Making a Fresh Start From Clarify
A Great CRM Platform
This blog entry is for all the stakeholders who rely on or must support Amdocs Clarify systems. If you are like most, you have probably spent years searching for a better way forward than the one Amdocs offers. Years…because it’s a tough application to replace.
In its day, as we all know, Clarify was a great CRM platform for a variety of business types because it was so versatile. But the technology is old and with every year that passes, it becomes harder to find people with the skills needed to keep it in good shape. This unfortunate situation usually leads to an insidious decline in utility and reliability until a breaking point is reached; a tiger team checks out options which yields nothing palatable; more struggles, higher overhead, worsened utility until another breaking point is reached (even worse than the first). More tiger teams, more indecision, and the cycle is repeated. Sound familiar?
To Lift and Replace
Eventually the pain gets bad enough that 8-figure options start to look attractive. Even with the high cost, these “fresh start” options from the likes of Oracle and SAP appear to promise great benefits, of course;
- A Clean Slate – a great opportunity to rid yourself of the years of customization bloat that was written by developers who are no longer around and is nearly impossible to fully understand and support.
- Review and Realign Business Requirements – an excellent chance to make big improvements in workflows by enabling better integrations and embracing new communication methods.
- New Technologies and Architectures – usually mean greater base-line utility and shorter implementations.
- Cleaner and More Efficient User Interfaces – contemporary approaches focus on more engaging and intuitive UIs.
- The Chance to Embrace Contemporary Best Practices and Methodologies.
But unfortunately in most cases the reality is this:
- Functional Gaps – even these newer application suites are not as flexible or as extensible as Clarify which leads to much larger projects than anticipated and big cost overruns. I’ve heard about several projects that were abandoned after tens of millions of dollars were spent and many deadlines missed.
- Those projects that do succeed take a number of years to complete, even with substantial compromises on integrations and overall scope.
Again, sound familiar? Think there’s no better way? Well, no surprise, the point I intend to make here is that there is a better way. It is a switch to Dovetail.
A Much Better Option
The Dovetail path actually delivers on all the fresh start benefits above but with one very big differentiator which allows us to complete your transition without the giant scope that the other options require. We allow you to base the new system on your existing Clarify database. Said another way, it’s out with all the cruft, bloat, and old, backward technology, but your valuable data stays right where it is to live on in a new system. Keeping your database is a huge advantage because it allows:
- Many back-end integrations to stay in place.
- Phased deployments on a shared database between old Clarify and new Dovetail.
- Reduction in scope to only focus on the areas where you stand to benefit most.
Furthermore, we bring to the table a whole suite of better tools for administering the system. Tools that are easier to understand and use. Tools that make development of custom code easier and the code itself easier to maintain. If you have become accustomed to a slow, painful process of adapting your Clarify system to new requirements, you will be pleasantly surprised with how much easier and faster it is when our tools are in place.
You might be thinking, at this point, that this all sounds really interesting and if the Dovetail application is at least equivalent from a functionality standpoint, it’s probably worth looking into. But actually, if we are talking about a fresh start and comparing ourselves to Oracle and SAP, I think it needs to go well beyond equivalency. Dovetail delivers new capabilities in spades.
- UX Design focus – Engaging user screens that minimize clicks, page refreshes, eye strain – users love it!
- Advanced integration options for reliable and resilient system connectivity – system architects love it!
- Contemporary technology stack that lends to easier staffing and upkeep – developers love it!
Where to Learn More
Here are a few links to additional information. But I recommend that you carve out a little time and let us show it to you and talk through some of the finer details.
Modernize your Clarify System
Dovetail Agent – (Our client application)
Blog Post: What’s New In Agent 10
