British Gas Business (BGB) is implementing a web-based customer relationship management system to obtain a better insight into its clients.

The on-demand system from SAP is being brought in as part of a business strategy to deliver customer service as a platform for growth, says BGB managing director, Ian Peters.

'We needed a solution that would help us manage the totality of our customer relationships from prospect onwards,' he said.

'Our people will have full sight of our customer interactions, leading in time to fully integrated sales and marketing support system.'

Companies choosing on-demand software rather than conventional licensing of a packaged application need to be sure they achieve value for money in the long term, says Gartner analyst Ed Thompson.

'A lot of people think that the total cost of ownership is lower with on-demand systems, which is questionable,' he said.

'If you use it for much over a year, it works out cheaper to buy a traditional software system.'

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Further reading:

Insurer sees hosted CRM success

Eurostar tracks improved customer service