European Mobile Sales Force Automation Markets: Successful Pitching to Sales Organisations Critical to Sustaining Market Momentum

Business Wire, March 7, 2008

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c85260) has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report: European Mobile Sales Force Automation (SFA) Markets to their offering.

This Frost & Sullivan research service titled European Mobile Sales Force Automation (SFA) Markets provides an overview of the industry challenges, drivers, restraints as well as detailed revenue estimates for key segments. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets: wireless SFA, laptop/tablet PC and offline PDA/application SFA.

Market Increasingly Ready to Embrace Mobile SFA Solutions

Sales force automation (SFA) is a growing market. A small portion of the installed base is beginning to consider extending SFA applications to wireless devices. Mobile SFA, which includes disconnected laptops, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.6 per cent over the period 2007 to 2013. Frost & Sullivan estimates the market to generate EU 255.5 million in Europe in 2007. "Mobile SFA is the largest application segment after wireless e-mail in the mobile enterprise application market," notes the analyst of this research. "Surveys indicate an increase in market readiness to deploy these solutions." The key challenges facing the market include the complexity of the solution and cost predictability, particularly when the enterprise aims to scale the deployment in the post-pilot stage. The industry needs to ensure that the enterprise has abstracted from all the complexities in fulfilling a mobile SFA deployment.

Mobile middleware, as it is largely called, is an important component in this market. Dendrite, Dexterra, Sybase and Vettro offer industry-leading solutions to power mobile devices with SFA software. Delivery models such as 'Software-as-a-Service' continue to gain traction. SaaS specialists, such as Entellium and NetSuite, are maintaining their aggressive growth.

Successful Pitching to Sales Organisations Critical to Sustaining Market Momentum

Improvements in device capabilities, including memory and processing power, the rally for industry standard architecture such as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) by customers, the use of architecture standards such as J2EE and .NET and the support for a vibrant partner ecosystem to offer a solution is contributing to the momentum for growth in this market.

However, there are challenges as well. Current trends suggest that buyers are looking beyond functionalities. Product roadmaps and product lifecycle management are emerging as important parameters in sourcing decisions. "Support for offline functionality, openness, flexibility, usability and workflow are critical to gain end-user adoption," states the analyst. "However, the biggest challenge that mobile SFA vendors face is to effectively sell to the sales organisation."

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c85260