Why doesn't Google buy/build solutions for CRM and Financials?

The question suggest a little bit of thinking that "let's build it and buyers shall come." Intellectually the need for tracking investment on marketing is there. But do companies really recognize the value in tracking an investment, especially small businesses, which make up a significant portion of Google users.In working with CEOs of very successful small businesses in the US and Canada, many don't even have CRMs or barely use the capabilities of the one's they have. Tracking an impression or click through to sales conversion and even re-sale takes time and resources to implement. That's just not a burning issue that small and micro-businesses are willing to sink time and money into. And for the big fish that Google might want to convert, would they really switch from a Salesforce.com or like system to Google because it offered a way to track viewers to buyers. As one of the other experts suggested, just look how many CRM launches fail each year. Part of the problem might be poor products and weak business models, but the other I believe is lack of value perception by business owners. What percentage of Adwords conversion is tracked now despite the billions of dollars spent and that conversion feature is free. Why would a CRM increase this? Personally I don't think the pain is great enough in the mass market to warrant Google's investment in fixing it. For many the need to track this investment is too academic. (I'm not suggesting it's not an important metric but those commenting on this are likely the exception to the rule.)

Quite simply, CRM and especially ERP are hard, and competition is tough. In the ERP space, you have QuickBooks at the low end, NetSuite in the middle, and Oracle Financials / SAP at the high end. All of these products are mature and have 5-10+ years of development behind them. I don't think you could even launch a credible ERP product that any business customer would buy without 3+ years of heavy development efforts. As has been noted, Google is already fighting on multiple fronts, and taking these 2 new spaces on may be a bit much even for Google's considerable resources. Also, perhaps Google has looked at how Microsoft has struggled with their Dynamics (CRM & ERP) franchise -- it hasn't exactly taken the industry by storm despite Microsoft's considerable efforts behind it.

I think Google realizes that discretion may be the better part of valor in these 2 spaces for now.

I've been watching Zoho.com for some time and I predict Google will one day acquire Zoho.com for the exact purpose you question.

Thats an interesting comment, Matt. Why do you believe Google will acquire Zoho?

Currently I think the strategy of being integrated & working with market leaders like Salesforce.com has worked well for Google as it has delivered many new business grade clients. Basically, I think Google is smart enough to understand that CRM and Financials are a radically different business to the one they know and do so well. Acquisition of a small but competent player like Zoho may be the future so they can buy in the knowledge and the skills as well.

Good points Julie but its been my experience Google acquires companies that provide free or minimal fee services, and that are typically consumer or SMB focused. Google "Google acquisitions" and you'll see the trend.

Google's goals are simple and brilliant. They are a dot builder/buyer. They build and buy dots, watch them, learn as much as they can and then finally, they connect them. They create small, simple applications and perfect them and then build on the experience until they can deliver an amazing platform. For example, consider the evolution of Android and how the experience is aiding in the development of the Google Desktop OS. I believe

Google Wave is the starting point for this subject. They've started with collaboration built around the web, but they have and will continue to bring features that ultimately amount to a unique service desktop that can be tailored for Sales, CRM, and internal collaboration,etc.

Bottom Line: Google doesn't want to necessarily build solutions for CRM/Financials as you have come to know them. Google Likes to innovate not just add to the pile. They are good at re-inventing and improving the wheel. They are already redefining the platform, thought and foundation around the interactions and features found in most enterprises, and in the end, they will deliver a new, liquid platform that can be configured easily and on the fly by any user.

The question is will the platform be based in the OS, Wave, Android or some combination of the three. Either way, be sure to follow their development and be more familiar with their tools so you can see where they are going.

That they haven't done this yet, doesn't preclude them from doing this in the future.

Actually, their application strategy has been pretty good. They are attacking those with the highest, most broad market potential. This provides a strong platform for growth--taking these customers into higher value, more specialized applications. Great and not unfamiliar approach for building "share of customer." It is also a very natural migration path for the customer.

Google would be best served by offering an integration point to existing ERP / CRM systems. Developing an ERP system takes millions of dollars and years of R&D and testing - without any guarantee of success.

If Google so wanted to enter the foray known as ERP for whatever reason then Google should consider acquisition although that too would be filled with potential land mines as running a search engine is significantly different than running a software company - not to mention an ERP software company.

In my opinion - integration would allow them to dip their toe in the ERP waters without having to take the plunge. If fail to see how Google would bring any value to the table by creating their own product.

I suppose the easy answer is that Google's focus has always been on making information available and generating web traffic. Google does not get involved in projects that are human resource-intensive. They don't do consulting. They don't have a huge customer service department or sales force. Business process consultation is not their forte. Sure, they could acquire any number of companies, but is CRM/ERP really related to their core focus?

History is littered with big companies that thought they could spread out and corner new markets, only to die trying. Google is one of the most successful companies of all time, but it's still 'innovate or die' regardless of who you are. They have the bankroll to do it, if anyone does, but what is the opportunity cost of being so distracted from their core mission?

On the other hand, I can imagine a future where Google gets involved in consumer finance. Google Banking anyone? It's easy to see a long term convergence of Google Checkout, Google Shopping/ Products, and an Android-enabled payment method. But this is all consumer stuff. Corporate CRM & ERP is a much larger beast, both in terms of customized business processes and technology.

And you can't put an ERP solution out in *beta*.

If you image all the different directions that Google is currently moving in within their focus of information and innovation, and all of the amazing stuff that people are working on at the Googleplex, I think CRM & ERP would just be a distraction from what they do best: fun, innovative, consumer-focused, scalable, self-serve web applications that spread information, increase web traffic and give just a little more room for adwords to be displayed.

As a CRM consultant, there are many disparate features and benefits my clients want to get out of a CRM system.

CRM is more than software; it's defining a unique set of PROCESS and software that allows a company to offer a unique advantage when dealing with clients and customer service efforts.

I just cannot see google being able to create a "one fits all" CRM app. For companies that use CRM as a integral part of the business plan, every combo of software and process requires a unique approach and metrics to determine success.

Other challenges include integration with accounting and MS Office. The Windows platform still offers a better approach than web-based apps to integrate disparate applications For instance, I can easily integrate ACT! & Quickbooks or ACT! & MAS/90 with Windows based apps in a local environment. I still believe a local app does better on those process integrations.

Now, should a CRM provider integrate with google somehow ? Yes. My apps can quickly do searches against google for maps and contextual data about the contact or account record in the database. That's been a great feature to show clients.

Mark Mondo
www.mondocrm.com

Tom,

There are already a few dozen pieces of technology that accomplish this, most notably Spiral 16.

I would guess that Google would view this as far too many moving parts and pieces to master. Having led development for the kind of Enterprise-wide solutions you're proposing I can tell you the the most difficult hurdle isn't building it once - it's making sure that once it's built it works for everyone. Many companies have a disparate landscape of legacy, near-sunset and second or third generation platforms scattered around their organization. Trying to programatically allow for all exceptions is about as realistic as juggling water.