Spending on customer relationship management (CRM) software is expected to see the largest increase of all the application software markets worldwide in 2011, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. Overall, 31 per cent of respondents expect an increase in application software spending in 2011.
In comparing their 2011 fiscal budgets with 2010, 42 per cent of survey respondents indicated that they expect to increase spending on CRM in 2011, compared to 39 per cent on office suites and 36 per cent on enterprise resource planning (ERP), which ranked second and third, respectively.
Gartner conducted an expansive primary research survey of more than 1,500 IT leaders of organisations in 40 countries, which concluded in July 2010. The goal was to determine software spending allocations for IT budgets in 2010 and predictions for 2011.
"We're expecting the CRM market to recover gradually as buyer confidence returns and as businesses begin refocusing on growing revenue as opposed to just reducing costs," said Hai Hong Swinehart, research analyst at Gartner. "Areas of investment are expected to include the online channel; software as a service (SaaS) -based deployments; and technologies enabling customer loyalty management, cross-sell/upsell opportunities, and more-targeted levels of customer service. Along the way we can expect market shifts as acquisition activity escalates, adoption of SaaS grows, and service providers become a more visible force in the market."
Ms Swineheart added that buyers of CRM continue to focus on investments that promote customer retention and enhance the customer experience, and they are increasingly interested in technologies that encourage development of customer communities and social networks. SaaS adoption continues to be a key driver. SaaS within the CRM industry is expected to exceed $4 billion in total software revenue in 2014, representing more than 32 per cent of the overall CRM market. Marketing automation remains the market segment with the strongest growth, with the greatest demand coming from campaign and lead management and analytics.
Worldwide application software spending is expected to increase 31 per cent in 2011, up 9 per cent from last year, and emerging markets are planning for higher budget growth. Asia/Pacific is expected to have the largest increase, at 37 per cent in 2011, up from 14 per cent growth last year, followed by Latin America and EMEA showing an increase of 35 and 27 per cent in 2011, respectively.
"Overall, the survey indicates a healthy investment trend for application software. Software application vendors should continue to build, fund and invest in software sales and marketing programmes as the market is recovering, to maintain customers and expand revenue opportunities," said Ms Swineheart. "A market downturn and its aftermath are disrupters that create great marketing and sales opportunities for organisations prepared to take advantage with the right products, market programmes and funding."
For many markets, the greatest new sales opportunities exist within Latin America and Asia/Pacific where "Greenfield" opportunities are prevalent. This trend is not expected to abate. Gartner advises vendors without a direct channel or direct sales to consider expansion into these regions, with the understanding that immediate returns on that investment are unlikely.
Additional information is available in the Gartner report "User Survey Analysis: Application Software Spending, 2010-2011 ". The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/....
About Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit
CRM is entering a new era where the focus is much more on the relationship and less on its management. Driven by social media, a more open, honest and balanced approach is emerging, where organisations listen to and work with their customers to provide mutually beneficial and rewarding relationships. At the Summit, Gartner analysts will provide guidance on how to apply intelligence to customer interactions and become socially aligned and digitally enabled. They will also explore best practices and technology to effectively help organisations use analytics, and achieve lasting improvements in data quality.
The Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit 2011 will take place 14-15 March at the Lancaster London hotel in London. For further information about the Summit, please visit www.europe.gartner.com/crm. Event analyst blogs, and tweets related to the event can be found at http://www.gartner.com/.... Members of the media can register for the Summit by contacting Laurence Goasduff, Gartner PR on + 44 (0) 1784 267 7195 or at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.
Additional information from the event will be shared on Twitter at http://twitter.com/... using #GartnerCRM.
The Gartner Customer 360 Summit 2011 will take place 30 March-1 April in Los Angeles. For further information about the Summit, please visit www.gartner.com/us/crm. Event analyst blogs, and tweets related to the event can be found at http://www.gartner.com/.... Members of the media can register for the Customer 360 Summit in Los Angeles by contacting Christy Pettey at christy.pettey@gartner.com.
