Baan Links Front- And Back-Office LinesBaan Links Front- And Back-Office Lines

Baan Co. last week sent out a reminder that it's a player in the customer-relationship management space when it unveiled software upgrades and a new strategy that may have a familiar ring: an integrated front-and back-office product line.

Much like competitors Oracle, PeopleSoft, and SAP have been doing for the past two years, Baan is integrating its products to create a CRM-enterprise resource management combination. Baan started selling CRM software when it acquired Aurum in 1997. That was a smart move, says Sharon Ward, a Hurwitz Group analyst. "While someone was a great visionary to make that acquisition happen, the rest of the organization didn't do a good job of integration and promotion," she says.

Baan admits it's behind the competition. "We've been a good engineering-driven organization. But to be successful, we must be marketing-driven as well," says Don Brower, Baan's VP of product marketing and strategic alliance.

Baan wants to compete with pure CRM players, such as Onyx Software Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc., in industries where it already sells ERP software--including automotive, aerospace and defense, high-tech electronics, and manufacturing. Baan's intense focus on the manufacturing industry may hurt CRM sales to other industries. "The manufacturing industry has only recently come to understand the value of CRM, so that didn't help the CRM product," Ward says.

The iBaan for CRM suite includes improved analytics and Web-enabled CRM tools, the vendor says. But the analytics capabilities actually come from Crystal Decisions and SAP. The Web-based iBaan E-Configuration Enterprise app lets sales personnel, customers, business partners, or call-center operators prepare orders, identify accessories, and configure complex products in real time. Baan didn't disclose pricing.