industry report: the state of customer data integration in 2013

Cloud Adoption, System and Data Integration Challenges and Opportunities for the Connected Enterprise

The State of CustomerData Integration 2013

Table of ContentsLetter from Lou Guercia, CEO Scribe Software ............................................................. 3

Foreword ...................................................................................................................... 4

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 6

Major Findings .............................................................................................................. 7

General IT Trends and Customer Priorities ..................................................................... 11

The State of Business Systems Integration ................................................................... 18

State of CRM Integration .............................................................................................. 22

State of Integration ........................................................................................................ 27

Survey Participant Demographics ................................................................................. 31

Additional Industry Resources........................................................................................ 34

About Scribe Software.................................................................................................... 35

Core Business Systems in Use ...................................................................................... 33

3

Letter from Lou Guercia

I am thrilled to bring to you The State of Customer Data Integration 2013. We’ve come a long way since 2012! Scribe has collected and analyzed five times the number of responses and our data is truly global. The findings in this year’s report reflect the collective insights of more than 920 business leaders, partners and systems integrators from 50+ countries spanning all continents. Thank you all for your continued support!

We’re at the intersection of a number of significant technology shifts happening all at the same time: the transition to the cloud, the promise of Big Data and analytics, a more mobile enterprise, and improved, multi-channel customer experience. Applications and infrastructure are moving online – it’s no longer a fad. Hybrid environments are the new norm, posing interesting opportunities and challenges for IT and the business. Regardless of where your applications live today or tomorrow, your top business priorities continue to be growing new sales and keeping your existing customers happy and loyal. We heard that loud and clear from all respondents regardless of function or seniority.

To increase sales and maintain loyalty, you need customer data and you need it now. We expect to see a shift from talking about the value and need for Big Data towards actually integrating relevant and actionable data. Customer data is where the recurring value lies and fuels your sales, loyalty, and satisfaction. Where CRM remains the customer hub for many businesses, that customer has many different data touch points today – financial, social, support, marketing, and others. The most successful businesses bring together customer data where and when it is needed and create better business outcomes. Agile customer data integration should be a part of your everyday business process and your data connectivity should be easy and reliable.

Despite all the talk about the importance of integration and the “Connected Enterprise,” we have yet to see that vision fully realized. Many business systems still operate in silos or are only partially integrate. Your business needs a practical, sequential approach to data integration to prepare for the real data marathon – the huge amount of unstructured and structured data, social, mobile, online and offline application data – where you will need to choose an approach that squarely addresses your specific needs today but allows you to build and change as future integration needs emerge. This is where Scribe and our growing ecosystem of partners can help. You have our combined commitment to help tackle your immediate and long-term integration needs so you can get the most out of your data, grow your business and keep your customers delighted no matter how they engage with you.

Dear Fellow Business and IT Leaders,

Lou GuerciaCEO, Scribe Software

http://www.scribesoft.com/

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http://crmtrends.scribesoft.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/company/scribe-software

https://www.facebook.com/scribesoft

4

For a second year in a row, Scribe Software launched its State of Customer Data Integration industry survey. The response to our 2013 survey was exceptional. This year we connected with more than 921 technical professionals and business leaders, as well as systems integrators, VARs and partners — representing over a 200% increase in responses compared 2012 (n = 300). This year our initiative was industry-wide, benchmarking important IT trends within the enterprise such as cloud adoption by business system, level of integration between business systems, and major challenges to connecting today’s enterprise to its critical customer data. Leading software providers and consultants helped Scribe field the survey among their communities, including Marketo, Znode, ON24, Trillium, PowerObjects, Ledgeview, and Slalom Consulting.

2013 respondents came from a cross-section of industries and from more than 50 countries, representing all regions of the world. Various company sizes and levels of core business systems adoption and usage were represented. Respondents were comprised of C-level executives as well as business analysts and IT professionals, who manage and support systems implementation and data integration function within their organizations. Additionally we heard from systems integrators and consultants, who design and implement business systems and data integration projects for their enterprise clients. The overall mix of industries, seniority levels of respondents and their function within the enterprise are similar to our 2012 survey, allowing us to observe and draw conclusions about our industry over time.

Foreword

65% 10%

9%

7%

3% 2%

2% 1%

1% United States

European Union

Canada

United Kingdom

Australia & New Zealand

South America

Worldwide

Asian Pacific

Middle East & S. Africa

83%

17% Business Respondents

Third-‐Party System Integrators

Survey Respondents

Total Respondents by Region

n=921






5

100%

72%

63% 61% 59%

42% 36%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

CRM Enterprise Resources Mgmt

Business Intelligence

Sales Force AutomaDon

Customer Service

Social CRM MarkeDng AutomaDon

Similar to 2012, CRM continues to be the central hub of enterprises of all sizes. Enterprise Resources Management (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) came in second and third with reported adoption of these systems by 72% and 63% of respondents.

