The Hidden Challenge Every CRM CoE Leader Knows Too Well

One of the biggest challenges for any CRM Center of Excellence leader is securing funding for the foundational work that keeps the entire ecosystem healthy, secure, and future-ready.

While organizations continue to invest in Sales, Service, and Marketing initiatives, the foundational initiatives that make these transformations sustainable often struggle for attention and funding. These include:

• Remediating technical debt

• Maintaining a strong security posture

• Modernizing platforms and moving to recommended API frameworks

• Migrating to the latest architectures

• Upskilling and future-proofing talent

• Embedding AI across the delivery framework

• Keeping business continuity plans up to date

• Monitoring user behavior for misuse or anomalies

❗ Here’s the reality: Companies spend millions on CRM licenses, infrastructure, and transformation programs. But failing to invest in the foundation that supports all of it can lead to:

• Increased total cost of ownership

• Poor user adoption

• Elevated security and compliance risks

• Slow delivery and innovation bottlenecks

• Erosion of business trust

• Ultimately—negative impact on business growth

Foundational work isn’t optional—it’s the backbone of CRM excellence.
When sponsors and funders give equal attention (and budget!) to foundational initiatives, organizations unlock long-term value, sustainable innovation, and true enterprise agility.

At CRM CoE Alliance, we teach essential topics like these and show leaders exactly how to apply our proven frameworks to make a measurable impact in their organizations.

From foundational funding strategies to operating models, governance, AI integration, platform modernization, and organizational readiness—we empower CRM leaders to transform their CRM CoEs into strategic, value-creating engines.

Because when the foundation is strong, everything built on top of it grows stronger.