Applying Applied’s huge CRM system

The call for CRM was seemingly so great for pharmaceutical research firm Applied Biosystems Group that it’s hard to believe last year they had no such system in place. By 2008, it will not be possible to imagine Applied without it.

Prior to signing on with salesforce.com, Applied had been running on a higgledy piggledy bunch of programs that varied in style, methodology and language. With data collection making up the basis of Applied marketing campaigns, any sort of work between countries had to go through a myriad of programs and encryption to coordinate.

Something simple such as spreadsheets became a puzzle of Rubik-like complexity. Today, Applied Biosystems announced the completion of a CRM pilot program in Germany and the full capacity reached by the system in the Asia Pacific region and the United States. As part of a two-year project worth approximately US $380,000, Applied implemented salesforce.com CRM software modules SFA, Marketing, App Exchange Builder, and Analytics. The implementation began just over twelve months ago.

The company brain trust hopes to have the system operating globally by 2008 across North America, Europe and Asia. Applied Biosystems is a life sciences technology provider focused on the following basic research, commercial research (pharmaceutical and biotechnology) and standardized testing markets. Applied Biosystems has an installed base of approximately 180,000 instrument systems in nearly 100 countries. Salesforce.com is currently the market and technology leader in on-demand business services.

Salesforce.com’s on-demand platform AppExchange allows the building of powerful new applications, customization and integration of the Salesforce suite. Salesforce.com today manages customer information for approximately 22,700 customers and approximately 444,000 paying subscribers including Advanced Micro Devices, America Online, Cendant Rental Car Group, Dow Jones Newswires, Nokia, Polycom and SunTrust.