This study, analyzes the 2007 investment performance of the Japan solutions market as well as provides forecasts from 2008 to 2012. In 2007, the single deployment of customer relationship management (CRM) functions, such as sales force automation (SFA) and marketing, expanded. Moreover, the deployment of software as a service (SaaS)-CRM is making good progress. Customers' needs in terms of products and services diversify each year. Upon the basic approach of systemized vertical-divisional functions, such as SFA, marketing, customer service, and contact center, flexible approaches to the customers' changing requests are becoming difficult.

"There are three points that need to be conducted by solution vendors, such as marketing functional enhancement, skilled-up technologies, and continuous system improvement support," says Rinako Suzuki, research analyst, Software, IDC Japan.

Related Reports:
IDC Sales Leadership Board Meeting Notes: October 14 and 15, 2009
ChangeWave Research Report: Corporate Software Spending: 90 Day Outlook Yet Another Uptick - Software Spending Outlook Improves
Co-Branded and Affinity Credit Cards in the U.S., 3rd Edition
Vendor Assessment: Customer Care and Billing Industry Short List - Customer Care in the New Energy Economy
IT Support, CRM & Data Processing Services in the US - Industry Market Research Report
Understanding the TCO of SaaS CRM and KM in the contact centre
IT Support, CRM & Data Processing Services in the US - Industry Risk Rating Report
Marketing Investment Planner 2010: Benchmarks, Key Performance Indicators, and CMO Priorities
The State of the Art in Sales Enablement: An Intensive Study of Current Practices
Evolving Enterprise Applications 2009 - Increasing the Business Value of Investments in ERP and CRM