SaaS & PaaS are still on the uptrend
 
The advantages of a quick integration, little necessary EDP-infrastructures, availability at many locations and of the anytime mobile access to software and platforms continue to speak for the on-demand solutions SaaS and PaaS. They are becoming more and more attractive because of permanent enhancements and new development of functionalities, complete applications and individualizations that increase the scope of applications.

“Software as a Service becomes pre-eminent delivery platform for CRM”, Paul Greenberg, President of The 56 Group, LLC, co-chairman of Rutgers University's CRM Research Center and the Executive Vice President of the CRM Association.
Read more in his blog CRM 2009 Forecast.

 
Cloud computing establishes further
 
The new trend of cloud computing offers the possibility that applications and data are not anymore on local computers but on a cloud, distributed over many systems to which one can access via the Internet.

"The capital crunch of 2009 will put a spotlight on the advantages of cloud computing: less risk, no capital expenditure, predictable operating expenses and fast results", Marc Benioff, CEO of salesforce.com.
You can find more information about this trend in the article: 4 Tech Predictions for 2009.

 
Mobile CRM will continue in growth
 
The increasing need to be able to work with the firm-own CRM-system at any time from any place forces the trend of mobile CRM. Numerous applications that allow access to software with relevant customer and product data with mobile devices like laptops and PDAs already exist and will be developed further also this year.
„Mobile CRM will make its turning point in 2009 as the most sought-after CRM application”, Chris Buchholtz, Maximizer’s CTO, in the artcile 5 CRM predictions for 2009.

Following this trend salesforce.com offers a free, but functional restricted version of Salesforce Mobile since March 2009. Mobile Lite is available for users of the professional, enterprise and unlimited edition without mobile license and enables among other things the access to data sets of accounts, contacts and leads.
More information about Mobile Lite.

 
Proportion of Open Source CRM will increase
 
When choosing aspects of company specific optimal CRM-solutions like independence from software vendors and flexible tailored functionalities are becoming more important for many companies. Open source applications are therefore on the rise.

“Open-source software is not for businesses who want out-of-the-box complete applications, but it makes sense for companies that want to tailor every aspect of the CRM experience from the ground up”, David Hakala in his artikel The Top 10 Open-Source CRM Solutions on Inside CRM.

Nevertheless the vendor independence might also become a disadvantage, because there is no entitlement to guaranteeing and support services. In most cases Open Source solutions are only bad copies of commercial versions that often show integration problems with other applications. It is also a moot question how much vendors invest in security and performance.

 
CRM will continue to grow in the public sector
 
In recent years proven CRM-systems were increasingly established also in the public sector. This trend will continue this year to augment the efficiency of services.

„Growth in the public sector for social CRM continues in the face of recession - use of social tools accelerates rapidly in the federal, state and local government in the U.S. and elsewhere”, Paul Greenberg in his blog CRM 2009 Forecast.

 
Feedback 3.0
 
The increasing importance of feedback systems in companies is reflected in the trend towards Feedback 3.0. At first only a few persons expressed their opinion and experiences with products and services on the Internet(Feedback 1.0). Then this development tightened to a mass exchange to which companies paid rising attention to (Feedback 2.0). Now in Feedback 3.0 companies join the discussions.

„'Feedback 3.0' will become an intimate feature of most companies’ customer strategy”, Paul Greenberg. Read more about this topic in the blog CRM 2009.