An interesting article here discusses the demise of standalone enterprise CRM, but definitely not the end of spending on customer management rather than traditional CRM.

Three years ago, at an industry trade conference, Tom Siebel, then CEO of Siebel Systems Inc., first uttered the words, "CRM is dead." While standalone enterprise CRM may be waning, don't be mistaken in thinking that there isn't a need to properly interact with your customers.

"It's hard to say CRM is dead -- that implies the processes are no longer relevant," Rob Bois, analyst with Boston-based AMR Research Inc said. "It's just that processes can no longer be contained in one application category. We've been talking to more and more clients to ask how they get more value out of technology with customer-facing business problems. Rather than [sales force automation], they're looking at processes that run into order fulfillment. It's not just about the front office."

AMR predicts that spending will rise 8% next year, but measures the spending on customer management rather than traditional CRM. Customer management focuses beyond the traditional pillars of CRM in sales, marketing and customer service and on processes and technology like inquiry-to-order applications. According to a recent survey from AMR, 91% of companies intend to increase spending on customer management.

via DealArchitectPrashanth RaiTag(s):CRM, Enterprise