September 2008 Archives

The news as of the crucial third cup of coffee this morning, and the music is quite simply the greatest rock album ever, The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street:

 

Training Camp, a developer and provider of IT training programs, has announced

that the company is offering two new courses on the subject of Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications and

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Installations and Deployment.

 

"Customer Relationship Management has become key to a company's success in

the long run," said Steve Gaudino, Chief Operating Officer of Training Camp.

 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications is intended to provide instruction including

knowledge of the configuration, management and customization of the application, as well as instruction on new features, installation and networking with Windows Vista. 

 

Students completing the course and exams will have the Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist and Professional Application certifications.

 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Installations and Deployment will provide an overview of the components of Dynamics CRM, installation, deployment and redeployment, upgrades and repairs, as well as instruction on the installation, configuration and troubleshooting of servers, Training Camp officials say.

 

Students completing the course and exams will acquire the Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist, Professional Installation and Deployment, MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuring and MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring certifications.

 

Training Camp, founded in 1999, is a privately held company headquartered in Philadelphia.

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FrontRange Solutions has announced the latest version of its IT audit product, Centennial Discovery 8.0, which company officials say "introduces an integrated approach to populating Service Management and Client Lifecycle Management products with information about all IT assets on the network."

 

Centennial Discovery 8.0 is the first new version of the product since FrontRange acquired Centennial Software in April 2008. This version, the FrontRangers say, was developed to provide "a direct feed from its asset repository into existing FrontRange software modules: FrontRange IT Service Management, FrontRange Client Lifecycle (formerly Enteo, which FrontRange acquired in 2007) and FrontRange's flagship Help Desk software, called HEAT products."

 

Centennial Discovery 8.0 also provides software installation and usage information to the Centennial License Manager product.

 

"One of the main criticisms leveled at framework products is that they lack integration between components and are expensive to customize," says Andy Burton, the newly appointed vice president for the Infrastructure Management Group at FrontRange.

 

Steve Dryer, CEO of SMA Management Systems, a FrontRange reseller in North America, sees a great market opportunity for the integrated products. "The Centennial IT asset discovery and license management products are popular with customers," he noted, adding that the integration will "add value to the FrontRange IT infrastructure and service management products."

 

The company is offering a free 30-day trial available at www.frontrange.com/discovery.

...

 

Marketbright, an on-demand marketing automation platform, has launched Event Manager, an event management product designed to help marketing organizations manage event execution and lead generation.

 

Event Manager is an automated product billed by company officials as one that "simplifies campaign execution, the process of event campaign development, prospect and customer follow up, event promotions and response analysis."

In conjunction with the release of Event Manager, Marketbright will also be hosting a free Webinar with Serena Software on September 25th, 2008 at 11:00 AM PDT to share best practices for successful event management.

 

The product offers Web site integration designed to let marketers "add new campaigns and remove expired campaigns from the Web site while not compromising existing color and brand elements."

 

It "optimizes event content for search engines," company officials say, "transforming e-mail lists into customized invitations and automating follow up e-mails to customers and prospects."  

"As companies realize the need to improve their sales and marketing programs, they are increasingly looking for the latest automation products that will simplify and make the most out of marketing events," said Dom Lindars, CEO of Marketbright.

...

 

Charging that marketers "often ignore a critical measurement -- customer attitudes and emotions -- when examining customer behavior," Allegiance, a vendor of Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) products, is offering "Do You Know Why Customers Really Buy," described as a white paper explaining "how new feedback technology can provide essential attitudinal data to help determine how to present the right message to the right customer at the right time."

Most businesses focus on geographic, demographic or psychographic data to analyze customer behavior, the study finds adding that "many use systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to track customer transactions. However, an attitudinal approach to modeling behavior uncovers the reasons why people do what they do."

 

The purpose of the paper, its authors say, is to understand the "spark" of the relationship and what role emotion plays in customer decision making. "For example," they write, "what was it that interested them in the first place, and what drives them to remain interested and engaged? This information can be uncovered by asking attitudinal questions in the feedback process."

"Attitudes reveal the softer side of the business relationship. Knowing why customers do business with you is critical to maintaining that relationship and to adding new customers in the future," said Chris Cottle, vice president of corporate marketing for Allegiance. "Businesses can use feedback management, both solicited and unsolicited, to understand customer attitudes and increase engagement, which is the emotional connection to a company or brand."

To download a free copy of the white paper "Do You Know Why Customers Really Buy" visit www.allegiance.com/why_customers_buy_whitepaper.php.

...

 

NEC Unified Solutions, a vendor of enterprise business communications, has announced that a "unique deployment" of voice over IP (VoIP) and Automatic Call Distribution technology at 15 Mount Kisco Medical Group locations is "enabling medical staff to provide patients with quality and timely healthcare."

 

Through the use of NEC's Univerge SV7000 and Neax 2400 communications servers, as well as CallCenterWorX ACD and Global Navigator call center monitoring products, MKMG is supplying its employees with what NEC officials say are "the communications tools they need to perform in a healthcare environment."

 

On Mondays, five to six nurses must handle the influx of calls that come through MKMG's pediatric offices. The CallCenterWorX call-back feature allows parents to call, quickly reserve their place in the call queue, and hang up; when a nurse is available, the system automatically returns the call.

 

The process allows both patient and nurse to make efficient use of time and has received such positive feedback that MKMG is proceeding with implementing it in additional units.

By deploying the communications servers and applications from NEC, MKMG can address the various roles within its offices and "better serve its business needs," company officials say, such as "delivering personal patient care and being responsive to their medical questions."

 

"I believe that advanced IP communications is now a core technology for patient-facing business processes in modern healthcare," said Lou Van De Water, vice president and general manager of east regional sales, NEC Unified Solutions.

 

The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Ben Harper & The Blind Boys Of Alabama's There Will Be A Light album:

 

Big Contacts, a Web-based contact management (CRM) and Sales Force Automation platform allowing companies to coordinate calendars and pipelines online, has announced the redesign of its Web site, www.BigContacts.com, to provide what company officials say will be "better access to tools and features.

 

"The updates made to BigContacts.com enable customers to better understand the CRM services that we provide," says Bob Walton, founder and managing member.

 

One major change to the service is an enhanced Web support system, Walton says, which will "ensure more timely response to client questions."

 

The Big Contacts products page has been revamped to include multiple screencasts that explain product features in an easy to follow video format. The screencasts provide both an overview of the Big Contacts platform, as well as explanations of the various tools and functions inherent in the platform.

 

With the updated Web site, Big Contacts customers now have real time access to information while out of the office, allowing for quick retrieval of online calendars, contacts, tasks and more.

...

 

The TAS Group, a vendor of sales effectiveness products, announced on Monday that two of its products, the TAS Select Live! for Opportunity Management and TAS Select Live! for Account Management, have been upgraded to support enterprise software company Oracle's CRM On Demand.

 

According to the company, the new capability, building on the existing support of Oracle's Siebel CRM, means that the Oracle CRM Platform and The TAS Group's sales methodology, process and technology are available in an integrated on-demand package.

 

The company is a Certified Advantage Partner in the Oracle PartnerNetwork.

 

The integrated product, TAS officials say, offers "increased sales effectiveness and quota achievement, more revenue through increased deal close rates and improved account penetration, improved forecast accuracy and reinforcement of best practices through daily use of the software."

 

No pricing details were disclosed.

...

 

Magic Software Enterprises, a vendor of application platforms, and business and process integration products, has announced that Magic Software Israel and Blat Lapidot have completed an application integration project for AeroScout, a vendor of Unified Asset Visibility products.

 

The project was accomplished using Magic Software's iBOLT business integration suite -- "specially adapted for integrating Salesforce.com," company officials say.

 

The product is designed to facilitate the bi-directional flow of mission-critical information between the company's subscription-based Salesforce.com CRM system and their various on-premise IT systems, including the Priority ERP system and others.

 

According to Ran Shalev, chief financial officer of AeroScout, one advantage of iBOLT was "the ability to connect the business services that we receive from Salesforce.com to the operational systems that we operate on the premises of the company."

 

Magic Software's iBOLT business integration suite is described by company officials as "straightforward, code-free and can integrate on-demand CRM applications such as Salesforce.com with other enterprise business applications."

...

 

Promero, a member of the Oracle Partner Network, announced that the popular contact center Anywhere On Demand hosted service will be enhanced with the new features included in Oracle's Contact Center Anywhere v8.

 

Since 2003, Promero has used Contact Center Anywhere v6.5 for its hosted on-demand service offering. With v8, features include Multi-Channel ACD Built-In Softswitch (SIP IP PBX) and TDM Switching Provides skills-based routing and a universal queue for phone calls, e-mails, faxes, voicemails, voice-over-Web calls, callbacks to route customers in virtual queue, chat and Web-collaboration sessions.

 

Contact Center Anywhere "replaces or co-exists with existing PBX Inbound and outbound cross-media blending, integrated outbound predictive and preview dialing IVR," company officials say. Chat includes Web collaboration and form sharing, push technology and suggested response.

 

E-mail Management includes automated e-mail management and e-mail routing with suggested responses. Other features include built-in recording, supervision and agent-coaching capabilities, voicemail, fax, and unified messaging.

...

 

The New Culture Collections Web site from the Health Protection Agency has gone live on www.hpacultures.org.uk. The new e-commerce site, according to agency officials, "brings together four, previously separate, culture collections into one domain and has been developed by specialist public sector Web services company, System Associates."

 

System Associates has provided design, content management, digital asset management, data integration, search, hosting, training and 24-hour support for the site.

 

The project involved the integration of four separate databases, as well as the integration of a customer database for online ordering. "More than 40,000 cell lines, bacteria, viruses or fungi can now be accessed via the site," company officials say, and are -- typically -- purchased by hospitals, universities and laboratories to further medical research.

 

Registered users of the system can order cultures directly from the site and at present, the order is then passed to operations for dispatch. Phase II of the site will see the CRM, logistics and financial systems also integrated.

Users of the site are able to browse by several different search criteria, including A-Z browsing, via reference number, name, type of culture, or culture associated with a specific part of the body, or ailment. A search will retrieve the most relevant information about a culture, as well as useful papers and resources associated with that culture.

David Macken, managing director of System Associates, says "by far" the most sophisticated aspect of this project was to provide "a meaningful retrieval on a complex subject-matter. There are 11 different search criteria, each of which relates to the indexing of more than 40,000 items."

...

 

Contact center services providers Mellon Collection Services, Fintrust and BlueSphere, members of Mellon Group of Companies, have announced the completion of their relocation to new model premises in Athens.

 

The leased area covers 4,500 square meters, of which 2,800 square meters are used exclusively for the operation of the call centers, securing more than 800 work positions. The companies also created an ancillary café-restaurant area, infirmary, as well as a specially designed area for smokers.

 

Underlining what company officials call "the anthropocentric orientation of the companies," emphasis was placed on "the creation of the apposite specifications and infrastructures to maintain a friendly and healthy work environment."

 

The companies have also "provisioned for the overall ambience of the premises" in order to create a pleasant work environment that "motivates employees," officials say.

 

The new center created an IP-based environment emphasizing security, streamlined operations and a combination of technological tools, such as the CRM software application Conceptus and Altitude's Unified Customer Interaction platform.

