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Summary
The customer relationship management (CRM) market is undergoing fundamental changes. Market consolidation persists as more takeovers occur – the most notable being Oracle’s takeover of Siebel – leaving many companies wondering about the future of their currently installed systems. Salesforce.com has led the trend in making CRM available as software as a service (SaaS). And as in several other markets, an increasing number of vendors offer open source solutions. Queplix is one such supplier. It not only has functionally rich modules supporting many common CRM functions but additional utilities to support companies that want to replace existing systems.

Assessment
CRM means many things to many people. Originally, it was supposed to help companies attract, retain and support customers. Toward that end, companies have invested millions of dollars in CRM software and initiatives, with mixed results. At the top end of the market, Oracle and Siebel led the way, but in the wake of Oracle’s takeovers many companies are wondering what will become of their systems. The midmarket has been served by companies such as Onyx and RightNow, but the takeover of Onyx by M2M Holdings has created uncertainty here. As elsewhere, one of the least well understood CRM options has been the open source systems provided by a few vendors, such as CentricCRM, daffodilCRM and SugarCRM. Lack of knowledge is a key issue here; in a recent survey, Ventana Research found that companies are still wary of open source in general because of concerns about its functionality and security.

An emerging supplier in the CRM market, Queplix, has tried to address both these issues, especially for companies that need to replace their existing systems. Its founders approached the marketplace with the assumption that CRM is really about process and that every company has its own interpretation of how its CRM processes should work. As a result, their product, QueWeb, comes with tools that enable business people to design processes first and build the solution second. To enable this, the code is offered in source code modules that each address a common CRM function, such as ticket and case management, the call center, knowledge management or a customer portal. Companies can download the modules and customize them to match the processes they have designed. The modules utilize the J2EE platform, which is stable and scalable and takes advantage of current technology to deliver security, extensibility and reliability. Further, a set of optional modules supports computer telephony integration (CTI) and other applications such as Microsoft Exchange for e-mail and collaboration, reporting and analytics and knowledge base management.

For companies that have systems from vendors such as PeopleSoft, Siebel or Vantive, Queplix goes one step further. Its QueCrawler utility is designed to access these systems and automatically convert their embedded business rules and user interfaces into customized QueWeb modules. This likely will save companies large amounts of development time and effort, shorten training times (because the new system is very similar to the old one) and reduce the level of risk in adopting a new product. The result is that companies get to retain much of their investment in existing systems while moving to a new platform where they can take advantage of new functionality.

Queplix’s approach will appeal to many companies, especially those faced with replacing legacy CRM systems. To explore this issue, we spoke with one of Queplix’s major customers, which had a Vantive product that is no longer supported. The company had years of investment in the system, its users didn’t want to change, and of course it didn’t have a large budget to address the problem. Having chosen QueWeb, the customer reported it was able within a few months and with less effort than expected to build a new system which in large part matched the old. The match wasn’t 100 percent because the team discovered multiple versions of Vantive so that not all users could retain their specific customizations in what now has become a unified solution. Nevertheless, Ventana Research believes that this case illustrates that open source solutions have come of age and that companies prepared to take this path can achieve similar results.

Market Impact
Because of previous failures and all the market changes, many users view CRM cautiously. In this cost-conscious market, open source systems present an attractive commercial proposition, but that alone is not sufficient; if the solutions they deliver do not meet the business and technical challenges or leave companies open to security issues, they are not likely to be widely adopted. Queplix joins a small group of open source suppliers that have already achieved some success. Ventana Research believes that many companies faced with replacing existing systems will find the Queplix solution attractive. But we also believe that there is room for all types of products in this space, and we recommend that companies carefully assess their business and technical requirements before deciding which kind is best for them.

Recommendation
Our research shows that open source solutions are in their infancy in operational environments, and not all companies will take the risk of going down this route. Ventana Research believes that Queplix has demonstrated impressive functionality and that its modular supply model will suit companies that want to replace existing CRM solutions with little risk and at low cost without losing functionality. As is the case with any major CRM project, companies will need to manage the project properly and ensure that users’ expectations match company goals. That said, Ventana Research believes that companies should consider Queplix as an option as they try to improve their CRM initiatives.