Hosted Tailored CRM Application Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hosting highly tailored vertical customer relationship management (CRM) applications is challenging due to difficulties in maintaining consistency of shared data across multiple verticals and the inability to differentiate resource usage for accurate cost assessment, which is incompatible with economies of scale and current hosting schemes.
Innovation Solution
A set of universal configuration options (UCOs) is provided to automatically configure a tailored CRM application, allowing for operational and runtime tailoring, decomposition of incompatible business entities and processes, and provisioned access control for differential cost assessment based on resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple individual highly tailored vertical CRM applications are hosted for different customer companies, then each customer company receives customized functionality tailored to their specific industry needs, but the hosting company cannot achieve economies of scale and must deploy multiple separate software systems and servers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal hosted CRM software system that can serve multiple customer companies across different industries through configuration rather than customization. The system provides industry-specific functionality (automotive, financial, retail verticals) by enabling each customer company to select and configure relevant industry components within the single platform, eliminating the need for multiple separate software systems while maintaining tailored functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If industry-specific vertical CRM components are added to tailor applications to specific industries, then the application becomes more valuable to customer companies, but additional computational and storage resources are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple industry-specific vertical CRM components (automotive, financial, retail) into a single integrated hosted software system. By merging these verticals into one platform with shared infrastructure, the system reduces the total computational and storage resources required compared to maintaining separate systems for each industry, while still providing industry-specific functionality through configuration options.
3Stability of the object's composition
If shared data is maintained across multiple verticals in a tailored CRM application, then data consistency is improved, but maintaining consistency becomes problematic when employing components from multiple verticals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the CRM system into distinct vertical components (automotive, financial, retail) that can be independently configured and activated. Each vertical operates as a modular unit within the single hosted system, allowing data consistency to be maintained through centralized management while reducing the complexity of cross-vertical data synchronization by enabling selective activation of industry components based on customer needs.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention provide methods and apparatuses for providing hosted highly tailored vertical applications. In accordance with one embodiment, a set of universal configuration options for a customer relationship management application is created and presented to a user. The user selects one or more options from the set of options provided and the selected options are used to automatically configure a tailored customer relationship management application. For one embodiment of the invention multiple incompatible business entities and processes from existing verticals are decomposed to provide a set of configurations options to a customer company. The customer company selects from the provided configuration options and a highly tailored vertical is automatically configured based upon the selected configuration options.