Support

 Although many companies say they support Marketing systems, at the time of raising this section the number of companies with divisions specifically dedicated to supporting Marketing systems who are prepared to provide details of the prior experience of their staff working on Marketing systems and MRM in particular is rather limited. 

To be added to the list below companies need only contact this site, confirm they have staff with prior experience and provide the appropriate link.

Support companies  

If you are buying a system from any of the major suppliers, particularly the ones listed on this site, they generally have experienced capable staff who will help make your installation a success.  Bringing in other parties to implement a supplier's MRM package is, in my experience, a false economy.

Support is needed in the earlier stages where you have to determine what systems are right for you, how much change your organisation can absorb, and which is the right supplier for you.

The numbers of companies who are breaking in to this market place are growing everyday.  Unfortunately several offering services are so tightly coupled with particular suppliers that they cannot be described as unbiased.  For this reason the list of companies which, in my opinion, offer invaluable, unbiased support remains quite short.

When a company starts the stages of determining what systems they need and then moving to implementation they need the support of some one who understands Marketing and also has a knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the various suppliers.   This is not a role which can easily be filled by an experience Project Manager supplied by some of the larger body-shop consultancies. For once this really is an area that needs specialist knowledge which cannot be provided by people who have read the manual.

 In the UK Teec offer a specialist service to companies looking to automate their Marketing processes.  They are primarily sellers of a range of Marketing software packages and services but they have, over the last 10 years, gained a broad understanding of Marketing and do provide excellent consultancy support for companies looking to use solutions or services to improve the management of their Marketing processes.  

Details of their services can be found at their web site www.teec.org

Operating out of Holland is MRMLogic who provide independent consultancy and support across Europe, using staff with prior experience gained at a number of sites.  Details of this company can be found on their web site www.mrmlogiq.com

Operating out of Greece is SalesManager Hellas.  They have several years experience of supporting CRM and have now developed expertise to support MRM.  Their web site is www.salesmanager.gr  Click the flag in the right hand corner for the English version of the site.

Analysts

Analysts now recognise that MRM is a growing technology which is relevant to most companies.  As a result they have started to develop a knowledge base and sell that or provide it on a subscription basis.

Currently the most comprehensive analysis is provided by:

Gartner web site www.gartner.com

Forrester  web site www.forrester.com

IDC  web site www.idc.com

The Butler Group are starting to provide analysis of MRM and are developing detailed critiques of the functionality supplied by the leading players.  The reports cover functionality, IT systems design and express informed opinions on the suppliers systems. For full details of the services they are developing their web site is: www.butlergroup.com