IT Software Spending Will Focus on CRM in 2011

A new survey indicates that customer relationship management (CRM ) software will have the largest spending increase this year among all types of software. The survey, by industry research firm Gartner, said 42 percent of respondents expect to increase their CRM spending from 2010.
About 39 percent will increase outlays for office suites, and 36 percent for enterprise resource planning. The survey was conducted among 1,500 heads of IT departments in 40 countries through last July. The questions were oriented toward actual budgets for last year and projections for 2011.
Opportunities in 'Greenfields'
The growing increase in CRM spending comes as spending on application software in general is rising a projected 31 percent this year. The largest increase is taking place in the Asia/Pacific region, which is growing 37 percent. Latin America application spending is growing by 35 percent, and the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region by 27 percent.
Gartner describes both Latin America and Asia/Pacific as "greenfields" with the greatest sales opportunities.
Hai Hong Swinehart, a Gartner research analyst, said key areas for general software investment include the online channel; software as a service (SaaS ) deployments; and technologies that enable customer loyalty management, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, and levels of customer service that are more targeted.
"Software application vendors should continue to build, fund and invest in software sales and marketing programs as the market is recovering," Swinehart said. He added that a market downturn and its aftermath are "disrupters that create great marketing and sales opportunities" if a company has "the right products, market programs, and funding."
Social CRM
For CRM buyers, Swinehart said, spending is focusing on customer retention and ways to enhance the customer experience, and there is increasing interest in "technologies that encourage development of customer communities and social networks."
Gartner said SaaS within the CRM industry could top $4 billion in revenue by 2014, which would make it nearly one-third of the entire CRM market. The segment with the strongest growth is marketing automation, driven by campaign and lead management and analytics.
The survey comes at a time when, according to Gartner, CRM is in a new era that is more about relationships and less about management. This new emphasis, the research firm said, is being driven by social media, and is yielding a "more open, honest and balanced approach" that works with customers to provide mutually beneficial relationships.
Earlier this month, Gartner reported that the CRM market is entering a three-year shake-up period with rapid changes. That report said the keys to the shake-up are the rise of social CRM and SaaS, the market reshuffling led by Salesforce.com, and the selling of CRM software from consultants and system integrators.

American Airlines is trying to make the unfriendly skies friendlier — for customers who can afford it.

To lure more premium customers, the carrier recently unveiled a new suite of amenities for first- and business-class travelers on select international flights.


First-class passengers traveling between the States and London Heathrow were the first to enjoy the full range of new offerings: a quilted bed topper, a lightweight day blanket, a duvet and pillow, and an amenity kit with Dermalogica skin-care products and other accessories.


Business-class passengers on those flights tucked into the new duvet and pillow, slippers and amenity kit.


Starting Oct. 1, the airline will roll out the new perks, including turndown service with pajamas and slippers, in first class on all international flights served by Boeing 777s.

 

Social Enterprises and Cloud Computing: Hot Topics at Dreamforce

Enterprise cloud Relevant Products/Services-computing company Salesforce.com kicks off its Dreamforce 2011 conference today with a keynote address from Chairman and CEO Mark Benioff, focusing on the concepts of the social enterprise Relevant Products/Services and the post-PC Relevant Products/Services revolution.


This year's Dreamforce is being held at Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, August 30 through September 2, with 475 sessions. Salesforce.com expects more than 40,000 attendees plus another 35,000 expected to participate online via Salesforce Live.


Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is also on deck for the event, along with Facebook CIO Tim Campos, Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, and Verizon Business President Bob Toohey.


The Post-PC Era


Salesforce.com is best known for its customer Relevant Products/Services relationship management (CRM Relevant Products/Services) systems, and has been pushing its "no software" strategy since long before other companies jumped on the cloud computing bandwagon.


Now, Salesforce says, there's a rise in companies working to improve the way they communicate with customers and employees online, in the cloud. That rise, Salesforce said, involves companies transitioning into more "social enterprises" -- a term Salesforce is trademarking.


So, what is a "social enterprise"? Salesforce.com defines it as a business Relevant Products/Services that builds social profiles of customers, creates internal social networks, and communicates with its customers over the Internet.


"If anyone is positioned to talk about the cloud, and the end of the PC era, and what is essentially granting access to all your data Relevant Products/Services no matter what device you are working with, Salesforce is," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT Relevant Products/Services.


"Salesforce has the experience. They've worked through the bugs. They have succeeded well beyond what many people have either intimated or assumed. As this era of cloud computing continues to grow, I expect them to profit from it."