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July 2006

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Satuit's CRM, MySpace-Style Tech For Your Space, Greed Yes, Oil Company Greed No.

July 31, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies:

How about a little MySpace in your space? Patching the holes left by current ERP, CRM and other corporate technologies, according to Rohan Hall, chief executive of Group Members Only, the company is announcing a MySpace-style "social networking technology" debuting today "to help corporations solve issues related to collaboration, innovation, communication, and networking between employees, customers, vendors and partners."

The idea appears to be to use social networking, Web 2.0, and enterprise technology standards to help corporations "gain a better return on investment (ROI) on their 'people assets,'" according to Group Members Only officials.

The company was recently launched by a group of business and technology entrepreneurs whose background include Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and Amazon.com.

Information Architects, Microsoft Dynamics, CRM Vendor GWIB, Radio KCRM, StrikeIron, c360, Volusion Live Chat

July 28, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee, the beans, of course, being Kopi Luwak beans hand-ground using a 19th century apothecary's mortar and pestle by my man Godfrey, brewed with imported Swiss spring water in a Gaggia piston-style espresso brewer… see, we've been accused here at Radio KCRM 98.6, All Monkees All The Time, of being somewhat, ah, lowbrow and rather crass, which doesn't seem to bother the vast majority of our listeners, primarily because the vast majority of our listeners have their musical selections made by an institutional officer of one kind or another, but occasionally we do get the more well-heeled, cultured listener.

And as a wise man once said we need to be all things to all men, so instead of grabbing a cuppa Maxwell House from the percolator First Coffee had his gentleman's gentleman Godfrey whip something up in the grand style, and instead of the usual t-shirt won in a bar trivia contest we have donned a finely-tailored double-breasted smoking jacket with Chinese brocade collars and cuffs, and instead of Slobberbone or some other such selection from the usual musical fare we've upgraded to a fine 1961 jazz release, Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments."

And we shall strive for the refined diction appropriate for the more educated ear, no more of the Wolfman Jack-style shoutin' and hollerin' here, but a more subtle, sophisticated style appropriate, of course, to you, the more discriminating class of listener.

So bonjour mes amis, and for a historical note we would like to remember that today is the birthday of noted 19th century British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, born in Stratford, England in 1844, noted for his use of sprung rhythm and intricate language and known for such works as "God's Grandeur," "The Starlight Night" and of course, First Coffee's favorite, "The Windhover."

SugarCRM's 4.5, Kintera, Epicor, RightNow's Excellent CRM Milestone

July 27, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else. Must get more of this man's music:

SugarCRM Inc., a vendor of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software, has announced the beta release of Sugar 4.5, its popular CRM product.

On CRM, Contact Centers And Never Traveling With Cats

July 26, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is an old favorite around the sprawling First Coffee campus here on the rolling hills, Dave Brubeck's Time Out:

VIPdesk, a vendor of virtual contact center products, has announced that folks, don't look now, but the 2006 holiday season is coming up. Why, it's practically August. And don't tell me you don't have all your Christmas shopping done, you lazy scofflaw.

Onyx And CDC: Hostile CRM Takeover Averted

July 25, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the mid-morning coffee break, and the music is Steve Taylor's surprisingly durable album I Want To Be A Clone:

The news was helpfully forwarded on to First Coffee from an Onyx official: CDC Corporation announces that it's "withdrawing and terminating its previously announced $5.00 per share all cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of Onyx Software Corporation."

The offer was commenced on July 12, 2006 and was scheduled to expire on August 8, 2006. No tenders of shares for the CRM vendor will be accepted, and any shares previously tendered will be returned, according to CDC officials.

How Not To Do CRM: A Case Study

July 25, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Bix Beiderbecke's "Trumbology:"

Along with the (hopefully eternally departed) GlobeTel saga, another ongoing area of CRM coverage for First Coffee has been the actions of certain online vendors whose malfeasance destroys customer confidence.

It's not like online commerce is going away, we're not getting all apocalyptic about it here, but frankly put, there are a lot of people who'd be doing a lot more business online if they simply knew who to avoid. And there'd be even more people doing business online if such vendors weren't there in the first place.

GlobeTel, R.I.P.

