In the software crusher

How's things?

Microsoft CRM hits the spot
InfoWorld - Feb 27, 2006
BorckFebruary 27, 2006 I’ve unlocked and loaded Microsoft’s recently refreshed customer relationship management solution, Dynamics CRM 3. 0 Professional, and the preliminary results are quite good. The improvements run broad and deep. Microsoft leapfrogged Version 2, going from a now-dated 2003 debut release to a “Version 3” product that is markedly more mature and usable. Not that Dynamics CRM is teeming with innovation -- at least not by today’s CRM standards -- but current Microsoft customers clinging to the hope of a worthy upgrade will not be disappointed.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/02/27/75533_09PPpreview_1.html

In the software crusher
BBC News - Feb 24, 2006
The big players in the multi-billion dollar market for CRM software have taken note and launched their own on-demand products. Siebel - now owned by Oracle - started offering online CRM services two years ago, while the global market leader in enterprise software, Germany's SAP, announced its own on-demand product at the beginning of February. Microsoft wants a slice of the action too, with the roll-out of its CRM 3. 0 application and tests of its new on-demand "Microsoft Office Live" product. Mr Benioff, for his part, speaks of defensive moves by traditional software giants who worry that Salesforce. com might put "their entire business model.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/business/4735944.stm

PC World - Test Versions of New Windows Live Services Arrive
PC World - Feb 28, 2006
Microsoft introduced its plan to offer hosted services under the Windows Live moniker last fall. Recommend this story?.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124893,00.asp

Apple's Latest Audio Offensive
BusinessWeek - Mar 1, 2006
Ever since Jobs began talking about turning the Mac into "the hub of the digital lifestyle" in 2001, analysts have been waiting for Apple to employ its techno-stylings to revamp the decades-old entertainment center. Who better to enable consumers to listen to music without racks of CDs, view photos without keeping dust-collecting photo albums, or watch movies (be they the home, or Hollywood variety) without VCR tapes, DVDs and the requisite herd of remote controls?Apple has indeed stepped lightly, even as Microsoft (MSFT) and partners dumped gazillions into creating products designed to do many of the same tasks. But Apple's latest devices leave no doubt whether Apple is on the attack -- or that the immediate target is home audio. For all the hoopla over the iPod and iTunes in the past four years, it's almost all been focused on how to listen to music through mediocre PC speakers or via earbuds -- but not in PC-less rooms of the house. ONE SYSTEM, MANY ROOMS. Now, that's changing.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060229_550598.htm

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Feb 24, 2006
Now let's take a look at the portfolio and some of the
moves we made this week. One quick note: Ones are stocks we would buy now, while
Twos are stocks we would buy only on a pullback from
current levels. And as a reminder:
-- A Game Breaker is going to change the landscape of an
industry, as Intel, Microsoft and Wal-Mart did in their
sectors. Investors can make big money in these stocks by
getting in before the crowd. -- Inflection Point stocks have a broken business model
that's on the mend but has yet to be recognized by the
market. Investors who recognize a turnaround early can
pocket strong returns. -- Stealth Stocks are often unknown names to the general
public, but can be hugely profitable investments,
especially when they score well in the Alpha component of
our proprietary rating system... We
believe the company is on track to deliver 40% to 50%
sales bookings growth in 2006 vs. 29% sales bookings
growth in the fourth quarter. RightNow is a small player
in the burgeoning on-demand CRM software space, and we
believe the stock will trade closer to $20 a share in
2006. Based on this belief, we are moving RightNow to a
One and believe subscribers who do not have a position in
the stock should considering buying it here. We will not
add any shares unless they fall below $15, given our 30%
gain.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/archives/200602241803.html

See you.

Outlook the most valuable component

How's it going?

