The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird:” Bird bird bird, said the bird is the word…

 

Applications vendor IFS has been recognized by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan for its increased presence in the aerospace and defense industry. IFS now has 31 percent total global market share of the A&D enterprise asset management systems market.

 

Frost & Sullivan awarded IFS the Global EAM Systems Market Penetration Leadership Award for A&D for the company’s “product innovations” and “customer focus,” which have resulted in it making “the largest gain in market share over two to three years,” according to Frost & Sullivan.

 

Frost and Sullivan cited IFS for its “industry focus” and “innovation and collaborative products,” singling out IFS’ customer comments on “the ease of use and faster payback associated with IFS products.”

 

Aerospace and defense is one of IFS’ targeted market segments. IFS Applications includes functionality designed for the armed forces around the world and A&D manufacturers. IFS customers within the aerospace and defense industry include the British, Norwegian, and U.S. defense organizations as well as the Eurofighter consortium.

 

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Plexus Systems, vendors of on-demand software for manufacturing, have announced ArcaTech Systems of Mebane, North Carolina is deploying Plexus Online.

 

The Plexus Online SaaS is intended to improve ArcaTech Systems’ business processes, including sales/CRM, accounting, quality, production, supply chain (purchasing, receiving/shipping, inventory, supplier assessment) and customer service, according to Plexus officials.

 

With an implementation timeline targeted at the second quarter of 2008, the Plexus Online implementation is expected to help ArcaTech’s U.S. operations integrate with offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and India. The 24/7 connectivity of on-demand “always on” Plexus Online will be used to let ArcaTech avoid upfront investments in hardware, infrastructure, support and the need for version releases.

 

Aubrey Meador, vice president of ArcaTech Systems, says the company has been using software as a service ERP systems for years.

 

Plexus Online offers over 350 functional modules, accessible via a simple Web browser. The on-demand product features enterprise resource planning (ERP) functions such as accounting and finance modules, customer relationship management (CRM) features such as order entry and tracking, manufacturing execution systems (MES) functions such

as production scheduling and machine integration and supply chain management (SCM) functions such as supplier quality and traceability.

 

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PacificNet has announced the election of Stephen Crystal as a member of the Board of Directors. Crystal, who was elected as an Independent Director, is the Chief Executive Officer and President of TableMAX Holdings.

 

Crystal was previously a board member of Las Vegas Gaming, and co-founder of Barrick Gaming Corp. First Coffee’s guessing he was chosen for his gambling connections as opposed to his CRM expertise.

 

Chairman and CEO of the China-based PacificNet, Tong Tong, welcomed Crystal to the company which, in addition to selling CRM, sells gambling and mobile game technology with a focus on Asian, Latin American and European markets.

 

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Sybase iAnywhere has launched iAnywhere Mobile Office, what company officials describe as “a new component of the Sybase Information Anywhere Suite,” designed to meet the industry’s evolving requirements for a mobile “inbox of the future.”

 

Combining wireless e-mail, PIM, security and business process mobilization, iAnywhere Mobile Office is designed to let organizations “better manage workflow business processes, such as approving purchase orders or submitting reports, all through a single mobile e-mail client.”

 

The product “brings together three components into iAnywhere Mobile Office — wireless e-mail, security and business process enablement,” said Mark Willnerd, vice president, Sybase iAnywhere. “Wireless e-mail is by far the most popular application for mobile information workers, so extending the function of the user’s e-mail inbox to facilitate additional mobile applications and business processes is a logical next step.”

 

The wireless e-mail extends corporate e-mail to a range of devices, including Windows Mobile and Symbian. The IAnywhere Mobile Office provides client security, powered by the Afaria component of Information Anywhere Suite, including on-device password enforcement, data encryption, and device lock-down capabilities to secure data if a device is lost or stolen.

 

And the Business Process Mobilization provides an e-mail-driven approach to enabling business and workflow processes on mobile devices. “Users can take action from mobile devices to complete business processes, such as approval of expense reports, human resources requisitions and purchase orders, or notifications from CRM activities and notifications,” according to company officials.

 

“Mobile devices are rapidly increasing their role in the enterprise, as users who spend more time on the road than ever become increasingly reliant on portable devices,” says Jack Gold, president of J. Gold Associates. “However, although there is a preponderance of mobile e-mail deployed, there is a real need for a simple means to enable wider use of back office applications, for example, CRM, SFA and ERP, in a safe and secure manner.”

 

The new iAnywhere Mobile Office component of the Information Anywhere Suite will be available in Q2 2008 for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.

 

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Up to 200 new jobs to be created in Sydney with the expansion of ICT Group, company officials have said.

 

And that would be Sydney, Nova Scotia.

 

The company recently won a contract for customer support for Bell Mobility, the wireless arm of Bell Canada. Much of this new service work for Bell will be undertaken at ICT Group’s contact center in Sydney. The province, through Nova Scotia Business Inc., is supporting ICT Group’s growth with a five-year payroll rebate of up to $1.4 million.

 

Economic Development Minister Angus MacIsaac — no Scottish heritage there — said the investment demonstrates the province’s commitment to helping companies create employment opportunities “in communities throughout Nova Scotia.”

 

ICT Group’s location in Sydney, which opened in October 1998, was among the first large contact centers in Cape Breton. ICT Group currently employs over 700 customer sales and service representatives in Nova Scotia with contact centers and home-based operations in Sydney, New Glasgow and Halifax.

 

“We are pleased with the skilled, educated workforce available in Nova Scotia,” said John J. Brennan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ICT Group. ICT Group’s Nova Scotia operations are part of the company’s global contact center business throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

 

“Nova Scotia’s contact center industry “continues to compete on the world stage, and continues to mature here at home,” said Stephen Lund, president and CEO of NSBI.

 

ICT Group, headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, sells customer management and business process outsourcing products in a mix of customer care/retention, acquisition, up-selling/cross-selling, technical support, market research and database marketing as well as hosted Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technologies.