CRM market to cash in on third-platform IT

Cloud CRM spending set to slow

CRM technology will be one of the first beneficiaries of emerging digital trends, according to Gartner, which warned that cloud CRM could be reaching saturation point.

By the end of this year, Gartner predicts that CRM software revenue will reach $23.9bn (£14.53bn) worldwide after enjoying moderate growth on the back of three strong years of investment. But spending on the tech is poised to explode in the coming years as third-platform IT trends - social media, mobile, big data and the Internet of Things - begin to thrive.

"CRM will be at the heart of digital initiatives in coming years," said Joanne Correia, research vice president at Gartner. "This is one technology area that will definitely get funding as digital business is crucial to remaining competitive. Hot areas for CRM investment include mobility, social media and technologies, web analytics and e-commerce."

The banking, insurance, security, telecoms, consumer and pharmaceuticals markets will be the biggest spenders on CRM tech because of the wide variety of use cases for the tech, said Gartner, which also pointed to their strong presence in emerging economies as another driver behind the expected spending boost.

The changing dynamic between customers and businesses driven by social media and the widespread use of smartphones will be a key driver behind adoption of CRM tech in businesses, said Gartner, which added that the emerging Internet of Things trend will be another market booster.

"As cars, buildings, bodies and chairs are connected to the internet and as the price of sensors and communications drops down towards $1, the automotive, construction, healthcare and hospitality industries, among many others, will be transformed," said Gartner.

"At the forefront of this shift will be sales, marketing and customer service departments in promoting, selling and supporting the new services."

But the cloud boom for CRM has come to an end, Gartner warned.

"Cloud is a decade old now in CRM, having started back in the late 1990s with the rise of application service providers," it said.

"In many ways, the low-hanging fruit for cloud adoption has already been picked. The remaining areas of CRM application functionality will be ever harder to adopt in a cloud delivery model, so the switch to cloud will steadily slow."