Apples to Apples

Not enough time to glean through pages of glossy brochures and slick websites when selecting a CRM package? You're not alone. Mike Dymott, project manager of Royal Mail Group (formerly known as the U.K. Post Office), uses the newly launched ISM Compare to stay abreast of the latest vendor offerings. "It has saved me a considerable amount of time. I don't have to sift through volumes of marketing materials to determine the CRM applications' true functionality," Dymott says. ISM Compare is a Web-based program for comparing CRM software packages and their functionality. It was launched by global CRM consultancy ISM, which is well-known for publishing The Guide to CRM Automation. The information found in ISM Compare is from ISM's CRM software review library, also used to create the Guide. It includes ISM's Top 30 CRM award winners and other leading CRM applications. These software packages undergo extensive testing throughout the year at ISM's CRM Software Testing Laboratory in Bethesda, Maryland. Each software review is based on 166 business, technical, user-friendliness, and support criteria, all of which are searchable using ISM Compare. "ISM Compare allows CRM software buyers to compare different CRM packages in a head-to-head format," Barton Goldenberg, president of ISM, said in a statement. "Users can obtain verified information from an unbiased resource leading to the ability to identify the best and most appropriate software packages for their CRM automation needs." Jeff Andrews, vice president of Richmond, Virginia-based IT consulting firm IPC Technologies, finds the tool helpful in developing and defending his company's recommendations to potential CRM customers. "We use it to influence what we're trying to advise, to substantiate our arguments," Andrews says. "ISM Compare is simple to use and powerful for quickly seeing side-by-side software comparisons."