Foreword

Our 2012 survey did not poll businesses on their ERP adoption, usage and integration, as we focused primarily on customer systems such as Customer Services, Marketing Automation, Sales Force Automation, and Business Intelligence. This is why in this year’s report we are using Core Business Systems whenever the questions cover all business systems, including ERP, and Customer Systems whenever ERP was excluded.Note

Deployment of Core Business Systems

Core Business Systems in Use in the Enterprise: 2012

n=159

Business Systems in Use in the Enterprise: 2013

n=765

100%

72%

56%

46%

30% 27%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

CRM Business Intelligence

Sales Force AutomaBon

Social CRM MarkeBng AutomaBon

Customer Serivce






6

The State of Customer Data Integration 2013 survey report is based on over 900 responses ranging from independent business and IT leaders to Scribe’s data integration channel partners. Overall results reveal that today’s businesses are still on the journey to connect their core business systems and deliver customer data to their users across the business. Customer data should be free-flowing across all business touch points to enable companies to run faster, do more, and at lower cost.

What’s stopping the data from getting into the hands of those who need it? An increasingly complex IT environment creates barriers and silos. While CRM is steadily transitioning to cloud, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) systems continue to predominantly live behind the firewall. Despite the growing trend towards integrated ecosystems and platforms from leading providers such as Oracle, Salesforce.com, and Microsoft, companies continue to choose best-of-breed solutions over a single platform or vendor-supplied ecosystem. Over 30 disparate systems were reported in use in our survey sample, spanning all core business processes including sales, marketing, customer service, and analytics.

As the IT environment gets more complex, so too does the ownership of application budgets and data. Just a year ago, IT owned the bulk of systems project budgets and determined how these business systems were implemented and integrated. As businesses are driving to ever more sales, satisfaction, and loyalty, business leaders in marketing and services now claim close to 50% of project budgets for new systems. As the lines of business (LOB) continue to drive or significantly influence the technology purchase decision, IT leadership and LOBs need to partner closely and avoid creating new data and process silos that will hamper the company’s overall ability to improve business results.

It is clear from the survey there needs to be stronger partnership between LOB, IT and outside resources. Collaboration between IT and the rest of the business is essential to get the right applications connected to the business and maximize the overall value of these projects in measurable terms relevant to the overall business goals. Most respondents still report a lack of formal process for assessing the value of their applications and business processes. We found that survey participants who engage systems integrators and outside consultants demonstrate higher levels of integration and meaningful measurement of business value. Making use of experienced outside resources clearly helps companies focus on and get to value faster.

In 2013 we predict better progress towards tighter integration between core business systems. There is wide industry consensus amongst business leaders and systems integrators on the importance of data integration. Even though DIY integration is on the decline from 2012, custom code still ranks high as the preferred method of connecting customer data. Simple, easy-to-use integration is the missing piece of the puzzle for tightly integrated systems and data. We expect new integration offerings to evolve from “old school” tools to “new school” intuitive platforms.

Executive Summary

Our 2013 survey includes an expanded response set for some questions based on industry trends and 2012 respondent feedback. Also chart data throughout the report has been rounded, therefore chart percentage totals may be slightly greater or less than 100%.

Note






7

Major Findings

General IT Trends and Customer PrioritiesMore Business Systems Moving into the Cloud: 2013 is indeed the year of the hybrid systems environment, as increasing number of business systems are migrating to the cloud. Cloud has penetrated all core business systems, with CRM leading the way with 26% of respondents reporting a pure cloud environment for CRM. Enterprise Resource Planning and Business Intelligence systems are still predominantly on-premise.

Growing Importance of Hybrid Environment Support for CRM Strategy: 47% of business respondents and 73% of third-party systems integrators point to hybrid environment support as either a top priority or important for their business.

Expansion is the Top Business Priority for 2013: Businesses are clear in their priorities in 2013 – they need to sell more, but not at the expense of customer satisfaction. 73% of business respondents and 80% of systems integrators report revenue growth as a top priority, followed by increased customer satisfaction and increased revenue by customer. Business systems, whether customer-facing or supporting critical customer initiatives, need to enable business value faster while allowing line of business leaders to take good care of existing customers.

Close to 50% Budget Ownership for Core Business Systems is Now Outside of IT: Although IT continues to own a sizeable portion of the budget, sales, operations and marketing departments together are responsible for 48% of the planned systems investments in 2013. Same budget ownership split is reported for businesses represented by third-party systems integrators and consultants. Today’s savvy businesses care about customer data and are willing to pay for the management, distribution, and analysis of it.

High, but Cautious, Investment Intent in Business Systems in 2013: 44% of business respondents plan to invest more in their business systems in 2013, although the majority of them are cautious about their level of investment. Close to 60% plan to increase their systems investment by no more than 20%, as compared to what they spent in 2012.

CRM is Going Mobile: Mobile CRM is growing in importance. 84% of systems integrators and 71% of end businesses rate Mobile CRM as either important or top priority for their CRM strategy in 2013.






8

Major Findings

The State of Business Systems IntegrationConsensus on the Importance of Systems Integration: There is a cross-industry agreement that tighter integration between core business systems is critical for the success of the business, with respondents placing the highest importance on CRM and BI integration (74%), followed by CRM and Customer Support Systems (CSS) (73%), CRM and Marketing Automation (71%), and CRM and ERP (69%). Customer data drives business performance and while multiple systems all have data sets, they need a definite home for real-time use.