July 24, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is the Screaming Blue Messiahs' "I Wanna Be A Flintstone." By the way, if anyone knows where I can get that CD again -- I have just the one song downloaded from Limewire -- please let me know:

Just to wrap off a topic First Coffee's covered regularly for months now, then we'll be done with these jokers, since it looks like these jokers will be toast toot sweet:

GlobeTel, which hit First Coffee's radar screen with an out of the blue, too good to be true $600 million Russian Wi-MAX deal last year, will have its shares delisted by the American Stock Exchange. Several news sources report that the AMEX has stopped trading of the stock.

Hofbrauhaus Ho!

July 16, 2006

First Coffee is in Munich until Tuesday, July 25th.  Cheers, all.

CDC's On-Demand CRM In China, La Tortilla's ERP, Homeserve, InstantService

July 15, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is the song "Wild Mountain Thyme" as done by Long John Baldry, Jennifer Licko, The Dust Rhinos, Kevin Slick, The Byrds, Emerald Rose, Papa M and others. The Dust Rhinos' performance is the best of all the versions I have, Emerald Rose's is pretty good, The Byrds' is surprisingly bad:

CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation and provider of enterprise software applications, has announced the launch of its Software as a Service human resources and payroll applications throughout China.

HRP OnDemand, a hosted human resources/payroll management product, is CDC Software's first SaaS enterprise application offering to the China market.

Radio KCRM 98.6, CRM On Time and Under Budget, RightNow, Jetstar, SRC Correct, Emerald TC

July 14, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning here in beautiful crime-free Istanbul, and the guy next door to your apartment has tuned this radio, pounding through your cardboard-thin walls at an ungodly early hour, to Radio KCRM 98.6, All Exile On Main Street All The Time, brought to you by Eljer, the only name you need to know in plumbing fixtures:

Just to let all you guys and dolls know that Radio KCRM will be in Munich next week for a week of R'n'R, so we'll be giving your dial a chance to cool down, returning to our regularly-scheduled programming Tuesday July 25th. Please, no suicide attempts.

Microsoft's CRM, Factiva, Desktopsites, Connextions, Riverside, Incomprehensible Jazz Criticism

July 13, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Thelonious Monk's Brilliant Corners:

First Coffee finds it difficult to read, much less understand, jazz criticism, most of which assumes the reader possesses a working knowledge of Mixolydian scales, as opposed to rock criticism, which assumes the reader possesses a working knowledge of beer.

Talking about a record's "arithmetical chord progressions" or "ironic precision" leaves me rather confused, and I'm not sure exactly what's being referred to by "incorporation of the celeste," unless that's a glockenspiel-type instrument I haven't heard of yet, and I take it that "the alpha and omega of post-World War II American jazz" is a compliment, but what it means I can't say.

Microsoft's Completely Expected CRM Announcement, Say Thanks, Lasik in Istanbul, NetSuite, Southwest Airlines

July 12, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Slobberbone's "Pinball Song." Happy Battle Of the Boyne Day:

As Steve Ballmer said, Microsoft made the least surprising announcement in its history in Boston yesterday, that they'd like a bigger slice of the software as a service pie.

We've all seen this coming a mile or twelve off, that Microsoft lusteth heavily after salesforce.com, NetSuite, RightNow et al's success selling CRM and other business software online.

Microsoft's New Dynamics CRM Pricing, CompCentral 5.0, Alteryx 2.0, Business Objects' Crystal Xcelsius

July 11, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Frank Sinatra's Come Fly With Me album:

Microsoft has announced the Business Ready Licensing model and the Business Ready Enhancement Plan for Microsoft Dynamics that introduces "simplifications and improvements in value to the licensing and maintenance programs" for its Microsoft Dynamics business management products, according to company officials.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer relationship management functionality will be included on the Microsoft Business Solutions price lists over the next 12 months, starting with Microsoft Dynamics GP.

Business Ready Licensing is described as an attempt to streamline pricing for Microsoft Dynamics products -- Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics SL -- by "moving from a pricing model based on hundreds of modules and granules to a new model based primarily on the number of concurrent users who actually use the software."