Microsoft 'Snaps' Office into Dynamics applications
InfoWorld - Feb 21, 2006
Business Data Lookup Snap-In for AX allows business workers to use Microsoft Office programs Word, Excel or Outlook within the Dynamics AX task window to browse AX data, according to Microsoft. Users also can copy selected data from AX into Office 2003 documents or attach those documents to records in Dynamics AX. The version of this application for Dynamics CRM gives users the same ability in that program. Microsoft has made the first four Snap applications available for free as a Code Gallery project called Microsoft Dynamics Snap at GotDotNet. NET developer community site. Microsoft also is providing the source code for these applications via a Microsoft Permissive License.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/02/21/75557_HNmicrosoftdynamics_1.html&source=searchresult

Outlook the most valuable component
CNET News.com - Feb 16, 2006
Articles in January Comm of ACM show how email is the central organizing tool for communications, tasks, calendars and contacts. MSN search reinforces this. And, Microsoft Dynamics (CRM, ERP, etc. ) are being tooled to run all transactions and workflow through Outlook. You can bet Outlook will NOT have XML files. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are being tossed over to compete in open source world. MS is consolidating behind Outlook for its value proposition.
http://news.com.com/5208-1012_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=14070&messageID=115342&start=0

Foolish Forecast: Salesforce.com Calling
Motley Fool - Feb 21, 2006
One of the most overpriced companies on the market is set to report earnings. Hours of action-packed after-market pumping and dumping will surely ensue. Yes, it's earnings day at software-on-demand provider Salesforce.
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2006/02/21/foolish-forecast-salesforcecom-calling.aspx

Sage readies ERP suite for small and medium-sized firms
VNUNet.com - Feb 20, 2006
" Additional modules areavailable to handle specialist requirements, such as general manufacturing andbuild-to-order manuf- acturing, he added. Pinches said more and more medium-sized firms are using such integratedsuites. "The days of deploying standalone accounting, customer relationshipmanagement [CRM] and manufacturing systems are eroding fast in the mid-market. These companies want to manage their processes across the entire business, notat a departmental level," he added. Other elements in Sage 1000 include sales management tools for both field andoffice-based sales teams, and a module to manage sales campaigns, including leadmanagement and sales forecasting. A customer support module includes tools forservice-level targets and the logging of enquiries. "Full reporting is available throughout the suite, either using dashboards orgrid-oriented reporting," Pinches said... "Full reporting is available throughout the suite, either using dashboards orgrid-oriented reporting," Pinches said. "There's also a self-service web module,so a company can expose selected information to trading partners. " The software runs on Windows Server systems and requires Microsoft SQL Server. Clients connect to the suite via Internet Explorer. The price of the suite has yet to be confirmed, but Pinches said it would becompetitive for the mid-market. He noted that other products in this sector costbetween £1,000 and £4,000 per seat. Permalink to this story.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2150636

Sage readies integrated software for SMEs
VNUNet.com - Feb 21, 2006
' Additional modules areavailable to handle specialist requirements, such as general manufacturing andbuild-to-order manuf- acturing, he added. Pinches said more and more medium-sized firms are using such integratedsuites. 'The days of deploying standalone accounting, customer relationshipmanagement [CRM] and manufacturing systems are eroding fast in the mid-market. These companies want to manage their processes across the entire business, notat a departmental level,' he added. Other elements in Sage 1000 include sales management tools for both field andoffice-based sales teams, and a module to manage sales campaigns, including leadmanagement and sales forecasting. A customer support module includes tools forservice-level targets and the logging of enquiries. 'Full reporting is available throughout the suite, either using dashboards orgrid-oriented reporting,' Pinches said... 'Full reporting is available throughout the suite, either using dashboards orgrid-oriented reporting,' Pinches said. 'There's also a self-service web module,so a company can expose selected information to trading partners. 'The software runs on Windows Server systems and requires Microsoft SQLServer. Clients connect to the suite via Internet Explorer. The price of the suite has yet to be confirmed, but Pinches said it would becompetitive for the mid-market. He noted that other products in this sector costbetween £1,000 and £4,000 per seat. Permalink to this story.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2150671

Salesforce.com Disruptions Continue - CIO News Alerts - News - CIO
CIO - Feb 16, 2006
The San Francisco-based online Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service provider last week suffered the latest in a series of crippling system disruptions, Computerworld reports. The past outages have enraged customers and garnered the attention of a myriad of media outlets. For CIO’s past coverage, read.
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=17758

