CRM/Salesforce Automation/Analytics

Customer Relationship Management

There are no surprises here as yet again packaged applications giants SAP, Oracle and Microsoft secure top spots. However, as pointed out in the "Customer Management Spending Report, 2005 - 2006" from AMR Research, CRM software licensing is declining, while Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers are gaining traction. AMR suggests that software vendors need to start taking the hosted applications model, or SaaS, very seriously as a deployment option. Readers' Choice top CRM player, SAP, has already indicated plans to launch a hosted CRM product in the near future. It's a niche that Oracle also entered when it acquired Siebel Systems, the developer of Siebel CRM OnDemand. Only eight months after formally acquiring PeopleSoft, Oracle's acquisition of Siebel puts impending pressure on niche providers such as Salesforce.com and CAS.

But in the mean time, Salesforce.com is enjoying a 15 percent increase in total revenue for the third quarter of 2005, and a 78 percent increase year to year.
All this aside, Gartner Research Director Dale Hagemeyer doesn't look for ASP to be much of a play in the next five years when it comes to the consumer goods market. "Getting CG companies to automate is tough. Getting them to outsource to an ASP in a multi-tenant environment is even tougher."
If Hagemeyer's predictions ring true, big players will continue to prevail in 2006. "In the end, pricing and deployment flexibility will emerge as the deciding factors," says Robert Bois, research director, AMR Research. 

Breakout Winners
Customer Experience
In the consumer goods industry, one key to success is a company's ability to increase customer value and broaden its center-store presence while managing costs. Using CAS' CPWerx, Del Monte now has a clear picture of what it is spending and how that spending compares to the funding authorized. "The visibility
we have through [CAS' CPWerx] is invaluable to us at Del Monte," says Doug Groth, director of trade promotions, Del Monte.

Small/Midsize business
For a smaller company with limited resources and employees, customer service can be a daunting task if you don't have quick access to information. "Before [implementing Microsoft Business Solutions-Axapta], our customer service department had to get off the phone, look at three or four screens, go into a file
cabinet, and call a warehouse to track a shipment," says Mike Forte, project manager for Giant Bicycle USA. "Now they can see the whole shipment process
on the screen, right at their fingertips."

SALES FORCE AUTOMATION & ANALYTICS

Breakout Winners
Customer Experience
The right SFA and analytical tool can improve the quality of information offered to retailer partners. Interactive Edge's XP3 Suite gave ConAgra one face to the customer across the 65 categories in which it competes.

Small/midsize business
GOOD Technology found mid-market success because it allows CG firms to choose their preferred wireless carrier, platform, network and device.

Sales Force Automation & Analytics

The five companies in this category -- while their offerings vary from traditional SFA tools to presentation and analytical tools -- all made the cut because they equip the CG sales force with customer-facing information and intelligence. As expected, Siebel ranked No. 1 in the newly added Sales Force Automation & Analytics category. Siebel CRM OnDemand enables sales organizations to shorten the sales cycle by having all relevant customer information at their fingertips. Coming in second is Eleven Technology, a provider of handheld software, who's current client roster touts Tasty Baking Co., Pepsi Bottling Group and P&G. "We think Eleven's focus on sales forecasting and its tight integration with SAP will allow us to make a quantum leap in how we serve our customers," says Vince A. Melchiorre, SVP and CMO of Tasty Baking Co. While not a traditional SFA vendor, Interactive Edge built a strong reputation with Anheuser-Busch, Diageo and PepsiCo for its XP3 Suite, a Microsoft PowerPoint-based analytic and presentation tool that transforms data into actionable insights.