BackOfficeCRM

Case Study: Web-based Customer Relationship Management System

backofficeCRM.com began using Hosting.com in July 2006 for a different company it still operates, enrollment123.com. backofficeCRM.com chose Hosting.com because of their ColdFusion and service level needs.

"Hosting.com provided the highest levels of support and service at the most economical price. Larger hosting companies did not provide the customized support and response we knew we would need, and small hosting companies could not provide the level of technical service Hosting.com offers," stated Steve Jaeger, CIO backofficeCRM.com.

backofficeCRM.com created a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system in 2006. backofficeCRM.com is also used for sales force automation (SFA), network marketing multi-level marketing (MLM) and membership relations management (MRM). The solution provided by backofficeCRM.com is used heavily within the insurance, financial services, healthcare and nonprofit industries. backofficeCRM.com prides itself on responsive, always available customer service and support.

backofficeCRM.com is a web-based solution. Consequently, their clients rely heavily on the network and data infrastructure deployed by backofficeCRM.com to utilize their solution. "Downtime would impact our ability to provide our solution and services. If we experience downtime, we lose consumer confidence and ultimately revenues. That's why we chose Hosting.com, quite frankly, we can't afford downtime," stated David Jaeger, CEO backofficeCRM.com.

We're Growing

In July 2007, backofficeCRM.com contacted their Hosting.com sales specialist to let him know that they were growing and needed to grow their number of physical machines by 100% to accommodate the rapid growth. backoffice.CRM.com grew to need its own server environment and infrastructure. The company wanted to move backofficeCRM.com off of the servers supporting other legacy products developed by the company during the .com boom in the late 1990's.

Hosting.com's sales specialists are trained to consult with clients when they call to increase or decrease their existing solutions, and began probing how backofficeCRM.com planned to use the additional resources. "We told Mark that we needed a new environment for backofficeCRM.com to better support and continue customizing the solution for our clients. Once we explained how we would use the new boxes, Mark immediately asked if we had thought about virtualization," stated David.

"Of course we had heard of virtualization, but we never thought of it as a solution applicable to our environment. Virtualization was for bigger companies with much larger budgets and more technical resources," added Steven.

Operation Virtualization

backofficeCRM.com needed a development area to continually customize their solution for clients without burdening or over exhausting its current server environment. Frequently, they need to add existing resources such as hard drive space, RAM, storage. In addition, they needed to complete all of this with as little downtime or interruption for their clients.

The Hosting.com sales specialist recommended a VMWare clustered ESX server environment utilizing vMotion, High Availability and Dynamic Resource Scheduling. In layman's terms, Hosting.com recommended a virtual environment that would provide 3 times the number of servers they had at the time (virtually), redundant failover and high availability, automated scalability, a dedicated development server, multiple production and database servers at a lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

"Hosting.com educated us on the value of virtualizing our environment. We were stunned when we received the quote and realized the virtual solution cost almost 50% than doubling our physical resources, and provided levels of redundancy and security that we didn't think we could afford," declared Steve.

"The sales specialist recommended a higher quality, more cost effective solution. He heard our needs and consulted with us to build a solution we had not thought of. backofficeCRM.com and our clients benefit most from the consultative relationship we have built with Hosting.com," added David. He continued, "A client may ask us to host all of their email and we might need to add up to 50GB of memory. It used to take up to four business days to provide that solution. That client request can now be fulfilled in a matter of minutes, without any interruption to their existing service."

On Cloud Enterprise

Hosting.com provides similar solutions to clients through its Cloud Enterprise solutions that include both private clustered environments and secure public cloud computing. Cloud Enterprise runs on a standards-based architecture utilizing world-class technologies from providers such as VMware, Radware, HP, Fortinet, Cisco and others.

Hosting.com's internal developers and solution architects worked closely with these manufacturers and others to stretch the boundaries of virtualization and provide a client-centric, easy-to-use cloud computing platform.

"We didn't make much of it at the time, but Hosting.com provided us with a cloud computing solution. I cannot tell you which data center our physical boxes are stored in. Honestly, I'm happy I don't have to worry about boxes and physical equipment anymore," stated Steve.

Cloud Enterprise provides immediate cloud computing for businesses of all sizes with high availability, dynamic scalability, and reduced compute costs. Most importantly, Cloud Enterprise comes with the same levels of support and service as all Hosting.com solutions.

"When we first chose Hosting.com, we had a support question that needed to be answered to get our servers running. Unfortunately, it was midnight on a Friday. We knew our previous provider wouldn't have been available, but we figured we would try calling Hosting.com. Within three rings, the phone was answered and the problem was immediately resolved," noted Steve.

"After making our first support call at midnight on a Friday, we knew Hosting.com was the right choice for backofficeCRM.com," added David.

Contact a Hosting.com Account Specialist to discuss Cloud Enterprise, Hosting.com's Cloud Computing Hosting Solution: Online Form, 800-446-7627, or Live Chat.