Desktop CRM. We have to talk

Development of software for the corporate sector is, above all, a huge responsibility: for the logic and speed of the system response, its reliability and at the same time ease of use, actual functionality, ease of installation, refinement, etc. When you are a business, you understand how important it is for another business that, in addition to fulfilling its requirements, everything works like a clock. And when you are a developer, it is up to you to ensure this. And then you start looking for technologies that will help to solve it quickly and efficiently. And one of the main questions is which service model to offer to users, the cloud or the desktop? We chose a desktop before the clouds and SaaS came into vogue. To date, we supply our system on this model. And we have good reasons for that.

Desktop taxis. Find out where

In particular, customers are very different: everyone has their own requirements, suggestions for refinement and functionality. These are subtle points that are solved individually and are highly dependent on the industry and customer's business processes. But in general, customers are quite the same: they need a reliable, fast (no hang), inexpensive solution, optionally with a beautiful interface. I will not surprise anyone if I say that they want cheap and angry. And that's what the desktop offers them.

Desktop cheaper. In previous posts, I have already given the calculations, but now I will tell you a little more. Software vendors on the SaaS model correctly appeal to the fact that you don’t lose anything by renting the program: you didn’t like it - you refused, you reduced 5 employees - you refused to pay for 5 places. In fact, not everything is so simple - having bought a subscription, you start using CRM, enter data into it, build reports, attach files. This whole story is stored on a third-party server, for some vendors you also have to pay for backups. In fact, this is a trap - after 4-6 months of use, it will be difficult for you to abandon the “lived-in” system, so you continue to pay, and after a couple of years - significantly overpay.
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I do not have the right to take a competitor for comparison, but we take one of the lowest CRM prices, in a class close to the functionality of RegionSoft Professional , let's call it Noregion - 800 p. per user per month. So, a company of 15 people chooses CRM. For the rented system in the first year pays 144 thousand, in the second - the accumulated value of 288 thousand, in the third (5 people reduced) - 384 thousand ... For 15 licenses of the desktop RegionSoft CRM once paid 157 thousand rubles, that is, for three years it turns out more, than double benefit. That's why large cloud vendors have server licenses (eternal), but at a much higher price.

Condition	1 year of ownership	2 years of ownership, accumulated amount	3 years of ownership, accumulated amount
Net purchase of 15 licenses Noregion	144,000	288,000	384,000
Net purchase of 15 RegionSoft CRM Professional licenses	157,000	157,000	157,000

Plus, in the case of a desktop relationship is tough: the customer and the supplier, all issues are solved directly and are managed by the developer. In the cloud variant, in 99% of cases, at least one more side interferes with the relationship - the storage provider (DPC), and some administration issues and problems are solved more slowly.

By the way, the money saved can be spent on refining the CRM to the needs of your business - and again you will receive a professional development from a vendor, and not a purchased solution from an app store, created by a third party.

Moreover, we went to meet their users, who insist on discrete payments and provided the opportunity to take CRM for rent. So, the mentioned configuration will cost 13,155 rubles per month, that is, 877 rubles per user. In this case, there are benefits: major upgrades are free, you can change the number of leased licenses, you can buy out CRM at a residual price.

Updates are easy to roll, idle and wait in the distant past. In addition, after receiving information about the update, you can decide how much you need it and whether you like it.

Installing desktop CRM is reduced to a few clicks and is completely independent of the browser settings and the relevance of the versions of a particular plugin (alas, this is still the case). Here I will immediately make a reservation that I will be responsible only for myself and my RegionSoft CRM, because I know that installing client licenses of some of our competitors actually takes half a life and a few hours, mainly due to the use of MS SQL. Our CRM uses a lightweight, well-administered and powerful Firebird DBMS, which unfolds during the installation process, and most importantly, does not increase the cost of the system, since it is free for both the user and the developer.

The question of security is always a painful question. Someone does not need it at all, and someone cherishes even small data. And the point is not that talented hackers will intercept them - there is a fear of losing data or losing access to information and backups. There is one more fear - it is easier to merge data from the cloud unnoticed, thanks to access "from any device anywhere in the world." But unscrupulous salespeople, leaving the base or selling it quietly, unfortunately, enough. You need to make sure that cloud solution providers cover all regulatory requirements, from data protection to ensuring user security to the delimitation of access rights. In fact, the concerns are justified.

