CRM Projects Shifting from Internally to Externally Focused Apps, Consultancy Finds

In addition, Yankee predicted that vendors in this market that moved beyond historical or operational data analysis based on pre-built models, towards real-time, multi-channel interactive communications will begin to win more budget dollars. Vendors in this space include Teradata, Epiphany, Chordiant and Unica.

Finally, since edge applications rely on multiple heterogeneous systems and have heavy integration requirements, vendors that not only assist with application integration needs but also aggregate customer activity data from a variety of transaction and analytical systems will benefit. Customer data integration technologies enable a comprehensive customer view that can be embedded as part of an existing business process that triggers the best course of action for elements such as alerts, events and recommendations.

Recommendations for Enterprises

What's an enterprise to do in the face of this move toward dynamic CRM? Yankee believes that companies should upgrade their CRM system within the next 12 to 18 months. "Moving to the most current version of SAP, Siebel, Oracle or PeopleSoft will make it easier to externalize data locked away in traditional client/server architectures," the consultancy wrote.

In addition, companies should leverage their existing investments in analytic and content management tools. "For example, Teradata is not just a data warehouse vendor and Vignette is no longer just a content management vendor," Yankee wrote. "These vendors offer packaged technologies that enable dynamic dialog with customers."

And finally, Yankee warns against just providing a 360-degree view of the customer through data integration. "Make the view more valuable through actionable and relevant alerts, recommendations and triggered business processes," the consultancy advised.