Sage launches global CRM business unit

Stan Beer
Friday, 21 October 2005 10:00

IT Industry - Strategy

Business management software provider Sage is pulling together its three CRM business units into a single unit and adding the Sage brand to all its CRM products, all of which will sit under the brand Sage CRM.

As part of the global initiative, Sage Software Australia's Sage ACT division has been rebranded Sage CRM.  The company will introduce a new product line into the market also known as SageCRM, which will close the gap between its existing ACT! customer and contact management and SalesLogix CRM offerings.

As a result of the launch, Sage Software Australia now has a dedicated CRM house targetingsmall and medium sized businesses (SMBs) across Australia.

According to the company, Sage's decision to create a global CRM organisation comes in response to market demand with the company identifying CRM to be a huge area of opportunity worldwide.  In Australia and New Zealand specifically, the market was estimated to be worth US$73.9 million in 2004 and looks set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.5% up until 2011, according to the latest report from industry analysts Frost & Sullivan.

Dave Batt, senior vice president and general manager of global CRM for Sage, will head up the new organisation which will be headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, US

Batt described the initiative as an exciting new chapter for Sage.  'This new global focus will allow us to bring together the shared knowledge of our marketing, development and management teams across the world to help drive the coordinated delivery of products that support the CRM needs of SMBs.'

Ross Stange, managing director of Sage CRM in Australia, welcomed the global strategy saying: 'Small businesses like working with other small businesses but want the added backing of a global organisation.'  He said the company would focus on taking its new SageCRM product line to market over the next three months and growing its customer base via its channel partners. 

The Sage announcement has had a luke warm response from at least some members of the analyst community. UK group Ovum was not impressed by what it described as the confusing naming. David Bradshaw, principal analyst, said: "It's no small cultural shift for Sage to do something globally like this. However, we still find ourselves underwhelmed by this announcement. Firstly, we think the naming is confusing - shouldn't Sage CRM be the core brand, not just one of the products?"