Low Levels of Full System Integration: We are only at the beginning of the integration journey. Only 16% of the businesses surveyed for this year’s report indicate full integration among their various business systems compared to 15% in 2012. Partial integration is still the norm, with 10% of enterprises reporting complete lack of integration among systems. The explosion of customer data sources, coming from digital, social and mobile, makes full system integration a challenge for organizations of all sizes. Rather than chasing the elusive promise of Big Data, businesses need to focus on integrating and making smart data available; data that leads to actionable business insights to drive solid decisions across the organization. We expect the trend towards smart data integration to catch fire in 2013.

Financial Data Still Siloed: The lowest levels of reported between-systems integration are between CRM and ERP, and CRM and Social, at 13% and 10% respectively. CRM-to-ERP data integration challenges are driven primarily by valid concerns for data security, governance and reporting. CRM-to-Social data integration is hard because no standards exist. Social platforms are still evolving, and thus there are no standard ways for capturing or addressing data especially unstructured data.

Systems Integrators Drive Higher System Integration: Businesses who use the help of systems integrator see higher levels of systems integration across all core business systems, including connecting financial data housed in ERP systems with customer data stored in CRM systems. The critical role of third-party systems integrators and consultants becomes even more evident when reviewing the levels of non-integration between systems – businesses serviced by systems integrators report that they have integrated their systems to at least some level.






9

Major Findings

State of CRM IntegrationData Accuracy and Consistency Key to CRM Systems Value: Aside from the being the storage place for all prospect and customer information, businesses expect their CRM systems to have the ability to share data among key departments. Companies prioritize the value of CRM data integration in terms of its ability to drive accuracy and consistency of customer information.

Still No Formal Process for Evaluating Integration: Most businesses (64%) still do not have a formal process for evaluating their CRM data integration progress. Those who engage systems integrator are more likely to have such a process in place (43%).

KPIs for CRM Data Integration: Businesses measure the return of their CRM data integration in terms of CRM satisfaction (45%), ability to have a complete view of the customer (43%), and CRM systems adoption (41%). The data suggests the critical link between data integration and overall CRM success. Failure to integrate CRM with other critical business systems is pushing 18% of respondents to switch to a new system in 2013.






10

Major Findings

Integration TrendsDo-It-Yourself Integration Widespread But on the Decline: Custom code continues to be the main way businesses integrate their systems. 48% still develop their own custom code in 2013, however there is a significant drop from 2012 when 59% reported doing so. Other integration methods include pre-built integrations by software vendors (41%) — most probably driven by proliferation of APIs — followed by the use of third-party integration platform vendors (32%). 32% still use manual data entry or processes.

Ease of Use the Top Selection Criteria for Data Integration Software: Ease of use trumps all other criteria ranked as most important by 67% of business respondents and 72% of systems integrators.

Internal IT Are Still the Integration Go-Getters: 80% of businesses continue to rely on their IT organization, while 40% tap into outside systems integrators or consultants. Although IT continues to own the integration process, IT needs to reach across the isle and work with their business counterparts, who are increasingly influencing systems selection and purchasing. Such collaboration will reduce the chance of sustaining or even building new organizational, systems and data silos.

Appetite to Integrate With the Newest Enterprise Tools: Businesses want to learn more about integration with collaboration platforms such as SharePoint, followed by email and marketing analytics solutions, social networking services, and BYOD.






11

General IT Trends and Customer Priorities

Cloud Adoption by Business System 2013 is indeed the year of the hybrid environment, with the cloud permeating all core business systems. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is leading the way with 26% of respondents reporting a pure cloud environment for CRM. Marketing Automation (MA) comes in second at 19% in the cloud. Sales Force Automation (SFA) is at 16%, with Social CRM at 15%, and Customer Service at 14%. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) systems are still predominantly on-premise or provisioned through a hybrid environment. With security concerns still rampant for sensitive financial and business intelligence data, ERP and BI will remain largely on-premise systems in the immediate future.

Cloud adoption has significantly penetrated business systems, as compared to 2012 when 16% reported that they were operating some or all of their business systems within a cloud-only environment.


26%

19% 16% 15% 14%

6% 5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

CRM Marke2ng Automa2on Sales Force Automa2on Social CRM Customer Service Enterprise Resources Mgmt


Cloud Penetration Among Business Systems in 2013

n=765






12

Importance of Hybrid Support for CRM Strategy

It is not surprising to see that 45% of business respondents state that hybrid environment support is either a top priority or important for their CRM strategy is 2013. Such support is deemed of higher importance amongst systems integrators and consultants, who are at the forefront of implementing new IT systems for the enterprise. 73% of systems integrators rate hybrid support as either important or a top priority. Expect to see more businesses waking up to the importance of both hybrid and cloud in 2013 and beyond.


8%

37% 37%

18%

9%

64%

13% 15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Top Priority Important Not Important Don't Know

Business Respondents


Importance of Hybrid Environment Support for CRM Strategy in 2013

n=765

n=150






13

73%

59%

47% 42%

68%

55%

45% 39%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Increased Sales Increased Customer Sa<sfac<on

Increased Revenue per Customer

Increased Leads

2013

2012

Top Customer Priorities With economies on a more stable track globally, the order of business in 2013 continues to be to increase total sales, as reported by 73% of business respondents and 80% of systems integrators. Increased customer satisfaction and increased revenue by customer are respectively secondary and tertiary objectives.

