Firms Face Critical Decision on AI-Driven CRM, ISG Says
Information Services Group (ISG) predicts that 50% of enterprises will need to modernize their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems by 2026 to leverage AI capabilities. Modern CRM systems have evolved from data repositories to AI-driven platforms that enhance sales effectiveness and customer service. The research evaluated 37 software providers across eight CRM categories, with Salesforce, Oracle, and HubSpot emerging as top leaders in multiple categories.
ISG emphasizes that outdated CRM systems force inefficient workarounds, while modern solutions offer integrated prospect engagement, standardized processes, and automated data collection. Enterprises now face a critical decision between reimplementing existing systems or switching providers to gain AI-driven capabilities.
Information Services Group (ISG) prevede che il 50% delle imprese dovrà modernizzare i propri sistemi di gestione delle relazioni con i clienti (CRM) entro il 2026 per sfruttare le capacità dell'IA. I moderni sistemi CRM si sono evoluti da semplici archivi di dati a piattaforme basate sull'IA che migliorano l'efficacia delle vendite e il servizio al cliente. La ricerca ha valutato 37 fornitori di software in otto categorie CRM, con Salesforce, Oracle e HubSpot che si distinguono come leader in più categorie.
ISG sottolinea che i sistemi CRM obsoleti costringono a trovare soluzioni inefficienti, mentre le soluzioni moderne offrono un coinvolgimento integrato dei potenziali clienti, processi standardizzati e raccolta automatizzata dei dati. Le imprese si trovano ora di fronte a una decisione critica tra la reimplementazione dei sistemi esistenti o il cambio di fornitore per ottenere capacità guidate dall'IA.
Information Services Group (ISG) predice que el 50% de las empresas necesitará modernizar sus sistemas de gestión de relaciones con clientes (CRM) para 2026 con el fin de aprovechar las capacidades de la IA. Los sistemas CRM modernos han evolucionado de simples repositorios de datos a plataformas impulsadas por IA que mejoran la efectividad en ventas y la atención al cliente. La investigación evaluó a 37 proveedores de software en ocho categorías de CRM, destacando a Salesforce, Oracle y HubSpot como líderes en múltiples categorías.
ISG enfatiza que los sistemas CRM desactualizados obligan a recurrir a soluciones ineficientes, mientras que las soluciones modernas ofrecen un compromiso integral con los prospectos, procesos estandarizados y recopilación automatizada de datos. Las empresas ahora enfrentan una decisión crítica entre reimplementar sus sistemas existentes o cambiar de proveedor para obtener capacidades impulsadas por IA.
정보 서비스 그룹 (ISG)는 2026년까지 50%의 기업이 인공지능(AI) 기능을 활용하기 위해 고객 관계 관리(CRM) 시스템을 현대화해야 할 것이라고 예측합니다. 현대 CRM 시스템은 데이터 저장소에서 판매 효율성과 고객 서비스를 향상시키는 AI 기반 플랫폼으로 진화했습니다. 이 연구는 8개 CRM 범주에 걸쳐 37개 소프트웨어 공급자를 평가했으며, 세일즈포스, 오라클 및 허브스팟이 여러 범주에서 주요 리더로 부상했습니다.
ISG는 구식 CRM 시스템이 비효율적인 우회 작업을 강요하는 반면, 현대적인 솔루션은 통합된 잠재 고객 참여, 표준화된 프로세스 및 자동화된 데이터 수집을 제공한다고 강조합니다. 기업들은 이제 기존 시스템을 재구현할지 또는 AI 기반 기능을 얻기 위해 공급자를 변경할지에 대한 중요한 결정을 내려야 합니다.