Software, Internet companies ripe for buyouts in '06 - Feb. 17,...
CNNMoney.com - Feb 17, 2006
"Once they get scale, that's it. They become the Microsoft of their space. E-commerce companies are also hot targets. One of the older, more established players that Salinero and others cite is Café Press, which lets users put their own logos on merchandise ranging from hats to mugs to underwear. Café Press bills itself as a "profitable, private company" on its Web site. A spokesperson for the company said it is not focused on being acquired right now, saying, "Our main focus is on building a stronger business... "With a trailing 13 multiple, they need to do a deal this year," she said. "I think Salesforce is going to see some pressure from Sugar CRM (a competitor)," she said. "I'd love to see an Intuit-Salesforce merger, but that's wishful thinking given what the multiples are right now. A spokesman for SalesForce. com said the company does not comment on speculation. On the stable-but-slowing growth front, CNNMoney.
http://money.cnn.com/rssclick/2006/02/17/technology/tech_targets/index.htm?section=money_mostpopular

Hitachi Teams With Ingram
WebProNews - Feb 20, 2006
This includes six, pre-configures products, three for the WMS100 and AMS200. The AMS200 and WMS100 include the Logical Cache Partitioning and Virtual Storage Ports in additional to the RAID-6, RAID-5, 1+0 and 1 for both sets of products. The series will work with Microsoft's Exchange, ERP and CRM environments and has been certified for the Simple SAN for Windows Server program. The units come in both 2 Gbps and 2 Gbps configurations and include all the hardware and software to get servers connected to a SAN.
http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/expertarticles/wpn-62-20060220HitachiTeamsWithIngram.html

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Feb 17, 2006
Now let's take a look at the portfolio and some of the
moves we made this week. One quick note: Ones are stocks we would buy now, while
Twos are stocks we would buy only on a pullback from
current levels. And as a reminder:
-- A Game Breaker is going to change the landscape of an
industry, as Intel, Microsoft and Wal-Mart did in their
sectors. Investors can make big money in these stocks by
getting in before the crowd. -- Inflection Point stocks have a broken business model
that's on the mend but has yet to be recognized by the
market. Investors who recognize a turnaround early can
pocket strong returns. -- Stealth Stocks are often unknown names to the general
public, but can be hugely profitable investments,
especially when they score well in the Alpha component of
our proprietary rating system... On Wednesday,
the company announced that it is strengthening its focus
on the needs of the public sector by providing increased
technical support, professional services, marketing, and
sales staff to customers. In the highly competitive CRM
space, we believe RightNow's strong customer satisfaction,
as measured by its high customer retention rate, will help
the company differentiate itself from the competition. We
will look to add to our position on a pullback under $15 a
share and make sales for the model portfolio closer to $20
a share.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/archives/200602171652.html

Swyx Announces Major New Partner Programme and Brand Awareness...
SourceWire - SourceWire (press release) - Feb 20, 2006
In the current climate, every business has to scrutinise every investment more carefully than ever to ensure they are getting the very best value. This is true particularly when it comes to telephony systems, where choice is plentiful, and technology moves so quickly that traditional telephony technologies are already becoming obsolete. Swyx develops software-based telephony systems that work like any other software application, such as email, instant messaging and CRM, through your existing data network and server application. So you can take full advantage of all the benefits of business-class VoIP � without having to invest in expensive new telephony hardware. In addition, the Swyx system has the potential to build into a powerful business tool. Because a Swyx system is Microsoft Windows based, it integrates seamlessly with your existing IT infrastructure, including all your individual business applications such as security systems, Office applications, Finance and CRM systems and customer support infrastructure, giving you one seamless communication system that will move and grow with your business no matter how many people, sites or locations you expand into. Swyx is constantly developing its solutions to meet the changing needs of your business... So you can take full advantage of all the benefits of business-class VoIP � without having to invest in expensive new telephony hardware. In addition, the Swyx system has the potential to build into a powerful business tool. Because a Swyx system is Microsoft Windows based, it integrates seamlessly with your existing IT infrastructure, including all your individual business applications such as security systems, Office applications, Finance and CRM systems and customer support infrastructure, giving you one seamless communication system that will move and grow with your business no matter how many people, sites or locations you expand into. Swyx is constantly developing its solutions to meet the changing needs of your business. So whatever your business, and whatever your stage of development, choosing an IP telephony solution from Swyx will give your business more possibilities, more agility, more choice and more communication, making it the last telephone system you�ll ever need. Swyx was established in 1999 and now has offices across Europe, with headquarters in Dortmund, Germany. Today the company is recognised as a market leader for IP telephony in major European countries and has enabled in excess of 4500 businesses across the continent to take advantage of the business benefits of IP telephony and associated applications.
http://sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=24321&hilite=

See you soon.

