Onyx, Microsoft Align On Industry-Specific CRM Solutions
REDMOND & BELLEVUE, WA–Microsoft and Onyx Software have announced a multiyear global sales,
marketing and technology development initiative to deliver CRM solutions to large global
enterprises in specific vertical market segments, beginning with financial services.
Microsoft says the first of these solutions, Onyx's Investment Management Edition, will consist
of Onyx's new 100 percent Internet-based platform and native-XML integration services running on
Microsoft .NET Enterprise Servers to enable deep business process customization and extensive
legacy application integration. They say the offering also will include industry-specific CRM
strategy services from RevenueLab, a strategy consulting firm recently acquired by Onyx.
According to Microsoft, the vertically aligned MS and Onyx sales forces will initially target
the financial services industry, with particular focus on investment management and retail
financial services worldwide. They say that, in addition to their direct sales and marketing
efforts, Microsoft and Onyx will work with complementary businesses to further serve the
targeted vertical markets. Those will include systems integrators, vertical service providers,
outsourcers, strategy consultants, and other independent software vendors.
“By combining Onyx's industry-specific applications and the .NET Enterprise Servers, we are
delivering a fully scalable, reliable, Internet-ready solution that brings a greater level of
business agility to our mutual clients in the financial services industry,” said Orlando Ayala,
group vice president, Worldwide Sales, Marketing and Services Group at Microsoft. “We
anticipate enterprise financial services firms will realize rapid and significant return on
investment by utilizing the integrated solutions to improve customer relationships.”
“Speed to market, accelerated revenue and customer loyalty are critical in today's competitive
business environment,” said Brent Frei, President and CEO of Onyx Software. “Onyx and
Microsoft have a tremendous amount of experience developing, implementing and supporting
customer-centric strategies in large financial institutions. By combining forces, we will
enable our clients to deploy our solutions faster and more effectively than ever before with
technology that will let them grow and adapt quickly as their businesses change.”
Microsoft says the RevenueLab strategy services are designed to help financial institutions
optimize their sales strategy and align it with the rest of their organization. Through this
engagement, companies will be able to map their business processes from marketing through
customer engagement into relationship enhancement, with the objective of translating those
processes into tools and information necessary for successfully implementing a CRM solution.
MS says the RevenueLab programs, called DecisionLab and DesignLab, offer standalone consulting
engagements and will be offered as a core part of the Microsoft and Onyx financial services
initiative.
“Companies must define their marketing, sales and customer service strategies as part of any
technology acquisition for CRM programs to be successful,” said Liz Shahnam, vice president,
CRM Infusion, META Group Inc. “CRM technology vendors must engage organizations at a strategic
level to better understand business requirements and enable successful organizational
realignment and elimination of front-office ‘stovepipes,' making it possible to take full
advantage of customer relationships and the technologies that support them.”
“I consider the Onyx and Microsoft solution a tremendous strategic advantage,” said Brad
Orben, national sales manager at Dreyfus Corp. “With fast, accessible systems to tell us what
our intermediary customers are buying and why, we can more easily grow our assets, and by
providing these customers with fast, responsive service, we can help
