HCL Unica vs. Makesbridge

I think it is wel suited for a business with a lot of one on one relations in the database. For example a supermarket that sells products to a client and gives a reduction on that product. It is nice if the selection process is not to complex and does not involve to many calculations. It is also nice if it is very clear what you want to follow up. In our environment we have lots of many-to-many relations. for example one product is held by more then one client. And that client might have more of those products with other clients. These kind of situation demands for a lot of calculations with derived fields(*), and there things go far too slow. Unica is probably not such a good solution for us, because our environment is too complex, and so is to process of creating the selection, we often have to change things in the selection flows. Because of the complexity it is difficult to see what the flow is exactly doing afterwoods, it also takes to much time to modify existing campaigns. The interface is not handy to work with, if you have long lists of variables, of tables or derived fields(*) you have to scroll through trough them, you can not really search them or reorder them. You can not drag and drop fields or other objects like derived fields in the flow, what would be easy if you have to make frequent changes to the proces flow. When you copy objects something the content of the object changes because the links with other objects or lost. (*) derived field: field to calculate something

Makesbridge is great for email marketing and Salesforce integration. It is great for a startup or large company. Support is terrific. You can't go wrong with the service.

• Ability to translate Multiple SQL queries into a very easy to use visual GUI.
• Provides the ability to pre-define segments, run them once in off hours, store them in their own system tables for quick youth and a significant reduction in CPU utilization on the database.
• It’s use of Reusable objects. Including user variables to pre-define calculations one time, macros that you can create and pass values to parameterize the SQL code And the creation of templates to easily replicate work.
• It’s ability to bring in external data on the fly that can very easily be mapped into any flowchart.
• It’s flexibility and creating UNIX script via triggers to automate sending of files to multiple vendors with different FTP sites
• It’s flexibility in the output layouts that it can create.

Incentivized

• Makesbridge had the highest reviews in customer service on the Salesforce app exchange. This was the major reason that I chose them. Some of the implementation was over my head, but this was not a problem since they were always available to help with any issues that came up.
• The team has even taken suggestions and implemented them quickly when I voiced a need for a particular Salesforce integration. Makesbridge has been a fantastic addition to my company.

• Greater integration of real time (Interact) capabilities with outbound channels, in particular IBM eMessage Email & SMS delivery.
• Additional outbound channels to be integrated into eMessage, including Facebook Fanpage & Twitter DM broadcasts. At the moment these are possible only through custom additional integration.
• Support for additional marketing database technology, e.g. MySQL, Exasol, ParAccel, WX2.
• Provision of database technology with software purchase, as Web technology (IBM WebSphere Express) is supplied for free, but no database is supplied - since IBM also market DB2, which is a supported technology it seems a shame.

• I would like for users to be able to see campaigns and templates created by other non-admin users. I'd like the option as the sysadmin to select which parts of the application should be open to all users, and which I'd like to gate. (Permissions, if you will).
• Configuration of training materials. The content is great, I just have had difficulty locating the specific article that would be most relevant to the situation. I'd love step-by-step guides for campaign creation, etc.

There are three main factors to renew a licence: 1) Cost to migrate to another platform would be rather expensive and time consuming, plus the requirement of retraining employees to use a new tool 2) It has been proven time and time again that it is a market leader in the space (10 years +) 3) It can be built upon, with the addition of additional IBM EMM modules - despite theories it does have very strong digital capabilities.

Great product, exceptional support. I'm going to be honest and say that I was apprehensive that the Makesbridge team was actually as wonderful as the app exchange reviews claim...How often does that actually happen?! But now, I can honestly say that the glowing reviews are spot-on, and my only concern is that they do not do justice in describing the product, support and service Makesbridge provides.

I think it is easy to use, if you don't have to do to complex selections.

I'm not an IT guru. The layout and workflows make sense, and I appreciate not having to involve a developer for every change I'd like to make.

Their tech support staff is the BEST I have worked with!

Best tech support in the software industry.

I didn't use the Unica support since it is with IBM, only before.

While their phone/chat support is outstanding, I wish there was more documentation and how-to information available online. There are many features that I have not used because I don't understand how to use them as well as I should

- We had to rebuild a part of the datamart afterwards to tighten up and simplify the selection process. But as it was too time consuming to rebuild all the existing campaigns, we no run campaigns on different versions of the datamart. - The response tracking of the campaigns never worked out well, it was impossible to implement a direct response where there is a link between the lead and the response in our operational process

The contact history and the response history are so powerful. You can track whatever you want to help the call center to push relevant offers to our customer. In addition, predictive models can be built, with patience, in IBM Campaign. If you have some complaints from the call center about any campaigns, you can easily validate it into the contact or response history.

Incentivized

Makesbridge was easier to use and has a much better help desk. We were originally impressed with sales and then the technical side. At one point we handled e-mails with an internal program, what a headache, especially the list management.

• It helps my clients drive their business which in turn, drives more profit for them.
• It helps my clients determine what works, and what doesn't work, in terms of their social marketing campaigns.
• It helps navigate proper budgeting through determining what clients' users respond to, and what they find unique.

Incentivized

• Good customer service and allows us to use our leads without much restriction.
• Price still considered quite high for a very small business like us.