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The analytic CRM applications industry is expected to reach $3 billion by year's end, according to a recent survey conducted by research firm Datamonitor, and Nortel Networks and Broadbase are aiming to reach this market. Nortel, an Internet and communications provider, and Broadbase, an analytic and marketing automation applications provider, jointly have developed Nortel's Clarify Analytic Applications, which will launch by year's end. Integrated with its eFrontOffice solutions, Nortel's enhanced application will leverage Broadbase's analytics and marketing automation applications to offer increased flexibility when analyzing customer behavior. "We're bringing all the components together. Basically the CRM market is moving in the direction of analytics, so this was the main reason we affiliated with Broadbase, to provide the analytic step," says Lon Dentkoner, senior product marketing manager at Nortel. Clarify Analytic Applications are integrated into Nortel's eFrontOffice, an e-business suite and will help to segment customers based on revenue and profitability through such communication channels as phone, fax, e-mail and handheld devices. Dentkoner says Nortel can create personalized relationships, develop customer ad hoc reports and analyze information contained in its database without impacting real-time performance.
"Using that information, we can affect the way a contact comes in," Dentkoner says. "We can shape the way they're routed to the call center." Dave Handley, manager of support systems for Rockwell Automation, a Nortel Analytic Applications customer, says Broadbase's three-dimensional data set allows Rockwell to run a variety of customized reports without adding headcount. "The more we can analyze our customer data using the new solutions from Nortel Networks, the better decisions we'll be able to make," Handley says. Peggy Menconi, analyst at AMR Research in Boston, says the most important aspect of Nortel's new suite is the partnership with Broadbase. "It's not about what Nortel has, it's about what Broadbase brings to the party." In CRM, analytics is an important component right now. "They (Nortel) certainly have a leading edge application," Menconi says. "The interesting piece is they'll have a return on relationship. Having that information will be very useful as they manage customer relationships."
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