CRM
Telephony and Infrastructure Providers
Voice
Technologies/Speech Recognition
"One
way or another, what matters is our coming to realize that the way we
habitually think and perceive is not the only possible way, not even a way that
has been going on very long." Owen Barfield, "History, Guilt, and
Habit," 1979
Gartner
analysts are asked on an ongoing basis for a concise listing of the customer
relationship management (CRM) vendor categories covered by Gartner. The
challenge in presenting a concise listing is that businesses operate in dozens
of industries, each with its own approach to organizing sales, marketing and customer
service around customer segments, fostering customer-centric behaviors and
implementing customer-centric processes and software. Though a harsh economic
climate makes it difficult for new and established vendors, dozens of
innovative companies (e.g., Digital Fuel, KiQ, Siperian, Synthean and Visible
World) have come into existence with products that address gaps in the current
CRM products. They are not yet given prominence in either a Gartner Magic
Quadrant or on a category list; nonetheless, they are focuses of interest. Even
the largest CRM application providers (e.g., Siebel Systems and SAP) are
extremely limited in the scope of their CRM solutions.
The
number of CRM applications covers more than 19 segments, with at least 45
sub-segments and categories. For a listing of the Gartner CRM Magic Quadrants,
see Research Note M-16-3510, "A Comprehensive Directory of CRM Magic
Quadrants," 1 May 2002. Most vendors sell features and not viable
products. The silver lining for enterprises is that the innovative features
that these vendors develop will — in most cases — be acquired by companies that
can turn these product enhancements into more viable products.
Through
2005, more than 90 percent of the companies in the Gartner vendor lists will
remain point-solutions focused on niche markets, and 65 percent of these
vendors will sell their CRM assets to a stronger competitor or fail (0.8
probability). To assist enterprises to select the most appropriate vendor, this
Strategic Analysis Report provides lists of the vendors in each CRM category.
Strategic
Planning Assumption: Through 2006, the leading CRM application suite providers
will provide a maximum of 35 percent of the software required for an enterprise
to build a CRM environment (0.7 probability).
The
ongoing economic downturn, together with client dissatisfaction at the pace of
return on CRM investments, have created an environment whereby most businesses,
operating in survival mode, are delaying or canceling CRM software purchases.
Delays in spending on strategic purchases are being replaced by smaller
tactical investments. This does not bode well for vendor viability, and it
complicates purchasing decisions, leading to a drop in CRM license revenue for
2002 that could be as much as 12 percent to 15 percent. A major contributor to
buyer caution is the haste with which most CRM projects went forward during the
1999-to-2001 time frame. The lack of measurement resulted in an absence of
tangible return on investment (ROI) metrics. That, in turn, reduced confidence
in the benefits of CRM initiatives. Businesses that purchased large numbers of
licenses to lock in steeper discounts reasoned that they would implement the
entire purchased package over time. However, the dual issues of stalled top-line
revenue growth and disappointing ROI have resulted in the cancellation of
subsequent project phases. Consequently, enterprises are left with the majority
of their purchased licenses sitting on the shelf, resulting in the average cost
of a utilized license being raised, often effectively back to the list price.
A
positive outcome of what could be seen as a gloomy scenario is that buyers will
perform more fundamental measurement of their business needs. Purchases will be
more directly tied to measurement of — and expected return on — investments. As
always, vendor viability must be scrutinized continually. To that end,
applications should be evaluated by their ability to assist the enterprise to:
·
Interact
with consumers who may be resistant to providing information on themselves.
·
Invest
more in the systems used at the point of customer contact.
·
Become
smarter in using the information already at hand.
·
Make
doing business simpler, including products and offers.
·
Understand
the real economics of each customer — and invest accordingly.
·
Develop
a realistic set of business needs (i.e., vs. the wants and desires).
·
Listen
to customers more, and ensure that they feel reassured at each step, and that
their data is protected.
Source
: Gartner
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