Imagine a serious business that keeps all the operational information about your business in the cloud. These are (even among banks!), But often it is fraught. Get at least the most popular Western system. In early 2009, thousands of companies were left without their applications for 40 minutes - Salesforce.com servers in all data centers were damaged, and emergency switching to standby capacity failed. All services returned to service only after two and a half hours. In September 2014, the same system was attacked by the Dyre Trojan, aimed at the data of the cloud platform clients. In the summer of 2015, another vulnerability emerged in one of the subdomains, the exploit of which allowed compromising and stealing accounts and injecting malicious code. Vulnerability closed more than a month after detection.
Of course, Salesforce - delicious prey for attackers, this is access to hundreds of thousands of accounts. But do not think that the system is not more modest attack. It is not the systems that are attacking, but the data center servers, and in this one of the most significant security breaches of cloud systems is the scale of the hacking. In the case of penetration into the cloud infrastructure, a huge amount of data is immediately compromised - it is much more dangerous than breaking into a local network of a company of interest or a single PC, for example, a sales director of a large wholesale company.

According to the annual analytical report on data leakage, published by Zecurion, in 2015, web services remained the leaders among the leak channels - 21.9% . Quote from the report: “Web services is still the most popular channel of leaks. For 4 years, the most confidential information flows through the Internet. User data and customer bases - thanks to the development of technology, insiders can even merge bulk information via the web. ” For comparison, the share of email was only 7.8%, while the share of portable terminals (laptops and tablets) was 14.1%.

According to the same report, intruders are increasingly interested in data from retail and other trading companies. But the blame for the leak is not always in the service of information security or the system administrator for lack of such - to leak information leads to errors of employees. So, according to the same report, 63% of employees take work files with them when they change jobs or leave (a good hint for those who like to keep an Excel client base), 41% tell colleagues their working account passwords, 28% work with confidential corporate information from home (of course, there is no question of any concern about data protection). You do not need to be a guru of the theory of probability to understand how great the risks are.

By the way, the argument about the high cost of own servers for most small and medium-sized businesses has already outlived itself. Desktop software may require a server (especially on expensive and heavy DBMS such as Oracle or MS SQL). Again, I will not speak for everyone, but in the overwhelming number of cases, our server needs a standard office PC with adequate characteristics. For example, a server for deploying RegionSoft CRM may be a PC of a more or less modern configuration. The power of computers is constantly growing - most companies no longer have to pay for expensive servers to deploy desktop solutions, but you have to pay for the rent of facilities for the cloud (this is included in the cost of renting licenses). Desktop server technologies (for example, Active Directory) help to organize a really secure system of access to information that can be monitored, modified and expanded independently.

Of course, there should be no paranoia. In my practice, there were customers who asked to organize a safe in the wall, where they got food and UTP-45, and also put network drives into it - ridiculous of course, but this is life. Basically, there is enough protection at the level of access rights and periodic checking of connected devices. Although, if someone really wants to steal data, he will. But minimal protection from primitive actions should be. And in the desktop software, it's just easier.

Responsibility of the vendor for the IT infrastructure: servers, virtual machines, stability, backups. This is a huge task of processing and storing data. In the case of desktop software, the infrastructure is not the responsibility of the third party away from you, but your system administrator: this is his job and you have the right to ask him at any time. Another advantage of this approach is the ability to make changes to the configuration at any time, without waiting for technical support or vendor engineers (the same updates, rights, database transfer, replication, backups, etc.)

Refinement and customization. Cloud software, supplied by the SaaS model, is practically not finalized in the classic sense of the word. That is, the user can add fields, rebuild groupings and funnels, but there will be no industry-specific features and business processes in the logic of the system. All refinement looks like an individual project and stands as an individual project, plus everything, not all vendors take it up - custom development can be unprofitable for a supplier.
Desktop software can have different degrees of customization (recently there was a post about it ).