Information Services Group (ISG) prévoit que 50 % des entreprises devront moderniser leurs systèmes de gestion de la relation client (CRM) d'ici 2026 afin de tirer parti des capacités de l'IA. Les systèmes CRM modernes ont évolué d'entrepôts de données à des plateformes alimentées par l'IA qui améliorent l'efficacité commerciale et le service à la clientèle. La recherche a évalué 37 fournisseurs de logiciels dans huit catégories de CRM, avec Salesforce, Oracle et HubSpot qui émergent comme des leaders dans plusieurs catégories.
ISG souligne que les systèmes CRM obsolètes obligent à des solutions inefficaces, tandis que les solutions modernes offrent un engagement intégré des prospects, des processus standardisés et une collecte de données automatisée. Les entreprises doivent maintenant faire un choix crucial entre la réimplémentation des systèmes existants ou le changement de fournisseur pour obtenir des fonctionnalités alimentées par l'IA.
Information Services Group (ISG) prognostiziert, dass 50 % der Unternehmen bis 2026 ihre Kundenbeziehungsmanagement (CRM)-Systeme modernisieren müssen, um die KI-Funktionen zu nutzen. Moderne CRM-Systeme haben sich von einfachen Datenspeichern zu KI-gesteuerten Plattformen entwickelt, die die Verkaufseffizienz und den Kundenservice verbessern. Die Forschung hat 37 Softwareanbieter in acht CRM-Kategorien bewertet, wobei Salesforce, Oracle und HubSpot sich als führende Unternehmen in mehreren Kategorien herauskristallisierten.
ISG betont, dass veraltete CRM-Systeme ineffiziente Umgehungsarbeiten erfordern, während moderne Lösungen integrierte Kundenansprache, standardisierte Prozesse und automatisierte Datenerfassung bieten. Unternehmen stehen nun vor der entscheidenden Entscheidung, ob sie bestehende Systeme neu implementieren oder Anbieter wechseln sollen, um KI-gesteuerte Funktionen zu erhalten.
- ISG identifies clear market leaders across CRM categories, providing strategic direction for enterprise solutions
- Modern CRM systems offer AI-driven capabilities that enhance sales effectiveness and customer service
- New platforms provide integrated insights turning service into additional sales channels
- 50% of enterprises require significant CRM modernization by 2026, indicating substantial upgrade costs
- Current enterprise CRM approaches consume unnecessary resources and limit revenue growth
- Many existing CRM deployments are disconnected and heavily customized, making AI integration difficult
Insights
This research highlights a significant market shift in the CRM industry that could reshape the competitive landscape. The projection that
The comprehensive evaluation of 37 providers and clear market leadership identification (particularly Salesforce, Oracle and HubSpot dominating multiple categories) provides valuable competitive intelligence. For ISG specifically, this research strengthens their market position and advisory services credibility, potentially driving increased demand for their consulting and research services in the growing AI-CRM modernization market.
The research reveals a critical technological inflection point in the CRM market. The emphasis on AI integration isn't just a trend - it's becoming a fundamental requirement for competitive advantage. The identified gap between current CRM implementations and AI-ready systems presents a substantial market opportunity.
The consolidation of market leadership among a few key players (Salesforce, Oracle, HubSpot) across multiple categories indicates high barriers to entry and suggests potential market concentration. This dynamic could drive increased valuations for companies with advanced AI-CRM capabilities and create pressure for industry consolidation through M&A activity.
Half of enterprises will need to modernize CRM by 2026 to reap benefits of AI, new ISG research predicts
The ISG Buyers Guides™ for Customer Relationship Management, produced by ISG Software Research (formerly Ventana Research), say modern CRM systems have evolved from simple data repositories to complex, AI-driven platforms that help maximize sales effectiveness and achieve revenue and customer service targets.
These systems improve data management and deliver predictive analytics and insights that enable sales teams to understand and manage sales opportunities and engagement, and customer service teams to resolve customer issues and generate new revenue opportunities.
