I have been reviewing several solution architectures for a large organization. The organization made strategic decision to use Salesforce as its CRM system for B2B and MS Dynamics CRM for B2C or use SaaS solution if one is available. With that is mind the solution architects classify the systems to migrate as B2B or B2C and selecting either Salesforce or MS Dynamics CRM as the platform to build the new solution on, if there is no SaaS or OTB product to cover the business requirements.

Unfortunately this simplistic approach leads to many issues. For instance one of the solutions proposed does not really fit in either CRM platforms. Basically it is a custom solution that no OTB SaaS system exits that addresses the unique business needs.

The solution proposed would be built on one of the CRM platform (the preferred one by the architect), and the cost for building the custom solution is astronomical compared to a custom solution built in ASP.net or the like. In addition, the org would need to buy yearly full enterprise licenses for the custom app solution, while using the only useful components that are being used form the platform are the Identity Management and some UI components.

When selecting an Application as a platform to build a custom solution on always ask:

1. Is the platform native functionality used in the solution warrant the platform cost?
2. Does the platform workflows and data management work for the solution or against the solution?
3. Does the custom solution integrates tightly with the application Does it has to be part of the application?

That is my 2 cents on this subject for now.