Aberdeen Group Launches CRM Practice in Europe; Aberdeen Provides Market Analysis, Positioning Services, and Strategic Consulting to CRM Vendors Competing in European Markets.

Business/Technology Editors

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8, 2001

Aberdeen Group, an IT market analysis and positioning services firm, today announced the European launch of its CRM practice. A leading authority in the Customer Relationship Management market since 1994, Aberdeen now provides comprehensive global CRM coverage and in-depth local coverage of European market dynamics.

"With a presence in Amsterdam, Aberdeen combines European business dynamics with a thorough understanding of the CRM marketplace. This powerful combination will help our clients create, position, and sell their products and services with strategies that are sound from business and technological perspectives," said Tom Willmott, Aberdeen Group CEO. "By leveraging our broad CRM expertise, we provide European CRM suppliers and IT managers with strategic information about both US and European competitive markets. We also provide North American CRM suppliers with strategic consulting and customized research specifically targeted to their overseas endeavors."

Research Analyst Ute Appenzeller is the first member of the European CRM team. Working with her colleagues in the US, Appenzeller will cover the European CRM market, including marketing automation, e-Marketing and personalization, sales force automation, sales effectiveness systems, customer service, customer support, partner relationship management, help desk and infrastructure management, field service, call centers and contact centers, enterprise-focused handheld devices, and personal digital assistants. In the European CRM space, Appenzeller will follow the deployment of vertical CRM applications, the integration of multiple channels into contact centers, and the impact of the ASP model on CRM applications.

"A new ASP model is developing, which may have far-reaching implications on the CRM industry and the way CRM companies are valued," says Appenzeller. For more information on this topic, download The Evolving CRM-ASP Model, a free Aberdeen White Paper at: http://www.aberdeen.com/crmeurope.

European clients will now have access to CRM@Aberdeen, a survey-based advisory service that combines primary research, analysis, research publications, and marketing consulting services. They will also benefit from a new European CRM Market Research Report, which will examine the European CRM market and provide comprehensive profiles of CRM suppliers competing in Europe.

About Aberdeen

Aberdeen Group is a market analysis and positioning services firm that helps information technology vendors establish leadership in emerging markets. Steeped in technology and armed with end-user field research, Aberdeen answers clients' critical business and technology questions in the context of the Internet economy and across the product life cycle. Founded in 1988, Aberdeen is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and has research divisions in Palo Alto, California, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Aberdeen is on the Web at www.aberdeen.com. For more information about the CRM practice, email [e-mail].