SAP Adds CRM Features for SMBs, France Surrenders To Italy, Satuit, Cogniview's Eudi, Bon Riddance, Zidane

July 10, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Nigel Kennedy's recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons:

Focusing specifically on small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), SAP AG has announced that it will introduce new e-commerce and Web-based capabilities to SAP Business One. The new functions will enable companies to "set up online stores easily and to deploy customer relationship management (CRM) software quickly and simply via the Internet," according to SAP officials.

Addressing increasing demand among SMEs to make e-commerce and CRM core parts of their businesses, SAP officials describe the new features as a way to provide a unified view of information across sales, financials, manufacturing, reporting and customer-facing activities in a single software product.

Bell Industries' CRM, J. Scott's CRM, FrontRange, Autobytel, Fineos

July 10, 2006

By David Sims

[email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Ornette Coleman's Change Of the Century:

Wrapping up the big CRM news of the week, Bell Industries, Inc. has announced that its Technology Solutions division has received a number of new services contracts that are anticipated to provide approximately $30 million in incremental revenues during 2007 and add approximately 500 new jobs within the next six months.

In July, Bell will begin providing large scale integrated CRM (customer relationship management) products for a leading broadband phone organization. In addition, Bell officials say, the company has entered into new services relationships with a leading computer manufacturer and a major consumer products manufacturer.

John A. Fellows, chief executive officer of Bell Industries, said "our recent efforts to secure leading operational and business development talent are beginning to pay off." While Bell anticipates start-up costs associated with these new engagements, Fellows said, he expects them to be "fully operational" by the end of 2006, and "significantly contributing to our financial results" for 2007.

CRM and Contact Centers in Nigeria, Radio KCRM 98.6, CDC CRM In Latin America, Syspro's CRM 5.0,

July 7, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, which is being consumed college-style, where you get up in the morning and there's a cup of some flat brown liquid, you know it's last night's coffee or Diet Coke or something, but the point is it's caffeinated, so you don't just throw it out, you simply pour in the morning's fresh coffee, add milk and sugar to taste and stir, and the music is our theme song, Adam Carroll's "Ol' Milwaukee's Best:"

Breaking news: A final recount has declared Felipe Calderon winner of the Mexican presidential election. Al Gore demands a recount.

Good morning good morning, thank your institutional officer for turning your radio dial to Radio KCRM 98.6, All Weird Al Yankovic, All The Time!

AOL Mulling Free High-Speed Service, Telenity, Apresta And Motorola Q's CRM, Asteres, EBSuite, John Meets Paul

July 6, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Willie Nelson's recording of "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder:"

This morning The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AOL "is considering offering its entire menu of services, including e-mail, free of charge to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection."

The proposal, "which AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller presented to top Time Warner executives in New York last week," WSJ reports, would mean "AOL would stop charging a subscription fee for users who already have a high-speed Internet service or dial-up service from another provider."

Oh if you have traditional "dial-up" Internet access you still pay the monthly fee.

IP Contact Centers at Oki, Virtual Meetings On the Rise, PTC in Vietnam, The Wayne Newton Stamp

July 5, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Stan Kenton's 1945 recording of "Artistry in Rhythm:"

Had us a nice American music festival yesterday here in Istanbul, in honor of the Fourth, started out with Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, moving on to Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, a selection of '30s and '40s swing and some Bob Dylan. Say whatever you want about American politics or this and that, but we're the greatest country ever for our music alone.

Take the past hundred years.

CRM Firm e-Glue's Financing, Senior Managers and CRM, ATG and Steria, Kafka or Dave Barry?

July 3, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Ornette Coleman's "The Face of the Bass:"

Israel Business Arena is reporting that start-up e-Glue Business Technologies Inc. has raised $10 million in its second financing round.

Evergreen Venture Partners led the round with a $5 million investment, IBA says, "and was joined by existing shareholders Cedar Fund and Giza Venture Capital, private investors Shimon Alon and Ron Zuckerman, and Kibbutz Ein Shemer and Kibbutz Maagan Michael. This was Evergreen's first investment from the Evergreen V Fund."

Net Neutrality: God Save the Internet Village Green!

July 1, 2006

By David Sims [email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music should be The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society, but iTunes doesn't have it yet. The government should regulate such things:

First Coffee almost feels like John Henry Cardinal Newman here, who had to write one of the classics of Western thought, Apologia Pro Vita Sua in the 19th century to defend his conversion from the Anglican Church to Roman Catholicism.

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