BlackBerry users pining for CRM

BlackBerry users want customer relationship management apps on their devices more than anything else, research reveals.

Nearly a third (29 per cent) of UK executives said mobile CRM is the most important application for future BlackBerrys, according to a survey by networking company LAN 2 LAN.

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The ability to dispatch jobs to workers and manage the helpdesk while on the move came out as the second must-have, while integrating enterprise databases with the BlackBerry platform came in third on the wishlist for new devices.

But not everyone will get the next-generation BlackBerrys right away. Nearly two-thirds of financial service companies (57 per cent) are not considering upgrading their BlackBerrys, despite having the highest proportion of BlackBerry users of any market sector - with 81 per cent penetration.

Mobile CRM is already taking hold. Last year a UK healthcare equipment manufacturer armed its sales teams with a mobile CRM solution, deployed on BlackBerrys, to enable them to deal with the complexity of the NHS procurement process.