South African CRM Integrators METAspectrum

META Group has announced that it will localise its research to vendors providing CRM integrator services in SA, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to assist its clients in choosing a CRM integrator.

In support of META`s CRM Suite METAspectrum, this METAspectrum will focus on solution providers and vendors that supply CRM integrator services in any or all of the above geographical regions on the following products: Chordiant, Clarify, E.Piphany, Kana, Onyx, Oracle (CRM), PeopleSoft (CRM), Sales Logix, SAP (CRM), Siebel and Pivotal.

"Although there is a vast amount of research available for organisations to assist in the selection of CRM products, there is very little localised research available for organisations to use in the selection of a CRM integrator," says Johan Jacobs, Associate Analyst and CRM Head Coach for META Group.

Organisations employ fire-drill tactics to collect, sort and evaluate information from multiple sources. This process results in inconsistency, a lack of leverage and lack of actionable analysis. IT vendor evaluation and selection have never been more critical. Success requires a combination of speed, accuracy and thoroughness. To meet business demands, organisations need a consistent process by which they can develop and evaluate a shortlist of candidates and rapidly determine a solution provider`s ability to meet its requirements.

Jacobs explains that a METAspectrum is a structured methodology for accelerating the understanding of solution provider`s capabilities in critical technology product and service markets. This methodology is based on a thorough analysis of competitive dynamics and applies evaluation criteria and sub-criteria that are tailored to the unique characteristics of a market and weighed according to their impact. METAspectrum provides clients with a holistic view of the market and the relative positioning of vendors and solution providers - enabling clients to make fast and cost-effective purchase decisions by targeting specific evaluation criteria to analyse vendors in the context of business requirements.

A METAspectrum market analysis consists of three major areas:

* Market charts: The METAspectrum analysis starts with an overview chart that provides a visual image of the relative leadership position of vendors and solution providers within a market.

* Vendor (solution provider) analysis tables: Behind every METAspectrum chart is detailed information on each individual vendor or solution provider, providing a view into the weighting of different evaluation criteria, the comparative scores of competitors, analyst rankings and drill-down into the specific evaluation results for each company.

* "What if" analysis: To meet the unique goals and objectives of each individual organisation, METAspectrum enables clients to modify the importance of market standards and criteria to focus an evaluation on the factors they feel are important to the purchasing decision. The what-if capabilities enable users to make side-by-side comparisons to the META Group analysis and engage our analysts in focused discussions on the criteria most relevant to their organisation.

Vendors and solution providers that would like to be considered for inclusion in this CRM Integrators market survey should send a request to johan.jacobs@metagroup.com by no later than 30 March 2003. The request must have "METAspectrum Vendor Request" as the subject line and should include basic information about the company and a short explanation of why it should be considered for this CRM Integrators survey.

This request will be acknowledged and the information evaluated for inclusion. If approved for inclusion, the lead analyst will send a detailed questionnaire for completion within a specified timeframe.

This research will be announced at META Group`s annual flagship METAmorphosis 2003 Conference to be held in Johannesburg at the end of May 2003.