The CRM industry will celebrate its 25th birthday this year, and it is interesting to look back and see where it has started from and progressed to. When it was first started, many people emphasized SFA of CRM, which was pushed by companies such as ACT! and Telemagic. The product that was being sold then was basic and emphasized customer contact management.
With the newer software vendors came the ability for users to carry out tracking and reporting for call centers. Companies such as Scopus and Clarify were most notable for this.
The 1990s saw the start of well known companies such as Siebel and Brock release software packages that combined SFA and customer service management. The term “Integrated vendor” was born as a result of this, as opposed to the point solution vendors that previously reigned.
The marketing automation vendors made their appearance sometime after this. They offered not only integrated software, but with marketing automation as well, and by the end of the 1990’s business analysis and e-customer functionality was included in many of the CRM software.
Lately, the big focus in the CRM industry has been find ways to “integrate CRM into a company’s legal system and related technical infrastructure”. This is where it is expected that the CRM industry will head, especially when SAP develops solid footing in the on-demand market.
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