Today at Dreamforce 2008, Salesforce.com's annual user and developer conference, Model Metrics unveiled its cloud-computing application, CardLasso, part of the Lasso2GO application suite using services from Salesforce.com's new Force.com Sites capability and Amazon Web Services.

 The product is designed to capture business card information using a mobile device camera and automate the transcription of contact data, automatically presented for download to the user from a Web site. 

With CardLasso, not only is the capture of business card information more efficient using a mobile device camera, company officials say, but "the retrieval of information frees users from any manual data entry. Once the user sends the business card images to the Lasso2GO transcription service from a mobile device, the user simply logs into his account and selects the desired download format."

The system offers three formats -- quick save to Outlook in the .vcard format, upload to various systems in the .csv format or automatic synchronization to Salesforce CRM as a new lead.

General availability of the application is expected by mid-November, shortly after the conclusion of Dreamforce, Model Metrics officials say. Founded in 2003, the company is headquartered in Chicago with offices in San Francisco and elsewhere.

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Consona, a vendor of customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, has announced the general availability of its white paper titled "The Future of the Customer Experience."

The paper, written by Tim Hines, vice president of product management for Consona CRM, proposes an approach to CRM which company officials say can "manage the demands of today's large-scale customer service initiatives."

 Customer service contacts today are made by an ever-increasing variety of methods including self-service inquiries, e-mail, Web chat, text messaging, and telephone, according to the Consonians, so "it is imperative that companies maximize every customer touch. Beyond merely managing each interaction effectively, all contacts must be viewed as aspects of an ongoing relationship.

This approach, the paper fins, is "the crux of customer experience management: a total focus on the customer relationship in all its manifestations to reflect one unified company face to the customer."

The paper discusses the fact that companies continue to seek the best method to maintain an ongoing relationship with their customer base as a means to encourage loyalty and continued business, while customers want high-quality products and services at a reasonable price, and appreciate suppliers who demonstrate an understanding for their needs and treat them as valued business partners.

However, Hines notes, "the best companies, in a measure of customer satisfaction, are the ones that have the least opportunity to interact with the customer because there is less reason for the customer to call -- but they also maximize every contact to reinforce the relationship and the customer's perception of the company."

The paper concludes that CRM system technologies should then be harnessed to both improve the responsiveness and efficiency of customer service operations and, at the same time, "support product and service improvements to eliminate the need for customer service calls."

In terms of technology, Hines argues, a truly customer-centric CRM project "requires a central database of customer information that must be accessible from all customer-related applications, such as sales force automation, marketing automation, and knowledge-centric customer service and support... Disparate products can provide some relief, but ultimately create further trials in the form of compatibility snafus and the continual updates and maintenance that software systems require."

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Zuora, an on-demand subscription billing and payment service, has introduced Z-force, a new product built on the Force.com platform from salesforce.com, at Dreamforce.

The Z-Force product is integrated with Z-Billing and Z-Payments, "combining with Salesforce CRM to provide a fully integrated lead-to-cash system," according to the Zuoravians.

Company officials say there are three major modules of Z-force -- Z-force 360 "makes all customer subscription, billing and payment data visible within Salesforce.com for a 360-degree view for subscription business," Z-force Quotes lets sales teams build customer-ready quotes based on a subscription product catalog, and Z-force E-commerce takes orders directly from a Web site, "with minimal IT resources or involvement."

According to Tien Tzuo, CEO Zuora, who according to company officials "was responsible for the design and launch of the Salesforce CRM and Force.com AppExchanging offerings," Zuora offers a complete subscription management platform that is "100 percent integrated" with Salesforce CRM.

In May 2008 Zuora launched its first product, Z-Billing.

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This "improved visibility," Infor officials say, is intended to "enhance customer service and ensure that efficiencies are maximized across Nakheel's property portfolio, which includes the Palm trilogy," large man-made islands.

Infor EAM is integrated with Nakheel's existing CRM system to let users track service requests in real-time. "Assets from bridges and cranes to pumps and air conditioning systems, can now be serviced with an improved turnaround time," company officials say, "maximizing productivity whilst minimizing costs."

The functionality inherent in Infor EAM lets Nakheel escalate priority service requests, company officials say, while an online portal lets Nakheel's customers check the status of their work requests and scheduled maintenance.

Chris O'Donnell, CEO, Nakheel, says the additional licenses "empower all users in our Dubai operations to measure the service levels, reliability and cost of assets across our property portfolio."

Paul Hammond, GM & RVP Middle East, Infor, said Nakheel "is already benefiting from accelerated productivity and tighter cost control... vital as the company continues to grow its property development and management portfolio."

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A survey recently taken by SAP New Zealand finds that 20 percent of Kiwi businesses have expressed "a strong interest in a new customer relationship management (CRM) system" as a way to cope with what they expect to be tough times over the next one to three years.

 Nearly a third of respondents (29 percent) are planning major asset purchases such as plant and equipment over the next two to three years, and a further 25 percent are planning to relocate or invest in new premises while 26 percent are looking to invest in major Web site development, the study found.

 Ian Black, managing director SAP New Zealand, says the interest in CRM makes sense in uncertain times. "A slowdown creates strategic opportunities. The organizations that come out on top are those that ease into a downturn by managing costs, ensure they have the best possible people, tools and processes through the curve and then accelerate when the economy starts to improve."

The inaugural SAP/EMA Innovation for Growth Survey was conducted online in late September. The survey, commissioned by SAP and undertaken by the Employers and Manufacturers Association Northern, gives a picture of the initiatives New Zealand businesses are planning to ensure they remain viable and focused on growth in the face of the increasingly uncertain business environment.

Respondents indicated a marked disinterest in sustainability issues relating to their business. Over 55 percent "have not yet begun to define what sustainability means for their organizations," SAP officials say, adding that "just 29 percent have plans underway to assess and address their carbon emissions. And three quarters have no plans to become carbon neutral any time in the future." Seventy-four percent of those surveyed described themselves as "active" in the area of corporate social responsibility.

For most of the respondents, R&D spend is less than 10 percent of revenue. The most common activity classified as R&D is making ongoing developments to products and processes.

Investing in IT in general was strongly endorsed, with 65 percent of respondents stating that they see IT as actively supporting their business. Upgrading ERP systems was the clear leader: ranked as the highest priority by 25 percent of respondents and second most important by a further 10 percent.