The market for mobile CRM began to grow quickly in 2004 and this has continued throughout 2005, with the mobile market being expected to account for 20% of the total CRM market by 2010, according to a study from research firm VisionGain.
According to the report, entitled 'Mobile CRM: Re-energising the CRM', although still a nascent market, mobile CRM should be reasonably robust on a global scale by 2007. So far, mobile CRM has accounted for less than 10% of total CRM market revenue, but it is expected to continue to show steady growth.
Overcoming problems
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Report author Marcia Kaplan said: "In 2001, extending enterprise applications to a wireless environment was touted as the 'next big thing' and yet nothing happened. At that time, security, usability problems with handheld devices, and costs were the major impediments."
But, Kaplan suggests, after investing in the necessary technology and outfitting field personnel with mobile devices, many businesses are hoping to maximise their investments, and are looking to mobile CRM implementation as being one of the next logical steps.
Multiple vendors
However, a traditional CRM deployment usually involves only the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and the end-user. But a mobile deployment usually means the number of participants has to grow: Typically it will involve the ISV, a middleware vendor, possibly a systems integrator, a device manufacturer, and of course a wireless operator. VisionGain's report concludes that this complexity makes a company's choice of partners absolutely critical to success of such an implementation.
A large number of traditional CRM companies and new entrants are mobile-enabling their CRM systems, and the report offers a careful assessment of the application and middleware vendors that operate in the mobile CRM space. The report also looks at mobile CRM's likely evolution over the next few years, and the impact it could have on mobile operators.
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