Mobilising CRM Delivers Competitive Advantage to European Organisations

LONDON and WATERLOO, Canada - New Report Indicates That More Than Half of European Companies Lost out on Sales and Service Opportunities Before Deploying Mobile CRM

Launched today are the findings of a study by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM: TSX: RIM) that highlight how and why organisations in Europe are mobilising enterprise applications, like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), to gain a competitive advantage.

Based on the responses from over 1,000 business and IT decision makers, from companies in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, the research shows that the top two reasons organisations mobilise CRM are improved sales and improved employee productivity (87%). The third biggest driver to mobilise CRM was improved customer service (55%), suggesting that the trend to mobilise enterprise applications not only benefits internal operations, but also increases customer satisfaction.

With information changing at such a fast pace in today’s business environment, mobile employees can not solely rely on accessing information from a desk-based system as it is often inaccessible on a timely basis or out of date by the time they leave the office. Respondents from the study also outlined five main benefits of mobile CRM, compared to traditional desk-based access, which included:

- Improved productivity of front-line personnel (77%) - Improved customer experience (74%) - Increased customer satisfaction (73%) - Improved business process efficiency (73%) - Reduced CRM costs (63%)

Chris Burke, Managing Director of Research In Motion, EMEA, commented: “To be effective, mobile workers need to call upon the most up-to-date information wherever they are. Many of our customers, in a broad range of industries, have already recognised that mobile CRM can offer significant operational and customer-facing benefits and they are selecting the BlackBerry platform for its security, manageability and depth of support from CRM application vendors.”

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the respondents who have deployed mobile CRM explained that it helps front-line personnel be more effective in their jobs. Empowering employees to access and update information wherever they are can prove to be a real business benefit not only to mobile workers, but also for office-based employees who rely on real-time data.

The survey sample represented different sized organisations from across Europe and showed that although more larger companies (>500 employees) have mobilised CRM systems to date, a greater number of smaller organisations (63%) have plans to mobilise their CRM systems. The benefits are so compelling, in fact, that over two-thirds (69%) of companies who have mobilised CRM stated that they are likely to recommend others do so. The most common areas within an organisation that utilise mobile CRM are:

- Sales (63%) - Customer service (60%) - Field service (51%)

The study is testament to the interest many organisations are expressing to mobilse enterprise systems for their ever increasing mobile work force. The report outlines that more than half the respondents who have a CRM system in place previously lost sales or service opportunities because the information they needed was available back at the office. Burke, added: “This alone is a compelling enough reason for organisations to seriously consider extending their CRM solution to mobile workers.”

About the study

The research was undertaken in March 2009 and involved interviewing 1,005 business and IT decision makers from companies in United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The sample represented a broad cross-section of industries as well as organisational size with an equal proportion of respondents coming from organisations larger, and smaller, than 500 employees. The full research report is available to download for free from: www.blackberry.com/uk/mobilecrm

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry(R) wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld(TM) product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

Source: Research In Motion

Media Contact: David Atkinson, Hotwire, +44(0)20-7608-4684, david.atkinson at hotwirepr.com