By David Sims
David at firstcoffee d*t biz
The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Elvis Presley's From Elvis In Memphis, the best actual album he ever released:
CRM vendor NetSuite, Inc. has announced that NetSuite is available wirelessly on mobile devices such as BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Palm Treo.
Third-party application developers Antenna Software, Explore Mobile and iEnterprises have extended NetSuite via NetSuite's SuiteFlex development and integration platform to meet the needs of wireless users, providing NetSuite customers with a variety of choices for mobile products.
Unlike stand-alone products typically targeted at only sales users, company officials say, NetSuite is an end-to-end business management software application in the SaaS industry that "allows all mobile users to perform their key business activities from accounts receivable, to quote and order management, to closing transactions and sales, to customer support and service."
Each of these end-to-end processes is now available to the mobile worker via their wireless device with NetSuite extensions from Antenna Software, Explore Mobile and iEnterprises. Users can "have access to key data in real-time and from everywhere to run their business as usual while away from the office," company officials say.
"SuiteFlex," NetSuite's application development and integration platform, is designed to enable the extension of NetSuite to third-party systems, the creation of third-party vertical applications within NetSuite, as well as the customization of end-to-end business processes for any end-user company.
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CinTel Corp. has announced that it has signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire one hundred percent ownership and equity interests of Bluecomm Co. for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $6.5 million.
Bluecomm is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and DBM (Database Marketing) vendor in Korea.
Bluecomm entered the CRM business in 2005 and has special expertise in DBM and what's called "Home Service Center," a term coined in the Korean market, but better known in general as "call center and telemarketing services" products.
The market for outsourcing of call center and telemarketing services in Korea has grown rapidly in recent years and the market size is expected to be larger than $380 million in 2007. CRM, DBM and telemarketing are all fast-growing businesses in the Korea market as well.
Bluecomm has an exclusive contract for hosting HSC for Pizza Hut Korea. Bluecomm is valued at approximately $6.9 million.
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Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union has announced it has selected Open Solutions Inc.'s COWWW Digital Documents e-Statement product to streamline its document-intensive processes and enhance online member services, Open Solutions officials say.
COWWW Digital Documents, a business unit of Open Solutions, provides information archive and delivery systems for financial institutions. Open Solutions sells integrated, enterprise-wide data processing technologies for banks and credit unions throughout the United States, Canada and other international markets.
Based in Savannah, Georgia, the Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union cites the enhanced archiving capabilities as the primary reason for selecting Open Solutions.
Kimberly Ford, vice president of marketing of Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union, said the archiving abilities "will enable our members to access up to 36 months of statements from the comfort of their homes. With one click, our members will be able to read the newsletter, and view draft images and checks all on one page."
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Industry observer Rupi Gohlar has reported that Lastminute.com has appointed Shai Eilon as its new group head of customer relationship management. He replaces Lopo Champalimaud who has taken the role of managing director of the European lifestyle division.
Eilon will be responsible for overseeing the company's CRM program, Gohlar writes, and will report to recently-appointed chief marketing officer Simon Thompson.
He joins from EMI music where he held the same position and was responsible for developing and implementing the eCRM strategy across all music labels. Prior to EMI, he was CRM marketing manager at Amazon.co.uk.
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Sage Software has announced the 10th anniversary edition of Sage SalesLogix (v7.2), with the release coming during the company's Insights 2007 business partner conference.
Sage SalesLogix v7.2 has a "modernized" architecture supporting Web, Mobile and Windows interfaces designed to "increase user productivity through a choice of flexible access methods to centralized and secure customer data," company officials say.
A new Web client enhances usability and reduces IT resource requirements and administration costs. Expanded capabilities for the optional Sage SalesLogix Mobile product add data charting for BlackBerry devices, and support for Windows Mobile and Smartphone devices.
Sage SalesLogix v7.2 also features a common Web and Mobile customization environment, allowing rapid application deployment for one or many users.
"Sage SalesLogix v7.2 can equip the flexible workforce with an affordable CRM product that is easy to manage and gives our customers the freedom to choose the access methods that best suit them," said Ron Verni, Sage Software CEO, adding that the product is standards-based, scalable, and uses Web technologies to simplify integration with IT environments and lower cost of ownership.
Joe Bergera, senior vice president and general manager for Sage Software Global CRM Solutions, called the product "the first milestone of our write once, deploy anywhere strategy."
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Salesforce.com is quite proud of being named one of the world's most ethical companies by Ethisphere magazine, a national publication "dedicated to illuminating the correlation between ethics and profit," according to publication officials.
The list of fewer than 100 companies, including Google, Kellogg Company, Starbucks and Whole Foods, were recognized for their "strong leadership in ethics and compliance, advancement of industry discourse on social and ethical issues, and positive engagement in the communities in which they operate."
"Having a purpose beyond making a profit distinguishes our company," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. "Corporate social responsibility has been integrated into our DNA from the very beginning through our innovative One Percent model -- one percent equity, product and employee time are given back to the community, and we have a commitment to be one with the earth. It's an honor to be recognized for practicing what we preach."
Among other awards, salesforce.com was the recipient of the 2006 Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy Excellence Award, as well as ranked No. 7 on the list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Business Ethics magazine.
Editors of Ethisphere chose organizations after reviewing the companies' codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction histories, evaluating companies' investment in innovation and sustainable business practices, looking at activities designed to improve corporate citizenship, studying nominations from senior executives, industry peers, suppliers and customer; and working with consumer action groups for feedback and rating.
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