 

 

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver's state-of-the-art gospel bluegrass a cappella album There's A Light Guiding Me. This is simply as good as the genre gets these days -- which is very, very good:

 

Satuit Technologies, vendor of Client Relationship Management (CRM) products, has said that Evercore Asset Management has adopted the vendor's products for the professional investment market.

 

Satuit's SatuitCRM is designed specifically for the financial services industry, company officials say, adding that the product provides EAM with a product to capture, manage and access information about clients and prospects.

 

EAM is using SatuitCRM as a repository for all client and prospect contact information, as well as a way to track e-mails, meetings, call notes, direct mail and marketing campaigns.

 

From SatuitCRM's Web-based interface, EAM's staff generates lists based upon open activities, open RFPs and current opportunities, EAM officials say, adding that they also have the capability to develop home pages to "organize and focus" sales efforts.

 

"Our contact management database is essential to our sales and relationship management efforts, and therefore, SatuitCRM is essential to our overall business," said Gail Landis, a managing partner and head of EAM's business development group.

 

The integration with Microsoft Outlook lets EAM send e-mails through Outlook to SatuitCRM for tracking and to schedule meetings through SatuitCRM that can be synced with Outlook's calendars.

...

 

Blueroads, a vendor of Partner Opportunity Management products for medium and large enterprises, has announced that it has been selected as a charter member of Oracle's new CRM On Demand Inner Circle Partner Initiative.

 

The initiative "showcases a select group of best-of-breed partners that have demonstrated significant value and customer traction with Oracle's sales organization," Blueroads officials say.

 

"Our product management team has thoroughly reviewed the partner ecosystem for the most synergistic products from our partners," says Julie Adams, vice president Oracle CRM On Demand Products. "Blueroads, as part of the Oracle CRM On Demand Inner Circle Partner Initiative, will provide our customers and prospects complementary value-added functionality in the Partner Opportunity Management arena."

 

Blueroads' product offers data exchange with Oracle's CRM products. Its latest Blueroads Connect enhancement "helps to simplify and speed the integration of these enterprise products, resulting in advanced CRM/PRM capability for medium and large enterprises" that rely on their indirect selling channels, company officials say.

 

"Our focus is on mid to large enterprises and this partnership allows us to provide a robust product with the CRM system of record for a majority of those clients," said Charles Watson, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Blueroads.

 

Oracle will be demonstrating the combined Blueroads / Oracle CRM product in the Moscone South Hall, Booth 1032 on September 24th from 1-2 p.m.

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TreeHouse Interactive, a vendor on demand partner relationship management, channel sales force automation and marketing automation products, has announced the integration of its Reseller View PRM product with Oracle CRM On Demand.

 

This new integration will allow Oracle CRM On Demand customers to deliver partner portals to their partner networks. The combination of the two products, according to Oracle officials, will allow for "a seamless experience between partners visiting a company's portal and the sales teams who manage those partner relationships in CRM On Demand."

 

Rackable Systems, a vendor of Eco-Logical servers and storage for large-scale data center deployments, is an early adopter of the integrated product. "With the integration of TreeHouse Reseller View PRM and Oracle CRM On Demand, we want to integrate our partner network with our sales teams," says Dominic Martinelli CIO of Rackable.

 

In the Reseller View portal, partners "have access to deals, leads and all the other information they need to grow their business with us. Through the integration with CRM On Demand, our sales teams will have the ability to manage their relationships with the partner base," Martinelli says.

 

TreeHouse Reseller View PRM is delivered via a Software As A Service (SaaS) model.

...

 

Blink Logic, a Software as a Service Business Intelligence (SaaS BI) vendor, has announced they are partnering with Etelos to "bring BI to the Etelos Marketplace."

 

Etelos "recognizes that Web distribution is the future for software and services," says David Morris, CEO, Blink Logic. "By opening a Blink Logic storefront, we expect not only to expose more people to our fresh take on business intelligence, but we also look forward to being part of a community of leading SaaS thought leaders and providers."

 

"Business intelligence is a critical function for today's enterprises," says Jeff Garon, CEO, Etelos. "Businesses who are fed up with the complexity and cost of on-premise BI technology stacks should come to our marketplace."

 

Blink Logic sells information-on-demand products to general manager-level executives in departments of Fortune-class companies. Company officials say the firm "empowers executives to take action to increase revenue and retain customers and partners," as the company's "Do-test-do better" cycle -- "always ready at any browser" -- matches "the vigorous rhythms of their business life."

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FTS, a vendor of billing, CRM and business control products for communication and content service providers, has announced that Sampoerna Telecom Indonesia has deployed FTS' convergent prepaid-postpaid billing and customer care product for its entire subscriber base.

 

"Convergent prepaid/postpaid business models are ranking high on carriers' wish lists. We see more and more carriers evaluating and in the process of launching hybrid billing scenarios," said Ari Banerjee, Director, Enabling Technologies Service Provider Software Solutions The Yankee Group.

 

FTS' Leap Billing product features a single, unified system that provides "one rating engine, one product catalog and a single customer care interface," FTS officials say, "all working over a single customer database."

 

The FTS product lets STI define a single set of services and prices that are available for its entire customer base regardless of whether they are using prepaid plans or paying a monthly subscription. The platform allows for the transition of customers between the various payment methods as well as supporting hybrid customers.

PT Sampoerna Telekomunikasi is the sole licensee of CDMA2000 1X

technology at 450 MHz band in the country. It operates under the Ceria brand name.

...

 

September 2008 "sees the release of S3 CRM," a Customer Relationship Management product from Tierlinear, according to company officials.

 

S3 CRM is "a safe, simple, secure application aimed at small to medium sized businesses. It is available 24/7 from any Internet enable device providing businesses with a virtual assistant," according to the Tierlinearians.

The product was designed "to be not only a CRM product, but also provide features to boost the efficiency and productivity of a business," company officials say.

 

Add to this the fact that S3 CRM is easy to use, get your username, password and start straight away. You will have a CRM solution that can be integrated into any business within minutes and will put an end to inefficient working practices in no time.

 

 

 

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Robert Earl Keen's Live from Austin, Texas:

 

Epicor Software, which sells business software products for the midmarket, has announced that LightBlocks has selected Epicor Manufacturing software to "support the company's continued growth and increase efficiency across its manufacturing process."

 

In addition to core functionality, LightBlocks plans to take advantage of Epicor's customer relationship management (CRM) module. "CRM is a large focus here," explained Michael Samborn, vice president of sales with LightBlocks.

 

LightBlocks's implementation of Epicor, the Epicorians say, marks "the first enterprise resource planning product used to create the company's distinct, light transmitting acrylic for architectural design finishes."

 

Created in 1999 by "public artist" and design studio owner Mary Boone Wellington, LightBlocks are patented, durable and adaptable light transmitting panels. "From partitions to ceilings, furniture, doors, lighting fixtures, flooring, sculpture and public art, LightBlocks support many architectural uses," Epicor officials say.

 

Today, LightBlocks designs, manufactures and distributes their custom product to clients spanning all types of industry including Bank of America, Saks Fifth Avenue, Random House, NASDAQ, NBA, IBM and Warner Brothers Studio.

"Our company roots are in public art -- we create a different, custom product nearly every time," said Ken Bush, chief financial officer at LightBlocks. "It was important that we find an ERP system that allows us to break out of the mold of widgets and standard, repeat processes."

 

Rod Winger, senior director of product marketing for Epicor's manufacturing and supply chain management products, said Epicor Manufacturing will let LightBlocks "drive lean business practices in their continued transcendence of art and architecture."

...

 

Salt Lake City-based TreeHouse Interactive, which sells on-demand partner relationship management, channel sales force automation and marketing automation products, has announced what company officials say are "significant advances" in its product suite which includes TreeHouse ResellerView, Sales View and MarketingView.

 

As a result, according to the TreeHousers, organizations "are able to improve efficiencies and process integration between partners and manufacturers and benefit from the combination of sales force automation with channel management."

The channel is described by company officials as "one of the core components for driving revenue and achieving greater market penetration in less time." While partners have become key to scaling sales operations, management of the channel has historically suffered from inefficiencies, they believe.

 

"Information systems have been focused on discrete aspects, not the entire process of tracking customers, conducting effective marketing and lead generation campaigns and competing for customers and efficiently managing the channel sales lifecycle," company officials charge, adding that in order to optimize channel sales management, "organizations need to improve visibility and process integration."

To compete in today's marketplace, "brand owners and their partners must have tools and processes that assist in driving revenues efficiently as well as facilitate coordination and communication," according to Pete Marston, research analyst, customer relationship management, Forrester Research.

TreeHouse Interactive sells an enterprise-class suite of software-as-a-service (SaaS) CRM products that include partner relationship management, channel sales force automation, and multi-channel marketing automation. New features in Reseller View PRM include full international character support, a new lead distribution model, a special pricing approval module, paperless and Automated MDF/Coop management and a training and certification module.

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Agilent Partners, which describes itself as "online marketing automation and lead generation specialists for small and midsized businesses," has announced the completion of a semi-custom product for one of its clients, Acclaro, forming "a system for managing online and offline marketing campaigns, all within SugarCRM."

 

Michael Kriz, president of Acclaro, a language translation and localization firm recently recognized on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, said he was looking for a product that allowed his company to manage all of their marketing activities through a single system and dashboard.

 

"SugarCRM was chosen as the CRM product that best met their needs," Agilent officials said, adding that Agilent "helped further tailor it to support Acclaro's online marketing efforts."

 

Although Agilent has built marketing automation products as far back as eight years ago, most SMBs and even larger companies are just getting on board now with what automated nurture marketing can do for them, company officials believe.

 

The product is driven by a lead capture system, created by Agilent and integrated into Acclaro's Web site, that uses Web services to communicate with the their on-demand SugarCRM system hosted at Sugar. The product contains visitor and lead tracking, "no lead duplication," a marketing ROI dashboard and ROI reporting with online lead generation and offline sales.

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Milwaukee-based Affinity has announced the successful deployment of what company officials are calling "a new advanced technology product for a global enterprise client" designed to let executives of the unnamed client "improve the effectiveness of their more than 5,000-member global sales and service organization."

 

The new system combines technologies including Siebel 8 CRM from Oracle, Service Oriented Architecture and product data management.

 

Due to "the global nature and sophistication of the client," Affinity officials say, the systems provide support for 30 languages, 40 currencies, and include information for the client's portfolio of more than 500 products.

 

Further, the new system is integrated with more than ten other systems, and is expected to deliver such benefits to the client as higher revenues from improved sales team synchronization, cross selling and management of large, complex, multi-location accounts.

 

The client had previously attempted to provide this functionality for their company, but the results did not meet company targets, Affinity officials say.

 

 

VinSolutions, a leading provider of Web-based automotive software, announced today it has completed an integration with Kelley Blue Book's InfoDriver. As a result, VinSolutions' clientele now have point-and-click access to data supplied by KBB's expanded and redesigned data syndication product. Subscribing dealers can access the data from VinSolutions' MotoSnap CRM or from their inventory management module.

