About institutions of higher education and CRM software
I have recently taken a position with a not for profit company that is
a buying cooperative for institutions of higher education. The buiness
model is far from the traditional customer supplier. Essentially we
negotiate contracts with suppliers and then make them available to our
membership. Members buy directly from the suppliers on the contracts
and our organization receives commissions. As we are not for profit the
commissions are pooled, our expenses paid and the remaining dollars are
paid back in the form of 'patronage' to our members. As we eist today
we have no real 'system'. There are a number of ad-hoc applications,
none of which are integrated. As you might imagine there are some
critical pieces that need to be viewed as one. First and formost would
be a relationship management module. There has been an attempt (on
going) to modify Microsoft's CRM application but it requires we use
this arcane customization tool and when it is all said and done the
result will be an abomination that will not naturally integrate with
the other application Great Pains. Bottom line it seems to me we will
be throwing good money after bad until we shepard these cats into a
unified environment. So that becomes the question.... knowing I have a
preference for Universe... does anyone know of anyone selleing software
that might fit our business model?
I have been developing software since 1986 using PICK.
Because you work for a non profit company if you need to develop or
modify any software I would like to help you for FREE