What do you see in the CRM market today? If you look at the CRM market today, you can see lots of companies touting their CRM tool over others, based on features and functionality. You even see some companies claiming that their tool is not software — even though it is a software in reality — as a differentiation strategy. In short, there is a whole lot of focus on CRM tools.

So, when I talk about "the what" of CRM, what is "the what"? Well, it's the tool. CRM software or web apps, or what have you.

In solving any problem, business or otherwise, the first thing you have to understand is the what. If you're solving a math problem, you first have to understand what you're dealing with. For example: "A train is traveling at 55 MPH...", you get the picture. This is the what of the problem.

Let's look at this now from the perspective of the CRM world. Long ago, the business world identified the "what" of the CRM problem. It became clear that sales professionals needed a tool to manage their customer relationships, sales activities and that it needed to gel with management's goals. Well, we've come a long way since then. We have a myriad of tools available that do exactly that, and a whole lot more that work with your accounting system, your iPhone, your iPad, integrate with Facebook, Twitter, Hoovers — you name it. The "what" is getting beaten into the ground.

Too many CEOs are trying to sit back and rake in the dough with the recurring revenue model of SaaS. Rhetorical: What value are their customers really reaping from that?

Anyway, just think about this — Will vtiger CRM, as a tool in and of itself, be the answer to your organization's CRM problem?