CRM / Call Center News:

SaaS CRM making millions

By Barney Beal, News Director

06 Dec 2007 | SearchCRM.com

The market for CRM delivered as a service got a shot in the arm this week as Salesforce.com announced that it will reach one million subscribers this month.

Both moves come the same week that

NetSuite plans to use the proceeds of its IPO to pay off investors and build a second data center. The expected date for the filing is December 21.

Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Salesforce.com expects to reach one million paying subscribers later this month. Salesforce.com was the first SaaS CRM vendor RightNow Technologies.

"Our strategy of delivering both the Force.com Platform-as-a-Service and Salesforce core Software-as-a-Service applications has driven a remarkable shift in the industry over the last eight years," Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com, said in a statement. "It took seven years to reach the first 500,000 paying subscribers and only another 16 months for the second 500,000. That's incredible global momentum and adoption for businesses of all sizes. For a million subscribers around the world, it's truly 'The End of Software.'"

As of October 31, Salesforce.com had 38,100 customers. As part of the milestone, the Salesforce.com Foundation is donating $1 million across 10 charities.