Open Source is Maturing

Hello!

Microsoft tastes sweet, sweet open source CRM
Register - Feb 14, 2006
But more than 50 per cent of JBoss customers are our customers too. We were interested from an opportunity perspective, not because we like Java," Hiff said. Microsoft is working with SugarCRM to improve the hosted CRM provider's support for Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS), and to provide optimization of Active Directory and Microsoft SQL Server, including SQL Express, SQL Server Workgroup and SQL Server Enterprise. SugarCRM will also use Microsoft's Windows Installer XML (WiX) tools to build its planned products as a Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) package for Windows Server 2003. ® Track this type of story as a. Related storiesTitan makes earthly debut for Microsoft partners (11 January 2007)Microsoft to support Novell's cancer (2 November 2006).
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/14/microsoft_sugarcrm/

Open Source is Maturing
CNET News.com - Feb 15, 2006
I think we're about to see "commercial open source 2. Some may see this move as a sell-out by SugarCRM and market grabbing by Microsoft. I'm sure money is a motive. But, in the spirit of the "virtuous development cycle", I see this move as responding to customer demand and giving the customer more choice.
http://news.com.com/5208-7344_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=14032&messageID=114539&start=-1

Microsoft's No-Win Dilemma
BusinessWeek - Feb 15, 2006
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Microsoft (MSFT) is finding Europe's top antitrust regulator tougher than any it has faced before. Not only did the European Commission hit the company with a $613 million fine two years ago, the software giant is now staring at the prospect of fines that could cost it another $2.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060215_493848.htm

Open source ISVs must side with SAP to survive - SAP
Register - Feb 15, 2006
The invitation to you, is to join us," Graf said. In an attempt to persuade ISVs to pick SAP over enterprise competitors, Graf said: "IBM doesn't have the applications to build into this. Microsoft doesn't have credibility in the upper end of the market. Oracle has nine or 10 problems to figure out. SAP is, of course, locked in a war with IBM, Microsoft and Oracle over who can get the most developers building for their platforms, which would explain Graf's unsubtle attempt to steer programmers towards his own company's architecture and strategy. While bitterness towards Oracle is understandable, SAP has partnered with both Microsoft and IBM on software... While bitterness towards Oracle is understandable, SAP has partnered with both Microsoft and IBM on software. IBM, meanwhile, is providing the hosting infrastructure for SAP's hosted customer relationship management (CRM) service, CRM On-Demand Solution, announced last week. SAP's pitch might fall on deaf ears if Oracle has its way. The database giant is picking up open source companies at speed - nabbing Sleepycat this week, while eyeing JBoss and Zend, according to reports. ® Track this type of story as a.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/15/sap_open_source_developers/

OSBC: Sun seeks to woo HP to Solaris
InfoWorld - Feb 14, 2006
Following Schwartz's presentation, Microsoft's Bill Hilf, director of the vendor's Platform Technology Strategy organization, focused on the concept of "coopetition," through which competitors can share a common business interest. "It’s the idea of cooperating and competing often in the same breath with the same people," Hilf said. Microsoft certainly has not been a major proponent of open source. But Hilf pointed out that Microsoft can benefit from it just the same. Open source companies... SugarCRM, for example, will offer a version of its CRM package on Windows via Microsoft's Shared Source license, which allows some access to source code. Microsoft, however, is conscious that new business models in computing may not generate as much as older models, Hilf said. Product differentiation still is key and making money matters, he said. "I don’t believe selling tech support phone calls is a model [that is] sustainable," said Hilf. "You must differentiate in your product to sustain growth.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/02/14/75379_HNhpsunososbc_1.html

New "Integrated Office" solution to improve Legal practice...
SourceWire - SourceWire (press release) - Feb 13, 2006
Andy Bills, SVP Sales at Swyx comments, "An efficient, cost-effective office operation is critical to professional service organisations, where time literally is money. The Integrated Office solution will assist these organisations to maximise their fee earning potential by making them more available to their client contacts. "

