The customer relationship management (CRM) market appears to be making a comeback, according to a poll by research firm Meta Group.
The firm, which acknowledges that the rebound is a slow one, says 75% of respondents in a recent survey say they will spend the same amount or more than they did in the preceding 12 months, with much of the spending being on quick-win point solutions.
The survey shows that 25% of respondents plan to spend less than in the previous 12 months.
Meta Group says recent events in the enterprise application market, the main one being the takeover bids involving Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards, have dampened - but not eliminated - the appeal of buying strategic CRM applications from an incumbent enterprise resource planning backbone provider.
PeopleSoft is in the process of acquiring JD Edwards while at the same time fending off a hostile takeover attempt by rival Oracle.
"Given recent events, enterprises concerned about relying too heavily on a single technology vendor should consider incorporating offerings from CRM specialist providers into their environments," says Elizabeth Roche, Meta Group enterprise application strategies vice-president.
"In fact, some vendors are overhauling their architectures to enable component environments and mitigate some integration challenges. Despite this enabling technology, however, organisations must still plan for heavy investments in integration skills and technologies."
The firm says while there are good reasons for sourcing all enterprise backbone components from the same provider, CRM specialists can provide a hedge against further market consolidation.
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