Aptean Pivotal CRM used as a Grants Management System

As our aging grants management software was reaching the end of its usable life we looked around for a replacement system that would be capable of encompassing a broader range of our business needs. High on our list was better integration of our grants information with our client and contact records, so a system with a CRM at its heart was the logical choice. We chose Pivotal because of its strong CRM features, including event and social media capabilities, and because its flexibility made it possible to customize the system to incorporate our grants application, approval and payment processes. This is a very capable piece of software with plenty of bells and whistles. The CRM capabilities are impressive - we still have plenty there that we haven't yet taken advantage of. The customization for our fairly complex grants processes has worked well, and a large proportion of our business processes and data capture now take place within this one application. Although the smart client interface is well considered and organized this is not a system that is simple to use for the occassional user. If you want a simpler more self-explanatory experience for your users you can achieve this through adding the optional Pivotal UX. Out of the box there is no shortage of features, though investing in the Productivity Pack add-on was a must for us. For Business Intelligence the system is designed to be integrated with QlikView, and we have been impressed by the great boost this has provided all of our analysis. Our customer support is provided by the vendor that installed and customized the system, so we have no direct experience of working with Aptean. This has not been a cheap system to install and customize, but the efficiency savings, centralization of our processes and data, and big improvement in our business intelligence capabilities make it a very worthwhile investment for us.

Pros

It's full feature list and flexibility.

Cons

The interface can be a bit daunting for occasional users.

Very utilitarian and has potential for greatness, but hampered by confusing layout and menus.

Pros

The potential to pull great data via the search is there, and it's quite flexible. There are also many features making a nearly all-in-one solution.

Cons

Brutalist in its design and plagued by logic-driven search system that requires one to think like a computer it can cause fits at times.

Suitable CRM Software with Basic Functionality

Overall Aptean Pivotal CRM met the organization's needs in streamlining certain business line processes, providing a degree of insight through its reporting capabilities on business profitability, member retention, sales growth, etc.

Pros

The software offered suitable functionality for customer relationship management with basic customization, reporting capability, integration, etc.

Cons

End-user processing speed often fell short of expectations; software lag times, stalling out while loading, etc. Limited customization capability to meet ever-changing needs of special projects/teams within organization.

Another CRM

Tool which can work for you, but you have to do more customisation.

Pros

Last version of Pivotal is better than prevoius one, faster and modern.

Cons

Application seems to me as slow and needed a lot of customisation to fit to our business.