Explain Information Technology support sales and marketing processes

How can Information Technology support sales and marketing processes?

Please provide insight as to what type of IT infrastructure or software apps would be best for a designer and manufacturer of dirt bikes who sells to distributors globally. (sales management, customer relations, etc.) There are no retail sales expect for parts. Please provide any real examples of companies that have benefited from or lack thereof.

For most companies especially ones which sell a product or service the sales and marketing units are critical forces behind the success or failure of the business. My goal for this research paper is to examine how the role of IS supports and influences these business units, and how it enables companies to succeed or flounder how and why.

I would also like to touch briefly on the past and present of how certain companies developed their infrastructures to better synchronize the business units with investments and good planning on infrastructure. I plan on referencing specific case studies to strengthen my research. Finally going forward, what new IS infrastructure if any is being developed or improved for the sales and marketing units to utilize in this ever competitive global consumer market.

I will consider adding a section on customer privacy. Also, how do laws like Sarbanes-Oxley impact a corporate IT department?