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Supplier definition
Supplier list
Functionality
SaaS
Supplier consolidation
Downloadable questionnaire 
 

Suppliers

This page lists of suppliers who deliver in to the MRM arena.

Supplier definition

At one time I tried to be "totally pure" and only list companies which supported every required aspect of MRM.  That resulted in a very short list of Aprimo, Assetlink and net|ways, who are the only companies in the list where I have vetted their solutions for every aspect of Marketing.    

I now take a more pragmatic approach, which I hope is of more use to the readers of this site.  Not every Marketing department needs a totally comprehensive solution from one supplier.  Some may already have installed systems from specialist suppliers, plus some companies may not need support for every aspect of marketing. If a company only ever runs above the line global market poster or television adverts they have no need for direct mail campaign management. 

All of the suppliers listed below do provide a large percentage of the defined MRM functionality, particularly in the area of image and brand management.  They are companies which specialize almost exclusively in supporting the content management and re-purposing/re-use of Marketing assets.  These companies do far more than just provide a standard DAM with a few added on extensions.  All have functionality which will, if implemented in the right way, deliver benefits and savings to Marketing.  The more enlightened of these companies will also provide "Open system " type interfaces for their solutions so that they can be run along side other systems which have the functionality they have not developed.

The list quite noticeably includes very few of the major CRM players, even though nearly all have announced that they have complete MRM solutions. This is because, at this point in time most CRM companies have not yet demonstrated that their systems really do supply the required functionality fully integrated in to their product.  They seem particularly lacking in integrating any significant aspects of graphical management in to their system.

I am not alone in that view. In a CRM newsletter in April 2004, it was reported that;

"Related research by Forrester subsidiary Giga Information Group found that many companies face internal pressure to select marketing automation software from their CRM vendors. Yet high-end business-to-consumer companies running sophisticated marketing campaigns find that the applications often fall short of the capabilities they need.”

Since 2004 the CRM companies which have successfully delivered full MRM have mostly achieved this by integrating solutions from the companies listed below and selling the resultant package as their "white label" solution.  For example Teradata now have fully integrated MRM modules as they have seamlessly integrated Assetlink in to their product and this runs on the Teradata database.

The situation with the remaining CRM will, of course, change over time, and as I become aware of that happening the list of Suppliers will be updated.

Suppliers are currently listed in alphabetic sequence showing no other significance to their position on the page.

Supplier have been added to the list at their request, after they saw the site, and following a brief review of their functionality.  There was no promotion pleading suppliers to have their name added to the list, equally some suppliers who asked to be added have not been listed as their systems, though good, only answer a small number of the needs of Marketing.

Suppliers can, of course, ask to be taken off the site at any point in time.  If they do not want to be listed they will not appear. 

 

MRM Suppliers

 

Functionality supported by Suppliers

Because of constant changes and developments in the functionality provided by MRM suppliers it is no longer possible, using the resources of just one person, to provide an accurate and up to date comparison of the different systems which suppliers support.

However, at the end of this Web page is a questionnaire/check list which can be used by potential customers to request from suppliers the details of the functionality they support.

This was first added to the site in August 2008.

The questionnaire can be downloaded.

The idea is that as users find extra questions etc which should be asked the form will be updated (provided I am told of the missing points).  

Based on feed back up to January 2009 the questionnaire is now approaching being a fully comprehensive document.

 

SaaS - Software as a service  

At one time the only way to acquire an MRM system was to buy a software licence.  This could have been a licence covering unlimited users or for fixed numbers of users.  The software could then be run on your own hardware or hosted elsewhere (often on hardware provided and managed by the MRM supplier).  Prices varied from supplier to supplier, and were affected by the numbers of modules bought, and the numbers of licensed users etc, but costs were normally in excess of £100,000.

For many companies this created too large an entry barrier.  Though MRM will save money (and improve effectiveness and efficiency) recovering the large licence fees stopped many implementations. Also though the Marketing department might need every MRM module they wanted to implement over a period of time and not be driven by the need to recoup their capital expenditure.

