Ismael Ghalimi has a terrific explanation of how EchoSign, Zoho Writer and SugarCRM have been used to smooth out the sponsoring process for Office 2.0. Regular readers might recall I talked about this in the context of simple things like client engagement letters. Ismael took the idea several steps further, discussing both the creation of sponsor forms and how they fed back to the SugarCRM system.
I’ve previously proposed that CRM systems might be the start point for managing clients rather than the more usual tax and accounts database records. Now, we’re starting to see how a bunch of technologies might come together in a way that remains familiar to users yet adds significant value. I expect to learn more about this at Office 2.0
It will be interesting to see how the developers have taken the concept of integrating disparate applications in new ways that help overcome the workflow problems inherent in many of today’s applications.
As an aside, what’s not said is that many of the current crop of services are far more ‘open’ than their on-premise counterparts. Today’s service providers recognise that while they might provide great functionality in a niche area, extra value can be delivered by simply saying to others: ‘Here you are, add in if you want.’ the difference is that these developers don’t use hefty fees for access to programming interfaces as a barrier. And by using standard formats they open up applications for all kinds of novel usage.
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