CRM faces uphill struggle

On-demand customer relationship management (CRM) firms face an uphill struggle to achieve profitability despite predictions of double-digit growth rates for the model, according to research released by Datamonitor, says VNUnet.

The new report, On-demand CRM: From Top-lines to Bottom-lines, estimates the market is worth about $1.7 billion in 2008 in subscription revenue, reaching an expected $3.8 billion by 2013 and growing at a compound annual growth rate of 17.7% during this period.

However, Datamonitor said vendors will not only need to capitalise on this high-growth period to expand their customer base, but must achieve operational efficiencies if they are to be successful in the space.

UCN, a provider of on-demand contact centre software for intelligent contact routing and agent improvement, signed a renewable agreement for inContact, with a provider of insurance claims processing and management software solutions, according to PRWeb.

The agreement includes services for more than 250 seats across two locations and is valued at more than $300 000 over the course of the first annual term.

UCN chose the inContact software as a service platform to reduce operational costs and capital expense, while gaining greater functionality and flexibility for its customer service and technical support groups.

Customer care solutions provider KnowTia has enhanced its Oasis CRM product line with a new interface to QuickBooks Pro, Premier & Enterprise, reports TMCnet.

New features include an integrated automated contract billing interface and detailed inventory and order management.

These features will be coupled with integration with both Intuit QuickBooks product lines.