The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is the sounds of the U.S. Open, First Coffee's favorite tennis tournament, on television in the background -- current match, Verdasco-Isner -- and we'll try not to let the divided attention affect the quality of the CRM reporting here:

Revel Consulting, a business and IT consulting firm, has announced the launch of its Cloud Computing Practice, aimed at selling products for software companies "transitioning to Web-delivered services" and businesses "incorporating Web-based technologies into their day-to-day operations."

 

Cloud computing uses software-as-a-service to provide the vendor's products to customers via the Internet. The industry will see revenues reach $150 billion by 2013, according to Gartner, which currently leads the third set 5-3.

"Cloud computing is more than a short-term trend," says Vikas Kamran, CEO and Co-Founder of Revel, adding that there are "legitimate benefits" to companies adopting cloud services, such as a better first-serve percentage, reduced expenses and efficient scaling. 

Basically Revel pitches their services as helping companies "transform their infrastructure, operations, and sales and marketing processes" to fit with cloud computing. Their services range from helping assess the cost and benefits of migrating to the cloud to helping companies integrate SaaS apps such as CRM or financial management and reduce unforced errors.

Revel boasts a "pure consulting" model, which company officials say "reduces layers of bureaucracy to provide clients with on-site senior industry experts."

Based in Kirkland, Washington, Revel was founded by Joseph Sedmak with Vikas Kamran and Brett Alston as co-founders.
...

Fourth-seeded Stamps.com -- here, we'll provide the link, it's a tough one to figure out, First Coffee's aware -- which sells postage online and shipping software products, has picked the RightNow on-demand CRM solution for its doubles partner, replacing Siebel/ Kana, which withdrew with a knee injury.

Stamps.com believes the pairing with RightNow will "improve customer satisfaction and agent productivity by helping our agents be more effective and better service customers,"  a more well-rounded, all-court game, according to Dawn Stevenson, director of customer care, Stamps.com.

RightNow claims approximately 1,900 customers among "corporations and government agencies worldwide," including winning the 2002 Bozeman Open.

...

The Oracle Applications Users Group recently announced a partnership with San Francisco-based IT Convergence to hold the OAUG and ITC Oracle Applications Workshops, described by OAUG officials as "a series of four-day training programs" to let users obtain "the necessary skills to master Oracle R12, Oracle 11g, OBIEE" and other Oracle products.

The OAUG and ITC developed the Oracle Applications Workshops to familiarize users on all the features and functions, bells and whistles of specific Oracle products. The curriculum addressed such issues as problem-solving techniques, hands-on exercises, how to hit a really wicked cross-court backhand volley, real-life examples and situations, best practices adaptation of the Oracle applications, troubleshooting and step-by-step instructions.

Raymond Payne, president of the OAUG, said the targeted training was created to help OAUG users implement "the latest developments on Oracle products."

"Throughout the rest of 2009 and 2010, these workshops will give Oracle end-users an opportunity to get the skills and knowledge from veteran Oracle experts," said Patrick Krause, president of IT Convergence, whose world ranking will crack the Top 30 if he beats Verdasco today.

The workshop size is limited to 12 people per session.

...

Austin, Texas-based Convio has announced Summer '09, a software release for online marketing, fundraising and advocacy for nonprofit organizations. 

 

Convio's SaaS model lets the vendor provide clients with major upgrades each year, company officias say, without "the hassles, headaches and costs of traditional software upgrades and maintenance" since Convio handles the infrastructure.

Gene Austin, CEO, Convio, said as supporters move online to communicate with their family and friends -- hello Facebook! Hi Twitter! -- it is "fast becoming the primary channel for engagement with their charity of choice" on both clay courts and hard surfaces.

 

The product is a multi-tenet SaaS or cloud computing infrastructure with a game built around a devastating first serve and power ground strokes.

Convio has been validated Level 1 PCI compliant and completed the SAS 70 Type II audit with no exceptions.

The vendor's online marketing suite offers integrated software for fundraising, advocacy, events, e-mail marketing and web content management and its database system, Convio Common Ground CRM, is marketed as a tool for helping organizations track and manage interactions with supporters.

...

OAC Services, a certified partner in the Oracle PartnerNetwork, has announced that it will provide an Oracle Accelerate Semiconductor-tailored product.

The semiconductor industry faces multiple supply chain challenges such as complexity of tracking lots, costing, a weak second serve on critical points and customer shipments. 

 

Based on the Oracle E-Business Suite, OAC Service's Oracle Accelerate Semiconductor Solution provides best practices and industry-tailored offerings marketed as helping mid-size organizations benefit from low-cost, low-risk deployments and rapid implementations, as well as a favorable half of the draw where they wouldn't meet Roger Federer until the final.

"The combination of Oracle's integrated applications with our business domain expertise allowed OAC Services to create an Oracle Accelerate product for a mid-size semiconductor company," said Mark Anderson, CEO of OAC Services. Oracle Accelerate combines Oracle Applications and Business Accelerators with industry- and geography-specific deployment expertise in packages particularly well-suited for grass.

OAC Services is a privately held company based in Campbell, California.
...

Recommind, a vendor of search-powered information risk management software, has announced that Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg picked Recommind's Decisiv E-mail and MindServer Search products as "the backbone of the firm's enterprise search, records management and e-mail management systems." 

 

Taking a commanding 5-3 lead in the fourth set, Davies also selected Recommind's Matters & Expertise module and QwikFind Toolbar to provide access to additional types of information like expertise and projects, and has worked with coach Brad Gilbert to find more consistency in its net play. 

 

Implementing Recommind's products, Davies officials say, will help the company "automate the organization, management and accessibility of information across the entire firm, reducing the firm's information risk, maximizing preexisting investments in document management systems" in the company's offices in Toronto, Montréal, New York and Roland Garros.

Decisiv E-mail tags, organizes and files e-mail messages and attachments, enabling what Recommind officials say is "a virtually automated records management system" addressing what they describe as "the most ubiquitous business tool in use today: e-mail."

 

Davies Partner Gillian R. Stacey said previously attorneys were required to print and file e-mail correspondence, but "with the predictive nature of the system and the fact that it learns user behavior, attorneys can now file their e-mail in a matter-based storage system using a paperless process with little to no effort." 

 

And as a result of the win today, Recommind gets to face the winner of the Djokovic-Stepanek match in the quarterfinals.