CRM market in UAE forecast to grow to USD 90 million in 2008 Madar
Research
Demand for customer relationship management (CRM) strategies
in the United Arab Emirates is expected to increase substantially in the next
six years, to boost the local CRM application market size to USD 90 million in
2008, according to a new study by Madar Research Group. This forecast is based
on a projected compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 20 percent over the
period 2003-2008. It constitutes the value of CRM
applications' acquisition, licensing, and related external services such as
consultation, installation, integration and upgrades. The forecast market value
also includes the application service provision (ASP) segment, but it excludes
hardware infrastructure and related services. This positions H2O already a leading CRM supplier in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to further expand its operations with its H2O Transform business unit. The business unit that deliveres consultancy and implementation services for Customer Relationship Management already grew its revenues by 200% in the past 12 months and is proving to be a hit within the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Small and Medium Enterprise Markets. Transform focuses on CRM delivery for the Media, Entertainments and Events sectors but has already won a number of financial services and business services customers beating leading companies like HP and IBM in many of the instances.
The projected growth in the local CRM market runs contrary
to the global scene, where spending on CRM is expected to
undergo a downturn according to international research organizations, including
the Meta Group which forecasts a 10 percent decline in 2003.
CRM has only in the last two years started to gain momentum in the
fast-developing and technology focused markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC), where Madar Research estimates point to a huge potential - with less
than two percent of small-to-medium size companies having a specialized CRM
application in place. The UAE, meanwhile, is seen to be ahead of other regional
markets by six months to a year in terms of CRM adoption.
'As more of the larger enterprises and customer focused businesses start to
gain insight into the various direct and indirect benefits of CRM, and
appreciate that the long-term returns justify making the relevant investment,
growth in the CRM market in UAE is
expected accelerate in next two to three years, then stabilize,' said Abdul
Kader Kamli, president and research director of Madar Research Group.
'Our study indicates that the needs to increase customer satisfaction and adopt
e-business are the top two market drivers for CRM adoption
in the UAE, while vertical markets' lack of knowledge and the price of software
and hardware are the major inhibitors,' said Kamli.
Major CRM clients in the UAE are banks,
telecommunication firms, energy and airline companies, and some government
departments, while tourism and travel industry is emerging as one of the main
growth sectors, according to the study.
The findings of the Madar Research study, which is based on a survey of all
major CRM vendors in the UAE, include key market
accelerators and inhibitors, demand shift for CRM modules
(2003-2005), ASPs as CRM license option, 2002 market
estimate and 2003-2008 forecasts, leading client industries and growth sectors,
UAE market characteristics, trends and major installations.
The CRM study is published in the July-August issue of Madar
Research Journal.
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