 

"The newest iteration of Kelley Blue Book's data syndication products makes acquiring Kelley Blue Book vehicle information easier than ever before," said Brad Prickett, Kelley Blue Book's Director of Syndication Product Management. "The real power of this product is the combination of rich content in a flexible format. By incorporating Kelley Blue Book values in VinSolutions products, their customers now have quick access to accurate and timely vehicle values that are widely recognized by car shoppers."

Incorporating 82 years' worth of trusted KBB data into their software application, VinSolutions confidently supplies their clients with reliable used car data; vehicle trade-in, private party, wholesale, and suggested retail values. Whether subscribing users click on the Blue Book Valuation box from their MotoSnap CRM, or on the KBB Lookup box in their inventory management system, accurate vehicle valuation information is ready for immediate use.

"The direct link to reliable data that KBB's InfoDriver provides saves our clients time, and we believe the quick access to trade-in values and suggested retail pricing for customer trade-ins gives our subscribing dealers an added advantage," said Doug Kinney, VinSolutions' CEO. "We're pleased we are able to incorporate this powerful tool into our product lineup." Dealers who choose to add this service to their existing CRM or inventory management product will be able to print KBB suggested retail pricing on their used vehicle window stickers, and display comparisons between KBB and dealer-assigned prices on their VinSolutions Inventory Gallery or in their vehicle comment sections. For more information visit www.vinsolutions.com.

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Dexter Gordon's Doin' Allright. Sure be nice if iTunes hadn't completely mangled his masterwork, the Go album. Honestly, what's so hard about offering a complete album for download?:

 

Compiere, a vendor of open source business products, has announced the addition of manufacturing-specific functionality for its open source ERP and CRM products.

 

The company is delivering manufacturing capabilities in phases, the first of which, available in their 3.1 product, is "targeted at manufacturers with assembly operations," company officials say.

 

Capabilities include support for multi-level bills of material, work-in-process tracking, completion of final assemblies to shipping, work order costing, the ability to create work orders and select customer specific options at order entry time and integration with Compiere's existing materials management, purchasing, sales order management and financial systems.

 

It's currently available in three editions -- professional, standard and community. Additional manufacturing capabilities will be announced in future offerings.

 

"Manufacturers today face new business pressures that are causing them to rethink their ERP strategies," said Don Klaiss, president and CEO, Compiere. "Most midsize companies that currently have an ERP system are using either custom, in-house developed software, or expensive, inflexible, vendor-dependent software based on technology that is at least a decade old."

...

 

Etelos officials have announced six new partners have gone live with applications on the Etelos Marketplace.

 

The applications provided by these partners "range from e-mail management to business intelligence to CRM," according to company officials.

"As more and more businesses come to the Etelos Marketplace looking for Web applications, having partners such as these is essential," Etelos President & CEO Jeffrey Garon said.

 

Etelos is adding these business-focused applications to its marketplace "in order to bring businesses best-of-breed products," company officials say. All of these applications are now available on the Etelos Marketplace.

...

 

BSG, a vendor of advanced payment services for digital media merchants, and ARIA Systems, a provider of billing and life cycle management products to monetize games, have announced delivery of a global risk management product specifically designed for gamblers.

 

"Ensuring safe and secure transactions is a key determining factor in protecting paying gamblers from a negative experience," BSG officials say.

 

The product is designed to help game publishers prevent fraud from occurring and reduces charge backs and revenue loss, while "maintaining a fair and positive experience" for their gamblers, officials of both firms say.

The joint product combines ARIA System's proprietary gambler billing and CRM data with BSG's Advanced Payment Gateway data for analysis of gambling transactions in real time, analyzing gambler membership profiles, forum, guild participation and unique registered user profiles to determine who could pose a risk to other customers.

 

By identifying those gamblers who have what BSG officials characterize as "an ongoing and trusted relationship" with publishers via third-party channels, and then customizing the product by geography, genre and industry experience, BSG and ARIA Systems officials say the products lets publishers "protect" gamblers and the gambling experience, as well as their revenue streams.

"Working with ARIA Systems, we're able to distinguish those pockets of suspect users from good users so that game publishers can reduce the incidence of fraud, charge backs and other forms of revenue loss," said Greg Carter, CEO of BSG.

...

 

Open Text, a vendor of enterprise content management (ECM), has announced that Compassion International, a Christian child advocacy ministry, has selected Open Text's Artesia Digital Asset Management system to centralize the management of photos, newsletters, Web site materials and videos and "streamline processes for distributing and sharing content" between its field offices around the world.

 

Founded by the Rev. Everett Swanson in 1952, Compassion began providing Korean War orphans with food, shelter, education and health care, as well as Christian instruction. Today, Compassion helps more than 1 million children in 24 countries.

 

With 26 global field offices, Compassion made the move several years ago to centralize its media assets, but after growing out of the system it required a new product to help manage its assets on a larger scale "so that people in all offices could access the same content, use it in multiple formats and repurpose it," Open Text officials say.

 

"As an NGO, we have to be efficient in order to meet our mission of helping children around the world, so it's really important we expedite and facilitate the distribution of information to each of our offices," said Nydia Teter, Field Communications Director, Compassion International.

 

She said centralizing all the organization's content and "being able to access it whether we're in India, Ecuador, or Kenya" is going to "increase our productivity and help us find new ways of using content that we thought may have had only one use."

 

With Open Text, Compassion International will now have a single point of management for all of the organization's "storytelling materials" -- what Teter calls the photos, newsletters, Web site materials and video that help Compassion talk about the impact of the organization's work around the world -- and underlying metadata information.

 

Ultimately, Teter said she would like the Open Text product to be a chain in the CRM link so that Compassion's sponsor donors are able to access whatever information the organization has about the child or children that they sponsor and support.

...

 

Eloqua, a vendor of automated demand generation applications and expertise for business-to-business marketers, has announced it has been selected as one of Oracle's Elite 8, a designation given to partners which have demonstrated products and customer integrations with Oracle CRM On Demand.

 

Eloqua's Conversion Suite, which provides a turnkey product for executing, automating and measuring multi-channel marketing programs, is a hosted marketing product for Oracle CRM On Demand -- "a combination for end-to-end marketing and sales automation," according to the Oraclians.

 

The Elite 8 partners, described by Oracle officials as "the first tier of Oracle's CRM On Demand Inner Circle Partner Initiative," collaborate with Oracle CRM On Demand product strategy, product management, engineering, quality assurance and Global Alliance organizations.

 

Eloqua's product is designed to be used to close the loop between marketing and sales, company officials say.

 

Erica Ruliffson, Group Vice President, CRM On Demand, Oracle, says Eloqua's automated marketing products are a "complement" to Oracle CRM On Demand, enabling organizations to have "insight into both their marketing and sales activities."

 

Working with Eloqua, "we look forward to enabling our customers to track and measure marketing outcomes, directly tie sales revenue to marketing spend and increase overall customer lifetime value," Ruliffson says.

 

"We are excited to expand our relationship with Oracle," said Rob Brewster, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Eloqua.

 

 

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the first cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Little Feat's Dixie Chicken. Probably the biggest difference between me and my good friends in high school was that I didn't think this band was as great as they did. Still don't.

 

NewMarket Technology has announced signing a contract with AndesCargo for NewMarket's Chilean subsidiary, UniOne, to implement Siebel's CRM On Demand and supply licenses for AndesCargo.

 

AndesCargo, founded in 1989, is an international Chilean-based freight services provider.

 

NewMarket's operations in Latin America, including Microsoft and Oracle partnerships, have seen what company officials say is "substantial growth" over the past year. For the first half of 2008, NewMarket's Latin American operations have accounted for approximately $12.6 million in revenue so far this year, with $528,600 in net income.

 

In 2007, NewMarket reported $93.1 million in revenue with $7.3 million in net income across all its operations.

 

UniOne is an Oracle partner in Latin America with over fourteen years in the information technology business and has recently announced several Oracle projects, to include an Oracle Siebel implementation for L'Oreal Brazil.

...

 

IBM and iEnterprises have announced the integration of iEnterprises' customer relationship management (CRM) software, iExtensions CRM, with IBM's social networking platform, Lotus Connections.

 

The idea behind integrating social networking with CRM is to let businesses build communities and relationships around contacts, and of course help increase sales, improve response rates and even offer better customer service.

 

"Blending social networking with CRM is an example of Tomorrow at Work, an IBM initiative that examines a changing work world and anticipates trends in technology, business, society and culture," IBM officials say.

 

The integration uses Web services to bring a new social networking for CRM module to iExtensions CRM and Lotus Connections customers, "allowing both groups to link and synchronize information between the two systems," company officials say.

 

By doing so, companies hope to use business-grade social networking behind the firewall to improve their customer relationship and sales prospecting activities.

 

"It's like the virtual coffee machine chat -- where a massive information pool can be readily called upon, but here it's more targeted and therefore more purposeful," said James Mead, Royal Caribbean's Project Manager for International IT, and an iExtensions CRM customer, adding that the integration "could help us tap collective experiences and get answers faster."

 

The integration between the iExtensions CRM and Lotus Connections is based on a service oriented architecture approach. Using Web services, the data from either system can be reused with other programs across an enterprise. "The flexibility of Web services means that the data can be extended to mobile devices," IBM officials say, "making it possible for businesses to take the combination of social networking and CRM with them on the road."

 

Sales representatives can log into their iExtensions CRM system and instantly pull and store contact and other information needed for a project from Lotus Connections in one click. If a critical situation arises with a customer, for instance, the sales representative can use Lotus Connections to quickly identify people that can help.

...

 

Landslide Technologies, vendor of Sales Workstyle Management products, has announced that CustomerCentric Systems has named Landslide as the standard technology platform to complement its subscription-based CustomerCentric Selling training and consulting service.

 

Under terms of the agreement, CustomerCentric Systems becomes a referring partner for Landslide's CCS Edition, described by company officials as "a market-ready sales workforce management product that deploys immediately for CCS customers."

 

The edition "integrates the CCS approach of enabling salespeople to collaborate more effectively with their buying audience," company officials say, adding that the software lets organizations "codify the CCS selling process, present appropriate selling aids at the proper stage in the sales cycle, identify buyers' goals and transform sales ready messaging into selling activities."

 

Tim Young, CEO, CustomerCentric Systems, said the technology "deploys quickly for our customers, in turn-key fashion."

 

Landslide officials cited to "studies by firms like ES Research Group" which they say show that "more than 50 percent of the knowledge presented during a sales training event erodes within one month," so firms generally find themselves challenged to reinforce the training from these workshops and ultimately make methodologies stick over time.

 

The Landslide CCS product is therefore designed to provide an ongoing training mechanism to help sales teams "internalize the unique sales process quickly and consistently."

...

 

Oracle has announced a partnership with InQuira, which sells software applications for Web self-service and agent-assisted support. 

 

The sales and product partnership is intended for a product "across phone, Web and community-based channels," officials of both firms say, "combining collaboration and Web self-service with Oracle's applications," bringing Enterprise 2.0 features into one product.

 

"InQuira's software complements and extends Oracle's software applications," said Anthony Lye, senior vice president of CRM at Oracle, adding that "on occasion," Oracle deems it necessary to "integrate our product with other software providers.  The integrated product allows us to provide exciting new functionality that I expect will generate quite a bit of enthusiasm in the marketplace."  

