CRM outsourcing in line for health and public sector boost

Cost-cutting and demand for better customer service will drive uptake

Outsourcing customer relationship management (CRM) will become an increasingly common practice in healthcare, government and utilities in 2011.

According to research by analysts Ovum, these three sectors will be the fastest-growing in terms of demand for CRM outsourcing services over the next 12 to 15 months.

Ovum predicts that the growth rate in these vertical markets will be in excess of the overall industry rate of around six per cent in 2011, with the utilities sector set to increase by around seven per cent, government by 10 per cent and healthcare by just under 11 per cent.

CRM could be increasingly outsourced by government, healthcare and utilities in 2011

Ovum analyst Peter Ryan told silicon.com that the general drive to rationalise costs and reduce overheads in government and healthcare sectors will prompt greater use of third-party call centre services.

Ryan added that the demand for customer services that are superior to those being provided in-house will also attract these sectors to CRM outsourcing.

For utilities organisations, another factor spurring demand for CRM outsourcing is a need to replace antiquated and expensive systems with more cost-effective technology, due to the increasing range of products utilities are offering as well as budgetary constraints.

Meanwhile, in the US, Ryan predicted that the growth in the demand for outsourced CRM in the healthcare sector will be fuelled by an increase in customer queries about how the health reforms passed by the Obama administration will affect them.