The Top On-Premise CRM Vendors

The demand for on-premise CRM solutions remains strong as organizations of all sizes are choosing to maintain full control over their customer relationship management environments. Read on to learn who’s buying on-premise CRM and who the top vendors in this market are.

On-Premise CRM Has Vendor and User Support

In spite of the increasingly loud “buzz” surrounding hosted or on-demand software solutions (also commonly referred to as software as a service, or SaaS), the demand for on-premise customer relationship management (CRM) applications has remained rather strong.

In fact, a recent report issued by industry analyst firm Tier 1 Research forecasts compound annual growth in the on-premise CRM market. While this expansion is not nearly as rapid as that which is expected in the on-demand CRM sector, it is still quite solid and demonstrates a continued need for customer relationship management applications that are deployed and maintained on-site.

Why do some businesses still prefer to purchase on-premise CRM solutions, as opposed to their hosted counterparts (which many say are far more economical)? For many companies, the numerous risks associated with allowing a third-party to manage confidential customer data is simply too much to tolerate. For others, the flexibility, integration, and customization capabilities that on-premise CRM solutions offer far outweigh the advantages of SaaS-based applications. And some companies like the idea of maintaining full control over their CRM environment – a comfort that only on-premise CRM applications can truly provide.

But, which on-demand CRM applications are these companies buying? And who are the leaders in the on-site CRM marketplace?

Large enterprises have been, by far, the slowest to buy into the on-demand approach, since they usually have the funding in place and the staff resources available to throw behind a major on-premise CRM project. That’s why it’s really no surprise that the vendors that have the strongest foothold with the bigger organizations – including SAP, Siebel (which has been acquired by Oracle), and ONYX are among the top on-premise CRM solution providers. In fact, SAP is the industry leader in this space, according to Gartner and other industry experts, primarily because of their prominence among the Fortune 2000 and Global 5000 companies.

But, on-premise CRM isn’t all about the large enterprises that have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on customer relationship management initiatives. Many mid-sized organizations also prefer the increased control and agility that an on-premise CRM system can deliver. So, several vendors who appeal to the mid-market, such as Microsoft, Maximizer, Pivotal, and Sage Software, also garner significant market share among today’s on-premise CRM buyers. It’s important to note that, although Microsoft has been the clear leader here for some time, the larger on-premise CRM vendors are now looking to capitalize on this market as well.

Even those vendors that specifically address the needs of small businesses have come to realize that, in spite of all the on-demand hoopla, on-premise CRM is undoubtedly here to stay. Solution providers such as C2CRM, Commence, TechExcel, and others still offer on-site customer relationship management solutions to those small companies that, even though it may be easier on the budget, don’t want to outsource their CRM operations.