The IP telephony system, developed on Swyx's technology platform and supported by LuxTech, will enable legal practices to run a more effective operation by providing instant and accurate itemised client billing, fax to the desktop, and seamless integration with contact management and CRM software. It will allow clients to be recognised automatically when calling into the practice, and integrates the telephony function with the practice database to allow rapid lookup of client details and information, as well as the capability of individualised billing of services to the client. The "Integrated Office" solution provides the following benefits to a Legal practice:

� Maximise fee-earning capability of legal professionals; experts in all aspects of your legal practice can be made available to clients regardless of their location. � Pool Receptionist resources - Using pure IP telephony it is possible for all calls to be managed centrally at a particular site and then re-routed transparently to the correct department or other office location based on availability and the importance if the call. � Individual Client Billing - Full reporting of telephone activity enables more accurate billing of clients quickly and easily without the need to trawl through phone bills and automatic generation of invoices with relevant cost codes
� Integration with contact management software - integrates with all existing applications such as Microsoft's Outlook, CRM, billing, and e-mail so that on incoming calls the appropriate contact window of the caller pops up and the contact information can be viewed instantly.
http://sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=24215&hilite=

Troubled Times at Gateway
BusinessWeek - Feb 10, 2006
And while there was a $49. 4 million profit, vs. a $475 million loss in 2004, more than $40 million of the income was directly attributable to legal-settlement payments from Microsoft (MSFT). The more accurate measure of Gateway's performance was its net operating income of $6. 8 million, only a third the size of the $20. 2 million reported for 2004. Still, Inouye gets credit for bringing costs under control.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060210_467932.htm

Companies, People, Ideas
Forbes - Feb 9, 2006
At the annual DEMO conference, where budding technologists strut their stuff in front of would-be investors and buzzmakers, there was no talk of the recent bust. But there was lots of chatter about consumers eager to get more out of computers, networks and cellular phones. The enthusiasm didn't apply to every offering: Representatives from Salesforce.
http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/09/yahoo-microsoft-google-cz_vm_0208demo.html?partner=alerts

Virgin Mobile users to get live TV over DAB - 14/Feb/2006 - ComputerWe...
ComputerWeekly.com - Feb 14, 2006
Graeme Hutchinson, Virgin Mobile sales and marketing director, said, “Virgin Mobile customers will be the first people in Europe to watch real broadcast TV over their mobile phones. It’s not downloaded, it’s not looped, but real TV just like you get at home, using crystal clear DAB sound. ”
BT has developed a strategic relationship with Microsoft to enable a secure and efficient environment for delivering broadcast services on a mobile handset. Microsoft's Windows Media technologies, including Windows Media Video and Windows Media Audio Pro, enable BT Movio to deliver high-quality audio and video content over the DAB network using minimal bandwidth. The BT Movio service also incorporates Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to ensure secure delivery of premium video and music content. BT Movio will be available to other mobile operators at a later date.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2006/02/14/214228/VirginMobileuserstogetliveTVoverDAB.htm

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Feb 10, 2006
Now let's take a look at the portfolio and some of the
moves we made this week. One quick note: Ones are stocks we would buy now, while
Twos are stocks we would buy only on a pullback from
current levels. And as a reminder:
-- A Game Breaker is going to change the landscape of an
industry, as Intel, Microsoft and Wal-Mart did in their
sectors. Investors can make big money in these stocks by
getting in before the crowd. -- Inflection Point stocks have a broken business model
that's on the mend but has yet to be recognized by the
market. Investors who recognize a turnaround early can
pocket strong returns. -- Stealth Stocks are often unknown names to the general
public, but can be hugely profitable investments,
especially when they score well in the Alpha component of
our proprietary rating system.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/archives/200602101711.html

