This IDC study examines on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) providers in terms of global revenue in 2005 and presents a five-year forecast for the period from 2006 through 2010. This delivers IDC's preliminary market estimate for 2006 based upon three quarters of revenue information. Included are observed trends and vendor competitive analysis. The forecast in this document is the first to be produced by IDC for the worldwide on-demand CRM applications market.

"Revenue from on-demand CRM applications still makes up a small percentage of the overall CRM applications market. However, the model is performing two important functions: giving end-user organizations added application options and a rapid deployment option and giving suppliers a rapid development and delivery model," said Mary Wardley, vice president, CRM Applications research.

"CRM applications have a commanding presence with software that is delivered on demand," said Erin Traudt, senior analyst, Software as a Service research. "These types of applications combined with the on-demand delivery model appear to have a natural synergy, helping to make the combination appealing to end users struggling with their customer relationship management needs."