Ayman Abouseif

'From the software perspective CRM offers a 360 degree view of customers to the customer facing functions in an organization,' explains regional marketing manager Ayman Abouseif, a well known figure in the Dubai IT community.

'Also CRM's role is to capture information and enable interactions with the Web, phone or face-to-face customer contacts. This also benefits a service agent before a presentation, for instance, and is a huge support to marketing. You can order priorities and coordinate marketing campaigns'.

The obvious example of CRM might be in a bank where client records can be seamlessly integrated into a direct marketing operation. But Mr Abouseif says that CRM even has a role in e-government services.

'Government agencies that have a service aspect have found our service module useful. For example, the immigration service might not seem to have much use for CRM but it can still offer a web site to allow customers to see the status of an application or to allow them to apply for a visa extension online'.

Surprisingly Oracle is not pressing companies to adopt a fully integrated CRM system, but Mr Abouseif says that some firms like to adopt particular modules. However, he notes that the real value of a CRM system is in the integration of all aspects of dealing with a client into a single database accessed by anybody interacting with that customer.

'With Oracle systems the integration is always possible later on, as everything integrates,' he adds. 'Then you really get the full picture. You can see what has been marketed to a customer, what they have bought, what is their payment history, and what level of support services have been provided. Viewed from another level, you can ask how much has a customer contributed to sales and what service agreements are in place and what is outstanding?'

As the Middle East market becomes more open and competitive, Mr Abouseif is convinced that effective CRM will be crucial to maintaining an edge and that looking after customers will be even more important than ever.

He cites the example of the automobile industry where firms now make more on car servicing than on car sales, and notes that manufacturers need to work hard to make sure that car owners do not take their custom elsewhere in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

For existing Oracle customers, and there are more than 400 in the Middle East which makes Oracle the dominant business software and solutions provider, CRM is a package to add to their Oracel e-Business Suite to maximize the potential of their systems to the full.

'The Y2K problem forced people to sort out their back end systems such as accounting and the supply chain,' says Mr Abouseif. 'The natural progression is now to look at CRM which often represents a significant culture shift in the way organizations operate. This is more than another technology application'.

Clearly CRM is another aspect of the e-Business revolution that will increasingly preoccupy management in this region, and for that reason Oracle has agreed to sponsor and provide a 'Focus on CRM' column on AMEInfo. So watch see this space for the latest insight into this valuable new business tool.