Do you think the iPad is a valuable tool for CRM - or just cool?

No the iPad is just an out put source for your CRM application. If your application does not work with your enterprise not device will make that better. I speak from experience I have been in mobility for the last ten years and seen alot of mobile devices come and go but remains is the CRM programs like, SAP, Salesforce, and Seible are still being used by business to interact with their clients. In the last year I got calls from many companies that thought that if they got the cool devices it would solve their mobile prolems only to find that cool devices made life even harder. the iPad is just a device first of all most iPads does not work well with many CRM programs. They require third party apps to be developed and be approved by Apple before they can be used by the company then they have to reside on iTunes then any changes still have to go through Apple. While this doesn't effect consumer apps it's a developers nightmare for enterprise developers.
That is why Apple has only a 12% adpotion rate in the enterprise and most major Enterprise Application companies like SAP, NetSuite, SyBase and others only have small applications for ipads because it just so hard to work with them on the enterprise level. Apple does not play well with others hen it comes to opening codes. Which is funny to me because Apple use to say the same thing about Microsoft about the same thing.

Paul, I'll extend this to "tablets" and not just the iPad.

Yes - tablets will have an impact.

Even though CRM long ago extended beyond the world of sales, the sales folks are still generally the primary CRM technology customers. Previous to this type of device, sales people either had their handheld or a laptop. Access to CRM systems via a mobile client inevitably has some shortcomings, and having to boot up your laptop to access info, or add notes, etc. takes too long and requires an extra travel burden for some.

The iPad fits nicely in the middle. It enables a fully featured CRM app easily. A sales person could use it for presentations, signing contracts, and quick, easy, and full featured use of their CRM system.

In the B2C realm, there is huge potential for customers to create their own experience, order their own goods (with recommendation engines behind them). Think restaurants for this example.

Yep. Tablets are a CRM game changer, and the iPad is the first to the party.

Yes it does have value as a mobile crm client. Productivity is increased. But the apps/sites haven't taken advantage of it in the way services such as gmail have.

I think it has a lot of value as a convenient engagement platform. Whether traditional CRM UI's will fit on it is another thing altogether.

If it wasn't a 'closed garden architecture' then yes. That is both Apple's strength and weakness. After years in doldrums in the 90's when PCs were all beige (remember those?) Apple is clearly back on its design leadership turf without many real competitors right now.

Tablet concepts have been around for years, it has a huge business case for Field Service for the transportation sector (which is why its already saturated there). The potential to expand from there represents a major opportunity.

But the majority of enterprise CIOs will not agree to field deployment for any application that does not 'play friendly' with the corporation's IT environment. The idea of getting Steve Job's approval for every industry specific customization is a no go.

The market is there... just waiting on Android or... maybe (big maybe) Microsoft. Until then, consumers and fan boys have fun!

Sean Leo Ryan

I have to disagree with studentforce and agree with Sean Leo Ryan. The iPad is NOT an open platform. Emphasis on the period. The notion of the iPad as CRM game changer seems to be a rhetorical question aimed at riding the iPad hype. Enterprise CRM tools are complex enough without having to jump through Apple's hoops of approval. I don't forsee the iPad making anyone's life easier in this realm.

I also have to respectfully disagree with some of Brian Vellmure's comments Laptops taking too long to boot up. The iOS is not by any definition of the word will never offer "full featured" use of any CRM systems unless Apple all of the sudden decides to play nice with the rest of the web and world for that matter. It's not just about bringing existing tools to an Apple tablet, you must take into consideration the evolution of those tools, third parties, etc. I agree that tablets are in the middle between laptops and smartphones but the iPad is not the right platform and is designed to digest content while minimizing input. Interaction is vital to the R in CRM,

That said the real opportunity for tablets and CRM tools that you'd want to use, (integrated solutions with unified service desktops) will be from competition from similar products running Android and Microsoft's software.
Sure, you can add new niche channels on the iPad but once you get around to calculating the cost of creating, integrating managing the effort and dealing with Apple to boot, will it be worth it? The call seems too close to commit to, especially with competition with open platforms on the horizon.