 

"A great customer experience is one that combines unstructured content with transactional content in a consistent fashion across channels," said Mike Murphy, InQuira CEO, adding that the firm already has "several customers" who have integrated InQuira into their Oracle call center applications.

...

 

An online end-user survey recently completed by ABI Research has found that RFID is being used or evaluated for a growing number of applications across a wide range of vertical industry sectors.

 

According to ABI Research Director Michael Liard, "virtually every economic sector and industry where data needs to be collected or objects need to be tracked holds the potential for RFID applications."

 

End-user respondents cite "the use and evaluation of RFID technology across multiple application segments," ranging from security-based applications to supply chain management to multiple flavors of asset tracking and more, the study says:

 

"Organizations of all kinds are increasingly using and evaluating RFID systems to improve the tracking of objects, assets, goods, and materials within the four walls, in yards and campuses, open loop environments, and beyond."

 

Liard says end-users are "looking for a total product. This requirement is leading large percentages of users to secure their systems direct from RFID manufacturers as well as from systems integrators that can provide all product components via a partner network." 

 

The study found that respondents feel "these vendors and integrators have a deeper understanding of RFID technology, as well as vertical and/or application market specialization."

 

 

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Townes Van Zandt's Rear View Mirror. Everybody thinks this guy's one of the greatest songwriters of the past however many years, First Coffee finds him moderately enjoyable, but outside of a couple songs -- notably "Pancho and Lefty" nothing all that special:

 

Salesforce.com has announced that Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division selling product lifecycle management software and services, has adopted Salesforce Partners.

 

In addition to rolling out Salesforce Partners to more than 1,200 partner sales representatives, Siemens PLM Software has also deployed Salesforce SFA for more than 1,000 internal sales staff.

 

"Making it easy for our partners to do business with us increases their productivity and profitability," said Kerry Grimes, vice president, Mid-market and Global Channel Sales, Siemens PLM Software. "With Salesforce, we were able to create a single global product that provides both our direct and indirect sales representatives with access to information."

 

Working with Salesforce.com professional services, Siemens PLM Software deployed Salesforce SFA and Salesforce Partners to more than 2,000 users in 60 countries around the world in less than 100 days. The company used the Force.com Platform-as-a-Service to further customize its Salesforce product for its particular business needs.

 

The portal lets partners access sales and marketing information and materials directly from the opportunity or account record, a function intended to improve account and opportunity collaboration and "further support deal registration," company officials say.

 

There is also custom import/export functionality for partners to work off-line with leads and opportunities when integrating with their own contact management or CRM systems.

...

 

EGain Communications Corporation has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2008.

 

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008 was $6.7 million, an increase of 24 percent from the comparable year-ago quarter. License revenue was $721,000, an increase of 124 percent from the comparable year-ago quarter.

 

Support and services revenue was $6.0 million, an increase of 18 percent from the comparable year-ago quarter. Total revenue for the fiscal year 2008 was $30.1 million, an increase of 34 percent from the prior year. License revenue was $6.6 million, an increase of 93 percent from the prior year. Support and services revenue was $23.5 million, an increase of 23 percent from the prior year.

 

Gross margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008 was 57 percent compared to 51 percent in the comparable year-ago quarter. Gross margin for the fiscal year 2008 was 61 percent compared to 59 percent in the prior year. Total operating costs and expenses for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008 were $5.2 million, a decrease of 3 percent from the comparable year-ago quarter. Total operating costs and expenses for the fiscal year 2008 were $21.1 million, an increase of 7 percent from the prior year.

 

Net loss on a GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008 was $1.9 million, or $(0.12) per share, compared to a net loss on a GAAP basis of $2.9 million, or $(0.19) per share, for the comparable year-ago quarter. Net loss on a GAAP basis for the fiscal year 2008 was $4.1 million, or $(0.27) per share compared to a net loss on a GAAP basis of $7.7 million, or $(0.50) per share for the prior year.

...

 

Javien Digital Payment Solutions has announced that CyberSports, a company that creates and operates 3D virtual multi-player multi-sports worlds, has selected the Javien Total Commerce Solution to "support players' online game subscriptions and in-game payments of virtual goods."

 

Working with Javien, partner Game Center Group, will be providing CRM support for CyberSports.

 

"We evaluated several payment providers and found that Javien's technology offered the fullest menu of both merchant and customer support tools," said George Scotto, Chief Customer Officer for CyberSports.

 

Javien's micropayment technology is used in CyberSports's Football Superstars platform, enabling high volumes of small in-game transactions. The Javien Total Commerce Solution supports a variety of international billing options.

 

CyberSports will launch Football Superstars, billed by company officials as "the first massively multi-player online game to recreate the game of soccer and emulate its associated lifestyle" for thousands of individual players, appealing to both casual and hardened gamers alike.

 

The game will allow players to participate in pickup soccer games, manage their own teams, and even grow their "celebrity status" among other players by avoiding online paparazzi and spending free time in the game's posh clubs and restaurants.

 

First Coffee wonders if it will also teach players how to flop and cry for fouls and fake injuries to try to get opponents carded, which seem to be required skills of all soccer players, one reason First Coffee rarely can watch a full match -- having whining children here at home there's little reason to make time for that sort of thing on TV. Well, that and the fact that soccer's boring, of course.

...

 

Christian Aid, a grant giving organization in the UK, has awarded interactive marketing and technology consultancy Ascentium Corporation a contract to manage its business process re-engineering project.

 

Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, MOSS 2007 and Office 2003, Ascentium will create "The Promise Solution," a program that will enable Christian Aid to compete for funding and demonstrate returns on donations, rather than merely save cost.

 

Described by Ascentium officials as "one of the largest projects underway in the not-for-profit sector," The Promise Solution is meant to focus on and improve the charity's grant management activities for projects and work programs undertaken by Christian Aid, as well as by its partners worldwide.

 

The project is intended to ensure that Christian Aid works with Partner organizations in a more consistent, efficient and effective way.

 

Ascentium is a Microsoft partner for MOSS and CRM, claiming "the largest dedicated CRM practice in the world." When used in conjunction with one another, "the two products prove to be innovative in the field of software development," according to the Ascentiumians.

...

 

Pyxis Mobile, a vendor of wireless applications for the financial services industry, has announced that AIC Limited has selected their software in support of their regional sales group.

 

AIC's implementation of the mobile application includes bi-directional access to both Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and sales tracking tools for their sales and sales management professionals.

 

With its Head Office in Burlington, Ontario, AIC is one of Canada's largest privately-held mutual fund companies with assets under management exceeding $6 billion.

With their implementation of Pyxis Mobile, AIC is "taking a multi phase approach by extending their CRM and sales data initially, and then adding future application enhancements to expand capabilities and information for their wholesalers," company officials say.

 

AIC used Pyxis Mobile's configurable wholesaler application to power two business workflows -- "sales directors gain wireless access to their individual territories, while regional VPs have visibility across all territories they manage," company officials say, adding that the common screens for each group are shared, while workflow-specific screens are accessible only by users from that group.

If read off-site hit http://blog.tmcnet.com/telecom-crm/ for the fully-linked version. First Coffee^SM accepts no sponsored content.

 

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is The Clash's Sandinista!, the sounds of a hypertalented band's mind shattering into a billion shimmering slivers:

 

Cambridge Investment Research has partnered with SalesPage Technologies "for all of its Advisor Relationship Management needs," Cambridge officials say.

 

SalesPage Broker/Dealer will initially be rolled out within Cambridge Partner Support Center, a new initiative launched in early September of 2008.

 

Designed as a one-stop, high-level support center, Cambridge officials say in addition to providing "a single point of contact and timely response," the Partner Support Center is "focused on achieving first time call resolution and direct, personalized communication with advisors."

 

The 11-member team is available 11 hours each business day to personally research and respond to advisor questions.

 

"We believe SalesPage will provide the tools we need to deliver the service our advisors deserve, especially for our new partner support center," said Marcia Martin, Senior Vice President, Operations & Partner Support for Cambridge, adding that the service to advisors in areas such as operations, commissions, compliance, and CIR statements was specifically targeted for improvement.

 

SalesPage Broker/Dealer sells a range of functionality tailored to the B/D community. SalesPage's CRM platform has been named one of ISM's "Top 15 CRM Solutions" for 6 consecutive years in The Guide to CRM Automation and Top 15 CRM and Real Time CRM software reviews.

...

 

MindTouch, creator of an open-source social enterprise collaboration platform, and SnapLogic have announced Deki for CRM, described by company officials as a product to help customers get more value from their existing CRM systems, such as SugarCRM and Salesforce.com, "through augmented intelligence and team collaboration."

 

The product is built on MindTouch Deki Enterprise Server and the SnapLogic open source data integration framework and SnapLogic Solution Packs for SugarCRM and Salesforce.com. It's designed to provide sales and marketers a dashboard of reports within their CRM application by pulling data from a variety of backend applications and Web services, company officials say. 

 

Users can create and collaborate on reports and mashups, accessing customer information in Salesforce.com and SugarCRM without the need for advanced SOAP Web services programming, MindTouch officials say.

 

CRM systems often require data from other applications and data sources in order to handle leads, manage accounts, and "coordinate strategy to win new business," SnapLogic officials say, adding that Deki for CRM allows employees to share expertise across the silos of the company "as independent systems are mashed up in a centralized space."

 

The product allows collaboration using SnapLogic data pipelines from CRM applications such as SugarCRM and Salesforce.com, and other enterprise data sources such as external financial systems, product databases, and order processing systems. 

 

A free, 15-day trial of Deki for CRM in a functional VMware appliance is available now from both www.mindtouch.com and www.snaplogic.com. Deki for CRM starts at $15,000 and is available for purchase from MindTouch at www.mindtouch.com.

...

 

Intridea has announced the debut of Present.ly, a Twitter-like short-form communication tool for the enterprise. The product "combines the universal premise of Twitter with collaboration, security and privacy, an API for enterprise integration and a software-as-a-service model," company officials say.

 

According to company officials, Present.ly "promises to revolutionize the way company employees let others know what they are working on, tap the collective knowledge of colleagues, and track relevant information in real time via the Web, mobile devices, instant messaging and more." You know, all in a day's work.
 
"Short-form communications and microblogs provide a way for consumers to reach out to each other, which is redefining interactions on the Web," notes Dave Naffis, president, products at Intridea. "With Present.ly, we are taking that inside the walls of companies and providing an alternative to the many 'status' meetings that drain employee resources and time."
 
Present.ly is described by company officials as "the newest Ruby on Rails-based, on-demand enterprise social media product from Intridea."

 

To use Present.ly, a company signs up online and is given a sub-domain to which it can add any number of users. Employees can post updates and follow the posts of others, create and join groups -- for example "IT" or "Accounting" -- and respond to other users' posts, which are indexed and archived to provide a record of status, discussions and decisions.

 

Access uses Secure Sockets Layer authentication and log-on credentials.
 
The product supports access points used by enterprise employees, including Web browsers, IM, and mobile devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry.

...

 

GoldenGate Software, a vendor of data integration products, has announced that "interactive lifestyle network and e-retail destination" HSN has implemented the GoldenGate Zero-Downtime Migration software product to upgrade its CRM application from Oracle's Siebel CRM 6.2 to 8.0.