Some suppliers then developed an On-demand service, which is now marketed as SaaS (Software as a service).   Essentially the supplier will licence numbers of users to run selected modules from the standard software on servers hosted by the supplier.  Entry points can be as low as 10 users and, depending on the functionality selected, could be implemented for less than £400 per month.  This is becoming increasingly popular.  Now more Marketing departments are contemplating Pilot systems where small numbers of users run selected modules for a few months to prove the software is right for them.

In terms of percentage take up, word of mouth indicates that in excess of 60% of new MRM implementations now take the SaaS option.

When selecting the SaaS approach Marketing departments should still allow an up front sum for systems building, training and implementation support.  Depending on the options selected this will cost in excess of £5,000.  MRM changes the way the department works.  It affects workflow and responsibilities.  This involves Change Management and should not be taken lightly.  The up front implementation charge is though a small investment to make the MRM implementation work for you.

Not all suppliers yet provide SaaS for their solution. However, most are now committed to this approach. 

Supplier consolidation

Although MRM really only emerged as an accepted technology around 2002, since August 2004 the MRM market place has seen very active supplier consolidation as a number of leading niche players have merged with/ been acquired by larger, former rivals.

Previously I tried tracking and reporting on these mergers, but because of the rapid spate of changes this has become too onerous.  The acquisitions have affected substantial companies, (who may have been acquired for other reasons, eg Oracle, itself a niche MRM player, bought PeopleSoft and Siebel, both of whom also had niche MRM offerings), companies which were MRM market leaders ( eg Aprimo bought THEN, and Smart Path, both of which at one time figured prominently on the Gartner Quadrant), and a host of smaller, specialist companies have either merged with other specialists or been bought by companies entering the MRM area (eg Nvigorate have been acquired by Alterian).

The forecasts are that this trend will continue as larger companies see the opportunities offered within the MRM market  and then buy existing MRM companies which provide the functionality lacking in their offerings.

Some of these mergers will produce stronger, more financially stable companies offering an improved range of MRM services, but this will not always be the case. 

This does create problems for potential buyers of MRM as every one would like their supplier to be around as long as they continue to run the software.  And size of company does not seem to matter, just look at PeopleSoft who have been acquired by Oracle.  

If you are buying the software, and intend to run it using your own technical support then make sure your contract protects you against issues which could arise if either your supplier is taken over, or even your supplier takes over a competitor and decides to implement the newly acquired technology and not the system you selected.

 

White label software

Modules of the MRM software manage processes which are not part of the main stream of "data processing".   MRM is required to manage images and work schedules of designers operating on Macs using programs (Quark) which are not in common use in the Microsoft world. Major players in the Campaign management and Data Warehousing are starting to appreciate that to provide a total service to Marketing needs different skills from those required to provide segmentation or data analysis of customer buying trends.  

At one stage some of the largest suppliers announced they would develop MRM systems to add to their product.  Oracle made such announcements.  Other companies such as SAS bought niche player companies and announced they would re-write and merge the acquired product set with their main offering.  I have not yet seen one of these efforts deliver any success. 

However at the beginning of 2009 Teradata announced that they had added the standard Assetlink product as an integrated module of their core software. The module is provided and updated by Assetlink but is white labeled as a Teradata offering. As Assetlink develop and add functionality to their product the new functionality will be added to the Teradata white labeled product.  In this way Teradata is offering a more comprehensive service to the Marketing departments of their customers without having to acquire and develop skills beyond their own specialist areas of Data Warehousing and analysis.  Customers may pay a small premium for this, but then they have an integrated system from one supplier.

I am convinced that this white labeled approach will be followed by others once they see the success of Teradata. 

 

Questionnaire

Below is a link to an Excel spread sheet which requests details of functionality from MRM suppliers.

Feel free to down load and use the form as is appropriate to your requirements. (To download click on link below then Save file).

If you find that any questions are missing, or need to be expanded, please let me know and I will then update the copy available for download.

MRM Questionnaire download link