However, the refinement of CRM is always possible, is faster and cheaper than in the case of web-systems. If the vendor himself is finalizing, he is responsible for the new units and for their seamless implementation into the basic “bundle”. Cloud vendors, however, came up with a bypass and I will not say that it is bad. These are connectors and widgets of third-party manufacturers, which for an additional fee are connected to CRM from marketplaces: mail, instant messengers, chats, modules, and so on. It turns out that the client of such a system gets to the three responsible: the vendor, the widget owner, the cloud provider. That is, these are three potential risks.

Experience year long. There is one specific risk in the CRM market - get familiar with the offers of young market participants who enter the market with the scheduler ++ and proudly call it CRM. In this case, you can lose the necessary functions or even remain without a purchased system, if an inexperienced player turns off the business.

Desktop software has its origin somewhere 10-15 years ago - during this time many models have been tried, the requirements have been implemented. In the end, we ourselves sell and promote our software, build relationships with numerous customers and know what we expect from CRM. In particular, in the next release RegionSoft CRM get the most popular features and improvements.
In general, almost any desktop business application is more powerful than any cloud based on its technology platform: it is integration with various devices, and integration with software, and the ability to create reports at the OLAP level. By the way, this is partly why desktop applications look more ascetic compared to the cloud - it is difficult to choose a design for a huge set of functionalities. You can check this out by looking, for example, on the cloud and desktop versions of a large vendor that supplies both options - the difference is obvious.

Desktop performance is higher - it does not need to contact a third-party remote server, it does not depend on the speed of the Internet connection. Elementary, reports are built faster, data does not disappear when filling out a card and other forms (as happens with incorrectly configured web-systems). Alas, the business is still sensitive to the connection speed - sometimes there is simply no good provider nearby, or the connection speed deliberately decreases for the sake of the employees' efficiency.

A little about the types of licenses. In the case of SaaS, you do not buy software - you rent it, and the vendor has the right to change the rental price, bind it to the currency, change the interface and functionality. In the case of a desktop, rentals and installments are also possible, but in the end, the path to purchasing a perpetual license is always open: personalized on a PC or competitive (by connections).


Access from any gadget for desktop CRM is no longer a problem. You will surely be surprised, but a very small proportion of customers actually use the mobile version - here, rather, "so it was." Moreover, even CRM on the search is looking for practically more than 91% from a PC. So, each version of RegionSoft CRM can be purchased with support for remote access (TRM) - that is, from a tablet or smartphone of any brand you can sit in the familiar interface of your CRM. Starting with a 5 ”screen this is quite comfortable.

Section for paranoids. Advertising is easily thrown into the cloud systems, all browser applications from the vendor side are tagged and tagged - everyone wants a lot of analytics to build marketing. There is nothing wrong with that, I myself do not mind getting a personalized promotional offer. But someone does not like it.

Cloud vs Desktop: for developer

The desktop is beautiful in development: it’s as simple as possible to build a graphical user interface using various form builders, etc. WEB-applications are developed mainly using Model-view-controller (MVC, “model-view-controller”) - schemes for using several design patterns, by which the application model, GUI and user interaction are divided into three components, so that processing one of the components has a minimal impact on all others. Although it is possible to work with web forms. The controls in desktop development are also easier to fasten. In addition, web-based applications require a careful approach to design, which affects the prices.

Speaking of design. Those who have been familiar with our system for a long time have noticed how much RegionSoft CRM 6.0 differs from previous versions. At meetings of developers, ideas to make a "trendy" interface in the style of popular skins were repeatedly heard, but in the end, the position that we are doing business software, business applications, and the interface of business applications should not be full of hearts and typewriters. The task of corporate software is to be intuitive, convenient and manageable. We are responsible for all these parameters: we have interconnected modules, developed a unique KPI system, built-in native visual designer of business processes, its own simple SIPphone, the system is controlled, including using keyboard shortcuts, etc. Our clients always appreciate it, and we value it.



Separately, it must be said that desktop software is easier to make friends with the hardware: cameras, ports, scanners and much more. We faced this when we created RegionSoft Retail - a hardware and software system for automating retail stores, including hypermarkets with our own production. Cash register, printing of checks, barcode scanners, scales, discount cards and a bunch of sophisticated specific equipment was quite easily integrated into the system thanks to desktop development. In addition, all cash registers must be able to work offline and not get up even if the server is dead or has fallen off. For the purpose of exchanging information of the cash with the server, we wrote a database replicator. But that's another story.

