Cloud-based CRM Applications Appeal to SMBsIn AMI-Partners' new research report titled U.S. SMB Cloud Services Study, the firm found that small- and medium-sized businesses are becoming more intrigued by the cloud and its abilities to improve customer relationship management and dental software through Software-as-a-Service applications.
According to the report, 570,000 SMBs currently use some form of SaaS-based CRM Solution. However, this number is expected to undergo double-digit year-over-year growth through 2015, while SaaS CRM spending will be four times the amount of traditional on-location CRM spending.
Because of the increased use of social media, many organizations are finding themselves more concerned about customer management and are being driven into the arms of the cloud in search of more advanced CRM solutions.
"Such market trends are creating the right conditions for the integration of social media with CRM applications for enhanced interactions with customers," said Jacqueline Atkinson, the research manager at AMI-Partners. "In fact, U.S. SMB CRM users are a third more likely to engage in social media activities for business than firms who do not use CRM."
According to Gartner Research, the SaaS market will exceed $20 billion by 2015. Customer relationship solutions are expected to represent a large portion of the market.