Self-sufficient IT : a study of CRM implementation in higher education settings.

The popularity of cloud-based vertical Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology has led to an increase in user-led implementations of CRMs in higher education institutions (HEIs). Many of these CRMs come with assurances of 'self-sufficiency' from vendors. How do CRM implementation processes look in these contexts? This study examines four functional unit implementations in a university setting; three with centralized processes in-house IT staff; the other with decentralized processes and no in-house IT staff. After analyzing data collected from 17 interviews with users involved in the implementations, we find differences between the implementation settings in CRM motivations, goals and implementation processes. We describe the nature of these differences and how differences in the implementation processes impacted the achievement of CRM goals. A contribution of this study is a set of implications and recommendations for HEIs implementing similar CRMs, with the objective of ensuring greater achievement of organizational goals.