Even integration with the same 1C in the case of the desktop looks more reliable - we, for example, implemented it by uploading files in XML format. And additionally, for integration with the site, scheduled tasks and anything else, we wrote our own script server RegionSoft Application Server .

All of these benefits open another very important opportunity: the rapid refinement of CRM in the framework of creating an individual project. Efficiency of completion provides such an introduction, when the client gets a “sharpened” solution for him and starts working immediately taking into account all the business features, and does not adapt to the system (although sometimes this can also be justified).

Who is behind the desktop with us?

As soon as the first cloud-based CRM systems appeared, the RegionSoft front office began to receive continuous questions about whether we have a web version, whether we are in the cloud, and whether we can use our RegionSoft CRM in a browser. First there were the short “No” dialogues and the frustrated “Aaaaa ...”, then the classical processing of objections, then attempts to find out why the client needs cloud-based software and muffled “Nuuu ...” or a set of myths in response. Now the questions began to appear: “And you are definitely not a cloud, right? Let's talk. ”And I can’t say that this trend deviation came as a surprise to me - usually a boom or a fashion peak begins to subside on something, and then equilibrium points are set for each market participant: hybrids, different versions or keeping yourself in a niche . There are rare cases of gradual disappearance from the market, when a company drastically changes the technology stack, casts its main project - while development is underway on a new stack, the vendor misses the new functionality, casts individual projects and gradually loses its weight among competitors.

However, from the arguments about the market back to the topic. Server solutions are attractive for companies that prefer to keep data at home, strive to reduce the level of dependence of the program on the Internet, are picky about the speed of working with data and are interested in saving. There are many such representatives of business, and in all segments: from microbusiness to holdings and groups of companies.

• Companies with a special status of personal data. This is a group that does not want to risk the data of its customers, the leakage or damage of which will lead to loss of reputation, to huge financial losses and lawsuits. These include, for example, medical centers, insurance and legal companies.
  
  
• Companies with a valuable customer base. Building a customer base is often a costly and complicated process. Moreover, there are no cases when attracting and retaining customers is free. For example, most trading companies engaged in wholesale deliveries or distribution of goods value this information as a valuable asset. They are motivated to store data in a centralized database on their own server.
  
  
• Companies with a high rate of personnel rotation , that is, those that often hire new staff and fire old ones. They are afraid of “leaving” the information together with managers who easily carry valuable data to competitors. One can talk endlessly about their personnel policy and its features, but it is much more interesting that they keep their eyes more private and never choose a solution whose database is stored on a remote server.
  
  
• Companies with production. Large organizations or full-cycle advertising agencies prefer to create a closed IT infrastructure that combines integrated automation and security. Firstly, they are satisfied with the fast access to data and independence from the Internet connection, secondly, their CRM contains valuable information about the production processes, which should in no way fall into the hands of competitors or unscrupulous employees.
  
  
• Companies with high speed service. Shops with a cashier, retail, beauty salons, service companies are forced to enter data into CRM in the mode of communication with the customer and get access to them during a call or in the process of live service without a hitch - this is the level of service. And the most unpleasant thing that can happen is a hangup or a drop in the speed of the Internet connection. In case the IT infrastructure is built as dependent on the Internet, even a five-minute drop can lead to losses.
  
  
• Companies that are particularly sensitive to Internet connection speed. In addition to the previous category, this is a group of really unhappy organizations that are “lucky” to be in business centers with a single Internet provider (monopolist) or in the slow Internet zone (alas, this is common in the regions). In the absence of a connection to the global network, work on such companies arises, so they prefer even cloud providers to acquire server versions of CRM, even if they are much more expensive (if there is such an opportunity).
  

Both the cloud and the desktop will continue to divide the market. But this is not a war, this is the coexistence of two important and necessary technologies. How to choose - everyone decides for himself, weighing all the pros and cons. The desktop is developing, changing, looking for new features and tools. It is interesting for the corporate sector. His strength is in experience, reliability, stability, security and customization. Just what most companies require from a vendor. We develop desktop CRM with solid ground under our feet, and over and over again we see that this is correct.