Sage Software Acquires Mobile CRM Provider

Sage Software, the U.S. subsidiary of UK parent Sage Group, has acquired Corum Corporation, a privately held software consulting and development company that specializes in mobile CRM technology.

Sage has partnered with Corum for several years, integrating the Canada-based firm's mobile platform with the SalesLogix mobile sales and field service automation products that are available in the North American markets.

With Corum folded into Sage, the latter company will be able to expand upon the Corum product's functionality and deploy it globally, Dave Batt, senior vice president and general manager of Global CRM for the Sage Group, told CRM Buyer.

Sage plans on introducing Corum's functionality in other markets in Europe and Asia. It will be easier to mount a global campaign for a Sage product than for a product offered by an ISV (independent software vendor) partner, Batt noted.

Eventually, Sage will extend Corum as a mobility platform across multiple product lines -- including ACT, Sage CRM and SageCRM.com -- rather than limiting it to the Saleslogix family. "It will be ubiquitous across Sage," he said, although other mobility offerings will remain available.

BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm

"This acquisition provides a path to enhance our best-of-breed client access environments for Sage CRM SalesLogix," said Elvin Monteleone, Sage Software senior vice president and general manager for Sage CRM Solutions. Corum's platform supports most wireless devices, among them RIM's BlackBerry line and devices that run on Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Mobile, including some Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) products.

"We have noted a significant growth of interest in mobile CRM in our customer base in North America, and in conversations with our partners and prospective customers," he added.

Growing Demand

After many false starts by vendors -- as well as weaker than expected demand over the years -- it appears that mobile CRM is now poised for wider adoption. Forty-seven percent of organizations polled in a recent survey by the Aberdeen Group indicated they planned to expand use of mobile CRM technology within the next six months.

The mobile enterprise market in North America is set to reach US$7.4 billion in revenues by 2012 from $642.2 million today, according to a separate study by Frost & Sullivan. There are 55 million mobile workers in North America, a figure that translates into approximately 45 percent of the total workforce, the study notes.

"An out-of-office mobile enterprise solution is pivotal in today's competitive business environment due to the large on-field/traveling workforce," observes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Samir Sakpal. "Mobile enterprise technologies, coupled with robust applications, can help ensure that organizations are able to maximize customer satisfaction at a reduced total cost, thus generating positive revenue and profitability figures."