Report: Mobile CRM Set To Surge
Fri Jun 28, 1:34 PM ET
Erika Morphy, www.CRMDaily.com
The global CRM ( news - external web site) marketplace, valued at US$11 billion last year, is poised for growth, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan. The main drivers will be the interactive CRM market and, to a lesser extent, the wireless CRM market, according to Frost & Sullivan analyst Katherine Shariq.
The interactive CRM marketplace, in particular, "has been the darling of the industry," Shariq told CRMDaily.com. This category, which includes Web-based analytics, self-service, collaboration and chat grew 30 percent between 2000 and 2001, she said.
This year, Frost & Sullivan is projecting a 22 percent growth rate for interactive CRM.
Go Wireless
Shariq is quick to point out that because wireless CRM is an emerging market, growth rates are higher than related categories. Wireless CRM is expected to grow some 36 percent annually, until 2008. In 2001, mobile CRM revenue in the United States equaled some $300 million, according to the research firm.
"Right now, there are certain connectivity and bandwidth constraints," said Shariq. "But, as network providers become more interconnected, demand for such applications as field service and field sales will increase rapidly."
Frost & Sullivan expects to see the overall global CRM marketplace grow an average of 18 percent a year, reaching $36 billion by 2008. The wireless segment will emerge as a strong growth industry in 2004 and 2005, when industry standards are enacted, the firm said.
Evolving from E-CRM
But the strongest subsector of the CRM industry is interactive CRM, Shariq said.
In the space of a year or so, this category has evolved from what was basically an online point application to a more comprehensive software category that includes integration capabilities and the blending of different categories.
"Web analytics is being integrated into campaign marketing and sales force automation applications, as one example," the analyst said.
The dominant vendors in this market segment include Siebel, Business Objects and BroadVision ( Nasdaq: BVSN - news) for Web analytics; Primus (which has acquired Remedy), Kana and E.piphany for self-service; and eGain and Kana for collaboration, according to Frost & Sullivan.
Another Angle
Not every analyst is as sure the interactive space will grow at such rates, however. The dot-com bust shook up the e-CRM market, according to Adam Sarner, a CRM analyst with Gartner ( NYSE: IT - news).
Also, interactive CRM is, at best, a complementary strategy for traditional CRM, he added.
"E-CRM is only important as it relates to CRM," Sarner told CRMDaily. "It's not a standalone strategy. You can't put your customer service operations entirely online."
Ready for Close-Up
Some industry experts believe collaborative interaction will be the future driver for interactive and e-CRM. Steve Carpenter, president of Baan CRM, said that strategic selling tools are going to set companies apart from the competitors, going forward.
"These collaborative applications will be deployed both interactively during face-to-face meeting and through customer-facing portals ( news - web sites)," Carpenter told CRMDaily.
"Customers are becoming more knowledgeable about their vendors' abilities and expect a close interaction to define their exact needs, when they want it, where they want it," he said.
Sales-driven portals, Carpenter said, will not lessen the role of the sales person, but rather augment the sales process to provide more customer intimacy. |
