SAP boasts on-demand CRM win

German software giant SAP has announced a deal to provide on-demand CRM to Capita Insurance Services.

The deal sees Capita Insurance Services build upon an existing relationship with SAP. The insurance division of the UK services giant already uses applications from SAP for insurance portfolio.

Further deployments, including SAP Marketing on-demand solution, are expected.

Jeremy Locke, business development director, Capita Insurance Services, said the deal reflects Capita's commitment to delivering long-term value to customers.

He said the on-demand model offers "a flexible solution to deliver fast results while also providing the seamless transition to strategic CRM".

Speaking at the Gartner CRM Summit, Julian Johnson, VP CRM solutions EMEA at SAP, claimed the win is a major endorsement of the company's month-old on-demand service.

The competition are yet to be convinced however. Anthony Lye, group VP CRM products at Oracle-Siebel, said it is too early to start talking up the strengths of a service which only launched in February.

Lye told delegates at the London conference it would be premature to consider SAP's CRM on-demand service a tried and tested competitor to more established services.