Hi Bob, our customers are small businesses with limited budgets and they all ask themselves similar questions before deciding to implement Microsoft CRM, so you are not alone.
While no one can give you the definitive answer about what is best for you and your organization, consider the following issues:
It's less expensive to host Microsoft Dynamics CRM that it is to purchase the software and install it on your own servers. Although there are significant software licsense discounts for non-for-profit organizations, the hosting fees charged by Microsoft to the hosting partner are also half-price.
Before letting one of our consultants lose on their first implement, we spend four weeks training and certifying them and then they shadow another consultant on three small implementation projects. So if you want to implement Microsoft CRM without any training, certification or experience, it could be that you'll get it right on your forth attempt. Yikes!
You can certainly hire an independent Microsoft CRM consultant to help you. Freelancers typically charge 25-50% of the day rates of a consultant from a Microsoft Certified Partner or Gold Certified Partner. But, they won't have the same breadth of experience or connections with Microsoft. And once your implementation project is over and they have moved on to another project, they may not be able to provide you with further support services.
Personally, I'd hire a consultant from a Microsoft certified partner that specializes in non-profit organizations. I'd request a part-time consultant from them for a rate you can afford to provide some guidance and help you making any really big mistakes. Either get them to spend one day a week with you, or have them run the requirements workshops and the training classes and do the middle part of the project yourself. I'd also get myself trained in Microsoft CRM and buy a few of the good books available on Amazon - this will stop you making most of the little mistakes.
Lots of our small business customers use our hosted Microsoft CRM service without using any of our consulting or support services. A few of them have been successful, but compared to customers that have used our 5-day implementation service and a support plan, they often have low rates of user adoption and renewal.
At the end of the day, if your organization cannot afford to hire a Microsoft CRM consultant, can they afford for their CRM project to fail or not have any positive impact for many months?
Regards, Neil
P.S. Yes, SharePoint can be customized and used as a CRM system, but so can Access, Excel, and Outlook (particularly with Business Contact Manager). Not all of these options may be fit for purpose though!
