Top 10 CRM news headlines of 2007

Looking back at CRM news in 2007, this was a big year for mobile CRM, on-demand and Software as a Service (SaaS) CRM implementations, user-friendly applications and improving the customer experience. In this special report, we've collected SearchCRM.com's most popular headlines from the past year to give you an overview of the CRM market in 2007.

10. CRM vendors battle for market share -- In 2007, ISM ranked the top 15 CRM vendors and announced that SaaS and mobile CRM are here to stay. Forrester Research's ranking of CRM software vendors told a familiar tale, with Siebel and SAP coming out on top once again. Siebel also took the leader spot in Gartner's ranking of customer service software. But when a wave of reports from major analysts showed that SAP had taken the lead in CRM revenue from Siebel, the news was met with indifference by end users.

9. A focus on CRM software usability -- CRM users demanded easy to use, flexible applications this year, and vendors listened. Microsoft stressed usability and simple integration between its CRM and Office products, and Oracle promised its Fusion applications, scheduled for 2008, will include enhanced functionality and user-friendly Web 2.0 technology. Complaints from some customers who felt SAP's CRM applications were difficult to use were addressed in its latest product, SAP CRM 2007.

8. The release of Siebel 8.0 -- In early 2007 Oracle released Siebel 8.0, its first major upgrade since acquiring Siebel in 2006. The new product featured a task-based user interface (UI) and certification with Fusion middleware.

7. Mobile CRM isn't just for SFA anymore -- It seemed everyone was going mobile this year. Dell began marketing to college students via text message, and Subway's new My Subway Mobile program sent coupons to customer's cell phones. In addition, many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) made the move to mobile CRM.

6. Salesforce.com targets the back office -- Salesforce.com reached beyond its traditional SaaS CRM offerings this year, partnering with various software developers to bring SaaS to the back office.

5. Call center software vendors consolidate -- Verint Systems' purchase of Witness Systems this year meant more consolidation at the top of the call center software market. The combination brought together Verint's analytics applications with Witness's workforce optimization (WFO) technology.

4. Microsoft prepares for Titan -- Microsoft spent the year preparing for the release of its latest CRM application, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, codenamed Titan. The company expanded the number of international partners hosting its CRM application and announced lower-than-expected pricing for its new SaaS CRM application.

3. NetSuite's looming IPO -- Following the lead of on-demand CRM vendors Salesforce.com and RightNow Technologies Inc., NetSuite Inc. prepared for an initial public offering (IPO). The move proved that SaaS CRM is going strong.

2. CRM decisions make headlines -- The CRM decision-making of some big companies made headlines this past year. When a winter storm had JetBlue cancelling hundreds of flights and stranding customers on planes, the company implemented a "customer's bill of rights." And many people were outraged when Sprint cancelled service for hundreds of customers who made excessive calls to customer service, but some CRM experts felt it was a good move.

1. What lies ahead -- Gartner has urged people not to focus on CRM failure and predicted that the CRM market will continue to develop and grow in the coming years. The days of large CRM rollouts and small, tactical implementations are long gone -- many feel the next step for CRM is a combination of strategic and tactical deployments that focus on improving the customer experience.