January 4, 2005

The battle rages on: Software, hosted, CRM, etc

Later this month Best Software will release an updated version of ACCPAC hosted CRM. CRM-Daily reports Chief among the improvements is increased scalability in Accpac CRM 5.7 and the accompanying service pack.

In addition to product development Best Software has also been concentrating on developing its channel skills, particularly in CRM. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes to make a major push for Accpac CRM

The entire SMB space from software, to hosted services to hardware is going to be a tough fight for many vendors. In the PC space the battle lines are pretty much drawn and set. Dell, HP, IBM/Lenova and Gateway will keep their existing customer basis with Dell continuing to inch forward. There's still lots of room for other vendors but they will be smaller players.

Services and IT integration will always be needed but its often under the radar and not hyped up like software and hardware is.

CRM and other software products...many customers will stick with their current providers, if anything because its a pain to switch providers. However, all the CRM providers such as NetSuite, Best, Microsoft, SAP, and others will be launching major pushes in advertising and in their sales channels. There are many smaller players like Icode that will do well by serving their current customers but also buy gaining a few and of course losing a few.

At the end of the day, I'd encourage vendors to INVEST HEAVILY in their channel. These guys/gals will make or break a deal. Also SMART demand generation and customer education - speaking to those customers who are still using Excel.

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