On-demand fuelling CRM love-in

CRM is the small acronym that's a big thing for businesses - and it's getting a whole lot bigger, analysts are saying.

According to the latest report from analyst house Gartner into CRM, or customer relationship management, spending on the technology reached $5.7bn in 2005 - up nearly 14 per cent from the year before, with businesses showing CRM companies the money due to increased corporate confidence backed by the persistent desire to boost revenues.

SAP remains the number one player in the CRM market, with revenues of $1.47bn during last year. Siebel is a close second with $966m, followed respectively by Oracle and Salesforce.com.

Despite its fourth place, Salesforce.com is showing sunflower-like growth – 77 per cent year-on-year, according to the analyst, as the on-demand model is increasingly getting the thumbs-up from buyers.

Strong performances from the main CRM players are helping boost sales, according to Gartner research director Sharon Mertz. Other factors contributing to the growth include increased CRM spending in emerging markets and understanding among businesses that CRM can be used to retain customers.