A moribund economy, a stagnant CRM industry, an underpenetrated small and mid-size market -- and poised for entry is a monolithic software vendor that happens to be on just about every desktop already. Is the perfect storm brewing in the CRM industry? This is, of course, the question everyone is asking right now. It is widely expected that Microsoft, which is scheduled to release its CRM application later this year, is going to shake up the CRM industry. Exactly how, though, remains to be seen.
For the most part, the consensus is that the vendors likely to be affected in the short run are those that have traditionally targeted the small business market: FrontRange, SalesLogix, First Wave, OnContact, WorldTrak and -- to a lesser extent because they offer hosted applications instead of licensed software -- Salesforce.com and UpShot.
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