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CRM Vendors Get SOA Happy Top CRM vendors will be allocating ample page space on their road maps to service-oriented architecture (SOA), according to a new report from Gartner. The study explains that the hype surrounding SOA, in addition to its promise of flexibility, has left more companies desiring this architecture and more vendors looking to update their applications for SOA. The study focuses on the SOA development plans for what it describes as the four leading CRM vendors: Microsoft, Oracle/Siebel, SAP, and Salesforce.com. These vendors plan to build up their infrastructure software platforms and provide a range of business services to allow their customers the option of SOA, which will gain steady but slow adoption, according to the report.

Tailored Dynamics CRM for Office '07 and Vista Microsoft will release a new version of its Dynamics CRM software with functions that mesh with its forthcoming Vista OS and Office 2007 software, the company announced November 7. Microsoft also detailed a new licensing arrangement, where Dynamics CRM was added on December 4 to the same price list as its Dynamics ERP software suite. The move will simplify how customers order CRM and other products in the Dynamics line, according to Brad Wilson, general manager of Dynamics CRM. The new version shipped with Office 2007 and Windows Vista at the end of November.

Europe Eyes Mobility The mobility market continues to capture the interest of many European firms: They're devoting one third of their telecom and networking budgets to mobility, according to "The State of European Enterprise Mobility in 2006," a Forrester Research report. Of that one third 18 percent of budgets went toward mobile voice services in 2006, with the remaining 15 percent being allocated to mobile data services. (These findings are based on Forrester's survey of 301 executives at European enterprises.)

DataFlux Accelerates the Path to MDM and CDI DataFlux on November 8 released version 8 of its Data Quality Integration Platform, focusing enhancements on assisting companies with data governance and master data management (MDM) initiatives. "Many companies aren't ready to undertake MDM or CDI [customer data integration] projects yet, but they're ready for broader data quality initiatives," says Tony Fisher, president and CEO. "Version 8 is aimed at supplying them with the tools to take those starting steps."

SugarCRM Builds a Firm Foundation SugarCRM has become the latest open source vendor to simplify the installation and support of a full software stack comprising its own CRM application and other third-party offerings. The company on November 16 unveiled Sugar FastStack, a service to set up and support a stack of its Sugar Professional or Enterprise product.

Marketing Automation Grows at Autobahn Speeds Marketing automation is soon to become a marketing must, according to a Gartner study. "Predicts 2007: A Return to Growth Fuels Marketing Technology Spending" found marketing automation to be currently seeing a 16 percent annual growth rate, which is expected to remain in place through 2011. By 2010, the report predicts more than half of marketing staff in companies worldwide will be using enterprise software, as opposed to less than one fifth of staff today. New pressures, such as accountability and the prominence of the online consumer, will force companies to increase adoption of marketing automation tools. That will ultimately give marketing a higher level power of in an organization. (For the full stories and more news, visit destinationCRM.com.)

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