Telecom CRM, e-commerce and analytics market to reach $1.3 billion in 2010.

A new study from telecom market research and consulting firm Dittberner Associates predicts resurgent growth in the market for CRM and related customer assurance software. The report, entitled "Telecom Customer Assurance & Analytics," sizes the telecom industry market for such software at $997 million in 2005 and forecasts healthy growth to $1.3 billion in 2010. While the CRM market has certainly declined since its dotcom heyday, the Dittberner report cites the complexity of pricing, promoting and personalizing next-generation telecom services as the main driver for telcos to pay greater attention to CRM-related issues. While the report sees CRM on the climb again, it cautions that the character of the CRM market has fundamentally changed. Most telecoms already own the desktop tools they need to efficiently capture and integrate customer behavioral and demographic data. Where Dittberner sees future growth is in the analysis of these data. In effect, telecoms have merely "scratched the surface of knowledge" that can be leveraged from their daily interaction with customers, operations, services, networks and salespeople. As a result, the report points to the opportunity--not for analytics software alone--but for a combination of analytics software, industry consulting and analytics experts who know how to build customized analytic apps.

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