 

The migration includes going from Oracle 8i Database to Oracle Database 10g as well.

 

The retailer deployed the GoldenGate product as part of a large Siebel CRM upgrade project "to achieve zero-downtime in order to avoid any disruption to the business," GoldenGate officials say.

 

HSN is currently in its 31st year and has, among other ventures, a TV network with a reach of 90 million homes and hsn.com, an e-commerce site. Processing approximately 44 million calls each year, HSN officials says they needed to upgrade their CRM software from Siebel CRM 6.2 to 8.0, and database from Oracle 8i Database to Oracle Database 10g.

 

"Being a live 24/7 business, HSN simply cannot afford to take any outage, so when other vendors suggested we take the systems down for a week to complete the migration, we knew we had to find an alternate product," said Anitha Reddy, vice president of IT applications at HSN.

 

The bi-directional sync provided by the GoldenGate product allowed for upgrades and enhancements to the HSN system, with zero downtime, HSN officials say.

...

 

IDGC of Centre is implementing a new SAP CRM platform, IDGC officials say.

 

"Improvement of the customer service quality" is one of the main goals stated by IDGC officials for the move.

 

IDGC of Centre is a grid company in Russia seeking to automate its customer service processes by using SAP CRM-based programs. "The existing customer relationship system does not stipulate customer identification at application to the company," said Anna Korneichuk, Head of the Department of Customer Service Organization, IDGC of Centre, JSC, and since that's a direct quote we'll leave it at that, folks.

 

"With the help of the CRM platform we not only keep the history of customers' applications, forming, thus, our database, but also reduce the time spent on interaction with customers at their repeated application to our company. The given system will work in the uniform information area and, already at the initial stages of its introduction, it will help to treat efficiently customers' applications," she added.

This year, by introducing CRM system, company officials say they plan to solve some of their most urgent problems at once as they "automate accounting and analysis of customer applications that the company receives through numerous communication channels, improve quality, reduce the time of study of customers' applications and start keeping the history of customer relationship."

 

 

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Creedence Clearwater Revisited. That's right, "Revisited," not Creedence Clearwater Revival, but a band with CCR's original drummer and bassist, Stu Clifford and Doug Cook (that might be Doug Clifford and Stu Cook) and a couple other guys standing in for the Fogertys on CCR material. Evidently they're a full-time touring act, coming to an Indian casino near you.

 

I know what you're saying -- "Heresy! Sacrilege! CCR without John Fogerty is like... like... Queen without Freddie Mercury!" My thoughts at first, too, and I bow to nobody in haughty snobbery when it comes to classic rock. But the music is as good as you'd reasonably expect an original CCR show to be, and more than one song is improved upon in the execution --brave Tom Fogerty wasn't this good of a guitarist, for one thing.

 

Because friends, CCR isn't exactly Pink Floyd. Their music isn't rocket science, any bar band can do a set of passable CCR covers, and we're talking the original rhythm section here, working with solid pros who know their job.

 

Put it this way  -- it's as good or better than the CCR song performances John Fogerty did with some faceless backup band on his 1998 live CD, but neither is as good as Fogerty playing with Clifford and Cook again would be:

 

Sage Software has announced that the latest versions of its Sage Accpac ERP and Sage MAS ERP enterprise resource planning and accounting systems have won top rankings in The CPA Technology Advisor's annual Review of Mid-Range Accounting Systems.

 

Reviewer Mary Girsch-Bock awarded 5-Star overall ratings for Sage Accpac 200 ERP 5.5 and Sage MAS 90 and 200 ERP 4.3. Both products are components of the company's new Extended Enterprise Suites launched earlier this year.

 

"These performances demonstrate how our products continue to address the needs of our business customers," said Himanshu Palsule, Sage Software executive vice president and general manager, Strategic Products, Business Management Division.

...

 

PipelineDeals, which calls itself "the simple CRM software company," has launched the iPhone Edition.

 

"PipelineDeals saw an opportunity to bring together our existing hosted sales product and the growing usage of the iPhone for business," says company co-founder Nick Bertolino.

 

The product lets sales people "keep track of their daily agenda, business contacts, business prospects, to dos and action items," company officials say, adding that "sales people can review deal notes and history from the road eliminating the need to lug around their laptop, or even worse, paper."

 

The iPhone Edition is the first of several mobile CRM products for PipelineDeals, the next being the Blackberry.

...

 

StayinFront, a vendor of customer relationship management (CRM) and other business apps, has announced the unveiling of the newest version of its flagship product, StayinFront CRM 11.

 

The product builds on the capabilities of CRM 10, used by customers in the manufacturing, pharmaceutical, healthcare, consumer goods and financial services industries, according to company officials.

 

StayinFront CRM 11 "combines CRM and analytics into one tool" making business intelligence data accessible "without the high cost of configuration usually associated with business intelligence projects," company officials say.

 

"Organizations accumulate large and complex customer profiles, but they often struggle to use these valuable assets," said StayinFront Executive Vice President of Research and Development, Michael Hart. 

 

The analytics application integrated into StayinFront CRM 11 is also available as a standalone application. StayinFront Analytics is designed specifically for non-technical users with drag, drop and drill technology for analyzing sales, marketing and financial information from any database.

 

StayinFront CRM 11 uses a multi-layered architecture coupled with object-oriented data modeling, "providing flexibility and configuration capabilities while preserving the ability to upgrade," company officials say.

 

A .NET application, StayinFront CRM 11 uses smart client technology to "provide the benefits of a Web application while maintaining the look and feel of a desktop application," company officials say. The product can be deployed across a WAN or the Internet using the 'ClickOnce' deployment, a Microsoft technology.

...

 

Softtrends has announced Mobile CRM+, described by company officials as a product that "enables users access to CRM server applications using Windows Mobile, Symbian OS, and Blackberry platform based smart phones."

 

Mobile CRM+ doesn't "duplicate CRM functionality on a smaller device," company officials say, but "provides appropriate information entry and retrieval facility and uses the audio and video capabilities of today's smart phone device to improve information capture."

 

Based on smart client design, Mobile CRM+ makes online, offline and semi-connected transactions possible, it also comes with features to extend CRM server transactions, information and interactivity, interfacing with audio, video/camera, e-mail, phone and other local smart phone applications to provide a set of rich functionality to the user.

The functions of the product include capturing leads and contacts using a device's voice and camera, recording incoming and outgoing phone calls to leads and contacts, creating activities with voice instructions and picture illustrations, browsing leads, contacts and activities as a user would do on a desktop interface and searching for information directly on CRM server.

 

"When recording a meeting," company officials say, the Rolling Audio Recording Buffer (DVR) in Mobile CRM+ "makes it possible to snapshot previous comments into sound bites, not just record the entire meeting."

 

Atlanta-based Softtrends and its Bangalore-based subsidiary develop mobile software products and custom software products for Windows Mobile, Symbian OS, RIM Blackberry, and iPhone platforms.

...

 

Alauras Software has announced the release of Alauras YP CRM+. The new yellow page product, company officials say, offers "wide-ranging CRM functionality and adds sales force automation tools designed for yellow page publishers."

 

YP CRM+ offers an application that can be integrated into "virtually any yellow page publishing environment," company officials say: "CRM+ supports both print and electronic media."

 

Company President Richard Sloop said "we have created a product to meet wide ranging needs in automating standard business practices within the industry, principally targeting sales needs and customer service functions. Beyond these enhancements, CRM+ can integrate or accept a variety of custom modules."

 

The customizable Internet based product requires no software installation and is accessible from Internet-enabled PC's or handheld devices. CRM+ offers "a real time picture of sales or canvass progress," company officials say, as well as "a single reference point for customer service activity."

 

Sales proposals "can now be customized by client and include multiple scenarios and appropriate sales collateral," they add: "New mapping and DSR functionality provides additional efficiencies in managing sales efforts and monitoring territory management."

...

 

VinSolutions, a Web-based automotive software provider, has announced it has completed an integration with the RouteOne CAMS to give VinSolutions' clientele access to a point-and-click connection with RouteOne and their affiliated finance sources.

 

"Having RouteOne integrated with VinSolutions makes for a much more efficient system. We don't have to waste time duplicating customer data or re-entering multiple car deal scenarios for F&I," said Todd Crossley, owner of Gary Crossley Ford, adding the zinger line "it makes the managers' lives so much easier that they actually use it."

 

This ease of use is "not accidental,". RouteOne officials say, adding that they're "committed to providing their dealers with the ability to efficiently submit customer applications to a variety of lenders."

 

Mike Jurecki, RouteOne CEO, said the integration between RouteOne and VinSolutions offers dealers "the products they need to streamline their sales processes."

 

Users enter the customer information and deal specifics at the desk, and then click the "Push to RouteOne" tab in VinSolutions' MotoSnap CRM desking module. The dealer is then connected to the RouteOne platform via a secured HTTP interface free of charge.

 

RouteOne was formed in 2002 by Chrysler Financial, Ford Motor Credit Company, GMAC, and Toyota Financial Services to create a more streamlined credit application for automobile dealers and their customers.

 

 

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Alan Jackson's gospel album, Precious Memories. Recorded originally as a favor to his mother, who had been nagging him for years to do a gospel album, it was passed around to friends who urged him to release it commercially. Consequently there's a nice, easy, relaxed feel to the music, like Jackson chanced across a piano in an empty church, opened the hymnal and played some songs and somebody happened to tape it:

 

Inquisite, a vendor of Web-based software for collecting, understanding and managing feedback from customers and employees, has announced best practices for increasing customer retention through the use of Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) software.

 

EFM, company officials say, is "a class of software that secures and simplifies the collection and analysis of survey data," delivering an understanding of an organization's customers.

Inquisite's EFM software platform lets users distribute customer surveys, and deliver the findings to appropriate individuals in the organization. "Inquisite software transforms surveying from a single-event data collection process into an automated, ongoing discipline that continuously collects and monitors customer experiences," company officials say.

The Commerce Department's recently reported slowdown in consumer spending "confirmed the economic sluggishness many businesses already felt," Inquisite officials believe, "and reinforced the need for customer retention."

 

The products lets users consolidate survey data in a centralized database where it can be integrated with information provided by other customer-facing applications, such as CRM platforms, "creating a holistic view of the customer's history and level of satisfaction," in company officials' words.

 

Users can also respond quickly to negative customer feedback by automating the initial reply, which gives an organization time to investigate the problem's source and react.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Inquisite sells Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) software and services.

...

 

NTG Clarity Networks, which sells network, IT and infrastructure products has announced that it has received a business process re-engineer Letter Of Intent for a project with a telecom operator in the Middle East Gulf area.

 

NTG will provide "a range of consulting and re-engineering services in support of the implementation of a new CRM and billing system," company officials say. Specific services will involve functional process improvement, assessment and analysis, requirements prototyping and testing.

 

The LOI is estimated to be worth over $3 million. Work will start immediately.

 

This work will be performed by NTG's Systems Engineering and BPR Division and involves approximately 12 BPR specialists. NTG works in BPR and operates a dedicated Business Process Re-engineering group.

...

 

BrightSide Software has launched its beta version of Clienteq,  described by company officials as a client service tool for professional services firms.

