rim). as a result, all
software manufacturers are trying to figure
out how they can best meet the market’s needs.
“they orient themselves to the market distribution
of the end devices,” says Korb. according
to gartner, android posted the highest
growth in end devices. Compared to 2009,
the operating system grew by 888.8 percent
worldwide by 2010, earning the number two
position in the worldwide smartphone market.
nokia’s symbian was able to increase the
total number of its end devices and hold on
to first place, but it did lose almost a 10-
percent market share. rim gave up market
share, too, and slid down to third place despite
selling 38.2 percent more smartphones.
the winners include apple’s ios that with
an 87.2-percent growth in end devices grew
faster than rim and now almost has the
same market share.
Attractive end devices increase
CRM’s acceptance
based on a Cisco study, mobile data traffic
is expected to increase 30-fold by 2015 compared
to 2010 – a growth of 97 percent annually.
tablets in particular are responsible
for the tremendous expansion. according
to Cisco, the number of mobile PCs will
increase by a factor of 32 to 5.1 million in four
years, while smartphones and notebooks can
expect a more moderate increase by a factor
of three or four. this is an assessment that
Dieter greipl, co-author of the landshut university
study, shares in regard to usage in the
business sector, saying, “tablets are going
to give other devices a run for their money!”
the activity among almost all end device
manufacturers underscores this trend. this
spring, rim introduced the mediatablet
Playbook, while acer’s slider, samsung’s
galaxy tab, and motorola’s Zoom gave the
iPad some competition. advantages over the
smartphones include bigger screens that make
it easier for two people to see, and greater
computing power for complex applications.
Korb mentions another factor, “in some
industries, the age of the sellers plays a role.
especially employees over 50 years old can be
motivated to use mobile Crm systems via a
corresponding end device like the iPad.” an
attractive end device also increases a Crm
system’s appeal overall. elke Senger-wiechers
The most import mobile CRM functionalities
Route planning GpS
appointment calendar
Manage contacts
external / internal news
Manage corporate customers
Manage tasks
Manage visit reports
Monitor sales results
Manage top bids
Manage complaints
Result from customer forums: 54 companies; Source: landshut univ., 2011 1 not relevant
2 unimportant 3 not really important 4 somewhat important 5 very important 6 extremely important
in the “significance” assessment, the more administrative
functions of traditional sales management prevail. The question
of how quickly mobile cRM will catch on will also depend on
the extent to which functionalities are developed for process
management, planning and controlling. Here, the respondents
rated the significance as only moderate.
prof. peter winkelmann, co-author of the study,
landshut university of applied Sciences
Comparison of native and web-based applications
Native Apps Web-based Apps
Access an app required for each
operating system
Security data on the end device,
synchronization required
Interfaces Fully utilize the device-specific
functions (camera, GpS,
microphone, etc.)
Usability /
User-Experience
adapted to the respective device
and operating system
Support costs High (installation for each end
device; update monitoring required)
3.5
3.5
3.8
3.9
4.7
4.8
5.0
5.2
5.3
Via the browser, thereby
independent of operating system
No data on the end device,
data stored in the cloud
Few device-specific functions
possible
Generally limited to display
possibilities in the browser
low (no installation required;
periodic, automatic updates)
6.0