7/17/2008 2:13 AM
CRM from Satuit, Genius Inside PPM, Infopia Web Services, Microsoft and Tribridge, Marketing to Generation V from Gartner
By David Sims
David at firstcoffee d*t biz
The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is... 5,415 songs on the iPod, of all -- all -- genres, turn it on... hit shuffle... first song... ABC's "The Look Of Love (Part Four)" from The Lexicon Of Love. Um... second song... ah, there we go, The Raveonettes' "Veronica Fever" from Whip It On, that's more like it:
CRM vendor Satuit Technologies, which sells to the professional investment market, has announced that Capital Dynamics has selected SatuitCRM software to "facilitate the progress and organization of its sales, marketing and client services teams."
"Satuit fulfilled all the requirements that we were looking for in a CRM product," said Chris Bourdeu, project manager for Capital Dynamics, adding that concerns about Satuit being a relatively young firm were offset by "SatuitCRM's exclusive focus on asset management, and growth within our industry."
Capital Dynamics officials say the product will be used to increase the ability of its sales people and management to allocate resources and compensation, facilitate management reporting by eliminating the need for customization of the contact management databases, and allow access to historical information and activities.
"Our biggest challenge with finding a CRM product was the fact there are so many providers on the market, from very basic Web-based interfaces to full scale consulting services re-defining entire workflows," Bourdeu said.
Satuit officials say updates to their software "regularly incorporate the suggestions and requirements of asset managers."
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Oh here we go, even better: Third song is Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros' "Coma Girl." We have a few songs from Streetcore on the ol' iPod, let's hear those. Okay, it's not The Clash, but what is?
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Genius Inside, creators of the Portfolio and Project Management (PPM) suite Project4Domino, have announced the creation and launch of Genius Project, an on-demand, collaborative PPM product.
"Because of Genius Inside's expertise in PPM, clients and project portfolios, we have been able to create Genius Project," said Chrisopher Borlat, CEO of Genius Inside, adding that because Genius Project is SaaS, it requires "little, if any, upfront costs."
The Genius Project on-demand product is pitched to organizations with external suppliers or partners in their production process, since it allows access to aspects of project status and data to all parties involved.
One feature company officials point out is its "Matrix Planning," which allows project and department managers to distribute work assignments "with respect to the hierarchical organization."
In other words, organizations operating "in a matrixed fashion," with virtual project teams across functional departments, can use Genius Project to let project managers "borrow" resources from another functional group, account for their availability for the project, and allocate tasks to employees.
Genius Project can integrate bi-directionally with Microsoft Project as well, allowing for both the import and export of data in combination with MS Project.
It also has a visual Gantt Chart, providing a tool for planning, scheduling and modifying projects, assigning and linking tasks, determining timelines and estimating costs. The "Standard PM Methods Templates" let organizations implement processes based on standard project management methodologies like Prince2, PMI and Six Sigma across industries, "insuring uniform project structure," company officials say.
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Infopia, an SaaS eCommerce platform vendor, has announced what company officials characterize as "the expansion of its Web Services," a component of the new Infopia Transact eCommerce platform.
The expansion provides capabilities that allow Infopia customers to "customize and streamline their business processes," company officials say, while using the Infopia Transact eCommerce platform.
"Web Services" is an Internet-enabled technology connecting software systems using XML. Infopia customers can use it to automate data flow between their existing in-house business systems and the Infopia Transact platform.
With the expansion of Infopia's Web Services, Infopia customers can now access order management functionality letting their customers handle transactions such as phone orders or non-inventory item sales in the Transact platform, thereby centralizing more of their business.
Web Services beta tester Lars Noreng from NextWorth duly reported that, using the product, "we no longer need to manually update multiple spreadsheets across our business." He estimates this reduces costs for order and inventory management "by 40 percent."
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Normally First Coffee doesn't pay much attention to this or that partner firm being named to a President's Circle or Top Dog Kennel or whatever tech vendors call it, but this rates a mention: Tribridge, a national Microsoft consulting firm with offices across the United States, has been named the 2008 Worldwide Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding Partner of the Year.
I mean, we're not talking one of twenty Top Partners, we're talking THE Microsoft Partner. That elicits a tip of the coffee pot. Good job, guys. The award was announced at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, held this year in Houston.
From more than 10,000 Microsoft Dynamics partners around the world, Tribridge was selected, the Microsofties say, based on "growth and delivering products built on Microsoft technologies."
The Worldwide Microsoft Partner of the Year award recognizes a partner for ERP (Dynamics AX, NAV, GP and SL) and CRM products and services. Tony DiBenedetto, Tribridge chairman and CEO, said Tribridge has a "100 percent go live" track record.
Rather than focusing on a single product, DiBenedetto says, Tribridge helps customers select products for their particular issues. The award follows Tribridge's designation last year as the 2007 Microsoft Dynamics Partner of the Year for the United States.
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As community marketing continues to evolve, research firm Gartner has concluded, organizations can target Generation Virtual by "providing socialization tools to customers and prospects depending on their purpose and the level of customer engagement."
Unlike previous generations, Generation V is not defined by age -- certainly not, seen Paul Greenberg's birth certificate recently? -- or gender, social demographic or geography, but on "demonstrated achievement, accomplishments and an increasing preference for the use of digital media channels" to find and share knowledge.
In techspeak, Gartner officials say, Generation V is "the recognition that general behavior, attitudes and interests are starting to blend together in an online environment."
Gartner has identified four levels of engagement within Generation V, taking into account the extent to which customers will engage with other customers and the level of engagement needed from businesses to enable the community -- creators, contributors, opportunists, and lurkers.
"Companies should plan to segment all four levels in the community -- each has significant business value," said Adam Sarner, principal research analyst at Gartner. "Differentiation exists between sectors and industries. Marketers with strong brands attract more creators. Certain industries, such as insurance, draw more lurkers."
Up to 3 percent of individuals will be creators, providing original content and can be advocates that promote your product and services. Between 3 percent and 10 percent of individuals will be contributors, described by Gartner as "essentially followers, who add to the conversation, but don't initiate it." They recommend products and services as customers move through a buying process, looking for purchasing advice.
Gartner has identified four levels of engagement within Generation V, taking into account the extent to which customers will engage with other customers and the level of engagement needed from businesses to enable the community -- creators, contributors, opportunists, and lurkers.
"Companies should plan to segment all four levels in the community -- each has significant business value," said Adam Sarner, principal research analyst at Gartner. "Differentiation exists between sectors and industries. Marketers with strong brands attract more creators. Certain industries, such as insurance, draw more lurkers."
Up to 3 percent of individuals will be creators, providing original content and can be advocates that promote your product and services. Between 3 percent and 10 percent of individuals will be contributors, described by Gartner as "essentially followers, who add to the conversation, but don't initiate it." They recommend products and services as customers move through a buying process, looking for purchasing advice.
Between 10 percent and 20 percent of individuals will be opportunists, and they can "further contributions regarding purchasing decisions," Gartner thinks. They can add value to a conversation that's taking place.
And then about 80 percent of individuals will be lurkers, "and all users start as such," Gartner says, so it pays to be nice to them. Such customers are essentially spectators, who reap the rewards of online community input, but only absorb what is being communicated. There's a chance they can implicitly contribute and validate indirectly reporting the value from the rest of the community.
If read off-site hit http://blog.tmcnet.com/telecom-crm/ for the fully-linked version. First CoffeeSM accepts no sponsored content.
If read off-site hit http://blog.tmcnet.com/telecom-crm/ for the fully-linked version. First CoffeeSM accepts no sponsored content.
