SAP has unveiled a new attempt to consolidate a group of about a dozen front office apps into a fully integrated CRM suite — next year. How do you say “lipstick on a pig” in a non-derogatory way? Look, CRM is over 20 years old now. In the early days, the vendors scrambled to integrate their apps into a coherent whole, supporting customer-facing processes in sales, marketing, customer service, field service and help desk. Back in the day, companies merged trading stock instead of cash to see who could build the biggest suite the fastest.