Compared to 2012, the level of reported importance of these priorities has increased. It is clear that businesses need to find better, more nimble ways to impact topline revenue and revenues from existing customers, while keeping customer satisfaction in check.


Top Customer Priorities in 2013 Compared to 2012

n=687

n=139






14

Lines of Business EffectivenessThe majority of respondents continue to highly rate the effectiveness of their colleagues across functions. Sales continues to earn the highest marks – rated as highly effective or effective by 76% of respondents (compared to 74% in 2012). Customer Service teams follow at 72% (compared to 68% on 2012). Marketing at 71% (compared to 63% in 2012) and Business Analytics teams at 58% (compared to 54% in 2012), report the highest improvement rates. The bumps in effectiveness from 2012 correlate with the levels of adoption of systems and automation within those functions.

Although most functions continue to get high marks on effectiveness internally, businesses need to look deeper into how customers and prospects think those functions are actually doing; especially since smart, data-dependent growth from the existing customer base is reported as a high priority. Such external measurements require new types of data collection and tracking. One important metric to consider for tracking the health of the customer franchise is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). It enables businesses to benchmark what percentage of their customers are true advocates, those who are neutral, and those likely to defect the enterprise. Social and behavioral data can be used to identify, target and service customers with low levels of satisfaction.


74% 68%

63% 54%

12% 13% 21% 24%

14% 17% 15% 21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Sales Customer Service

Marke<ng Business Analy<cs

Effec<ve

Not Effec<ve

Don't Know

Effectiveness of Lines of Business: 2012

n=139

76% 72% 71%

58%

8% 10% 14% 21%

16% 18% 16% 22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Sales Customer Service

Marke;ng Business Analy;cs

Effec;ve

Not Effec;ve

Don't Know

Effectiveness of Lines of Business: 2013

n=687






15

Budget Ownership for Customer SystemsIt is now clear that IT is splitting the budget ownership for customer-facing systems investment and expansion. This year almost half of businesses report that their sales, operations and marketing departments combine to hold over 65% of this budget. This stands true for all companies regardless of revenue size. However, the scales have already tipped for enterprise-level businesses with 49% of the budget controlled outside of IT. In those businesses, sales and marketing tend to own the lion’s share of the systems, budget at 22% and 17% respectively.

Furthermore, we see that systems integrators are also moving beyond corporate IT and are increasingly collaborating with sales, operations and marketing to select, implement and customize business IT systems.

A new survey from the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, Big Data’s Biggest Role: Aligning the CMO & CIO, points to how close marketing and IT executives have come together in their thinking this year bound by a common directive – to work together on using analytics to make core data available across the organization for actionable business insights. According to this survey, the majority of marketers and IT executives state that the relationship between the two departments is critical to the execution of customer-centric programs. Sadly very few organizations are achieving such collaboration in practices — only 4 % of marketers and 7 % of IT executives in the CMO Council survey believed they were indeed prepared to exploit the proliferation of data and channels, despite their shared conviction that technology was the underpinning that shaped the entire customer experience.

These findings confirm the trend of IT budgets now moving beyond IT and into all core lines of business – further supporting the estimates by Gartner and other analysts that by 2017 the CMO will replace the CTO as the owner of the higher portions of the IT budget for the enterprise.


33% 35%

15% 15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

IT Sales Opera4ons Marke4ng

45%

21% 15% 13%

0%

20%

40%

60%

IT Sales Opera4ons Marke4ng


n=460

Third-Party Systems Integrators

n=107






http://www.cmocouncil.org/r/cmo-cio-alignment

http://www.cmocouncil.org/r/cmo-cio-alignment

16

44% of business respondents share plans to invest more in their customer systems in 2013, a 10% increase since 2012. There was also a drop in the number of respondents with no plan for increased customer systems investment – 25% reported in 2013 compared to 27% in 2012. Systems integrators are much more upbeat about the market, expecting over 71% of their clients to invest in customer-facing systems in 2013. Respondents from the enterprise segment also report higher likelihood of investments in customer systems – 49% of businesses with revenues over $100 million plan to invest more in 2013.

When asked about the levels of planned investment, 60% of respondents were cautiously optimistic — expecting moderate investments in their customer-facing systems of up to 20% — while 10% of the respondents plan to invest 50% or more compared to their budgets in 2012.

Enterprise-level companies are more bullish about their levels of planned investment in customer systems; 14% of respondents from the enterprise segment ($100 million + in revenue) share plans to invest more than 50% in customers systems in 2013:

10% Increase in Companies Planning to Invest in Customer Systems in 2013


44%

25% 32%

71%

4%

25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Yes No Don't Know



32% 24% 22%

9% 14%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0-‐10% 11-‐20% 21-‐30% 31-‐50% 51%+

38%

21% 19% 11% 10%

17%

41% 31%

7% 4% 0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0-‐10% 11-‐20% 21-‐30% 31-‐50% 51%+

Business Respondents Third-‐Party System Integrators

n=699

Intentions to Invest in Customer-Facing Systems in 2013

n=150


Third-PartySystems Integrators

n=429

If Yes, by How Much as Compared to 2012?

n=100



Plans to Invest in Customer Systems in2013 Enterprise Segment ($100M+)

n=149






17

71%

84%

20%

8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


Top Priority

Not Important

CRM is Going MobileMobile CRM is growing in importance — 71% of end businesses and 84% of systems integrators rate Mobile CRM as either important or top priority for their CRM strategy in 2013. On the opposite side of the spectrum, only 20% of business bespondents rank it as non-important in 2013 vs. 35% in 2012.


