Larger organisations are showing more interest in online software applications, leading to further growth in customers for one of the sector’s leading vendors, Salesforce.com.
The hosted business application market, also referred to as software-as-a-service, has traditionally targeted small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) attracted by the flexibility of paying a per-user, per-month charge instead of an up-front licence fee.
Salesforce.com, which specialises in online customer relationship management (CRM) tools, has 22,000 customers with 444,000 individual users, up 66 per cent in a year, according to its latest financial results. Its largest customer has 7,500 users.
Earlier this year, SAP announced a similar on-demand CRM service, while Oracle and its recently-acquired subsidiary Siebel have also released hosted offerings. Microsoft is also trying to stake its claim.
‘SAP’s entry into the on-demand CRM market shows that large enterprises are increasingly demanding software-as-a-service CRM,’ said Forrester Research analyst Liz Herbert.
But vendors will have to develop their online products further, she says.
‘Many firms like the simplicity and ease-of-use that software-as-a-service CRM offers, but they also want the option to move to a full-functionality CRM,’ she said.
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