CRM for IT company

Negotiating with potential or existing customers is an important part of the work of any IT company that wants to grow and develop its business. Given the regularity of such communications, we can say from our own experience that it is simply impossible to keep all the information about the history of interactions, transactions, agreements and calls in our heads.

A modern CRM system for an IT company should be equipped with specialized tools, such as a task manager, kanban boards, a time tracker, a knowledge base, accounting for financial receipts and expenses, and so on. With their help, you can optimize the process of planning and developing software products, as well as improve interaction with customers.

The development and implementation of CRM is possible at any stage of your company’s development and will help:

• get instant access to customer data;
• monitor the performance of employees;

• quickly receive analytical data and reports;
• speed up customer service and closing deals;
• create document templates;
• build an effective algorithm for cooperation with partners and customers;
• to establish a coordinated work of managers and developers;
• avoid missing incoming calls and requests from customers;
• keep a history of all interactions with the client;
• receive an extended analysis of the customer base and their needs.

CRM systems for IT are developed based on the business tasks of a particular business, so their functionality and technical capabilities may differ.

Modern CRM systems can work in a browser, on smartphones or computers. Accordingly, the choice of platform determines the technology stack that will be used in the development process:

• Web platform. Such CRMs work on any device where there is an installed browser, including PCs and smartphones. To implement the frontend part, they can use HTML / CSS / JavaScript or reactive technologies Vue.js and React.js. The server part is developed in PHP and its Yii2/Laravel frameworks, or in Python and Django/Flask frameworks. The backend of complex projects can be built in Java or Node.js.
• Mobile platforms. CRM for smartphones is installed on the device as standalone applications. Native programming languages ​​can be used to develop them: Swift for IOS, Java/Kotlin for Android, or the Flutter framework, which can be used to create cross-platform mobile projects.

• Desktop. Desktop CRMs are installed in the operating system of the computer and are characterized by high performance and reliability. To create such systems, the PHP and Python programming languages, as well as their frameworks – Yii2 / Laravel and Django / Flask, respectively, can be used.

Not only the time and cost of developing CRM, but also its performance and the possibility of further scaling depend on the selected technologies. Therefore, the stack is often determined by the development team after analyzing the specifics and challenges facing the project.

During the development of a CRM system, specialists create a solution that can be integrated into the company’s business processes and optimize them. In order for the product to fully meet the expectations, the production consists of several successive stages. Let’s consider the main ones in more detail.

Step 1. Information gathering and audit

Each function implemented in CRM must be appropriate, therefore, first of all, specialists perform an audit of the company, study its internal processes and hold meetings and negotiations with the customer. This allows you to get a holistic view of what functionality the product should have and what tasks it will solve.

Step 2. Design and formation of technical documentation

Technical documentation is the foundation of the future CRM system. At the stage of its development, the structure of the software interface, the navigation system, mockups of all individual pages with a detailed description of the functionality placed on them are designed, and the stack of technologies that will be used in production is determined.

Based on the project documentation, the estimated time and cost of developing CRM are calculated.

Step 3. Design development

CRM system is, by definition, a complex and feature-rich software product. Therefore, the main task of the designer is to create a simple and intuitive interface in which company employees can work comfortably.

Design development can be carried out completely from scratch, but this is not always advisable, since it takes more time and, accordingly, costs the customer more. Instead, you can use ready-made sets of components, which significantly reduces the time until the release of CRM.

Step 4. Development of the frontend part

At this stage, a functional user interface is developed based on the finished design layout.

If the frontend is developed using reactive technologies such as Vue.js and React.js, then it can also perform partial processing of client requests, which reduces the load on the server and, accordingly, improves the speed of the product.

Step 5. Development of the backend part

The CRM backend is located on a remote server and is responsible for processing client requests and working with databases. At this stage, integrations with third-party software that the IT company already uses in its work are also implemented, for example, with task managers, time trackers, ip-telephony, instant messengers and other tools.

Step 6. Testing

After the completion of the main development, CRM is transferred to the QA department, where it undergoes multi-level technical testing. At this stage, experts check:

• the correctness of the system and the absence of bugs;
• CRM performance;
• data security;
• compliance of the software with the initial TOR.

If problems are found, the project is submitted for revision to the responsible employee, and after debugging it is retested. This allows you to make sure that the error was indeed fixed, and that the technical adjustments made did not adversely affect the rest of the functionality.

Step 7. Maintenance and development

The release of CRM does not mean the end of the project. The fact is that after the start of using the system in real conditions, users may find errors that were not identified during the testing phase. In this case, the developers quickly establish and eliminate the cause of the failure.

It is also worth noting that CRM has a positive effect on the growth and development of an IT company, which means that after some time it may need to develop new functionality or improve existing ones.

To solve this problem, a new technical task and a mockup are being drawn up. If improvements are required in terms of design, a designer is involved. Then the frontend and backend parts are finalized and tested on the dev copy of CRM, and only after that they are implemented into the working system, which avoids any possible errors during operation. Thus, CRM will grow with the company, and its functionality will always be relevant.

AVADA MEDIA has experience in developing high-load CRM systems for various business areas, including the IT industry. We understand how this business works from the inside, and we create an effective software solution

that will help you optimize your team and documents, build trust with clients, and automate many business processes that take up a significant part of your employees’ working time.