Importance of Mobile CRM for CRM Strategy in 2013

n=765 n=150






18

16%

49%

18%

10% 6%

19%

64%

11% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Fully Integrated

Par:ally Integrated

Only Componants Integrated

Not Integrated Don't Know


15%

50%

21% 14%

26%

62%

12%

0% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Fully Integrated Par9ally Integrated

Only Componants Integrated

Not Integrated


Levels of Integration Between Business SystemsIn this new age of Big Data and real-time analytics and decisions, it’s disappointing that most businesses did not make substantial strides toward getting their systems more closely integrated. In 2013 only 16% of businesses report full levels of integration among business systems, compared to 15% in 2012. Analyzing the responses from systems integrators, we witness a very similar trend – only 19% of systems integrators report that their clients’ systems are fully integrated. Partial or components integration is still the norm across enterprises of all sizes. Although complete lack of integration is on the decline, the enterprise still has a ways to go in order to shed operational silos and to get its core systems talking to each other across the enterprise.

The State of Business Systems Integration

Levels of Systems Integration: 2012 Levels of Systems Integration: 2013

n=141

n=115



n=699

n=136








19

66% 68% 60% 59%

52% 60%

34%

13% 10% 16% 20% 21% 17%

37%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

CRM & Business Intelligence

CRM & Customer Service

CRM & MarkeCng AutomaCon

CRM & Enterprise

Resources Mgmt

CRM & Mobile CRM & Sales Force

AutomaCon

CRM & Social

The Importance of Business Systems IntegrationThe majority of business respondents rank tighter integration between core business systems as critical. And not surprising, we see a new type of system, Business Intelligence, as the leader in the demand for integration. Integration between BI and CRM systems ranked as either very important or important by 74% of respondents compared to 66% in 2012. Consistent with the stated business priorities, Customer Service and Marketing Automation systems integration with CRM continues to be in the top three.


Importance of Business Systems Integration with CRM: 2012

n=141

Important

Not Important

Importance of Business Systems Integration: 2013

74% 73% 71% 70% 66% 62%

47%

11% 10% 13% 14% 15% 15% 27%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

CRM & Business Intelligence


CRM & MarkeBng AutomaBon

CRM & Enterprise

Resources Mgmt

CRM & Mobile CRM & Sales Force

AutomaBon

CRM & Social

n=699

Important

Not Important






20

24% 22% 21%

16% 14% 13%

10%

30% 32% 33%

21% 21% 21%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


CRM & Marke;ng Automa;on

CRM & Sales Force

Automa;on

CRM & Business

Intelligence

CRM & Mobile

CRM & Enterprise Resource Mgmt

CRM & Social


Between-Systems IntegrationAlthough there is strong consensus among business respondents and systems integrators on the importance of between-systems integration, enterprises of all sizes still have a ways to go to make such integration a reality. The highest reported level of system integration between core business systems is between CRM and Customer Service (24%), CRM and MA (22%), and CRM and SFA (21%). Businesses who use the help of systems integrator see higher levels of between-systems integration across all core business systems, including connecting financial data housed in ERP systems with customer data stored in CRM systems. These findings are in line with the results from our 2012 State of Data Integration survey, pointing to the critical role systems integrators and consultants play in achieving tighter integration between systems.

A note on the importance of data integration to BI success – according to Ventana Research, when it comes to analytics, 44% of organizations spend the most time on data-related tasks. With a lack of resources being the largest issue, Ventana urges IT to operate more efficiently and look to data integration solutions to get business leaders the data they need on a timely basis.




Levels of Between-Systems Integration: 2013

n=699






http://www.scribesoft.com/WhitePaper-Request-Form?source=WhitePaper_StateOfCDI

http://www.ventanaresearch.com/bti/

21

The Critical Role of the PartnerThe critical role of third-party systems integrators and consultants becomes even more evident when looking at the levels of non-integration between systems. In line with the findings in the 2012 edition of this report, businesses report between 38%-66% of non-integration depending on the type of system. This percentage drops dramatically for businesses serviced by systems integrators or consultants, from 9-26% as shown in the graph below:


Levels of Non-Integrated Core Business Systems: 2012 Levels of Non-Integrated Core Business Systems: 2013

n=141

n=115



39% 41% 44% 43%

62%

40%

62%

8% 8% 13%

9% 12%

4%

21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Customer Service

Marke:ng Automa:on

Sales Force Automa:on


Mobile Enterprise Resources Mgmt

Social

38% 39%

47% 42%

56%

44%

66%

11% 12%

19% 13%

20%

9%

26%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Customer Service

Marke<ng Automa<on

Sales Force Automa<on


Mobile Enterprise Resources Mgmt

Social

n=699

n=147








22

CRM Systems ValueThis year we asked respondents to share the criteria they use to evaluate the business value of their CRM system(s). Aside from being central hub for prospect and customer information, businesses look to their CRM systems to have the ability to share data amongst key departments including sales, marketing, finance and customer service. Businesses also look to their CRM systems to provide reporting on the health of their sales and marketing pipelines and activities. It is clear that businesses are looking to big and small data to help them do their jobs better and to help inform decisions across all lines of business.

