The Commoditization of the Database: Why Data Storage Is No Longer a Value Proposition
Technical reality has overtaken the commercial models of many CRM providers. In an era where cloud infrastructures from global providers offer almost unlimited scalability at minimal cost, storing text fields, contact histories, and address data has become a basic function. It is a commodity, comparable to the provision of electricity or water in an office building. The idea of limiting this basic supply or charging per record is an anachronism. It is as if a logistics company were to charge fees for the use of its warehouse shelves instead of for the intelligent control of supply chains. This artificial scarcity of storage or data fields actively hinders companies. It punishes completeness and data hygiene instead of encouraging them. A sales team that has to consider whether adding another contact will break the budget will inevitably resort to isolated solutions like private spreadsheets. The result is a fragmented, incomplete customer view that undermines the actual purpose of a CRM: to be a single source of truth. The digital infrastructure for managing one's own customer data cannot be a luxury product.
