Contact Center and CRM Software Top the “Most Wanted” List in Industry Study of Top Tech Companies

SAN DIEGO--The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA), the largest and most influential association for technology service and support professionals, today announced the findings of new research on “Service and Support Technology Spending - Market Sizing and Spending Plans for North American Technology Companies.”

The study, developed by SSPA Vice President of Research (and former Forrester analyst) John Ragsdale, represents the first annual member survey of service and support technology, tracking budgets for new technology, as well as chronicling which functional components are finding adoption by SSPA members, which vendors’ technology is in place, and how satisfied members are with their technology purchases.

According to Ragsdale, the SSPA estimates that approximately $565 million will be spent in 2007 in North America on eService, CRM, contact center and field service technologies by large technology companies (those with more than $1 billion revenue). Spending by small and medium enterprise (SME) technology companies will be around $884 million.

“As companies in more industries recognize that the service experience is a major contributor to long term customer value, spending on customer service and support technologies remains strong,” says Ragsdale. “With vendors competing head to head for most deals, this continued spending is driving innovation as technology providers develop new approaches to streamlining customer interactions and making each customer contact more effective, whether assisted or unassisted.”

Methodology & Findings

The SSPA surveyed vice president and director level executives from over 175 companies on their North American budgets for service and support technology, as well as spending plans, current technology, and satisfaction with technology in 21 product areas.

Key research findings include:

• Nearly half of all surveyed companies have budgets for new service and support technology over $1 million. Seventeen percent of these companies have a budget over $10 million; 31 percent have budgets ranging from $1 million to $10 million.
• Fifty-three percent of large companies have budgets over $1 million; 20 percent have a budget over $10 million; 33 percent reported budgets in the $1 million to $10 million range.
• Sixty-two percent of overall spending will be allocated to contact center and CRM software. The largest percentage of spend, 36 percent, is allocated to contact center applications, with CRM coming in second with 26 percent of planned spending.
• Web chat and collaboration tools look to show considerable growth for 2007, with 22 percent of large companies indicating they plan to purchase these types of eService solutions.

“Spending by large technology companies on products that impact the ‘soft side’ of the customer experience like quality monitoring, skills based routing, and even enhanced voice self-service, is trending up,” according to Ragsdale. “Mid-market companies have been doing more CRM spending than their enterprise counterparts in the last 2 years, and this trend appears to be continuing, with the largest portion of spending by SMEs, 35 percent, on CRM technology.”

About the SSPA

As the industry’s foremost professional association, the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) is a key resource for the information and best practices needed to make better business decisions. It brings together the best minds from across the industry spectrum – from established companies with successful track records to the pioneering newcomers with out-of-the-box ideas. The SSPA also partners with thought leaders like J.D. Power and Associates and the Wharton School of Business to create programs that benefit the industry. The SSPA is part of the Point B group of associations. For over 16 years, Point B has successfully managed industry groups, including the Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA). For more information, visit www.thesspa.com.