Centerbase CRM 2007 Released, Eastern European ICT Growing, Avidian Moves to Redmond, Cognizant Buys MarketRX, HR Tech and Microsoft CRM

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David Sims
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Centerbase CRM 2007 Released, Eastern European ICT Growing, Avidian Moves to Redmond, Cognizant Buys MarketRX, HR Tech and Microsoft CRM

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is the cool "Preview All" feature on Amazon.com for Radiohead's OK Computer… okay, listened to samples of all songs, nah, too self-consciously weepy. We'll have David Bowie's Aladdin Sane, then, Godfrey, nice and loud:

Centerbase 2007, the latest version of the Centerbase CRM software system, from Dallas-based Centerbase is now available. Company officials say it's been upgraded with improved form designer function and flexible customization.

Centerbase was specifically created to provide small and medium-sized businesses the "functionality and competitive edge of full-featured enterprise-capable CRM systems," according to company officials.

But the key word for this release is "flexibility," as company officials say the 2007 edition "responds directly to the customers' expressed need for flexibility." Centerbase Founder and CEO John Forbes underlined this with his comment that with Centerbase 2007, "we have created an affordable, flexible product that can meet not only the known CRM needs of today but the unforeseen CRM needs of tomorrow."

The product is available via a newly upgraded 30-day free trial format, available at www.centerbase.com. The trial provides a fully-functioning hosted personalized database system, preset to accommodate 10 users, which businesses can download. The trial version is identical to the full version of Centerbase, Forbes says.

Among the flexible upgrades in this version are capabilities for preset and customizable forms adaptable "to any industry," as well as drag and drop fields within forms, editable field type, the ability to delete unused fields from any form and reset tab order for entering data into fields.

The product is also pitched as offering "data access that is ten times faster than previous versions, and makes use of a Windows-based design, so it is easy to adopt and learn." It is available in both a hosted edition developed for smaller businesses with limited IT resources, as well as an edition which can be installed on a company's systems.



According to The Writer's Almanac, today in 1892 the World's Fair in Chicago was formally dedicated. The Chicago World's Fair was the place where most Americans first saw not only electricity used on a large scale, but postcards, fiberglass, the zipper, the ice cream cone, Cracker Jack, Quaker Oats, Shredded Wheat, belly dancing, spray paint, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Ferris wheel.



According to "Eastern Europe ICT and Outsourcing Market (2007-2011)," a new market research report published by research company RNCOS, the Eastern European ICT (Information and Communications Technology) is believed to be among the largest growing segments all over the world.

And software emerged as the strongest market within the industry in 2006 by growing to around $3.6 billion, and is expected to surge by around 11.6 percent this year. The total ICT industry nearly touched $61 billion in 2006 and is predicted to reach almost $71 billion in 2008.

The report has outlined "system segment" as the fastest growing one within the software sector, fueled by infrastructure software, subsuming Web services and middleware. The increase in "application software" remained moderate as the demand for CRM and ERP dipped in 2003.

A major part of this growth in the software and services segment stemmed from "large-scale projects in government administration, manufacturing, telecommunications, and banking/financial services," the report found.

The report also calls Eastern Europe an "attractive market" for both domestic and foreign players. It puts forth the EU accession as the important factor which is drawing more international IT players to make investments in the software industry of Eastern Europe.

Of course Eastern Europe is also emerging as a sought-after destination for software outsourcing as it provides low-cost outsourcing services and a large skilled workforce.

The report's data is given at country level, including Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Poland.



IT services vendor Cognizant Technology is looking to upgrade its capabilities in the life sciences segment by acquiring New Jersey-based marketRx, provider of analytics and software services to global life sciences companies, for $135 million, according to a report in the Indian trade journal Business Standard:

"The company has signed the agreement to acquire marketRx in an all-cash deal. The transaction may be concluded in the fourth quarter of 2007. The acquisition will be funded through the company's current cash reserves."

The acquisition "expands our capabilities in the analytics segment and broadens our service offerings in the life sciences industry, while providing strong synergies with our existing business intelligence/data warehousing and CRM services," said Francisco D'Souza, president and chief executive officer of Cognizant.

The acquisition will bring in a client base of 75 life sciences customers, including the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies and four of the top five biotech companies, Cognizant officials say.



HR Technology Advisors, a national, independent human resources and benefits technology consulting firm and reseller, in a joint venture with Microsoft Partner T.H.G. Sales Automation has taken Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Professional and adapted it to fit the business needs and workflows of the Employee Benefits Brokerage firms.

In addition to core functionality integrated into Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows brokers to track group benefits, pension, and individual policy information, manage service issues, monitor prospects and renewals, conduct mail merges, automate their own unique internal workflows and more.

"As our benefits brokerage clients' businesses become more complex, HRT's customers will now have access to a CRM system designed to be a natural extension of Microsoft Office and Outlook," says Don Rowe, Principal, HR Technology Advisors.

In addition to the Outlook integration, the Microsoft CRM for Benefit Brokers system integrates with handheld devices and Microsoft SharePoint. Brokers will be able to buy the system and host it themselves or lease it with third-party hosting. Users can access the system from their desktop inside of Outlook or independently via the Internet.

HR Technology Advisors focuses entirely in the HR & Benefits technology marketplace. It does not manufacture or build technology, but matches vendors with clients. T.H.G. Sales Automation implements CRM products on a global basis.



Avidian Technologies has relocated its offices in Bellevue, Washington to Redmond where it will have a much larger facility and be able to expand its sales & marketing, customer support and development teams, company officials say.

The company is known for its Prophet Outlook CRM Software business products in areas like sales force automation and contact management. The system is designed for use in Microsoft Outlook and can be integrated with other capabilities.

The popularity of the Prophet Outlook CRM Software has grown dramatically in recent years causing the company to continue to grow. The new location is necessary to accommodate that growth, company officials say.

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