Salesforce.com, Upshot Take CRM To The Enterprise Level

UpShot last month released UpShot XE, a new enterprise version of its Web-based CRM platform, and introduced a feature set that integrates marketing and sales-force automation.

Salesforce.com, meanwhile, unveiled the availability of an enterprise service and detailed plans for two other service offerings.

Targeted at companies and departments with more than $1 billion in revenue, UpShot XE integrates with legacy applications such as ERP and financials through XML APIs and Microsoft's .Net architecture, said Keith Raffel, chairman and founder of UpShot, based here.

The enterprise version combines fast deployment and low cost with features such as a workflow engine, the ability to create customized views and UpShot's Offline Express, which lets users work without being connected to the Internet.

"Even in large companies, no one has infinite time and infinite money anymore," Raffel said.

UpShot XE is available now for $1,150 per user, per year, plus an implementation fee. The ASP also introduced UpShot Marketing, a feature that will be included in UpShot and UpShot XE application services.

"The marketing piece is going to open a lot of doors for us," said Howard Kroymann, president of 1stSales, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based solution provider that specializes in CRM solutions for midmarket clients. "I believe a lot of companies in the 20- to 50- user range would be very interested in having a marketing component added under their control."

Clients can use UpShot Marketing to manage marketing campaigns using customer and prospect databases, create targeted, personalized e-mails and track responses. It also manages sales leads by automatically routing them to the appropriate representative and helps track the clients' return on investment for each marketing campaign, Raffel said. UpShot Marketing is available for a one-time implementation fee.

For its part, Salesforce.com entered the enterprise CRM market with the launch of Enterprise Edition, which sells for $125 per user, per month. This version adds customization that allows integrators to devise user interfaces for different corporate divisions.

"These advanced technologies let every division have its own user interface, currency and modifications but work off the same database," said Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com chairman, president and CEO.

Salesforce.com also plans to release E-Business Suite, the company's first foray beyond CRM into accounts receivable, contract management, order management, invoicing and billing. Due to ship in the fourth quarter, it will sell for $195 per user, per month.

And a new Offline Edition built on Microsoft's .Net guidelines will let mobile professionals work when not connected to the Internet and synchronize when they reconnect. Scheduled for availability next quarter, it will be included with Enterprise Edition. Users of Salesforce.com's original CRM offering, now named Professional Edition, can add offline capabilities for an additional $25 per user, per month.

Some integrators agreed with Salesforce.com's claim that it can offer competitive CRM functionality for less money than competitors such as Siebel or Oracle.

"I haven't sold against Siebel yet but plan to," said Mark Howe, vice president of Ascendix, a Dallas-based integrator. "Will Salesforce.com win? Yes, because the overall value [is better. The time to market is unbelievable.

"Right now, as long as I can reach the Internet, I can get my data. The problem was, and [the biggest request was, if I'm on an airplane, I want a local database with my contacts, accounts and opportunities on it," Howe said. "I want to enter all my activity notes and then sync it up when I am connected again."