Is Technology the new Local Pub?

I’m sure we all have a local pub, the kind of place where you know the landlord by his first name, and who is always telling you a few dubious jokes with a cheeky grin.

You often see a few regular faces propping up the bar, reminiscing or just generally gossiping about the antics of their next door neighbour and his new girlfriend over a pint of abbot ale

I recently had a meal and a pint with my Dad at our local pub, and as is generally the case the conversation drifted on to technology which started to make me think. The local pub is an institution in the UK and something that brings people together, it promotes communication…which is exactly what technology does!

You have Facebook, with the local’s equivalent being the notice board showing pictures of what some would consider a great night out. The local generally has a few bands on throughout the week or a wacky magician showing off his new bunch of flowers; the equivalent in the technology world is YouTube.

Twitter is the general playful banter that you get at the bar, where two people who might not have normally spoken to each other strike up a conversation about football or cars (OK, so maybe I’m stereotyping there…) or maybe the guy who sometimes comes in promoting the curry house next door.

Google is your mate Jez, who knows loads of facts about animals, Olympic sports, and 80s politics that no one else does, which is great when the local has a quiz on!

But the real institutions of the technology world are Microsoft and Sage.  These are the techno breweries that bring us some awesome apps and fantastic customer experience. They tantalise our taste buds with a distinct technological flavour, leaving everyone wanting more.

You’ll often find the latest brew being advertised in advance, with a name like Winners Tipple, that you just can’t wait to try. It just so happens that Microsoft has a new techno brew coming out soon, which is destined to change the CRM world.

It was originally called Orion, but has since been renamed to Dynamics CRM 2013, and is packed full of some of the most amazing flavours/features that we have tasted in a long while.

Dynamics CRM 2013 comes with its complementary peanuts, otherwise known as Yammer (Paul Ince details an awesome insight here) which aids social interaction and experience, process guidance (the bar staff of the local’s world) and allows us to apply business rules without writing any code.

It also comes with MarketingPilot integration which means that unlike the local’s chalk board which is used to advertise ‘pie and pint’ night, you can target specific customers, analyse your ROI, and it also comes with a new user interface with a simplicity that just rocks!

When I started thinking about comparisons between the local pub and technology I realised I could go on for quite a while. So the next time you’re at your local enjoying Titanic’s White Star, remember that there is probably an app that complements that!