SaaS CRM demand highest in Australia, New Zealand

By Peter Dinham
Thursday, 21 May 2009 16:24

Market

The SaaS CRM market is set for massive growth over the next four years in the Asia Pacific region, with demand in the Australia, New Zealand market easily the strongest, ahead of India and other countries in the region.

The overall APAC market for SaaS CRM currently sits at US$183 million for last year but with Springboard Research forecasting a huge jump to an estimated market value of US$570 million by 2012.

Springboard says demand for Saas CRM is highest in Australia and New Zealand, with 61% of potential buyers citing purchase plans in the next 12 months.

The research firm, its survey of 296 SaaS users in enterprises across the APAC region confirms that “SaaS CRM will remain one of the fastest growing markets in the region, as CRM penetration is still relatively low.”

According to Springboard’s Balaka Baruah Aggarwal, as organisations seek to better manage and ultimately reduce upfront IT-related expenditures “we expect SaaS-related spending to become a far larger percentage of total software spending, thereby ensuring strong ongoing growth.”

Aggarwal says that CRM is now the most frequently used on-demand application after email, with 29% of all respondents using SaaS CRM in their enterprises, and that a majority of SaaS CRM deals are done direct via face-to-face interaction with an account manager from the vendor, while online sales was the second most popular channel.
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