Briefs

The worldwide CRM market grew 11.5 percent in 2006 to just under $6.5 billion in revenue; while SAP continues to dominate, Oracle Corp. sees both its revenue and its market share slip.

by Coreen Bailor, July 10, 2007

The CRM software market continued its growth streak in 2006, though at a slightly slower pace, according to recently unveiled research from Gartner. Total software revenue swelled year-over-year by 11.5 percent from $5.81 billion to $6.48 billion, a slight decrease from the 13.7 percent growth rate the sector enjoyed in 2005. The firm classifies software revenue as income accrued from new licenses; updates; subscriptions; and hosting, technical support and maintenance--and excludes professional services and hardware revenue.

The document, "Market Share: CRM Software Market, Worldwide, 2006," points to several factors contributing to the market's growth, including continued buyer interest in leveraging applications intended to boost customer acquisition and retention efforts. "Businesses still have a lot of cash, and they're still really willing to invest in technologies that will help them grow their profitability, so that level of confidence really helped out the market," says Sharon Mertz, a research director at Gartner and author of the document.

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SAP again captured the heftiest chunk of the market, amassing $1.67 billion in revenue and a 25.7 percent market share, an increase over its 2005 revenue of $1.49 billion and 2005 market share of 25.6 percent. Meanwhile, Oracle Corp.'s combined revenue, including results from its PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems acquisitions, was strong enough to grab the second position, but the combined company slipped considerably further behind SAP. Oracle's $1.02 billion in revenue represented a significant decrease from its 2005 revenue of $1.33 billion, while its market share plummeted from 22.9 percent to 15.7 percent.

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