The State of CRM Integration

Top Criteria for Evaluating Value of CRM Systems

n=687

74% 73%

58%

51%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Ability to store all prospect or customer informa>on in one

place

Ability to share data among sales, marke>ng, finance &

customer service

Ability to run reports on the health of your sales pipeline

Ability to run marke>ng reports (number of leads, number of qualified leads)






23

Importance of CRM Data Integration


Given the importance of sharing prospect and customer data among departments, it’s not surprising to see that businesses rank the value of CRM data integration in terms of its ability to allow more accuracy and consistency of customer information (rated as 66% and 51% in 2013 compared to 63% and 60% in 2012). Corollary to accuracy and consistency, businesses rate holistic view and timelines of customer information as the other two important drivers of CRM integration value. This is because having a holistic view of the customer is becoming more challenging by the day. A recent Altimeter report, The Converged Media Imperative, states that the average person sees over 3,000 brand messages a day and points out that some consumer journeys could have 75 digital variance per touch point across content sources, channels, and screens. Capturing these touch points and their variances is becoming more important to all business leaders looking to understand their customers, offering content and communications that are of unique and immediate value to them.

66%

51%

40% 40%

29% 29%

7%

63% 60%

41% 33% 32%

20%

5%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Accuracy of Informa8on

Consistency of Informa8on

Master Record Management / Holis8c View

Timeliness of Informa8on

Consolidated Repor8ng

Cost Reduc8on Staff Reduc8on

2013

2012

n=634

n=131

The Importance of CRM Data Integration






http://www.altimetergroup.com/research/reports/how-brands-must-combine-paid-owned-and-earned-media

24

No Formal Process for Evaluating Integration


Similar to the findings from 2012, most businesses (64%) still do not have a formal process for evaluating their CRM data integration process. Businesses that employ the services of systems integrators or consultants tend to benefit from a more formal project management process leading to their better ability to articulate both the operational benefits and the returns on CRM integration initiatives. This can be attributed to a higher level of discipline when outsourcing, as businesses usually require vendors to provide clear ROI to justify the costs and benefits of their services. The encouraging news is that this disciplined approach is making its way into internally managed projects as well. More businesses have embraced a formal evaluation philosophy for assessing data integration projects driven by internal teams – 22% of business respondents in 2013 report having such a process compared to 17% in 2012. This percentage is higher for enterprise-level businesses ($100M+ in revenue), among whom 30% report having a formal process for evaluating CRM data integration.

22%

64%

15%

43% 44%

13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Yes No Don't know



17%

70%

13%

51%

37%

12%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Yes No Don't know


Third-‐Party System Integrators n=106

Formal Process for Evaluating CRM Data Integration: 2012 Formal Process for Evaluating CRM Data Integration: 2013

n=602n=131

n=120






25

Rising Importance of the Three Core Benefits of CRM Integration


Businesses measure the return on their CRM data integration first, in terms of user satisfaction — with satisfaction closely tied to the ability to achieve a complete view of the customer and CRM system adoption.

The importance of these benefits of CRM data integration has risen since 2012. CRM system satisfaction is rated at the top by 45% of respondents in 2013 compared to 28% in 2012. It is clear that organizations understand that without ease of use and actual CRM system usage, they will not impact business results in a meaningful way.

45% 43% 41% 38% 38%

25% 21%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

CRM system

sa4fac4on

Complete view of customer

CRM system adop4on

Ease of repor4ng

Ability to view all customer informa4on

Faster issue resolu4on

Reduc4on in customer service issues

Measuring Return on CRM Data Integration: 2012 Measuring Return on CRM Data Integration: 2013

n=131 n=634

In this instance, the 2012 chart reflects a single-selction answer set, whereas the 2013 chart reflects a multi-selection answer set.Note

31% 28%

18%

10% 5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Ability to view all customer informa=on

CRM system

sa=fac=on

CRM system adop=on

Faster issue resolu=on

Reduc=on in customer service issues






26

Rising Importance of the Three Core Benefits of CRM Integration (cont).


Given the heightened importance of CRM systems adoption and satisfaction, we asked businesses to share their current levels of satisfaction with their CRM systems. Most report they are either very or somewhat satisfied with their CRM system, although 14% indicate low levels of satisfaction.

Combining the responses of the neutral, somewhat unsatisfied and unsatisfied, with those who share that they are looking to switch within the next 12 months, we see that between 14% and 25% of business respondents are looking to either switch or are in the process of switching their CRM system this year. This points to the heightened need for CRM systems vendor to continuously improve the business value and user experience of their solutions. Tighter integration of CRM systems with other core business systems is one critical way to equip business users with accurate and timely information to serve their prospects and customers better; therefore increasing overall CRM system satisfaction while driving more business value.

