Google CRM Application Released

By Greg McNevin

April 20, 2007: SaaS companies look out – after beta testing by 1,500 businesses Google has unleashed its customer relationship management (CRM) tool.

Built by web-application developer Etelos, CRM for Google integrates with both its enterprise applications and with personalised Google homepages.

Featuring a marketing tool kit, contact management with customisable contact forms, task management, call scheduling and sales prospect tracking, the suite represents a powerful tool for SMBs looking to deploy a CRM system without major investment.

The suite also includes add-on modules such as blog publishing, podcasting and an e-commerce catalogue management tool.

While it has a long way to go to catch established vendors, the mere fact that the Google juggernaut is stepping into the CRM arena should have Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors such as Salesforce.com SAP at least a little worried.

As with the rest of Google’s software, the personal edition is free. The professional edition and its task sharing abilities works out at US$12 (AU$14.40) per month, while the enterprise edition with full customisation comes in at US$40 (AU$48) per month.

Etelos is also currently testing an Outlook plug-in for the CRM suite, enabling contacts to be linked between the two.

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