Boston (Sept. 16, 2003) -- Skeptics of hosted customer relationship management software are becoming few and far as recent surveys show it is poised to become a credible, cost-effective alternative to licensing.
The 20-page Aberdeen Group report, "Hosted CRM Popularity Continues to Grow," found 35 percent of those surveyed already use hosted CRM products, while 85 percent said they would evaluate a hosted CRM solution in the near future.
The report also suggests that application hosting is an important part a company’s future growth strategies.
"Application hosting in the CRM market is clearly showing signs of robust growth," said Denis Pombriant, vice president and research director in Aberdeen's CRM practice and author of the report.
Pombriant also noted that the CRM industry faces challenges in the years ahead. The sluggish economy and the complexity of the CRM market will force vendors to find less expensive and faster ways to provide the benefits of CRM.
“For hosting to become a credible alternative to licensing, customers must be able to find long-term value in the solution,” he said.
Research for the report was conducted with RealMarket, a CRM portal site with more than 30,000 readers. The entire report can be found at
-- WebCPA staff
