Cost of ownership model for a CRM system

A procurement decision about a CRM system is heavily influenced by the initial purchase cost rather than the effect of the operating cost and utilization over the lifetime. In this paper, we propose a Cost of Ownership (COO) model for a CRM system which takes into account not only the initial cost, but also the operation cost, and the opportunity cost due to customer mismanagement over a life-cycle. In particular, the opportunity cost due to customer mismanagement, which is related to the performance of the CRM system, is used as a key cost factor to reflect the financial impact of the system. We employ an engineering economy model to compare various systems with different life spans. A numerical example is given for comparison of the COO of alternative systems along with sensitivity analysis for an optimal procurement decision. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.