34% 41%

11% 10% 4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Very Sa0sfied Somewhat Sa0sfied

Neither Sa0sfied nor Unsa0sfied

Somewhat Unsa0sfied

Unsa0sfied

Likelihood to Switch CRM Systems in 2013

n=76

Satisfaction with CRM Systems

n=699

14%

4% 8%

74%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Yes, in the next 1-‐12 months

Yes, in 12+ months

Unsure No plans to change






27

Do-It-Yourself Integration is Widespread but on the Decline

The State of Integration

Custom code continues to be the way businesses are integrating their business systems in 2013. Although we see a significant drop in its use from 2012, (48% now vs. 59% in 2012), custom coding is still rampant despite being costly and rarely scalable for the enterprise. Custom code coupled with manual data entry costs businesses millions of dollars annually, although such costs may not be immediately visible to IT and business leaders.

These hidden costs of custom and manual data integration impact the enterprise in multiple ways. The loss of real time data and analytics is a tremendous opportunity-cost for businesses and affects their ability to drive revenue and customer satisfaction. Custom code also increases the total cost of enterprise IT systems ownership by adding resources for training, development time from IT, along with ongoing maintenance costs. Custom code may not always anticipate new and diverse use cases and all the possible hiccups in data conversion resulting in loss of data or added time to de-duplicate or reconcile data. For example, Ventata Research found that combining spreadsheets is time-consuming in more than half (56%) of organizations, mostly due to getting the data into the right shape.

59%

38% 45%

35%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Custom code wri7en internally

Manual data entry or process (loading via Excel or other batch

files)

3rd party soGware product(s)

Custom code wri7en by a consultant

48% 41%

32% 32% 31%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Custom code wri6en

internally

Pre-‐built integra?on provided by

vendor

Manual data entry or process

(loading via Excel or other

batch files)

3rd party soIware

product(s)

Custom code wri6en by a consultant

Methods of Systems Integration: 2013

n=634

Methods of Systems Integration: 2012

n=129






http://www.ventanaresearch.com/ss21/

28

Do-It-Yourself Integration is Widespread but on the Decline (cont).


The most quoted reason for the use of custom code is the perceived need for customization for company specific needs and the ability of integration software options to address these needs. They also believe that custom code is both easier to customize and a cheaper option than other available alternatives despite the proven experience that standardization drives costs down. With the rise of hybrid environments, the existence of multiple business systems within the enterprise, coupled with the rate of change of software vendors’ APIs, custom code now more than ever is becoming an obsolete way to deal with connectivity issues. We feel it is incumbent upon us at Scribe and other data integration platform providers to continue to educate the market on the benefits of platform integration, leading to substantial savings in time, resources and cost, which may currently be hidden.

32% 32%

18%

7% 7% 6% 3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Integra3on so6ware doesn't handle my needs

Easier to code things exactly the way we want

them

Less expensive than purchasing a so6ware

product

Always used custom code; didn't consider a so6ware

product

Don't have the 3me or resources to learn

another so6ware product

Too risky to rip out & replace with something

else

Unaware of the benefits of integra3on solou3on

Reasons for Using Custom Code for Systems Integration

n=634






29

Top Selection Criteria for Data Integration Software


The top considerations for both businesses and systems integrators when choosing data integration software continue to be ease of use and cost, although ease of use has surpassed cost considerations. As the demands of the new data world force businesses to recognize the value of data integration as a utility and as it becomes much more accessible and easier to use, we predict that the adoption of innovative third-party integration platforms will continue to rise in 2013.

62% 62% 58% 57% 68%

75% 64%

56%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ease of use Cost Built for the biz app we want to integrate with

Scalability & performance


67% 66%

51% 49%

72% 71%

54% 64%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ease of use Cost Built for the biz app we want to integrate with

Scalability & performance


Top Selection Criteria: 2012 Top Selection Criteria: 2013

n=634 n=120n=131 n=106






30

Who Implements Integration?


The top considerations for both businesses and systems integrators when choosing data integration software continue to be ease of use and cost, although ease of use has surpassed cost considerations. As the demands of the new data world force businesses to recognize the value of data integration as a utility and as it becomes much more accessible and easier to use, we predict that the adoption of innovative third-party integration platforms will continue to rise in 2013.

Interest in Other Integration Trends in 2013 The new types of systems implemented by businesses and the related new data types, increase businesses’ appetite for new data connectors. Businesses continue to show strong interests in learning about integrating with social collaboration platforms, such as Microsoft SharePoint. Next in line are email and marketing analytics solutions integration and integration of social data, cloud and hybrid data and BYOD.

