CRM is a business strategy that knows no boundaries. While North America represents the largest CRM market, other global regions have the opportunity to learn from the successes and failures of the U.S. market. This CRMsearch.com Global CRM channel focuses on the shared lessons as well as the local and cultural differences which impact CRM strategy, software selection and software implementation. The best practices and lessons learned are intended to deliver practical advice and insight to aid practitioners implementing CRM software in their corner of the world or rolling out a global CRM solution throughout the world.
Global CRM Solutions
CRM strategy and CRM software must adapt to differences in culture, objectives, data structure, business processes and privacy by region and country. Regional enterprises place increased emphasis differently—scalability in the U.S., privacy in the EU, open source preferences in Asia-Pac and focus on CRM collections functionality in Latin America are but a few examples that highlight differences in the global CRM market.
Research from Springboard and discussions with local CRM strategy and CRM software experts share how the Asia CRM software market, as well as the market for new and disruptive technologies such as cloud computing, SaaS and social media, are both unique from the rest of the world and changing the IT landscape.
While overall CRM adoption throughout Europe will grow only slightly - about 0.7% - according to a 2010 Gartner report, CRM sectors such as software as a service, social CRM and customer analytics will enjoy accelerated growth. “In terms of growth opportunity in the market, SaaS solutions, e-commerce and CRM analytics will continue to see strong demand” says Chris Pang, Gartner analyst.
The 30th annual GITEX event and Technology Week was held October 17 to 21 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and both attendance and enthusiasm were up from the prior year. GITEX is clearly capitalizing on the region’s increased global IT presence. In the UAE alone, ICT investment is set to increase by 12.4% to US $4.8 billion this year ...
With research and references from Gartner and others, this article identifies several unique characteristics and regional differences in the Middle East CRM software market. “In the Middle East, companies like to buy local,” explains Michael Maoz, Gartner Vice President and Distinguished Analyst. “They don’t buy, say, Oracle. They buy Oracle Saudi Arabia.”
Latin America is adopting CRM software at a faster pace than most of the world. Chuck analyzes and debriefs the research findings from Gartner and other analysts along with regional growth projections and key differences in CRM strategy, CRM software and Social CRM solutions in Latin America - as compared to the rest of the world.
CRM software research from Springboard, Datamonitor and Gartner as well as the go to market business strategies implemented by SAP, Salesforce.com and other CRM vendors demonstrate the growth and strength of the Asian Customer Relationship Management software market and the vendors approaches to acquire customers in the region.
Research from Gartner and Forrester shows that CRM software adoption in Europe varies significantly by North/South regions and individual countries. While SaaS CRM continues to show significant growth, regulatory and data privacy concerns for business applications hosted outside Europe linger among CRM buyers.
Business factors such as call center industry growth, IT outsourcing and U.S free trade agreements as well as technology advancements such as software as a service (SaaS), social CRM and open source CRM software systems are influencing the adoption and growth of CRM software solutions by Latin American companies.
Global Market Briefs
SaaS Growing Internationally
IDC forecasts the global Software as a Service industry will increase sales from $13.1 billion in 2009 to $40.5 billion in 2014, and that the 2010 shift to subscription software will result in a $7 billion decline in world-wide traditional software license revenue. The research firm indicates Europe, the Middle East and Africa account for just a small piece of the SaaS market, 13% in 2009, versus 74% in the Americas, however, by 2014 IDC projects the region will increase its share of such the SaaS market to 35%.
Global SaaS Application Sales To Exceed $8.5 Billion in 2010
Global sales of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions in the enterprise application segment will jump more than 14% to $8.5 billion in 2010 when compared with the $7.5 billion generated in 2009, a spike attributed largely to the business community's growing endorsement of cloud computing, according to data compiled by researcher Gartner Inc. In the CRM segment, SaaS accounts for 24% of total market revenue, according to 2009 figures. SaaS is expected to represent some 26% of CRM market total sales in 2010, Gartner said.
SugarCRM CEO Predicts Big CRM Software Growth in BRIC
In his January 2011 predictions for the CRM software market, SugarCRM CEO Larry Augustin predicted economic development in BRIC — Brazil, Russia, India and China — will create major upside opportunities for the CRM software industry. "Those nations have very little in place in the way of sophisticated software," says Augustin. "They are coming online, they are starting to look for solutions like CRM, and that plays very well to the CRM market going forwards, it means that CRM truly is a global market, and there is going to be a huge opportunity in the developing economies for CRM."
Asia Pacific Enterprise Software Market Returns to Growth
The Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) enterprise applications software market has returned to positive growth since 2009, registering a 2% decline in 2009 compared to 2008, according to IDC's Asia/Pacific Semiannual Enterprise Applications Tracker. The rebound is expected to continue, and IDC forecasts the enterprise applications market to grow by 15.4% in 2010.
More References
SpringboardResearch.com is a leading research and analyst firm that focuses on unifying data, trends, and insights to help their clients understand the business implications of technology. They put out some of the best international technology market research available.
CRMforecast.com has several good pages on international markets coverage, including CRM software facts and trends for North America, European Union, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
According to Gartner analyst Michael Maoz, $75 billion has been spent on Customer Relationship Management software in the 10 year period ended 2010. However, during that period customer satisfaction has grown only 3% to 5%.