 

Clienteq is a Web-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) client service tool for professional services organizations, pitched mostly to consulting, legal, accounting, advertising, and research firms.

 

It's an open-to-clients collaborative environment enabling automation of typical client service workflows, such as status reports, meeting minutes, feedback/approval tracking and timesheets. It's designed to help professional services firms offer a more reliable and transparent service, spending less effort on daily routine procedures.

 

"The biggest pain for professional services firms is maintaining the high standards of day-to-day client service," said Dimitri Lisitski, co-founder of BrightSide. "That's why traditional CRM tools built around the sales automation concept failed for this vertical. We've turned CRM inside out, opening it to clients."

 

In Clienteq, Lisitski says, "your team and your client's team can share and discuss documents, track feedback and action items, publish meeting minutes, fill timesheets and track the billing process. We designed Clienteq to become the ultimate client service tool that raises the bar for client service standards."

 

Interested companies may apply to the early access program. The public release of Clienteq is planned for December 2008.

...

 

At its third annual QuickBooks Enterprise User Conference, Intuit has announced plans for its latest product for mid-market businesses, the Intuit Enterprise Suite.

 

The suite will be a single location for customers to access online applications connected with Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise, to "increase collaboration and productivity across back- and front-office functions," company officials say.

 

The first phase will be delivered this fall with the availability of applications that address inventory, field service and sales management.

 

Angus Thomson, vice president and general manager of Intuit's Mid-Market Group, said connecting the customer, vendor and employee data contained in QuickBooks with new online applications "gives mid-market businesses access to information that can be applied to jobs far beyond accounting."

 

Mid-market businesses are increasingly looking for ways to collaborate and grow their businesses, company officials believe, adding that "many businesses are forced to select and integrate disparate point solutions to effectively manage their operations.

 

Applications currently under development include the Intuit Field Service Management ES, an application powered by Corrigo to enable service businesses to manage and schedule service calls and appointments for their mobile workforce.

 

Intuit Warehouse Management ES, described by company officials as "a system powered by AccuCode to help product-based businesses get more from their inventory by tracking the items they have, where they are housed among multiple warehouse locations and how to get them to their customers."

...

 

Intacct, a vendor of on-demand financial management and accounting applications, and QuickArrow, which sells SaaS Services Automation, have announced they have partnered to integrate their products.

 

The result is a product offering what officials of both firms call "best-of-breed project management, resource management, financial management and accounting," to help services teams "increase agility and profitability."

 

In addition to integrating their Software as a Service applications, the two companies will use their networks to distribute the combined product throughout the services industry and also to additional industries "in which services success is essential."

 

Kevin Bury, QuickArrow CEO, said the days of the application software suite "are behind us. Suites evolved in the 90s as a trade off between best-of-breed functionality and a need to reduce integration complexity."

 

In today's SaaS world, however, "you no longer have to choose between the two."

 

Mike Braun, president and CEO of Intacct, called the alliance "part of our ongoing vision to create an open, on-demand ecosystem."

 

Intacct is headquartered in San Jose, with operations in Bangalore.

 

QuickArrow's SaaS product integrates with SFA, CRM, and financial applications, replacing homegrown products and labor-intensive spreadsheets to automate workflows and streamline operations.

 

 

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is The Dexman -- Dexter Gordon's early '60s Blue Note jazz recordings, albums such as Dexter Calling, Our Man In Paris and A Swingin' Affair:

 

"To provide a complete, integrated trade promotions management and advanced planning product," company officials say, Oracle has announced the availability of an Oracle Application Integration Architecture product connecting the Oracle Siebel Trade Promotion Management with Oracle's Demantra Predictive Trade Planning and Promotion Optimization.

 

This "supports both new and existing CRM customers who wish to extend their trade promotion management systems with simulation, planning and optimization capabilities," Oracle officials say.

 
The product combines the promotion simulation and optimization capabilities in Oracle's Demantra with Siebel's trade promotion management execution and settlement applications.

 

Developed in a collaboration between Oracle and Deloitte in conjunction with their alliance relationship, the new integration between Siebel Trade Promotion Management and Demantra is delivered as part of Oracle Application Integration Architecture, which integrates business processes across Oracle, third party and custom applications.

 

"Optimization and simulation offer significant competitive advantage for consumer goods companies that can use them in conjunction with their go-to-customer activities" said Gartner's Research Vice President, Industry Advisory Services - Manufacturing, Dale Hagemeyer. "The industry is so rich in data that it will take predictive capabilities to truly understand and influence future outcomes. Companies that cannot do so will remain trapped in the past."

...

 

Verimatrix, which deals in content security technologies for pay-TV networks, has announced that Australian-based Video Ezy will be integrating VideoMark in the commercial rollout of its Electronic Video Rental service.

 

Video Ezy officials say the move will complement the company's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) implementation.

 

Video Ezy's Electronic Video Rental service enables customers to download HD and standard definition movies from an in-store kiosk to a portable storage device for later viewing at home. The Verimatrix Video Content Authority System for IPTV was selected for its "flexibility and ease of integration to protect premium content," Verimatrix officials say.

 

VideoEzy has integrated the extra layer of watermarking to trace back pirated content to the last authorized user, thus expanding the security perimeter.

 

"Verimatrix and its VCAS content protection products have been instrumental partners in our development of the Electronic Video Rental service," said Andrew Gardiner, general manager of Video Ezy.

 

VideoMark allows forensic, user-specific marking of video at each STB or PC client in a pay-TV system. The end-to-end VideoMark service includes recovery of the unique client identification from all unauthorized analog and digital distribution formats.

 

Established in 1983, Video Ezy is an Australian home video channel and franchise operator with over 510 stores operating in Australia today, with over 7,000,000 customers registered.

...

 

Enhanced Telecommunications' (d/b/a) ETI Software Solutions has announced that MTS Allstream will use ETI's Triad OSS to integrate Microsoft's Mediaroom IP video technology to their CRM and billing infrastructure.

 

Triad automates the provisioning of IPTV services to MTS Allstream's subscriber base.

 

MTS Allstream is a Canadian national communication products provider. Operating under the MTS brand in the province of Manitoba, the division offers consumers wireless, high-speed Internet and data, digital television and wireline voice services, as well as home security services.

 

"Years ago, we made the decision to integrate Triad's single host interface to our CRM product," said Paul Frizado, Chief Technology and Information Officer, MTS Allstream, because the application provides video packaging, promotional and rating capabilities as well as "complete flow-through provisioning across a host of technology platforms."

 

In delivering the product for MTS Allstream, ETI has developed a custom interface to MTS Allstream's existing middleware. An integrated Triad application provides a suite of pricing, promotion and bulk-purchase packaging calculations for MTS Allstream.

...

 

Lexnet Consulting Group has announced the second in a series of integrations between StrongMail and CRM products -- this time for Sage SalesLogix from Sage Software.

 

StrongMail is an on-premises e-mail marketing and transactional e-mail product.

"As with SageCRM customers, we found that Sage SalesLogix customers were looking for real-time integration between their CRM system and an e-mail marketing product," said Steve Chipman, president of Lexnet, a StrongMail partner. "Historically, Sage SalesLogix has been mainly implemented as an on-premises CRM product, which makes it a good match for StrongMail's e-mail marketing appliance."

 

"We are thrilled that Lexnet is continuing to roll out CRM integrations with StrongMail," said Steve Murphy, North American Channel Manager for StrongMail Systems. "By integrating StrongMail with multiple CRM platforms, Lexnet is addressing the needs of a large number of companies."

 

StrongMail is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and is funded by Sequoia Capital, Evercore Partners, Globespan Capital Partners and DAG Ventures.

...

 

Portable shopping devices and cart-mounted devices are the new store automation technologies transforming the global retail scenario, according to a new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, "World Customer Shopping Devices Markets."

 

The market is currently in the growth phase and portable shopping devices have seen widespread adoption in Europe and North America, the study found, while the pace is picking up in the Asia Pacific region and Latin America.

 

"Faced with increasing competition and diminishing margins, retailers are going the extra mile to overhaul their business models to provide innovative and viable shopping products for techno-savvy customers," the study's authors said.

 

Frost & Sullivan's research found that the portable shopping devices market earned revenues of over $59.2 million in 2007. The analyst firm "intends to offer two perspectives on the future of this technology -- at a global level having arrived at two potential scenarios based on the analysis done during the research phase," officials say.

 

"The primary driver behind the implementation of portable shopping devices or mobile self-scanners is the significant improvement in the customer's shopping efficiency and labor productivity," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Prasanna Prakash. "Using these systems, customers can eliminate waiting time in queues, leading to faster checkouts while retailers can streamline operations and redeploy staff to other functions within the retail environment."

 

As 25 percent of personnel are deployed at point-of-sale activities, portable shopping devices enable labor reduction at checkout points and increase labor productivity as well as usage.

 

Though the advantages have become apparent, some factors impede the uptake of these systems. The high cost of installation and the availability of cheap labor, especially in the Asia Pacific region and Latin America, deter widespread deployment, the study found.

"In the Asia Pacific region and Latin America, labor rates are low, curbing product penetration," observes Prakash. "Further, there is always a trade off between investing the money in IT and spending the same on other short-term benefits such as price reductions and promotions."

 

Delivering enhanced customer relationship management (CRM) is "a surefire strategy" for advancing business, the study concludes: "These strategies will help promote long-term customer loyalty and maximize customer lifetime value and engender customer retention."

 

"World Customer Shopping Devices Markets" is part of the Kiosks and Retail Systems Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in EFT terminals, digital signage, ATMS, self-checkouts, kiosks, and point of sale systems.

 

 By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Frank Sinatra-Dean Martin duets, current selection "Well Did You Evah?:"

 

Enterprise communications vendor Thunderhead has announced the NOW Context Engine, described by company officials as "a new core component of Thunderhead NOW 4.0 platform."

 

The NOW Context Engine is a scalable XML repository designed to archive document and correspondence content as it is processed by the NOW platform to produce multi-channel customer communications.

 

Thunderhead's Context Engine is a new component designed to "improve both the context and relevancy of customer communications generated by the NOW platform," according to the Thunderheads. The XML data captured by the Context Engine represents a complete history of the Thunderhead-generated customer communications, including embedded promotions, offers and other marketing-related content.

 

With the NOW Context Engine, this historical information can be used to shape the content of future customer communications. The new module will also integrate with existing customer information systems, giving users a view of customer data and optimize their investments in existing CRM technologies.

 

The NOW Context Engine will also form the core of Thunderhead's new analytic and management information functionality, company officials say: "Communication data stored in the Context Engine will be available to various analytical tools, including Thunderhead's Analyze NOW components."

 

Thunderhead officials call the product "a strategic departure" from other document generation technologies.

 

"Traditionally, document generation vendors have focused on speed and scalability in attempting to meet the needs of larger enterprise organizations," said Thunderhead CEO Glen Manchester. "However, today's enterprises have moved beyond simple output management and are seeking broader, products that enable contextual, multi-channel customer engagement."

 

Thunderhead also announced that it has entered into an OEM agreement with IBM to embed its DB2 pureXML product in the NOW Context Engine. Thunderhead, as an XML-based technology, processes information in its native XML format.

 

The NOW Context Engine will be available in October 2008.

...

