Briefs

Jan. 08, 2002. Spending by financial institutions on customer relationship management technology will be flat through 2003, prompting further consolidation among vendors in a hardscrabble economy, according to a study from Meridien Research Inc.

Global retail CRM spending, or business-to-consumer, essentially will stay at the 2001 level of $6.7 billion for this year and next, Meridien predicted in its report, "CRM Spending Update: Hitting the Wall or Taking a Time-Out?"

"It's a retrenchment," said Tom Richards, research director for CRM at Meridien, Newton, MA. "We used to see CRM spending growing at the rate of 24 percent a year. Eventually that has to stop."

See the full story at http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=18427