86%

35%

15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Our IT Organiza5on Outside Systems Integrator or Consultant

Integra5on Vendor Professional Services

80%

40%

16%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Our IT Organiza3on Outside Systems Integrator or Consultant

Integra3on Vendor Professional Services

51% 44% 35% 33% 30% 25%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

100%

SharePoint or other

collabora8on tools

Email & marke8ng analy8cs

solou8ons

Social networking

services

Saas or Cloud-‐based services

Hybrid environments

Growth of bring your own device

n=131 n=630

Who Implements Integration: 2012

n=634

Who Implements Integration: 2013






31

22%

15%

22%

13%

29%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

< $5M $5 -‐ $10M $11 -‐ $50M $51 -‐ $100M $101M+


Survey Participant Demographics

2%

2%

3%

4%

6%

7%

7%

8%

8%

14%

14%

21%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Entertainment

Energy

Insurance

Telecommunica<ons

Retail

Government / Public Sector

Technology (hardware)

Finance

Healthcare

Manufacturing

Professional Services

Technology (soMware)

Company Revenue

n=612

Industry

n=612






32

Location

Survey Participant Demographics

Organization Role

Seniority Level Core Business System in Use

65% 10%

9%

7%

3% 2%

2% 1%

1% United States

European Union

Canada

United Kingdom

Australia & New Zealand

South America

Worldwide

Asian Pacific

Middle East & S. Africa

63%

11% 9% 7% 3% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

IT Marke4ng Opera4ons Sales Finance Other

29% 32%

18% 14% 8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

100%

Analyst Mid-‐Level Mgmt

Senior Mgmt ExecuDve Other

n=606n=612-154

n=612 n=765

100%

72% 63% 61% 59%

42% 36%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

100%

CRM Enterprise Resource Mgmt


Salesforce AutomaDon

Customer Service

Social CRM MarkeDng AutomaDon






33

Core Business Systems in Use

Top CRM Systems in UseSimilar to 2012, all businesses surveyed use a CRM system or a combination of CRM systems. Top CRM Systems in use include Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Salesfore.com, Siebel/Oracle, NetSuite, SAP and Sugar CRM.

Top Sales Force Automation (SFA) Systems61% of respondents reported using a specific SFA system for their business. Top SFA systems include Microsoft, NetSuite, Salesforce.com, SalesLogix, SAP, Oracle Siebel, and SugarCRM.

Top Marketing Automation (MA) Systems36% of respondents indicate they are currently using a dedicated MA system such as ClickDimensions, Marketo, ExactTarget, CoreMotives, Eloqua, HubSpot and Silverpop.

Top Customer Service Support (CSS) Systems59% of respondents indicate they are using a dedicated CSS system such as Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Salesforce.com, Sage CRM, Get Satisfaction and NetSuite.

Top Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems72% of respondents reported using a dedicated ERP system such as Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, NetSuite, PeopleSoft, Oracle, Epicor, Lawson, SAP, Intact and Sage ERP.

Top Business Intelligence (BI) Systems72% of respondents indicate they are currently using a BI system such as Microsoft, Cognos, GoodData, Information Builders, MicroStrategy, Oracle, SAP and SAS.

Social CRM Systems in Use41% of respondents report that they are already using a Social CRM system. Top Social CRM systems in use include Microsoft, Salesforce.com, NetSuite, SAP, Sage and Jive.






34

Additional Industry Resources

Scribe Software Industry Report: State of Customer Data Integration 2012: The What, Why and How of CRM Integration

Scribe Software Industry Report: SMB CRM Integration 2012: IT Pain Points and Investments 2013

Scribe Software Convergence Session: The CMO Imperative – Data-Driven Results

Ventana Research, Mark Smoth: Businesses Can Turn to Scribe for Data Integration In the Cloud Times

Forbes, Louis Columbus: Personas Are The Future of Enterprise Apps: Lessons Learned From Scribe Software






http://scribesoft.com/images/pdf/StateofCDI.pdf

http://www.slideshare.net/scribesoft/scribe-state-of-smb-crm-integration-report-january-2013

http://www.slideshare.net/scribesoft/cmo-imperative-convergence-2013

http://marksmith.ventanaresearch.com/2013/04/05/businesses-can-turn-to-scribe-for-integration-in-the-cloud-anytime/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2013/03/29/personas-are-the-future-of-enterprise-apps-lessons-learned-from-scribe-software/

35

About Scribe Software

Scribe Software is an established global provider of solutions that easily bring customer data anywhere it’s needed – regardless of IT infrastructure. Scribe’s award-winning products help 12,000 customers and 1,000 partners use customer data – cloud-based, on-premise or a mix – to increase revenue, provide superior service, and create business value faster. Its easy-to-use, enterprise-ready solutions are backed by extensive support options and training, and service customers across a wide array of industries including financial services, life sciences, manufacturing, and media and entertainment companies.

For more information, please visit www.scribesoft.com, follow Scribe on Twitter, or subscribe to the Scribe Blog.

Partner with ScribeOver 1,000 partners big and small have partnered with Scribe to deliver world-class CRM integrations. Extensible, flexible and scalable products combined with top-notch training, support and rewards programs are what make our partners successful. Whether you’re a Value Added Reseller, Solution Provider or ISV, Scribe has the integration products to help you succeed with any CRM integration need.

Scribe Online IS delivers seamless and secure integration of your CRM application data with critical business applications such as billing, ERP, sales and marketing through an intuitive visual interface. With this enterprise-grade data integration solution, your IT organization can deliver accurate information across systems quickly and consistently without software, coding or maintenance.

We offer a 15 day, unlimited free trial for Scribe Online Integration Services. Easy to set up and run – click here for a free trial.

Connect Your Enterprise With Scribe









https://online.scribesoft.com/Account/Register.aspx?source=SOL_Free_Trial_Form_Website_New

industry report: the state of customer data integration in 2013

Technology

state of integration

big data

actionable data

customer priorities

state of crm integration

customer hub

business priorities

business leaders