“CRM ensures that all customer-facing teams have access to up-to-date information, but outdated CRM systems can force teams to employ inefficient workarounds,” said Stephen Hurrell, director of research, Office of Revenue, ISG Software Research. “New data-driven AI technology is necessary to gain market and competitive insights, engage effectively and achieve optimal outcomes. To stay competitive, continuous alignment of CRM systems with business needs is imperative.”
Many enterprise approaches to CRM rely on scattered methods of interacting with customers and consume unnecessary resources, limiting revenue growth. Some providers have delivered add-ons that improve the ability of CRM systems to provide relevant, actionable insights, but the efficacy of these add-ons depends on the quality of the original base data, including customer information and activity records. The ISG report says enterprise CRM users now face a critical decision to reimplement existing systems or shift to a new provider to gain AI-driven capabilities.
Modern CRM systems should support integrated prospect and customer engagement, standardized processes and automated data collection. Newer capabilities, many driven by AI, are designed to improve the quality and speed of responses to customers and prospects. In the field of sales, these capabilities provide new insights into who and when to engage, and in the area of service, they provide more integrated insights into new opportunities that turn service into an additional sales and engagement channel.
For its 2024 Customer Relationship Management Buyers Guides, ISG evaluated software providers across eight CRM-related software categories – Suite, Platform, Digital Commerce, Marketing, Partners, Sales, Sales Engagement and Service. For each category, ISG produced a separate Buyers Guide. A total of 37 providers were assessed: Adobe, Akinon, Apollo.io, Aviso, BigCommerce, Clari, commercetools, Creatio, Elastic Path, Gong, HCLSoftware, HubSpot, Intershop, Kibo, Mediafly, Microsoft, Monday.com, Netsuite, Oracle, Outreach, People.ai, Revenue Grid, Sage, SalesDirector.ai, Salesforce, Salesloft, Sana, SAP, Shopify, Shopware, Spryker, SugarCRM, VTEX, Xactly, Zendesk, Zoho and ZoomInfo.
ISG Software Research designates the top three software providers as Leaders in each category. For the 2024 study, the leading providers in ranked order are:
CRM Basic: Oracle, Salesforce, Zoho
CRM Platform: Salesforce, Oracle, HubSpot
CRM Marketing: Salesforce, Oracle, HubSpot
CRM Partners: Salesforce, Oracle, HubSpot
CRM Sales: Salesforce, Oracle, HubSpot
CRM Service: Salesforce, Oracle, HubSpot
Digital Commerce: Salesforce, Oracle, Adobe
Sales Engagement: Oracle, Salesforce, Zoho
“Today’s CRM platforms should be intelligent systems that help marketing, sales, service and partner teams achieve enterprise and individual objectives by optimizing customer interactions and driving business growth,” said Mark Smith, partner, ISG Software Research. “Unfortunately, the reality is that enterprises have disconnected and very customized deployments that are not easily advanced into the era of automated and AI capabilities. As a result, they struggle with internal inefficiencies.”
The ISG Buyers Guides for Customer Relationship Management are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.
Visit this webpage to learn more about the ISG Buyers Guides for Customer Relationship Management and read executive summaries of each of the eight reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG Software Research.
About ISG Software Research
ISG Software Research, previously Ventana Research, provides authoritative market research and coverage of the business and IT software industry. It distributes research and insights daily through its user community, and provides a portfolio of consulting, advisory, research and education services for enterprises, software and service providers, and investment firms. Its on-demand service provides structured education and advisory support through subject-matter experts. ISG Buyers Guides support the RFI/RFP process and help enterprises evaluate and select software providers through tailored assessment services and the ISG Software Research Value Index methodology. Visit www.ventanaresearch.com for more information and to sign up for free community membership.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 900 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including AI and automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241101751322/en/
Press Contacts:
Will Thoretz, ISG
+1 203 517 3119
will.thoretz@isg-one.com
Julianna Sheridan, Matter Communications for ISG
+1 978-518-4520
isg@matternow.com
Source: Information Services Group, Inc.
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