The customer relationship management (CRM) market has matured to the extent that the vendors operating in the market in 2002 were still strong, despite the economic downturn that really started to bite in 2001. Even though revenues are down, the major companies are responding to market conditions in a very positive way by rationalising their own businesses and making cost savings while adapting to fresh demands from their customers.
Nevertheless, there are still opportunities for CRM vendors in specific markets, especially in the public sector and in the small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), typically organisations with a turnover of less than $1bn.
For developers, the next few years promise to be exciting as they work to meet new challenges in the integration of applications across operating platforms, either server- or Web-based.
Opportunities exist for management consultancies operating in this space, but with the accountancy scandals of 2001 and 2002, several of the largest consultancies have either rebranded or been bought out.
The biggest challenges lie in the public sector, in the UK, Europe and the US. The UK especially has an important deadline - the e-Government - to aim for. This seeks to make all government services available online, and to improve services to customers, whichever communications channel they choose.
Local authorities (LAs) are responding positively, despite both the very different services they manage, and the varying, and in many cases antiquated, software and hardware platforms with which they have to work.
However, with careful management and good advice, LAs should be able to learn the lessons of successfully implementing CRM from the private sector.
Finally, changes are likely to be seen in the way vendors price their services. In a buyers' market, prospective clients should be sharpening their negotiating skills. Those with a very clear and well-thought-out information communications technology (ICT) strategy should be able to avoid making the same costly mistakes that early CRM adopters made.
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