By David Sims

David at firstcoffee d*t biz

 

The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Warren Zevon's 1976 album titled Warren Zevon, his de facto debut.

 

Open Solutions has announced that Millington Savings Bank has selected the latest version of its relational core data processing platform, The Complete Banking Solution: DNA, to address enterprise-wide data processing needs.

 

Open Solutions sells enabling technologies for financial service providers throughout the United States, Canada and international markets.

 

Founded as Millington Building and Loan in 1911, Millington Savings Bank has $300 million in assets and four branches in Millington, New Jersey. The bank is migrating from Open Solutions' TotalPlus outsourced core data processing platform to The Complete Banking Solution: DNA and will continue to outsource via Open Solutions' Cherry Hill, N.J. location.

 

According to President and CEO of Millington Savings Bank, Gary Jolliffe, "Our history with Open Solutions was a vital factor for selecting their core platform. Our 27-year relationship made us confident of a safe and easy conversion from our existing system."

 

In addition to The Complete Banking Solution: DNA data processing platform, Millington Savings Bank will implement Open Solutions' Financial Accounting Suite (integrated financial management product) and Voice Response applications.

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CMiC, a vendor of software products for the architectural, engineering and construction industry, has placed in the top spots in two recent industry surveys, beating out industrial competitors Meridian, Sage and JD Edwards.

 

CMiC won first place in the imaging and workflow product category and first place in the CRM product category. CMiC ranked second in collaboration software for general contractors and also placed second in accounting software.

CFMA's 2008 Technology Survey, a continuous sampling of IT patterns in the construction industry, found that CMiC provides the number one CRM product for General Contractors with over $250 million in revenue, winning over SageCRM and Oracle E-Business Suite.

 

The survey also ranked CMiC second in accounting software for General Contractors $101 million and above and second in project collaboration software for General Contractors in the same revenue range.

CMiC also jumped up four spots in the Project Management category from the CFMA's 2006 Technology Survey, a significant increase "that demonstrates that the industry is seeing the advantages in efficiency and productivity by integrating financials and project management," said Bassem Hamdy, Vice President, Solutions, CMiC.

In a study conducted by McGraw-Hill, the publishers of ENR and The Top 400 Contractor's List, CMiC took the top spot in the Imaging and Workflow category across all sub-categories. CMiC also scored highly in the Performance section, especially in security, scalability and reputation.

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Kaleidico.com, vendors of lead management technology, have announced the release of SalesTwit.com, a "concept for working sales leads in any industry, in any language, and in any country," according to company officials.

 

By simply connecting your sales leads from any source — database, real time Internet leads, spreadsheet, or address book — someone can effectively work their leads no matter where they are by using any Web, desktop, mobile or wireless tool, Kaledico says, adding that SalesTwit has "effectively eliminated the need for a desktop application" by using Twitter, a social networking tool.

 

SalesTwit, company officials say, allows the user to input sales lead data and have it fed to them at a certain interval or even allowing the user to request a lead from wherever they may be: "Taking the function a step further, SalesTwit even lets the user create updates and notes on the specific lead, which internally adjusts the frequency at which they will see the lead in the future."

 

"The idea was to remove every barrier to working sales leads by making the interface simple and agile. Users can upload leads from any data source, in any industry, any language, and work them in the Twitter client of their choice," explains Bill Rice, CEO of Kaleidico.com, adding that "we have eliminated the need for CRM."

 

SalesTwit, which uses Twitter's messaging infrastructure for the distribution of lead alerts, allows the user to not only receive updates from friends, family, and connections, but also to intermittently feed leads to wherever they see their Twitter messages.

 

For example, someone who sells cars at a dealership can be on the lot, actively engaging new business or past clients, right from their mobile phone.

 

Kaleidico.com's Vice President of Business Development, Keith Burwell said SalesTwit users are going to be "real estate agents that are on the road most of the day but need to know when a real time lead comes in. They are going to be contractors on job sites who need to know when an Internet customer wants an estimate. This tool breaks down accessibility issues by using existing technology."

 

Rice said that by using tools such as Twitter and mobile phones, "things that are already commonplace in business, we are eliminating the need for someone to buy any more systems, CRM, or feature heavy applications."

 

Kaleidico has made SalesTwit a free mobile service, according to company officials, "ensuring that the prevailing expectation of lead providers is that their buyers will be in immediate contact with their leads."

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CRM vendor Dovarri has announced that its President and CEO Geary Broadnax has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Virginia Tech Foundation. The Foundation manages all private gifts and endowments to the University.

 

Broadnax, who studied electrical engineering and photography at Virginia Tech, has founded three technology services and consulting companies:

 

In 1995, Allsource Inc.'s dramatic growth garnered it second place in the Houston 100, Houston's annual list of its fastest growing companies. In 1998, his second company, Insync Internet Services, followed suit, placing first as the fastest growing technology company and placing second overall.

 

Broadnax has twice been named finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, and has also been awarded the Houston Small Business Association's Businessperson of the Year (1999).

 

He has served on numerous philanthropic and business boards, including the Better Business Bureau, the Houston Technology Center, the Houston Symphony, and the Houston International Festival.

 

"I am excited and honored to be appointed to the Board of Directors," said Broadnax, "Virginia Tech provided an excellent education to me, and this gives me the opportunity to direct funding to the significant programs that I believe helped me become successful."

 

Broadnax's current venture, Dovarri, sells Customer Relations Management and Sales Force Automation, provides services to a wide variety of business sectors.

 

Dovarri 7.0 Orizon presents intuitively designed, Web-based CRM/ SFA software. The SFA automates sales tasks, manages customer interactions, and analyzes sales forecasts and performance. Orizon's foundation, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, is a .Net platform that controls business information and manages documents over the Internet.

 

Building Dovarri's CRM/SFA on its foundation results in "simplified information sharing, increased efficiency in team collaborations, and improved personal productivity," Dovarri officials say.

 

The Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc. was established in 1948 to receive, manage, and disburse private gifts in support of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (popularly known as Virginia Tech) programs.