The Oracle CRM On Demand service is the fifteenth release of the CRM in four-and-a-half years, underscoring the drive Oracle has put into the Software as a Service market.

The latest version of the product includes powerful new Social CRM capabilities, including social networking and collaboration capabilities aimed at improving worker productivity.

The CRM On Demand adds a series of browser-based technologies so the application can be run on RIM’s BlackBerry phones, and can be personalised within Google and Yahoo services iGoogle and MyYahoo.

Oracle senior vice-president for CRM Anthony Lye said the social networking and Enterrprise 2.0 technologies integrated into the On Demand product were trail-blazing.

“This heralds a radically new Web 2.0 approach to end-user collaboration and productivity that drives further ease-of-use, while providing management with real-time pipeline visibility and security for the underlying corporate data,” Mr Lye said.

Research group IDC’s vice-president for CRM applications Mary Wardley said: “‘Enterprise 2.0’ has set a new bar for software applications providers.”

“With Release 15 of Oracle CRM On Demand, Oracle is making the concept of Enterprise 2.0 tangible by tying social networking and collaboration directly into their CRM offering,” Ms Wardley said.