InformationWeek

Most CRM vendors have strength in certain areas, but those specializations aren't enough for business-to-business users. Traditional CRM leader Siebel is branching out beyond sales, marketing, and channel support and even call-center service. Pivotal Corp., recognized for its automated customer, partner, and enterprise features, and Onyx Software Corp., a platform vendor that provides automated sales, marketing, and customer-service needs, are adding new communications and business-process capabilities. Remedy has added a full suite of automated sales, marketing, and customer-service applications to its product line, and SalesLogix Inc. combines CRM with contact management, sales, and marketing automation--but additional Web features are needed.

Vendors seem to be seeking quick ways to add missing functionality, and deals have been rampant during the last few months. In February, Kana Communications Inc. revealed its $4.2 billion merger with Silknet Software Inc. to get Extensible Markup Language-based sales and marketing automation. Epiphany Inc. last month bought Octane Software Inc. for more than $3 billion to round out its Internet-based communications management, and Vignette Corp., a leading content-management provider, is attempting to broaden its basic suite with E-commerce and personalization features acquired from DataSage Inc. Vantive was acquired by PeopleSoft Inc. for $433 million in October, the same month Clarify Inc. was bought for $2.1 billion by Nortel Networks Corp.

Industry experts predict even more consolidation in the CRM market. John Bartlette, Siebel's senior director of Internet products, says customers want to extend their reach into partners' organizations. Analysts expect Siebel to forge acquisitions to round out its offerings and boost its internal developments.

Vendors that were focused strictly on the consumer end of CRM, such as eGain Communications Corp., are adding voice-over-IP capabilities to provide integrated communications management. Oracle, SAP, and other enterprise applications vendors are also gearing up with their own versions of CRM functions.

Most of these developments are promising, but "no one has all the integration pieces in place and many do not have skilled professional-services teams with best practices to forge the integration and provide adequate training," says Karen Smith, an Aberdeen Group senior analyst. She says it will take quite awhile for the marketplace to shake itself out.

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