By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Tom Waits’s Blue Valentines album:

 

Okay, now this is my kind of CRM, CRM Farms: Boise, Idaho-based Redneck Gifts and Hillbilly Creek have announced the gift basket to end all gift baskets, featuring Hunters Reserve’s wild game (venison, wild boar, and pheasant) summer sausage, Poorfish Dehydrated Water (think about that) and CRM Farms-supplied non-flatulent Chili Makin’s.

 

Hillbilly Creek plans on expanding the line of gourmet food products (!), by adding more of Daisy’s Old Time Confections homemade chocolates and candy. No word yet on the mayonnaise and ketchup sandwiches or Roadkill Helper.

 

Michelle Larsen, owner of Redneckgifts, along with IdahoGiftBaskets has been operating her gift baskets business since 2001.

…

 

Oregon Catholic Press, a major publisher of liturgical music and worship resources, has signed an enterprise software and services agreement with IBS to install IBS Bookmaster software for CRM and other functionality for publishing and book distribution.

 

The new system will include inventory management, advanced warehouse management, CRM, financials, rebates and commissions, subscription management, royalty management, e-Commerce and book production.

 

Jim Ure, CIO, OCP, said his company needed “the ability to have an integrated end-to-end product for our core product line of subscription products. IBS Bookmaster software handles everything a publisher requires: order entry, editorial production, inventory management, shipping, royalty management and a fully integrated financial system.”

 

IBS Bookmaster will become an essential part of OCP’s operations, Ure said, since “the integrated platform will allow us to manage our business and deliver data effectively for reporting, e-Commerce and product development.”

 

“IBS is thrilled to collaborate with a company so highly regarded by the publishing field,” states Barry Christian, President, IBS North America.

…

 

CRM vendor Sand Technology has announced that a multibillion dollar international consumer goods company has chosen Sand/DNA for SAP BI to more efficiently and cost-effectively manage their multi- terabyte SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0 data warehouse.

 

The company cited Sand/DNA’s “high data compression rates, minimal administration requirements and proven success as an integrated NLS (nearline storage) component for SAP BI” as the reasons for its choice,” which company officials hope will enable it to manage anticipated growth in data volumes over the long term at the lowest possible cost.

 

Sand/DNA software is certified for integration with SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0. It was developed specifically to handle the data management companies need as a result of the fast growth of their SAP NetWeaver BI data warehouse products, by providing high rates of data compression (averaging approximately 90 percent) while keeping data available for use in reporting or for building new DataStore Objects/InfoCubes.

 

At the same time Sand/DNA significantly reduces total cost of ownership by minimizing administrative requirements and lowering infrastructure costs.

 

“For many users, multi-terabyte data warehouses bring throughput and data access issues that can impede effective business analysis and substantially increase hardware and administrative costs,” said Joshua Greenbaum, Enterprise Application Consulting.

…

 

BPO and CRM outsourcing vendor NCO Group has announced that during the second quarter of 2007, it reported revenue of $310.2 million, EBITDA of $44.7 million and a net loss of $738,000. These results were slightly below revenue and profitability targets, company officials say.

 

NCO is organized into three operating divisions: Accounts Receivable Management, Customer Relationship Management and Portfolio Management. During the second quarter of 2007, the ARM division operated below its revenue and profitability targets primarily as a result of a weaker than expected collection environment, the timing of collection activity between the first and second quarters of 2007, and the adverse impact of foreign currency.

 

Company officials explain that during the second quarter, the CRM division was in-line with its revenue target and exceeded its profitability target, despite the adverse impact of foreign currency. Also during the second quarter, they say, the Portfolio Management division exceeded its revenue and profitability targets due to the ramp up of newly acquired portfolios.

 

Michael J. Barrist, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said “both our CRM and Portfolio divisions turned in better than expected results and, after eliminating the adverse impact of foreign currency, the company’s overall profitability would have been in line with our expectations.”

 

The company also announced that it will host an investor conference call on Wednesday, August 22, 2007, at 10:00 a.m., ET, to address the items discussed above in more detail. Access the call by dialing (888) 209-7450 (domestic callers) or (706) 634-6082

(international callers) and providing the pass code 13457411.

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Serenic Corporation, a publisher of financial management and business operations software for nonprofit organizations, has announced that Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania-based Techno Brain Ltd. has been named the exclusive reselling partner of Serenic

Navigator in Africa.

 

Incorporated in 1997, Techno Brain is a Microsoft Dynamics NAV partner and provider of Microsoft-based ERP, CRM and technology products to organizations throughout Africa. Techno Brain is a part of Export Trading Company, a $300 million conglomerate with interests in diverse businesses like commodity trading, hotels & hospitality, mining, manufacturing, and information technology.

 

Techno Brain sells information technology products and training company in East Africa.

Through its six field offices and more than 100 employees, Techno Brain officials say they’re serving the “unique business processes and technology requirements” of African organizations.

 

The company’s strategic alliances with international IT companies, such as Serenic Corporation and Microsoft, facilitate access to the latest technologies, enabling it to provide the best products to its clients.

 

“We were scouting for Dynamics NAV ERP opportunities for the private sector,” said Techno Brain Country Manager Sudhir Kabra. “When we started looking at government and not-for-profit organizations, however, we could see that traditional ERPs were not able to meet their specific financial, accounting, and operational requirements.”

 

Kabra continued, “Since we were in the process of establishing a Dynamics NAV competency center in Africa, coupled with the fact that government agencies are the single largest spenders on information technology in Africa, it made perfect sense to add Navigator to our products portfolio.”

 

Navigator, powered by Microsoft Dynamics NAV, is Serenic’s flagship product for nonprofit organizations. It combines a full suite of integrated industry-specific ERP applications together with sophisticated Microsoft technology.

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Okay, in the interests of journalistic exploration, First Coffee has perused the Redneck Gifts site and found other items sure to be of interest to the readership, including a gift basket named “The UneXplained Files,” including “Hillbilly Creek” Bigfoot Scat (buttery, nutty candy), “Hillbilly Creek” Redneck Witch Doctor Potion Pellets (jalapeno flavored popped wheat), billed as “this spell will have your friends buying yer beer;” and “Hillbilly Creek” Crop Circles sour gummy rings.