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CRM is customer-relationship management, and Alltel, though Interchange Solutions, is now offering this software for its BlackBerry devices. It’s called, appropriately, SalesNow, and will help small business users “manage their contacts, deals, activities, and e-mails, and also share information with sales teams.” It kind of sounds like this should be able to be done on a BlackBerry without the software, so long as the business is using a hosted BES solution.

“Wireless CRM is one of the fastest growing areas in enterprise mobility. SalesNow on the BlackBerry platform brings mobile CRM to SMBs and gives them the access to information and communications that can substantially improve mobile productivity and customer service,” said Jeff McDowell, VP ofResearch In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM)’s Global Alliances, in a statement when SalesNow first made its debut at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium last May.

It’s said that businesses will shift their funds from messaging to CRM over the next few years, resulting in a $9 billion spending bill on FRM by 2011.

Maybe it’s my disconnect from the corporate BlackBerry usage that explains my lack of understanding here. Can’t you manage your contacts, deals, activities, and emails without new software? I’m pretty sure that using a BES means you can sync much of this information without a new application.

But, as I said, I use mine mainly as a communication and web-surfing device when I’m away from my desk, so I might not be attuned to the needs of small businesses which rely on sales teams. Anyone else want to chime in on how this kind of software differs from what your BlackBerry can do out of the box?

The service will cost $25 a month for individual users, and $40 per month for business users. It does seem a bit steep, and I’m guessing that I could set something similar up for a far lesser cost. Possibly for a future column?

[Information Week]

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