IDC Says Oracle's Is The Fastest-Growing European Customer.

In their May 2000 report on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Applications market in Western Europe - 'Preliminary Results: Customer Relationship Management Applications Vendor Ranking 1998-1999,' IDC confirmed that in the area of customer support and call centers, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) is the fastest growing software vendor with a staggering 1500 percent growth year on year and an increased market share of nine percent. Furthermore, with CRM applications in Western Europe growing at more than 74 percent in 1999 overall, Oracle is now ranked number two in terms of revenue and marketshare on the IDC table of License and Revenues for CRM applications with a year on year growth of 232 percent, compared to 63 percent over a similar period the previous year.

IDC confirmed that integration of CRM with core ERP systems is a strategic imperative for today's e-businesses. "IDC research shows that among companies that have deployed a CRM solution only a small percentage have integrated their CRM solution with their core ERP system and their Business Intelligence solution (Data Warehousing). Integration is a point that both CRM vendors and companies alike will have to address in the future," says Anders Munk Ebbesen, senior research analyst, IDC.

The Oracle E-Business Suite Releaselli, shipping now, provides applications with out-of-the-box integration that allows companies to completely automate their e-businesses from marketing, selling, service and support, all the way through to Internet supply chain and procurement. This tight integration achieves a 360-degree view of customer-related activities throughout the enterprise. The Oracle E-Business Suite gives companies complete information about their customers as parts of the suite.

Customer interactions can be synchronized over the web, email, field and call center, enabling businesses to offer their customers greater flexibility and ultimately greater satisfaction in terms of how they communicate with the company. Global operations can be achieved and comprehensive real-time business intelligence is provided throughout the suite via a single, centralized information set.