Hoop (and CRM) dreams

As though the Portland Trail Blazers hadn’t struck enough gold last month by winning the top pick in the National Basketball Association draft lottery in securing a franchise player in either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, they’ve also possed up with the baddest ever, Microsoft, to provide CRM for the legions of new fans this championship-competing team will draw.

The Blazers will be deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to more effectively serve an increasingly wide range of customers and probably Oden to more effectively prevent opponents from driving the lane. The Portland Trail Blazers’ IT team “expects the new system to play a critical role as the organization shifts to serving a more demographically diverse range of customers due to the recent repurchasing of the team’s home facility, the Portland Rose Garden,” and the front office will no doubt demand results from the roundball quartet in 2007-2008.

The franchise chose to replace its existing Onyx CRM system. Said Chris Dill, Blazers chief information officer, “With the valuable data that Microsoft CRM makes available to our sales teams, we can offer special promotions to fans based on their taste, from specific players to specific teams to specific musical artists and special events.”

Said Jerry West, Memphis Grizzlies GM, “There are two superstars in the draft. I think for the teams fortunate enough to get them, the fortunes of their franchises have changed forever.”

Microsoft partner Ascentium Corp., a technology and marketing consulting firm specializing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, is working with the Trail Blazers to develop and implement the system.

As for the five on the floor, well, they probably won’t need too much help in implementing a winning team.