Comparison of ERP and CRM Markets' Life cycle Snapshots
P.J. Jakovljevic - January 31, 2004

Introduction

The overall customer relationship management (CRM) market remains the land of opportunity but with many treacherous patches of quicksand for those who are uncertain about their footprint breadth in the field of either install base and product scope. It has been a "no brainer" the fact that the 2000s have been adverse years in the entire enterprise applications market. Following the whopping growth rates of the late 1990s, and the spending surge on sexy e-business-related technology in 2000, hard times worldwide in almost all sectors have subsequently morphed into harrowing times for all enterprise systems providers alike. While the biggest and the richest vendors have been able to hang onto flat new sales, experiencing modest declines, or, in other cases, modest growth, only a lucky and the most apt few with true differentiation in a selected number of markets (e.g., warehouse management and supply chain execution [SCE] or supplier relationship management [SRM]) have even bucked the trend and have shown some enviable growth of late (see The Hidden Gems of the Enterprise Application Space)...