Mobile applications on
demand is not a new paradigm, but with recent partnerships with
Oracle to offer on-demand access to Siebel CRM, Vettro is leading a
charge for access to business applications on the road.Last week, Vettro became a certified partner in the Oracle
PartnerNetwork and announced the integration of Vettro 360 Sales
for Siebel CRM On Demand, which lets Oracle users leverage existing
software and hardware for sales operations in the field. According
to JiYoung Kim, Vettro's vice president of marketing, Vettro 360
Sales for Siebel CRM On Demand mobilises users and gives them the
ability to access, create and manage business information in real
time from
smartphones and PDAs.
Kim said all data captured and entered in the field is
dynamically updated in Siebel CRM On Demand, eliminating the need
for mountains of paperwork and ensuring that the system holds the
most up-to-date sales and customer information.
The application is built on the Vettro 360 core architecture,
which allows related information such as customer history, accounts
receivable, support, and knowledge base to link seamlessly for
mobile users, giving them a full and updated view of customer and
prospect information. Kim said Vettro 360 requires no additional
infrastructure investments and is installed over the wireless
network in minutes.
Currently, Vettro solutions run on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile
and Symbian devices, along with other mobile platforms -- with the
exception of Palm. The application can be sent to the user's mobile
email and downloaded for installation. Also, updates can be pushed
to the device. Since updates happen in the background, they will be
evident when the user logs in.
Vettro's 360 suite of applications serves mobile workers
throughout the enterprise with a single open mobile architecture.
It allows enterprises to share field-operations visibility, deploy
multiple mobile applications easily, and support critical
decision-making processes with up-to-date information. It also
supports additional mobile features -- GPS, Bluetooth peripherals,
RFID, point-of-service transactions, printing -- to boost
performance.
According to Kim, companies make a massive investment in CRM and
other business applications, but difficulty in using the solutions
in a mobile environment have kept them underutilised and out of
date, nearly defeating the purpose of deploying them in the first
place.
"Generally, these solutions were to appease the enterprise by
keeping information up to date, but not to boost productivity," Kim
said. "There was no correlation between usage of the applications
and reps' ability to do more."
She said that mobility is bridging the gap between keeping
information current and boosting productivity.
Peter Bullas, head of corporate mobilisation and technical
specialist for O2, a wireless carrier in the UK, said roughly 150
of the company's sales team use Vettro for on-demand access to the
CRM system. In the past, he said, all sales reps would spend an
entire day in-house updating the system with a week's worth of new
data. He said the process was counter-productive.
Bullas said that the entire sales team of roughly 200 will
eventually have mobile access to CRM. He estimated that once the
full deployment is realised, he will see productivity gains between
20% and 40%. Rolling out mobile CRM to half of the salesforce will
result in a productivity boost of about 15%, Bullas expects.
"It gives them more face-to-face time," he said. "We're working
to try and get rid of the paperwork."
Taking five minutes to update information after a sales call or
meeting has nearly eliminated the need for additional paperwork,
Bullas said, adding that the system is intuitive enough that it
prompts users to enter specific data, which also reduces the
probability of errors being entered into the system.
Current Analysis analyst Kathryn Weldon, who recently published
a report outlining various mobile application providers, ranked
Vettro as an up-and-comer, along with such companies as Dexterra,
Antenna Software, Vaultus, Salesforce.com, Corrigo and Apachetta.
She said that the Vettro 360 Suite offers access to sales, CRM,
facilities management, service and repair, IT service management,
and pick-up and delivery applications. It connects to
Oracle/Siebel, Oracle DB, SAP, Salesforce.com, BMC Remedy, HP,
Microsoft, Peregrine Coastal and iWay Software.
Daniel Taylor, managing director of the Mobile Enterprise
Alliance, said distribution of mobile solutions has become an
important issue for enterprises. He said companies such as Vettro,
and others like Antenna Software, are taking some of the burden off
IT.
Taylor added, "Anything that supports expanded distribution for
mobile solutions is a good thing."