Aplicor Combines CRM and ERP in the Cloud
Aplicor today announced the beta launch of Aplicor Cloud Suite 7.0, which combines customer relationship management (CRM), sales force automation, business intelligence and enterprise resource planning (ERP) in a cloud-based business software suite.
On the CRM side, Aplicor offers CRM, sales force and marketing tools and business intelligence. On the ERP side, the company offers financial and asset management and inventory controls, among other features.
CEO Scott Creighton said the company ties all that together in a “seamless system” that covers “sales through billing” and is also easy to use; he claims users can be up and running with just an hour of training.
“It's a radically different way of looking at your CRM system,” he said.
Aplicor is offering all that starting at introductory pricing of $59 a month per user seat, and the company goes out of its way to stress what users get for that compared to cloud CRM market leader Salesforce.com(NYSE: CRM). Regular pricing is $89 per user per month. Another differentiator is Aplicor's inclusion of cloud ERP.
Aplicor is based in part on Microsoft Silverlight and Azure cloud technologies. Silverlight in particular helps with the product's speed and usability, Creighton said. Panels can be flipped over, for example, rather than filling the whole screen, making navigation more intuitive. He said the company based its development approach on feedback from users to make sure it met real-world needs.
Paul Ferrill has been writing for over 15 years about computers and network technology. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering as well as a MS in Electrical Engineering. He is a regular contributor to the computer trade press. He has a specialization in complex data analysis and storage. He has written hundreds of articles and two books for various outlets over the years. His articles have appeared in Enterprise Apps Today and InfoWorld, Network World, PC Magazine, Forbes, and many other publications.