 

"In the last three months alone," company officials say, Bango has seen "a four-fold increase in the number of WAP transactions in the US."

 

Content providers including Gameloft and Dada Entertainment are selling their content using Bango's mobile billing relationships with AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel and Virgin Mobile, Bango officials say.

 

This means over 130 million subscribers on these networks can now pay for mobile content either per download or as a subscription. They charge it to their phone bill using the same browse and buy experience used on the PC Internet and their operator's deck.

 

Using WAP billing, customers can see the price and conditions of purchase before they click to pay. And, because users choose to buy content and then pay in one session, "there is little room for error as compared to the two-step Premium SMS process," the Bangovians say.

 

"The shift to WAP browse and buy is a response to the recent claims of inappropriate charging of consumers," said Anil Malhotra, SVP of Marketing at Bango.

 

WAP billing has refund levels of less than 0.1 percent, compared to levels approaching 10-20 percent where content is purchased with Premium SMS, Bango officials say, citing to research from iGillot.

 

"The mobile Web market is booming in the US -- 65 percent of all new phones purchased are now music-enabled," said Massimiliano Pellegrini, Chief Executive Officer, Dada Entertainment.

...

 

Element Customer Care has announced a multi-year contract with Maximus Multimedia International to provide high speed data and video on demand support to Maximus' 165,000 hotel rooms in more than 2,000 hotels.

 

Element's hotel Internet tech support provides around-the-clock call center services with nearly 300 trained technical service engineers currently supporting more than 450,000 hotel rooms.

 

"We are reorganizing and expanding our company," said Mike Harding, president and Chief Executive Officer of Maximus. "We are looking to our partnership with Element to fulfill the tech support and customer service aspects of our service delivery."

 

Element's hotel Internet support team has a call center with trained technical service engineers. The guest assistance team is made up of certified technicians who not only know how to fix technical problems, but "also recognizes how the hospitality industry needs to treat its guests," company officials say.

 

Element's Internet support engineers take more than 130,000 calls per month, providing hotels throughout the industry with toll free Internet support 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

...

 

IQMS, a vendor of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, has added French language capabilities to EnterpriseIQ, the company's ingle-source ERP product. 

 

Broadening the comprehensive functionality it provides to global manufacturers, IQMS now supports eight languages, including: English, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, and Swedish. 

 

"To remain competitive and successful, companies around the world must optimize supply chain efficiency and quality," says Randy Flamm, president and founder of IQMS. "This often requires language translation across multiple plants and with suppliers, customers and outsourced services."

 

As a single-source package, EnterpriseIQ "is able to provide production data from the shop floor to the front office, in real time, no matter where in the world a facility is located," company officials say, adding that by equipping multiple locations with native language functionality, within one database, "decisions can be made quickly and with absolute communication across multiple plants and globally distributed networks with multiple languages and currencies to track."

...

 

Industry observer Chris Kanaracus has reported that Microsoft has added Internet marketing features to its Dynamics CRM Online software, described by company officials as "the first in a series of planned updates for the set of hosted applications that the company launched earlier this year."

 

Microsoft officials said its addition of the technology will enable Dynamics CRM Online users to create search-based marketing campaigns, according to Kanaracus, and "capture sales leads from corporate Web sites and weigh the effectiveness of marketing campaigns from the standpoint of click-through and conversion rates, among other capabilities."

 

This would be the first update since Dynamics CRM Online's coming out party four months ago. Enhancements will be available to customers at no extra charge.

 

According to Microsoft officials, users will be able to create and manage online campaigns and gain an idea of the profit they are generating with click-through and conversion rates.

 

Industry observer Rosalie Marshall said customers "can also test key words using search engine optimization, and capture sales leads from Web pages hosted by Microsoft or their own organization."

 

Noted CRM consultant Denis Pombriant, an analyst at Beagle Research Group, told Kanaracus that Microsoft must focus on features as well as cost as it tries to compete with Salesforce.com and other on-demand CRM sellers.

 

Microsoft's entry into Internet marketing "is very important for several reasons," Pombriant told Kanaracus: "First, it was a hole in the offering. And since big players like Salesforce have it and their customers depend on it for some of their market outreach, it would be impossible to pry customers away from Salesforce without such functionality."

 

 By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the first cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Van Morrison's live album A Night In San Francisco, otherwise known as Now Listen To These Backup Singers While I Get A Drink And Put My Feet Up:

 

One year ago at Gartner's 2007 CRM Summit, Bruce Culbert and Paul Greenberg launched myCRMcareer.com, a social networking site designed as a destination community for CRM professionals. 

 

The pair will unveil the latest edition of myCRMcareer.com during Gartner's 2008 CRM Summit, with what they describe as "an integrated online community" built by myCRM's partner, Neighborhood America.

 

"CRM practitioners worldwide will be able to get up-to-date, real-time insights from our perspective on the Gartner CRM Summit when they register for the community and tune-in September 8-10," said Bruce Culbert, co-founder of myCRMcareer.com.

 

Social technologies such as blogs, forums and rich video can be used to provide an interactive network for CRM professionals to "share experiences, thoughts and ideas on an ongoing basis," myCRMcareer.com officials believe:

 

"From videos capturing the most significant events and insights within the CRM industry, to job opportunities, myCRMcareer.com was created with the intent to empower a global network of practitioners in the CRM community with the tools they need to collaborate."

 

"These advancements to myCRMcareer.com bring the latest social networking tools to our community of CRM professionals," says Culbert.

...

 

FYI: Salesforce.com will be added to the S&P 500 Global Industry Classification Standard Application Software Sub-Industry index.

...

 

FrontRange Solutions has announced the availability of DeviceWall 5.0, the latest version of its endpoint security product. It extends the product's USB control and data encryption capabilities to PCs running the Windows Vista operating system, giving security managers a single product to manage security across heterogeneous environments. 

 

Kevin J. Smith, vice president of products at FrontRange, said more companies are introducing Windows Vista onto their corporate networks, "so it is important that they are able to apply the same security policies created for the rest of the IT infrastructure to any new PCs that are purchased."

 

DeviceWall provides single-screen administration of security policies that manage computer users' access to all types of portable storage devices across the corporate network, "giving the administrators the granularity to manage individual device types as well as management reports to monitor device usage," company officials say.

 

DeviceWall 5.0 is the first product release since FrontRange Solutions acquired Centennial Software in April 2008. It's available immediately.

...

 

CA has enhanced its CA Clarity Project and Portfolio Manager product by integrating cost and schedule measurement functionality to help U.S. Federal government agencies and contractors conform to the ANSI/EIA-748 standard for Earned Value Management Systems, company officials say.

 

CA's Earned Value Management functionality "addresses the need for a project tracking and reporting product at a time when EVM is the number one factor driving public-sector growth in the adoption of PPM products," CA officials say, citing a recent report from industry analyst firm Gartner.

 

By including EVM in its Federal PPM product, CA is trying to extend its existing capabilities around Capital Planning and Investment Control, which the company believes "improves the quality and speed of Exhibit 300 and 53 business case submissions."

 

Built atop the project and financial management capabilities of CA Clarity PPM, the EVM functionality provides federal agencies a single unified view of project planning and execution in order to manage budget forecasts, accrued cost and earned value data while satisfying the mandate to comply with ANSI/EIA-748.

 

Web-based for deployment and use across an organization, the EVM functionality is marketed as "reducing complexity and increasing efficiency by eliminating the excess time spent gathering EVM data."

 

Users can now track EVM data through to ensure compliance and provide visibility for multiple stakeholders. "Unlike existing disparate offerings which require each individual product be installed again for every upgrade," company officials say, the EVM functionality in CA Clarity PPM is deployed once and scales as usage is expanded throughout the agency or organization.

...

 

The Independent Oracle Users Group has released a study from a worldwide community of more than 20,000 members that are Oracle technology professionals, called "The What Data Professionals Earn" study, on, well, guess what subject.

 

It found that almost 30 percent of DBAs overseeing critical IT operations now receive six-figure incomes for their skills. Developer and analyst salaries came in around $75,000. More than 30 percent of the IT management category makes in excess of $100,000. "However," study officials say, "IT management was less likely to have seen annual increases this past year as opposed to DBAs, developers and analysts." The survey also found DBAs with certifications moved ahead sooner than those without.

 

The study identified three primary categories of data professionals and determined that company size, geographic location and certification can make "a significant difference" in salary, with a significant number of data professionals earning six-figure and higher compensation.

The survey covered salary trends of three primary groups -- database administrators, developers and analysts, and IT management. Salaries reported were base salaries only, not including bonuses, incentives, benefits or stock options, and all figures were requested in U.S. dollars.

 

Factors that affected six-figure salary attainment include size of organization, level of experience, complexity of the technology environment and geographic location, as 34 percent of DBAs reported base incomes exceeding $100,000 among organizations with more than 10,000 employees.

 

Forty percent of DBAs with more than a decade of experience reported salaries exceeding $100,000, 44 percent of DBAs managing large and complex database environments reported earning more than $100,000 and coincidentally 44 percent of DBAs working in the western region (including the Mountain and Pacific states) had annual salaries of more than $100,000.

Ian Abramson, IOUG president, said in his opinion "IOUG members command higher salaries than non-members, with nearly 80 percent of IOUG members receiving annual salaries of $80,000 or more, while only 60 percent of non-members receive annual salaries over $80,000."

...

 

Lexnet Consulting Group has developed integration between StrongMail, an on-premises marketing and transactional e-mail product, and SageCRM 200, an on-premises CRM product from Sage Software.

 

Lexnet officials say this is the first in "a series of CRM integrations" that Lexnet is developing for StrongMail.

 

"We found that integration between a company's CRM database and its e-mail marketing product is a growing requirement among B2B and B2C companies," said Steve Chipman, president of Lexnet, a leading StrongMail partner. "Communication between two business products doesn't get any easier and faster than when both products are on the same server rack."

 

"Lexnet's effort in this area is one of the main reasons we developed our channel program," said Steve Murphy, North American Channel Manager for StrongMail Systems.

 

Chipman said the project has "achieved real time integration between StrongMail's appliance-based products and SageCRM 200," and "enabled CRM users to have access to e-mail delivery and click-through information."

 

 By David Sims

 

The news as of the third cup of coffee this morning, and the music is frankly a bad song with an unprintable name, but hey, it's the one on the iPod rotation as I was typing this, so what can you do? Pretend you were listening to Abba instead?

 

QuickMobile has released Version 2.0 of its Contextual Mobile Marketing Platform, described by company officials as allowing brand managers and marketers to create permission-based campaigns for mobile device. 

 

Version 2.0 includes new permission-based features, the ability for customers to create multi-layered campaigns and two new applications -- Mobile Polling and Mobile Results.

 

The product also includes enhancements such as double opt-in, permission based services, enhanced security, end-user defined preferences and automatic start and end functionality.

 

Version 2.0 lets companies "deliver information customers actually want on their cell phones in a  relevant, personalized, valuable and timely way," said CEO Patrick Payne. "The potential for improved end-user experience and interaction is tremendous."   

 

Mobile Polling is a self-managed audience response system with a Web-based dashboard letting presenters "interact and engage with their audience like never before." Mobile Results is a reporting and analytics tool

...

