This IDC study shows the relative infancy of the Australian small and medium-sized business (SMB) market for customer relationship management (CRM) applications, particularly in the low-end segment. However, there is still room for vendors to carve out sizeable market positions in this under-penetrated market.

"To target this market, it is important to remember that, unlike enterprise customers, the decision SMBs have to make does not have to do with "which CRM application to use" but "whether to adopt a CRM application or not. Customer education is, therefore, a must based on an understanding of SMBs' IT requirements," says Chris Chong, market analyst, Software Research, IDC Australia.

"SMBs require flexible software and tools to quickly respond to changes. Their software platforms must also offer strong capabilities to manage system administrative functions so that their ongoing costs of ownership can stay low. CRM applications for SMBs should, therefore, have the capability to be rapidly reconfigured, implemented, integrated, and being rolled out in modular phases across all their customer interaction points. IDC is optimistic that the SMB segment will emerge to become an engine for growth in the Australian CRM market by 2007," he further adds.