FrontRange To Target Verticals

FrontRange Solutions Inc., focusing on the manufacturing vertical market, has released a next-generation application to address the mid-market. GoldMine CustomerIQ for Discrete Manufacturing is a piece of software that the company says attempts to blend its established framework with a set of comprehensive solutions designed for the manufacturing market. As the first in a series of specialized, industry-specific applications that FrontRange is planning on releasing, GoldMine CustomerIQ for Discrete Manufacturing will include a number of features that the company hopes will distinguish itself in this vertical. Among those features are an advanced sales pipeline and project management function, as well as service and support functions specific to the manufacturing industry, such as the means to define, create, and track a customer's particular case or issue. In developing this product for the manufacturing industry FrontRange worked closely with its existing customer base to understand the specific needs of manufacturing-focused CRM, says Patrick Bultema, president and CEO of FrontRange Solutions. "As a result of this close collaboration," Bultema says, "customers no longer have to change their business models to use their applications, but rather can get up and running immediately with a solution that fits their business." Many industry analysts have stated that manufacturing will be one of the fastest growing and most profitable markets for CRM software in the next several years. Christopher Fletcher, vice president and research director of Boston's Aberdeen Group, believes that for CRM developers and providers to succeed, the coming wave of next-generation software will have to be keenly focused. "Customized vertical applications are the wave of the future for the CRM industry," Fletcher says. "Particularly for cost-sensitive, mid-market companies."