IBM acquired Optevia, the customer relationship management (CRM) system provider, in an attempt to boost its position in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) and digital consultancy market.

Optevia is a part of the government’s G-Cloud, and has partnered with a wide range of public sector entities such as the UK emergency services, Central Government, Local Government and Social Enterprises.

The UK-based firm will become part of IBM Global Business Services. IBM is not the first big name attempting to break into the CRM market. Last year, Accenture bought Salesforce partner Tquila and Cloud Sherpas.

According to Emma McGuigan, UK and Ireland MD at Accenture Technology, “We have seen significant growth in SaaS as more companies adopt the cloud and digital strategies to collaborate better, drive greater operational efficiencies and accelerate the development of new products and services”.

A Gartner report from last year revealed that the global CRM market is worth close to $23bn. The five biggest players in the sector account for more than 50 per cent of the value. Unsurprisingly, Salesforce owns the biggest share.

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