BT and Sugar CRM…

One of my favourite TV adverts is for British Telecom (BT) and features Gordon Ramsay using a carving knife to gain access to the innards of a PC, while in the background his kitchen is rapidly descending into chaos. The voice over is something along the lines of ‘Do what you do best’, and the advert closes with a strap line of ‘IT. Communications. Support’.

OK, the communications bit I understand, but BT for IT and support? So when I received an invite from Sugar to their CRM Acceleration event in London which featured a presentation on the recently announced tie up with BT, I was interested to find out more.

Sadly the one thing I didn’t find was more. Mick Hegarty’s (Director of Marketing, BT Business) presentation was fine on the importance of CRM in a tough trading environment, but there was absolutely no detail as to what BT are/will be offering. I’d have asked of course but there was no opportunity for questions at the end of the presentation, and the BT delegation seem to absent itself rather smartly as soon as Mick left the stage. Conversations with Sugar staff were equally less than illuminating.

In principle a tie up between BT, one of the world’s largest telecoms companies, and Sugar should be big news. Sugar CRM is a relatively new arrival to the CRM market, and is starting to make itself felt. Access to BT’s small and mid-size customer base could allow it to make a big impact. IT of course is littered with high profile strategic alliances that promise much and deliver little. Yesterday didn’t give me any confidence that this one will be different, but time will tell.

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