A colleague just mentioned this new company, Avanade, in another context, but I note they have a new CRM tool, which fits in with the CRM thread I am into right now. Avanade is some kind of arrangement involving Accenture and Microsoft (about).

Avanade has introduced its Enterprise CRM for Financial Services solution, designed to deliver a wide spectrum of resources financial services advisors need to strengthen customer loyalty, increase sales, and deliver better customer service to clients. The solution is developed through an alliance with Microsoft, leveraging the technology of the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 product. The solution suite includes wealth management, commercial banking, investment banking and retail banking modules, customisable to the needs of the different segments of the financial services industry.

The solution will help enterprises of varied sizes up-sell and cross-sell to existing customers more effectively by understanding their purchasing patterns, communication history, and immediate needs right at the point of interaction. It utilises analytic tools that help identify most profitable customers, pinpoint areas for operational savings, analyze profitability and recognise key revenue opportunities. In addition, it offers Microsoft Office System-based access to CRM data. Avanade is at http://www.avanade.com.

Source: Computerworld Malaysia – SOFTWARE UPDATES

What I liked about the description is the focus on automated, predictive tools which CRM ought to deliver.

On a related note, Phil talks more about the notion of integration between CRM and BPM, that we talked of here, specifically my disappointment with CRM generally.  I liked Phil’s point that CRM could be a bunch of database connections to the BPM suite.  In any event, I think BPM would need some intelligence to get the right products and services into the BPM processes, and I liked the description of this one above.