56 4,4 The integration: Here and now
4.4
today, by the same token Web Services Providers (WSPs) will not replace all
internal applications in the future. They will have a role to play but not an
exclusive role. Therefore, integration, middleware, and components tech-
nologies, as well as Web services, will each have their parts to play. In my view,
however, portal technologies will become more and more important in terms
of the delivery of key services--internal services (which themselves might use
Web services standards as an integration protocol) as well as true, external,
Web services.
The integration: Here and now
For the minute, let's focus on the here and now. There is an array of technolo-
gies floating around competing for various aspects of the portal or integration
space. There have also been a few interesting startups that have given them-
selves the pretext of being Web services trailblazers but in the interim need to
generate some revenue. Consequently, they have grasped portal technologies
and integration as their own (companies such as Cape Clear and Bowstreet
and Tibro would fall into this category).
At this point, let's remind ourselves why all of this stuff is important in a
CRM context. Then we'll have a look at some technologies that are emerging
that claim to offer some help in fixing things. (Remember, these are not
overtly CRM technologies but rather plumbing that might make customer
processes better.)
People who use CRM systems--sales, marketing, and customer support
staff, as well as customers themselves--are often frustrated by the experience.
A common complaint by salespeople, for example, is that they are not suffi-
ciently up to speed with what's happening in product marketing. If only they
had known that that new feature would be available in Release 7.2, they would
have been able to close the deal. Or they may claim in their own defense (on
the defection of a key customer to a competitor) that they had no knowledge
of any dissatisfaction on the part of the customer. They simply weren't
informed.
Call-center staff often complain that customers call inquiring about
things that they, as front-line representatives of the company, have no knowl-
edge of. Customers may have heard about a profits warning on the news and
yet the call-center staff members have nothing so say on the matter; they are
totally oblivious to the development.
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