Q&A with Chuck Schaeffer, CEO, Aplicor, Inc.

Understanding the voice of our customers and applying their business-focused requests with new technology and new forms of delivery such as SaaS delivers increased business value, normally in the forms of automation and information, in a reduced time and decreased cost.

We’re extremely humbled that many of the industry awards received have been based on voting by our actual customers and users.

CRM Today: In this market environment, how have CRM and ERP Software SaaS solutions performed from a sales perspective? Is the demand still present, despite the reduction in budgets of many businesses?

CS: In the current economically-challenged environment, new demand for CRM and ERP SaaS continues; however, sales cycles are commonly extended as buyers perform more diligence and seek greater assurance of forecasted ROI.

Most buyer analysis continues to reveal that on-demand business software systems achieve both lower acquisition costs and total cost of ownership over the life of the application.

Cost savings is paramount to many buyers, which continues to drive the demand for SaaS solutions.

CRM Today: What is your greatest current challenge in the marketplace?

CS: To advance our products and develop new innovation that keeps us in a leading position to leverage new technology which directly contributes to achieving our clients’ business objectives.

Our clients continuously look for ways to increase revenues, decrease costs, and reduce risk, and it is our perpetual challenge to advance our enterprise applications to meet their goals.

CRM Today: There are many CRM and ERP solutions in the marketplace; what are three business needs that Aplicor fills for its customers? Why are you different from the others?

CS: Relative to other SaaS business applications, Aplicor excels in ease of use, increased user productivity, and aiding decision makers in making better decisions.

Ease of use is obtained with Aplicor’s intuitive navigation, reduced number of keystrokes and one-click-to-anywhere access.

User productivity is achieved with the Workflow Designer, which is a graphical tool that permits users to define triggering events, system automation of tasks and activities, transaction routing, and user notifications.

Better business decisions are empowered by Aplicor’s Business Intelligence (BI) suite, which includes flexible dashboards, custom report writers, data warehouses, and online analytical processing, all of which collectively deliver the right real-time information to the right users in the right format.

CRM Today: Government data and several current reports are suggesting that the US is coming out of the current recession; how can your products help prepare companies for economic recovery and position them for growth?

CS: With SaaS CRM and ERP solutions, customers can start small and add users or grow incrementally as their business evolves.

Unlike on-premise systems, with SaaS there is no need to overbuy hardware and infrastructure resources or hire additional IT staff simply to be able to scale if and when the business grows. SaaS business software systems can be incrementally grown on-demand.

Aplicor on-demand solutions provide both flexibility and scalability during uncertain business and economic forecasting.

CRM Today: From a product development standpoint, which trends in the CRM space are you most looking forward to addressing?

CS: Social media has come of age in a way that cannot be denied to the enterprise.

Social media concepts such as Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, and Social CRM are reasonably understood by most C-level executives. However, the development of business strategies and integration of social media tools with enterprise applications remains unclear.

CRM Today: What can CRM buyers and users expect to see from Aplicor in the next year?

CS: Over the next 12 months, prospects and customers will see product enhancements in the forms of new mobility solutions, increased user automation tools and enhanced software customization tools.

The company will also deliver new vertical market solutions and continue to extend our global presence with our international partner channel.

Aplicor will bridge the integration of strategy and process between social media tools and traditional enterprise applications in a way that is measurable and complimentary to existing business objectives.