International Journal of Commerce and Management Research

Authors
Rekha Arvind Katheeth

Abstract
Higher Education Institutes are experiencing tremendous changes post XII th Five Year Plan (2012-2017). They are facing challenges with the requirement of the NAAC related statistical information and its documentation. The educational institutions especially at under graduate level need to work out a lot in the way their institution operate and interact with their stakeholders i.e. students, their parents, alumni, employees, staff members etc. In comparison to foreign universities and colleges we are long way behind in identifying the requirements of our learners. The use of CRM Software have empowered the foreign universities and colleges with learners recruitment, learners engagement in class and their advancement needs.CRM System are software applications are used to automate and manage communication with prospective and current stakeholders esp. learners. In order to cover the gap created due to rising cost and falling revenues more educational institutes in India need to adopt CRM software solutions often regarded as Customer Relationship Management, however for educational circles CRM is known as Constituent Relationship Management which focus on Relationship Management with the stakeholders and will certainly help institutes trim expenses and paper work. With the advent of the autonomy status the dire need for CRM Systems will increase as these softwaretends to provide real time numbers, data and graphs that may be strategically used in decision making.However the road ahead for implication of such software seems to be challenging the reason being lack of knowledge and budget with the Indian Educational institutes. The paper attempts to study the changing pattern of education sector in India and the need for technology dependence for the administration of the colleges and universities. The paper also focuses on using the CRM software’s for prospective students, current students and alumni.