The Curse of the Internal CRM: My Recurring Nightmare

The Curse of the Internal CRM: My Recurring Nightmare

The Persistent Pattern of Internal CRM Projects in My Career

When it happens repeatedly, not just once or twice, it ceases to be a mere coincidence. I start to believe that perhaps someone has placed a curse on all my jobs, if not on me. It seems like I always find myself in the same situation. For instance, I once built an internal tool, which primarily consisted of various dashboards, to address some of the recurring issues. Despite my efforts, the same pattern seems to persist, making me question the underlying causes.

No matter the role—whether it's a mobile engineer, frontend engineer, Fullstack, or DevOps—within the first year, I have to be involved in an internal CRM project.

Choosing the right tool

The stage of the organization can provide a clear answer to this question. In the early stages of a startup, the engineering team's primary focus is on building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as quickly and easily as possible. This is the ideal scenario for utilizing no-code tools, which allow for rapid development and iteration without the need for extensive coding skills.

As the organization evolves and moves into later stages, the focus shifts towards developing proprietary software. This is a phase where the engineering team can truly showcase its technical prowess and expertise by delivering sophisticated, custom-built software solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of the business. At this point, the emphasis is on creating robust, scalable, and high-performance applications that can support the growing demands of the organization.

Summary

I've noticed a recurring issue in my career: I often work on internal CRM/dashboard projects, regardless of my role. In early startup stages, no-code tools are great for quick MVP development. But as the company grows, the focus shifts to creating robust, scalable proprietary software to meet specific business needs.

What types of challenges do you believe you face? Let me know in the comments section.

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