NCR Promises CRM In 90 Days Or LessNCR Promises CRM In 90 Days Or Less

NCR Corp.'s Teradata division plans to launch deployment services that promise to implement customer-relationship management systems in 90 days or less.

NCR's CRM software delivers event-based online marketing tools as well as campaign-management, analysis, and predictive-modeling tools that are used with traditional CRM deployments. NCR will offer specific CRM functions within 90 days, so long as those functions aren't customized or integrated with other third-party applications.

This is similar to Oracle's recently unveiled rapid deployment services. Oracle promises a "global CRM in 90 days" deployment practice that, it says, can deliver nine Internet business workflows that automate sales, marketing, and customer-service functions.

NCR says its services will provide more benefit than Oracle's, because it's offering vertical systems tailored to specific industries. The first three vertical solution packages--retail, communication, and financial services--will be available at the beginning of the third quarter. The rest of the vertical packages, including travel and transportation, E-business and energy, and insurance, should be ready by the end of the third quarter.

Oracle competitor Siebel Systems Inc. questions the value of these rapid deployment services. Siebel doesn't have implementation services that can compete with a 90-day deployment.

"The idea that a global company can use CRM to go to market and deploy that into a complete multichannel distribution strategy with Internet, cell phone, call centers, and resellers in 90 days is so patently absurd that it's ridiculous. In 90 days, you can't even get a phone system delivered. In 90 days, you can't even get a database installed," Siebel chairman and CEO Tom Siebel said in a recent interview with information. Oracle's "plan for global CRM in 90 days involves no customization, integration with other [third-party Oracle] applications, and one database. It's a plain vanilla implementation. So basically you can get a software CD and install it on a PC, but you can't do anything with it. Call a company like General Motors and see if they'll deploy global CRM without customization. It's a clear illustration of [Oracle's] lack of understanding of the market."