Matthew Moss
BUS381
3-7-12
Assignment 9
1. (6 points) Define an enterprise system and describe how enterprise systems provide value for a business.
An enterprise system is a set of integrated software module and a central database which enables data to be
shared by many business processes and functional areas throughout an enterprise.
An enterprise system provides value by increasing operational efficiency and by leading firm-wide
information to help managers make better decisions.
2. (10 points) Achieving Operational Excellence: Evaluating supply chain management services
Tracking companies no longer merely carry goods from one place to another. Some also provide supply
chain management services to their customers and help them manage their information. In this assignment
problem, you will use the Web to research and evaluate two of these business services.
Investigate the Web sites of two companies, J.B. Hunt (www.jbhunt.com) and Schneider Logistics
(www.schneiderlogistics.com), to see how these companies’ services can be used for supply chain
management. Then, respond to the following questions:
• What supply chain processes can each of these companies support for their clients?
They both provide Transportation Services for shipping supplies and products from factories to
stores.
•How can customers use the Web site of each company to help them with supply chain management?
Customers using the JB HUNT website can request a quote for shipping products to or from their
firms. Customers using Schneider Logistics get Transportation Network Management, Supplier
Management and Responsible Care Partnership.
•Compare the supply chain management services provided by these companies. Then determine which
company would you select to help your firm (assuming you run a mid-size manufacturing
company) manage its supply chain. Explain why? I would use Schneider Logistics because their
website offered more supply chain management services than JB Hunt's website.
3. (14 points) Achieving Operational Excellence: Choosing a CRM product
Choosing a CRM product is complicated. Dozens of CRM products exist, and it’s difficult to determine
their different features and functions, let alone how easy they are to learn and use, how difficult they are to
implement, and so forth. Choosing a CRM requires knowing the organization’s requirements as well, and
often those requirements are not fully known, or, if they are known, they are changing as the organization
grows.
This exercise is designed to give you a sense of the challenges involved when choosing a CRM product.
A. ACT! and GoldMine are two of the lower-end CRM products. They began as sales lead tracking
tools for individuals and small offices but have evolved since then. To learn about those products,
visit www.act.com and www.frontrange.com/goldmine.aspx. As you can see, it is difficult to
know how these products compare based just on the information on those sites. To learn more,
Google or Bing the phrase “Act vs. Goldmine.” Read several comparisons. Take notes on your
findings including the intended market for those products, their costs, and their relative strengths
and weaknesses.
Intended Market is businesses that deal with Contact information and Customer Management.
Pros of ACT
ACT is credited with being simple to install and to implement.
Decreases the need for training.
Cons of ACT
There is no forecasting ability
Cost: $221.99 (offer.act.com)
Matthew Moss
BUS381
3-7-12
Assignment 9
Pros of Goldmine
Ability to forecast the company sales and reports total sales at any given point.
Ability for automated messaging.
Allows for Narratives to be developed for telemarketing.
Cons of Goldmine
Expensive
Cost: $695.00 (www.crmamerica.net/goldminestore.html)
B. Salesforce.com and Sugar are CRM products that are intended for use by larger organizations than
Act! and GlodMine. To learn about these products, visit www.salesforce.com and
www.sugarcrm.com. These two products seem to differ in orientation. To learn how others view
these differences, Google or Bing the phrase “Salesforce vs. Sugar CRM.” Read several
comparisons. Take notes on your findings including the intended market for those products, their
costs, and their relative strengths and weaknesses.
http://www.business2community.com/tech-gadgets/sugarcrm-vs-salesforce-com-all-about-thebenjamins-072338
Intended Market: Firms that work with customer information.
Pros of Sales Force
Sale Management
Service Management
Social Media Monitoring
Could Applications
Cons of Sales Force
Its double the price of SugarCRM
Cost: $65 per user per month
Pros of SugarCRM
Sales, Marketing and Customer Service Automation
Social Media Collaboration
Cloud Deployment Options
Cons of SugarCRM
5-user minimum requirement
Cost: $30 per user per month
C. Of course, the major software vendors have CRM offerings as well. Microsoft created the Dynamics
CRM product. Oracle, through acquisition of Siebel Systems in 2005 and other acquisitions, has
developed a suite of CRM applications. To learn about these products, visit
http://crm.dynamics.com/en-us/Default.aspx and www.oracle.com/us/solutions/crm/index.htm.
Take notes on your findings including the intended market for those products, their costs, and their
relative strengths and weaknesses.
http://community.dynamics.com/product/crm/crmnontechnical/b/crmsoftwareblog/archive/2009/1
2/17/oracle-vs-microsoft-dynamics-8211-which-hosted-crm-solution-is-best-for-you-63.aspx
Intended Market: Firms that work with customer information.
Pros of Microsoft Dynamics
Ability to create sales literature
email management and automatic response tools
Integrated Reporting using Microsoft Applications
Matthew Moss
BUS381
3-7-12
Assignment 9
Cons of Microsoft Dynamics
Lack of Real-Time Budget tracking
Cost: $44 per user per month
Pros of Oracle CRM
Forecast management functionality
Integrated voice tools for service and support call response
Real-Time Budget tracking Capability
Cons of Oracle CRM
Lack of Reporting support for Microsoft Applications
Cost: $70 per user per month
Summarize what you have learned from this exercise about choosing a CRM product. Formulate your
summary as an answer to a job interviewer’s question about the difficulties that organizations face
when choosing software products. The interviewer comes from a vacation cruise ship line
(www.hollandamerica.com).
I would use Microsoft Dynamics CRM mainly due to its report capabilities with Microsoft Office and
other Applications. This way, the Cruise Ship company wouldn't require data entry personal to go from
one application to another when Dynamic pushes the data to Applications automatically.