On-demand CRM is on the up

Hosted customer relationship management (CRM) is competing with traditional licensing as the most popular delivery method for applications.

Sales of hosted CRM doubled last year according to a report from AMR Research, as customers recognised the benefits of having CRM delivered over the web rather than installing licensed software on-site.

“The hosted model has reinvigorated a market that failed to grow over the past several years,” comments Rob Bois, senior research analyst at AMR Research.

“The hosted category has changed the whole perception of customer management, with faster implementations, quicker time to value, and easy customisation.”

Overall, the market grew 10%, with outstanding performances from two hosted CRM companies: RightNow Technologies and Salesforce.com, with 97% and 87% growth respectively.

Despite these impressive performances, traditional licence CRM supplier SAP secured 30% growth rate to topple Siebel from the number one spot.