Excellent observations!
IF you have Salesforce.com, then I say the iPad can prove to be a valuable tool, that is the reason I purchased one. From a sales standpoint, coupled with a application my company developed for SFDC users called "Cloud2Mail", which is the ability to send physical business letters, greeting cards and brochures from within SFDC just as easily as an email - the iPad is remarkable and productive for this type web application and reporting.

I'd say absolutely. I think from a productivity standpoint it's going to become a great tool. Sales people live on their phones, and while many are pretty functional, the ipad's size makes it all the better.

Also, for sales managers, etc who are going to be running sales meetings, using the ipad may become a much more functional tool than a computer. It's much more portable. I think there's an app, or will be that let's you use your ipad as an additional display for you computer. If this is the case then (like in Avatar) you an easily move from working on your desktop to sharing key information in your CRM with anyone in the office, simply by moving that window onto the ipad, and walking across the room.

All around it's going to have a pretty big impact on productivity and communication.

Great question Paul. Looking forward to your topics at CRM Evolution next week.

I don't have an iPad myself, but I can tell you that in recent weeks as I've researched our SAPinsider CRM 2011 conference, nearly every SAP CRM customer I've talked to has brought up the iPad and how it ties into future mobile CRM applications. Some customers said their sales teams would start using iPads and others are just keeping an eye on things -- but it's on many folks' minds.

Tablets in general will be huge for CRM. If your CRM solution is purely web-based, then you don't even need to worry about the iPad (or other tablets) being closed platforms. Just use the browser.

This is more than just a mobile extension for CRM output. If your CRM tool is designed well to work across multiple browsers and platforms, then you'll have full CRM functionality on your iPad or tablet of choice (and there will be lots of choice very soon). This will give salespeople on the road the ability to do everything they could do if they were back in the office.

And when you're on the road, would you rather be lugging a laptop and battery with you or carrying a cool new piece of technology that's fun to use and impress people with?

I've used one for a few hours and think they could be the tool that finally gets CRM mobile.

They are also very cool and capture the user - anything that gets people accessign information and keeping it live and relevant particularly where CRM is concerned has to improve things.

As ever it'll be the compatibility issues that may slow it - Flash for instance on websites and Silverlight compatibility - and can you run CRM web clients without issues - Microsoft only warrants Dynamics CRM over Internet Explorer to gain the full experience.

iPhone CRM has been around for a time, but costs have hampered their take up.

The iPad will have (is having) a tremendous impact on CRM. The ease of portability coupled with its inexpensiveness will enable far more mobile workers to have up to the minute access to their CRM. One of the more frustrating parts of CRM is sales people in the field who forget to input notes from meetings and contacts through out the day. You get marginal notes at the end of the day from tired people who just want to get home - or worse, you get nothing.

If you didn't see this by Marc Beniof, I think it speaks not only to the belief that major industry leaders have in the iPad (and by extension the new generation of tablets), but to the tremendous use it will have with salesforce.com - easily the world's largest and most defining CRM.

here's that link: http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/29/ipad-cloud-2/

Its about customizing to the business needs in a tablet format. Apple is a closed app store environment, which is great for folks with general needs. But to design a highly context enterprise specific tablet app, you need an "open" (separate debate) foundation that plays friendly with enterprise IT. Last time I checked Objective C is closed to Apple, Java is not. Tablets are definitely a key part of CRM evolution, but the ability to write proprietary apps against the delivery tool (in this case a tablet format) is key, along with open architecture for handshakes into the Enterprise IT environment.

The above depends on context. Is it internal Sales Enablement via Mobility or is it Consumer Marketing? Very different scenarios, strategies, and applicability. Google does need to grow its developer ecosystem however, several studies have noted the profitability of platforms from a developer/partner ecosystem, Apple wins there but expect changes coming out of Building 22.

yes; absolutely; without a doubt; no question - the iPad is gonna change the world of CRM and the level of use and adoption !!

Combining the elegance of how updates/feeds [about customers, contacts, opportunities, support issues] are distributed and addressed; improving significantly the UI; and, presenting it customized to the individual users' requirements (not just the company or the department or division - THE INDIVIDUAL USER) is a breakthrough.

So, an open platform + secure, private and trusted feeds + an elegant mobile interface [ I BELIEVE ] will begin to deliver finally the results "CRM" has promised for years !!