Fundamentally this model relates to buying a house over renting an apartment. With the Outlook based CRM Solution, the business is buying a house and thus retaining the ownership. Alternatively, when you rent an apartment, you pay the landlord a monthly fee which is Web based CRM.

There are many CRM choices in the market today, but you would need to analyse your business and understand what type of CRM is required for your organization. Further discussing more about Hosted CRM and Outlook based CRM, you can see lot of factors that offers advantages and disadvantages in these concepts.

Web based CRM: Web Based CRM is nothing but hosted CRM where the information is stored online and accessible through the internet, where you can have access to the software in realtime and immediate visibilty. Web Based CRM software can be a perfect answer if you are in need of a fast and cheap CRM solution.

Web based CRM for small business eliminates the installation, hardware compatibility and software upgrade issues usually associated with purchasing and managing traditional CRM systems. In a Hosted CRM scenario, all maintenance, backups, upgrades and system management are provided by the Hosted CRM vendor. With operation costs factored in, small business hosted CRM implementations cost less, can be implemented sooner, and deliver a faster return on investment. Web based CRM dramatically reduces the time associated with new technology adoption. Typically, a new feature can be enabled online, and becomes available to the end-user after their next login. Web based CRM solutions are location and computer independent, so small business CRM users are free to use their CRM tools anywhere, any time.

Outlook Based CRM: Outlook Based CRM, also known as licensed, on-site, or in-house CRM, is a CRM application that is housed at a client’s location and managed by its own employees.

Outlook Based CRM is more expensive and is also said to allow more customization. This model includes high software and consulting costs, ineffective user adoption, and poor management. However, because in-house CRM can be tailored more specifically to the particular needs of an organization, most larger companies opt for this traditional model.

Is Web Based CRM better than Outlook based CRM? The choice between these two can vary by the needs of your company. Ultimately you have to choose the type of CRM that will work best for your business, both from the point of process and finance. Whichever you choose, spend the time doing the homework. Understand and analyse your business process and compare the CRM products to see which suits your business type. This will make your decision much more rewarding to your company.