The Flow Of Information: CRM or XRM is all about providing companies with consistent, clean and accurate information about their business and its processes. Frequently this information needs to be collated from other sources or trigger changes in another system.

At SAM7 we’re experienced in integrating CRM system with other software systems to share information – either in real time or with overnight feeds. We’ve implemented point-to-point systems using technologies such as SQL and C#, but have also got considerable experience in middleware such as Microsoft BizTalk.

Master Your Data: As a company introduces more and more systems maintaining control of its data becomes vital. To combat this we often help Customers create a Master Data Management (MDM) strategy. This clearly identifies core types of data, which system or systems owns them (the ‘golden record’), who subscribes to the data, identifies data stewards and can define a data lifecycle.

Customer Data Integration (CDI) – An Integration Strategy: Traditional integration between two systems use point-to-point techniques – each system talks directly to the other system. However, as more systems are added to the mix, this becomes more complex. Data can start flowing in multiple directions. It becomes difficult to identify all integration points. Small changes to one system can affect numerous integration points.

CDI introduces the concept of a central data hub, which all systems are ‘plugged into’ using common interfaces to centrally control the flow of data. All information passed to the CDI is subject to centralised business rules, data cleansing and a standard data dictionary.