Microsoft breaks into UK public sector CRM

Microsoft has won a contract to supply its customer relationship management (CRM) software to Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is the software giant's first success with its offering in the UK public sector.

The London borough will use the technology initially to record all communications and correspondence, including scanned letters, within its Directorate of Transportation and Highways. While the initial contract only covers around 35 user licences, implementation and training, and is worth up to £60,000, it is significant as user numbers are increasing across the council and because Microsoft is keen to grow in the CRM market.

Councillor David Campion, Member E-Champion, Lead Member for the Leader on IT and chairman of the Computer and Communications Advisory Group for the Royal Borough, said the body is very much a Microsoft shop, using Microsoft from desktop applications through to server software.

"The technology is easier [than competing products] to tailor and integrate with Outlook and our existing server software," he said.

The rollout has been implemented by Microsoft Business Solutions partner ETC Global Solutions. ETC said the council's phased approach is the way to go.

Councillor Campion said the rollout had gone "very smoothly" since the end of last year with training for council staff being possible in half a day.

Microsoft is looking to grow its CRM business, which is still young and aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises with between 10 and 10,000 seats.

However, it faces stiff competition, not just from buyers often wary of the business case for CRM software, but from established competitors such as Oracle, SAP and Siebel and upstarts such as NetSuite and Salesforce.com who rent their software over the internet.

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, like other UK public sector bodies, must meet government targets for making its services available electronically. It's a situation that has attracted most IT vendors.

Councillor Campion added: "We were looking for quick gains and we've got them."