Communications and Technology Industry Research

Independent market analyst Datamonitor has released a report titled Decision Matrix: Selecting a CRM Vendor, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of leading CRM vendors. The report, estimating that global enterprise spend on CRM application licenses will hit $6.6 billion by 2013, finds that Oracle and SAP (News - Alert) will continue to rule the roost… and that of the two, Oracle is the market leader.

 

“Although the CRM applications market is very competitive and there are plenty of players who can challenge the current leaders in specific circumstances, only two vendors, Oracle (News - Alert) and SAP, can be considered as market leaders,” says Vuk Trifkovi, technology analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report.

Datamonitor has developed a methodology it calls “Decision Matrix,” billed as “helping businesses select vendors based on their technology strength, reputation among customers, and impact in the market,” according to company officials. Conclusions are “based on a quantitative assessment of end-user sentiment, the capabilities of the business intelligence products on offer and technology features.”

According to Datamonitor, both Oracle and SAP provide complete products replete with functionality, integrate CRM with new communication technologies, and offer full flexibility of deployment options, from conventional on-premise, through to variations of hosted and on-demand products.

Having augmented its CRM product line through the acquisition of Siebel and PeopleSoft, Datamonitor notes, Oracle now commands an “incredible” portfolio of CRM products. The report finds that, “if executed well, Oracle’s ambitious maintenance and development roadmap should ensure a market leadership position.”

 

Oracle’s CRM offering will be “improved both through incremental best-of-breed feature cross-fertilization and its ambitious project of re-engineering completely new product based on its Fusion platform,” says Trifkovi.

The report finds that Chordiant, Infor, and Salesforce.com (News - Alert) all offer good products, but lack certain elements to compete consistently with the leading duo. It says this group market will become more competitive if Microsoft’s (News - Alert) forthcoming Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 release is a success, or if vendors such as RightNow Technologies and Consona improve their standing.

“CRM vendors whose products can support a long-term strategic approach to customer relationship strategies based on nurturing relationships with the customer instead on focusing on the transaction itself, will be in a strong position” concludes Trifkovi.

 

About a week ago Oracle officials pronounced themselves pleased with Oracle’s Siebel CRM On Demand and Oracle On Demand customer traction, announcing that, in the last quarter alone, Oracle established or expanded its relationship with more than 200 new global customers, including ADP, Central Plastics, Fidelity Registered Investment Advisor Group, GE Commercial Finance, and Translational Genomics Research Institute.

With 14 releases of Siebel CRM On Demand in less than four years, Oracle’s Siebel CRM On Demand Release 14 is now generally available. This new version unites the CRM functionality with the latest in Web 2.0 technologies, company officials say, and includes “significant enhancements across its sales, marketing, services, analytics, built-in call center, and industry edition capabilities.”

Siebel CRM On Demand Release 14 will also include “next-generation usability and customization capabilities, and strong integration capabilities that allow customers and partners to quickly and easily establish deep integration with other applications,” company officials promise.

 

Additionally, with the Siebel CRM On Demand Integration Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite, customers gain pre-built integration between their subscription CRM applications and the back office suite.