Is CRM & ERP Software Unsuitable For Pharmaceutical Industries?

Bill Stevens, Senior Director at Cognos, contends that CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software do not provide proper granularity to enable informed decision making for pharmaceutical industries.

At a high level I understand his sentiments as generic CRM and ERP systems are too broad to well address the specific pain-points of pharmaceutical industry. However I think the insufficiency is overhyped and for good reason.

Interestingly his realization conincided with the announcement of Clinical Trial Forecasting and Sample Optimization software by Cognos billed to “better anticipate clinical trial resource requirements and accompanying expenses in order to comply with FDA filing requirements.”.

Beyond the obvious PR hype there is a grain of truth. I think the time has come for domain specific solutions to replace generic CRM or ERP software.