 

Officials of Iowa Valley Community College District, which operates two community colleges and a satellite campus, say they have adopted unified communications from Avaya and a network infrastructure from Extreme Networks to link faculty, staff and students across 15 buildings located within a 90-mile radius.

 

"Iowa Valley wanted to consolidate seven disparate phone systems and five different voice mail systems" into an IP system, said Jim Wilson, director of technology, Iowa Valley Community College District.

 

The district also wanted to give its staff and faculty four-digit dialing across locations, an online telephone directory, "and mobility features so they could be reached wherever they're working," Wilson added.

 

The Avaya system gives the district the ability to troubleshoot and monitor its own network and handle similar tasks for all switches simultaneously.

 

Iowa Valley chose a communications system and software from Avaya, and a network foundation from Extreme Networks. Avaya provided an IP communications product, including an Avaya S8720 Media Server at the main site and over 400 Avaya IP phones.

...

 

FTS, a vendor of Billing, CRM and Business Control products for communication and content service providers, has announced that iBurst, a South African broadband provider, has selected FTS' Leap Billing as its real-time billing product.

 

IBurst sells wireless services to a large customer base in South Africa. The company offers service bundles of data and VoIP services. FTS' Leap Billing platform will be integrated with Softline's Sage Line 500 ERP system, Aradial's AAA and other components to cater for the provider's service requirements, including VoIP.

 

Leap Billing will also support quota management, VoIP interconnect, and customer management functionality, including financial transactions.

 

Cobus McQuirk, iBurst's Head of Information Services, said his company was "looking for a low-OPEX product that will also enable us to streamline our billing operation to offer more service packages to a growing subscriber base."

 

Gil Hurwitz, FTS' Chief Operating Officer, called the iBurst deal part of "FTS' commitment to fortify its presence in the African market."

 

Leap Billing lets providers bill for services delivered over single or multiple network technologies. Based on FTS' business-control technology, the product captures events in real time and responds to them based on a preconfigured set of business policies or actions.

...

 

More than 40 percent of large businesses have cut their IT budgets this year due to the global economic slowdown, according to a new survey by Forrester Research titled "The State Of IT Services: 2008."

 

The Forrester Business Data Services report surveyed nearly 950 senior IT managers across North America and Europe regarding their IT services spending and overall services strategies and priorities, finding that "43 percent of firms have already cut their overall IT budgets in 2008 in reaction to the slow down in the global economy, while 24 percent of firms have put discretionary spending on hold."

 

Twenty-eight percent of respondents said the economy has had no impact on their IT budgets, which seems reasonable to First Coffee, seeing as how America has yet to have even one quarter of negative growth and grew at 3.3 percent last quarter. Recession? What recession? Oh, must be a national election coming up. Make the economy look as bad as possible, might get Democrats elected.

 

Asked how the economy will affect IT services spending, 70 percent of respondents told Forrester they will likely negotiate lower rates with suppliers, and 16 percent said they have already cut their IT services spending.

 

IT departments in the financial services industry were hit hardest, the study found: 49 percent of IT shops in the financial services sector have cut their budgets. At the other end of the spectrum is the media, entertainment, and leisure industry, where only 39 percent of respondents said they have had to reduce spending.

 

Again, stands to reason; when people are worried by media scare stories they tend to increase their consumption of entertainment. I'd be surprised if beer sales were down, too.

 

The study found that whereas 49 percent of North American firms have cut their IT budgets, 31 percent of respondents in Europe have -- "although it should be noted that the Forrester survey was fielded in Q2 2008 prior to the deteriorating economic conditions in Europe," the study's authors say.

 

"This is not an across-the-board spending slowdown; the impact of the economy on IT budgets varies widely by industry and geography," said Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst John C. McCarthy. "The demand for enterprise IT services has not dropped significantly."

 

The demand for services holds steady, Forrester officials say: "Forty-five percent of firms plan to increase their use of applications outsourcing, while 43 percent of firms are increasing their use of infrastructure outsourcing. Forty-three percent of respondents said they are moving more work offshore."

 

In fact, the study found, "satisfaction with outsourcing remains low. While overall firms are satisfied with their decision to use a third party, 52 percent say their biggest challenge with existing IT services and outsourcing relationships is that cost savings are lower than expected. Other noteworthy challenges include inconsistent or poor service quality (40 percent) and the inability of the vendor or contract structure to respond rapidly to changing business needs (35 percent)."

...

 

SAS has announced the global launch of SAS for Customer Experience Analytics.

 

Debuted in the UK in February 2007, this addition to SAS' comprehensive Customer Intelligence suite is "the result of a global teaming agreement with Speed-Trap," described by SAS officials as "a UK-based provider of software that uses Web 2.0 technology to deliver complete on-line customer insight."

 

The product captures real-time data from the Web channel and integrates it with data from other channels to provide "multi-channel customer intelligence," according to company officials.

 

"SAS for Customer Experience Analytics has enabled us to know where to focus our attention enabling us to give our customers the best possible service," said Stephen Lonergan, program manager, HSBC Global Transaction Banking.

 

SAS for Customer Experience Analytics was developed using Dynamic Collection technology from Speed-Trap. This data collection system has been built into SAS' existing Enterprise Intelligence Platform.

 

Customer experience analytics emphasizes insight on the customer by combining data about their Web behavior with data from other touch points, such as the call center or point-of-purchase history.

 

The idea is that applying analytics to this combined data can, among other things, identify customers that prefer to research online and purchase offline and determine which online campaigns were most successful in acquiring customers that turned out to be loyal and highly profitable.

 

It's also supposed to identify which products customers are researching online so an appropriate offer can be made.

 

 

By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Cross Canadian Ragweed's Live at Billy Bob's Texas. It's pretty gutsy to appropriate the CCR acronym, but this is a tough, tight road warrior bar band keeping a roomful of people entertained for a couple hours, a la Reckless Kelly, and that's all right with me, even if "Bang My Head" does rather unoriginally steal the riff from "All Along the Watchtower:"

 

New online women's fashion retailer Capture has chosen IT vendor XeBusiness to provide the Web fulfillment, inventory management and global sourcing systems to power their soon-to-be-launched B2C online sales venture.

 

XeBusiness will supply these modules from its industry specialist ERP system, Xe-ERP2 "together with a range of implementation services to get the new venture off the ground," company officials say.

 

Samesh Kumar, CEO of Capture, said his firm "liked the XeBusiness approach to what we wanted. They proposed in a simple and cost effective way exactly what we required without trying to blind us with bells and whistles functionality that we will not require in the initial stages of this venture, while convincing us that their product had the scalability to grow as the venture took off."

 

Selling off the Web continues to be an attractive proposition for new brand fashion retailers like Capture.

 

London-based Capture will provide multiple categories of women's fashion, including dresses, tops, knitwear, trousers, shorts and skirts including denim, a Jeans and Denim Web shop, jackets and coats.

 

The Web site, Capture officials say, will provide "an exciting online shopping experience that will include a new in and just arrived section, a hottest trends section, a stars and celebrity section featuring celebrities modeling the Capture ranges" and others.

 

XeBusiness sells supply chain products for quick response and cost reduction. Xe-ERP2 is a specialist management information and business management system for garment, footwear, soft goods and household textile suppliers.

...

 

Sometimes to get an idea of the value of CRM, ERP and such products it's useful to revisit an installation more than six weeks after installation, and see if, long-term, the benefits are there:

 

Five years ago CDC Software, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation and a provider of CRM and other enterprise software applications and business services, implemented for Hong Kong Maxim's Group, a beverage and catering company in Hong Kong the CDC Software's Ross Enterprise Applications at its entire plant network.

 

Founded in 1956, Hong Kong Maxim's Group employs more than 14,000 people and serves more than 540,000 customers per day in more than 640 restaurants, outlets and catering operations, three factories and a printing plant.

 

Hong Kong Maxim's Group has also established joint venture companies with Starbucks Coffee International, and has Starbucks stores in Hong Kong, Macau, South and South West China.

 

Lacking an enterprise software infrastructure, the firm tracked and analyzed data manually which made product costing, recipe management and regulatory compliance inefficient, company officials say. The firm CDC Software's Ross Enterprise was chosen as an ERP system to address those operational challenges.

 

"Ross ERP offered the best overall value in terms of functional fit and low cost," said Alfred Kam, head of information technology, Hong Kong Maxim's Group. "On top of that, we saw how it could meet our needs with little or no customization."

 

"We now know what it costs to make every product and we also know how profitable each product is for us," Kam said. "The impact has been felt across our organization. For example, our marketing team can now make better decisions regarding promotions in order to drive sales and market share on select products."

 

Since going live on the system in 2003, the company has doubled its recipes to more than 800. Other improvements since the implementation include improved production planning and reduced waste by tracking daily orders through the system, a streamlined product introduction that enables the company to test and adjust new recipes in a controlled environment without having to bring the product to the shop floor, and a more efficient regulatory compliance process, company officials say.

 

"Considering the growth we've experienced over the last six years, regulatory compliance would have been a much more costly and involved endeavor with our previous manual processes," said Kam.

...

 

Ping Identity has announced the release of PingFederate 5.2, an Internet single sign-on software product for SaaS users and SaaS vendors.

 

Downloadable now at www.pingidentity.com, PingFederate 5.2 incorporates technologies from Ping Identity's recent acquisition of Sxip Access to offer automated provisioning and de-provisioning, as well as what company officials describe as "advanced user access methods" -- components for effective SSO to Salesforce and Google Apps.

 

According to a recent Gartner report, software as a service is forecast to have a compound annual growth rate of 17-percent through 2011 for small-and-midsize-business CRM, ERP and SCM software markets, "more than double the growth rate for total enterprise application software as a whole."

 

Along with the efficiencies they provide, "SaaS applications can present some unique challenges to IT," said Ping Identity CEO Andre Durand. "Because most SaaS applications have their own user directories, IT administrators may be manually adding, updating and deleting hundreds or thousands of user accounts."

 

Ping Identity includes automatic provisioning "to eliminate that extra work."

 

PingFederate 5.2 builds on proprietary Salesforce and Google Apps APIs to deliver automated SaaS provisioning. It works with Microsoft's Active Directory, or any existing user directory and authentication mechanism the company already uses for its own applications.

 

Specific to Salesforce, with PingFederate 5.2, Ping Identity has expanded its list of supported Salesforce access methods to include desktop and mobile browsers, remote users, Salesforce Connect for Microsoft Outlook and emailed report URLs.

...

 

Pyxis Mobile, a vendor of wireless applications for Financial Services, has announced that Eaton Vance Distributors implemented their mobile application to provide the firm's executive team with what Pyxis officials say is "a real-time wireless view of core business intelligence metrics."

 

Pyxis Mobile's experience in delivering intuitive, mobile composite applications that make enterprise data actionable was noted as a major factor in the decision.

Eaton Vance implemented Pyxis Mobile's wireless application for mutual fund wholesalers in 2004 to extend their CRM and sales data to BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion.

The 360-degree view of their clients "has allowed their wholesalers to provide better products and services, and to become more competitive in the marketplace," according to the Pyxies.

This most recent implementation provides managers always-on, direct access to real-time enterprise and industry reports, tying together multiple enterprise systems including sales reporting, product and company performance, market data, corporate IT support, and human resource statistics.