In comparing their 2011 fiscal budgets with 2010, 42 per cent of survey respondents indicated that they expect to increase spending on CRM in 2011, compared to 39 per cent on office suites and 36 per cent on enterprise resource planning (ERP), which ranked second and third, respectively.
Gartner conducted an expansive primary research survey of more than 1,500 IT leaders of organisations in 40 countries, which concluded in July 2010. The goal was to determine software spending allocations for IT budgets in 2010 and predictions for 2011.
"We're expecting the CRM market to recover gradually as buyer confidence returns and as businesses begin refocusing on growing revenue as opposed to just reducing costs," said Hai Hong Swinehart, research analyst at Gartner. "Areas of investment are expected to include the online channel; software as a service (SaaS) -based deployments; and technologies enabling customer loyalty management, cross-sell/upsell opportunities, and more-targeted levels of customer service. Along the way we can expect market shifts as acquisition activity escalates, adoption of SaaS grows, and service providers become a more visible force in the market."
Ms Swineheart added that buyers of CRM continue to focus on investments that promote customer retention and enhance the customer experience, and they are increasingly interested in technologies that encourage development of customer communities and social networks. SaaS adoption continues to be a key driver. SaaS within the CRM industry is expected to exceed $4 billion in total software revenue in 2014, representing more than 32 per cent of the overall CRM market. Marketing automation remains the market segment with the strongest growth, with the greatest demand coming from campaign and lead management and analytics.
Worldwide application software spending is expected to increase 31 per cent in 2011, up 9 per cent from last year, and emerging markets are planning for higher budget growth. Asia/Pacific is expected to have the largest increase, at 37 per cent in 2011, up from 14 per cent growth last year, followed by Latin America and EMEA showing an increase of 35 and 27 per cent in 2011, respectively.
"Overall, the survey indicates a healthy investment trend for application software. Software application vendors should continue to build, fund and invest in software sales and marketing programmes as the market is recovering, to maintain customers and expand revenue opportunities," said Ms Swineheart. "A market downturn and its aftermath are disrupters that create great marketing and sales opportunities for organisations prepared to take advantage with the right products, market programmes and funding."
For many markets, the greatest new sales opportunities exist within Latin America and Asia/Pacific where "Greenfield" opportunities are prevalent. This trend is not expected to abate. Gartner advises vendors without a direct channel or direct sales to consider expansion into these regions, with the understanding that immediate returns on that investment are unlikely.
Additional information is available in the Gartner report "User Survey Analysis: Application Software Spending, 2010-2011 ". The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/....
About Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit
CRM is entering a new era where the focus is much more on the relationship and less on its management. Driven by social media, a more open, honest and balanced approach is emerging, where organisations listen to and work with their customers to provide mutually beneficial and rewarding relationships. At the Summit, Gartner analysts will provide guidance on how to apply intelligence to customer interactions and become socially aligned and digitally enabled. They will also explore best practices and technology to effectively help organisations use analytics, and achieve lasting improvements in data quality.
The Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit 2011 will take place 14-15 March at the Lancaster London hotel in London. For further information about the Summit, please visit www.europe.gartner.com/crm. Event analyst blogs, and tweets related to the event can be found at http://www.gartner.com/.... Members of the media can register for the Summit by contacting Laurence Goasduff, Gartner PR on + 44 (0) 1784 267 7195 or at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.
Additional information from the event will be shared on Twitter at http://twitter.com/... using #GartnerCRM.
The Gartner Customer 360 Summit 2011 will take place 30 March-1 April in Los Angeles. For further information about the Summit, please visit www.gartner.com/us/crm. Event analyst blogs, and tweets related to the event can be found at http://www.gartner.com/.... Members of the media can register for the Customer 360 Summit in Los Angeles by contacting Christy Pettey at christy.pettey@gartner.com.
