It's a mess: CRM vendor admits shambles

The admission came from Monica Visconti, European CRM marketing manager at US CRM vendor Remedy. She told silicon.com: "I wouldn't want to be a buyer in this marketplace at the moment - it is too confusing.

"It is not helped by the fact that no-one knows quite how to measure ROI (return on investment). We measure customer satisfaction, and customer retention, but the truth is there is no Utopian algorithm to work it out," she said.

Remedy claimed the situation has got so bad the company has commissioned a research project from Cambridge University and IDC to work out how to bring some clarity to the market.

Analysts agree that the CRM market is in a mess. In March, a report by Butler Group claimed CRM vendors are guilty of delivering a "fashion-parade of shoddy solutions" to the industry.

Teresa Jones, research analyst at Butler Group, said many implementations haven't fulfilled promises. However, she doesn't think the need for CRM should be questioned, merely the way it is sold and implemented.

"There have been a lot of woolly ROI figures generated - which in the end just haven't been achieved," she said.

Other analysts say vendors have added to the confusion by misselling systems to customers who aren't likely to benefit from them.

Gerry Brannan, consultant at the global CRM service line at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, said customers are starting to reassess their investments in the wake of these problems.

However, most vendors deny the problems are this severe. Phil Robinson, VP of international marketing at Siebel, said: "I don't think there's mass confusion. We do regular audits of our customers, and on average they increase revenue by 20 per cent and get ROI in 10 months from our software."