What to Consider When Choosing an On-Demand Life Sciences CRM Solution

In the life sciences or biopharma industry, the decision to implement a CRM software system is commonplace. Intended to improve field effectiveness and ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, these solutions also extend management’s ability to measure and coach sales teams to generate greater levels of productivity and top-line results.

Years ago, executing an industry-centric pharma CRM software system could be a challenging initiative. Unless an organization had a realistic roadmap and dedicated IT resources, achieving a CRM implementation that provided a rapid return on investment was tricky to attain. Today, the barrier to quickly implement an effective CRM solution has effectively disappeared, with many biopharma CRM systems now available “on-demand.”

Since there are differences in what vendors offer, companies should take the time to understand the distinctions to ensure the right decision is made based on their specific needs.

Let’s examine the difference between a traditional software license and the on-demand model. On-demand is a flexible, alternate means of deploying an enterprise application – such as pharma CRM as a highly scalable service. In contrast to the traditional “on-premise” model, which involves a license fee and ongoing maintenance, on-demand applications are usually priced on a monthly or annual subscription based on the number of users and other factors. Although on-demand CRM– also known as “SaaS” – may be positioned as the latest and greatest innovation, it is a tried and true model that has been successfully used by numerous organizations for many years.

On-demand CRM is a particularly attractive proposition because it accelerates time to value while delivering full functionality. Plus, an on-demand CRM solution may not require the purchase of a dedicated computing infrastructure and assignment of IT resources to support it, which can translate into an equally attractive financial proposition. Given the nature of the on-demand model, system implementation, product upgrades and regular maintenance can be achieved more quickly and seamlessly.

In short, on-demand can change a biopharma CRM investment from a capital expenditure to an operating expense while delivering tangible results, quickly. Yet, as with any software application, especially one that will profoundly impact the productivity of revenue-generating workers, it’s crucial to carefully assess options before the investment is made.

Selecting the Right On-demand CRM solution for your biopharma organization starts with an evaluation of current business processes and systems. Although the on-demand solution is apt not to tax your existing IT infrastructure, it’s important to understand what type of access your field force will need to the CRM system.

Having the ability to access the solution both online and offline can be a great benefit to the field force. There are specific examples of instances where offline access is critical to a biopharma, such as signature capture for samples. Additionally, you should determine what your team’s mobility requirements are and what existing hardware assets – such as smartphones and hand-held devices – are in place.

As well as providing the hosted CRM application, you should expect your on-demand vendor to provide “extreme data security.” Asking how your customer data will be secured and safeguarded against disaster should be addressed in advance of signing on the dotted line. Will your on-demand CRM vendor use encrypted data transmissions and secure storage? Will they replicate your data to ensure it is available in different geographic locations in case the primary location experiences problems? Assurances can be recognized by working with a well established pharma CRM vendor with a proven track record of success, so that your success can be guaranteed.