Though mobile CRM previously has accounted for less than 10 percent of total customer relationship management revenue in the United Kingdom, it will exceed traditional CRM growth rates and account for 20 percent by 2010 as the market matures, according to research firm Visiongain, London.
“In 2001, extending enterprise applications to a wireless environment was touted as the 'next big thing' and nothing happened,” Visiongain report author Marcia Kaplan said in a statement. “At that time, security, usability problems with handheld devices and costs were the major impediments.”
However, Kaplan said, “after investing in the necessary technology and outfitting their field personnel with mobile devices, businesses are looking to maximize their investment and mobile CRM is the next rational step.”
Mobile CRM will grow, but there are barriers to entry, the report found. A traditional CRM deployment usually involves a software vendor and the end user. With a mobile deployment, however, the number of participants is more extensive. Typically a mobile CRM implementation involves a software vendor, a middleware vendor, possibly a systems integrator, a device manufacturer and a wireless operator.
Visiongain said this complexity makes partnerships crucial in this market.
Meanwhile, the UK's Mobile Data Association reported this month that a record was set in Britain, with 2.9 billion SMS messages sent in October and an average of 93.5 million text messages sent a day.
Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
