CustomerRelationshipManagement (CRM) is an IT technology enabled process to implement a customer centric philosophy. The information system provides data to measure the effectiveness of various customer contact channels (sales related contact points, servicing, etc), as well as the extent of integration between channels. Another aspect of the information system is to support the analysis of customer behaviour and trends. See http://www.destinationcrm.com/print/default.asp?ArticleID=1747 and http://www.cio.com/research/crm/edit/crmabc.html
Industries such as Telecommunications are most advanced in their use of CRM processes, as their channels and customers are subjected to rapid changes.
See also EnterpriseResourcePlanning
List of CRM packages