March 10, 2014

SAP Enhances Its Cloud CRM Portfolio

SAP today announced enhancements to cloud solutions for customer engagement, including new capabilities for sales, service, and marketing.

The latest updates to cloud solutions for customer engagement from SAP include the following:

Expanded predictive analytics: Leveraging the speed of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform, the solutions now deliver next-generation predictive analytics available on any device.
Improved customer insight: A new dashboard provides visibility into top leads and marketing funds. Account fact sheets are now automatically produced in PDF format.
A new influencer map that allows users to identify people who influence decision-makers when closing a deal, so they can target the right people at the right time. Additionally, with the "deal finder," sales people can use topics to filter leads and quickly zero in on the best ones. Improved visualization of sales opportunities and dashboard enhancements allow users to incorporate analytics from other SAP and external applications .
Richer offline functionality: Mobile users gain even more power to work anywhere, anytime with the power to create, read and update records offline.
More devices: HTML5 is now the underlying user interface technology, offering better support for tablets and handheld devices where no native application is available.
Support for high-tech and retail companies: New features allow semiconductor and component manufacturers to collaborate with channel partners and automate the design registration life cycle. Enhancements to the cloud version of SAP Retail Execution provide sales teams with visit summaries, notifications on visits, next-visit scheduling prompts, and auto assignment of task and surveys.
Expanded integration: Additional prepackaged integrations, called integration flows, connect the entire family of cloud solutions for customer engagement to the SAP ERP and SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) applications, offering sales teams comprehensive data and business processes, including e-commerce information. Integration supports access to back-office insight, from products and pricing to quotes and sales orders. New integration flows have also been introduced to facilitate quick integration with SuccessFactors Employee Central, enabling access to employee records.
New configuration tools and improvements to the creation, management, and rollout of application customizations.

"The rules of customer engagement have changed," said Jamie Anderson, vice president of solution marketing for the Customer Line of Business at SAP, in a statement. "The customer is now in charge of the relationship and it is up to smart companies to find new ways to engage them. Businesses today are looking for ways to move 'beyond CRM' and into the realm of true customer engagement. Today's updates respond to the need for richer customer engagement regardless of department, location, or interaction channel, making SAP Cloud a top choice for companies in any industry looking to create lasting connections with their customers."

Cloud solutions for customer engagement from SAP comprise a portfolio of cloud-based CRM solutions designed for marketing, sales and service organizations, including SAP Cloud for Sales, SAP Cloud for Service and SAP Cloud for Social Engagement solutions, as well as the SAP Social Media Analytics application by NetBase.