Business Objects looks to VARs for SME BI lift
VNUNet.com - Feb 10, 2006
John Wilkinson, mid-market sales director for northern Europe at BusinessObjects, said: “We have various routes to market depending on the customers, butfor the SME market we have a two-tier model. For more sophisticated businessintelligence we go through VARs, with 25 key resellers, but we are looking todouble that over the next two years. ”Wilkinson said Business Objects wants 15 resellers this year that have accessto the SME market and may already be reselling ERP, CRM, supply chain managementor financial applications from Sage. Phil Wood, product and solutions marketing manager at Business Objects, saiddespite projected growth the BI market is under penetrated and Business Objectswants to use the channel to reach out to the mid-market. Gareth Horton, product manger at BI vendor Datawatch, said: “BI is growingand our main revenue is coming from the channel. We pull information fromreports and place it in databases to provide a summary or analysis. ”Horton added that software giant Microsoft is also taking BI seriously, andwill build BI capabilities into new versions of Excel and its forthcomingoperating system... Gareth Horton, product manger at BI vendor Datawatch, said: “BI is growingand our main revenue is coming from the channel. We pull information fromreports and place it in databases to provide a summary or analysis. ”Horton added that software giant Microsoft is also taking BI seriously, andwill build BI capabilities into new versions of Excel and its forthcomingoperating system. Rasmus Andsbjerg, research analyst at market watcher IDC, said: “BI isgrowing as it can help firms utilise data and improve customer relationships. ”Andsbjerg added that as an increased number of firms use softwareapplications to store data, the demand for BI will continue to rise.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2150157

See you soon.

Oracle plots integration and support for Siebel

How's it going?

SAP vs Salesforce.com
BusinessWeek - Feb 2, 2006
After months of warming up, SAP is finally expected to announce an on-demand CRM product this week. Europe's most influential technology company is helping us make on-demand the global standard. Is SAP on the defensive? Are they worried that with few customers actually using their CRM software, and salesforce. com making significant inroads in their customer base, their entire business model may be at risk? For starters, they had better hope that their on-demand offering will win more fans than their on-premise solution has. While SAP claims leadership in CRM, experience suggests a different story. I have often wondered, “If SAP’s CRM software is any good, then why doesn’t SAP use it to manage their own customer relationships?” I have interviewed hundreds of salespeople and executives from SAP from around the world, and each has told me the only CRM system at SAP is an executive system based on Microsoft Excel. I’m not surprised since I have never met a salesperson anywhere in the world who uses SAP CRM... com making significant inroads in their customer base, their entire business model may be at risk? For starters, they had better hope that their on-demand offering will win more fans than their on-premise solution has. While SAP claims leadership in CRM, experience suggests a different story. I have often wondered, “If SAP’s CRM software is any good, then why doesn’t SAP use it to manage their own customer relationships?” I have interviewed hundreds of salespeople and executives from SAP from around the world, and each has told me the only CRM system at SAP is an executive system based on Microsoft Excel. I’m not surprised since I have never met a salesperson anywhere in the world who uses SAP CRM. Indeed, Gartner noted at a recent conference that only 19 percent of SAP CRM customers actually use it. If fewer than a fifth of our customers used our service, we’d consider that a failure. At SAP, they call it a business plan.
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2006/02/sap_vs_salesfor.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat

Oracle plots integration and support for Siebel
VNUNet.com - Feb 6, 2006
In an open letter, Oracle president Charles Phillips wrote, “We plan toprovide end-to-end integrated business processes by combining the leadingfront-office, back-office, and industry solutions from Oracle and Siebel. Integration work has begun with a focus on developing and enhancing businessprocesses for over two dozen industries. ”Phillips added that Oracle intends to combine Siebel CRM analytics, OracleERP analytics, and industry-specific content to provide a holistic view ofenterprise performance. The company also plans to continue to offer Siebelprograms on both a piecemeal and integrated basis. In a separate FAQ, Oracle said it would continue support for currentprogrammes and would maintain current phone numbers and web links. Support forIBM and Microsoft databases will remain. Oracle’s promises are lent weight by the experience of PeopleSoft customers,the vast majority of whom have stayed with Oracle and given approval to progressso far, despite rivals’ earlier suggestions that the database giant would take aruthless approach to the acquired business... The company also plans to continue to offer Siebelprograms on both a piecemeal and integrated basis. In a separate FAQ, Oracle said it would continue support for currentprogrammes and would maintain current phone numbers and web links. Support forIBM and Microsoft databases will remain. Oracle’s promises are lent weight by the experience of PeopleSoft customers,the vast majority of whom have stayed with Oracle and given approval to progressso far, despite rivals’ earlier suggestions that the database giant would take aruthless approach to the acquired business. “My feeling is positive that the Siebel product is going to go forward,” saidNigel Montgomery of analyst firm AMR Research. “Before Oracle, Siebel wasdropping and the challenge was how to get to a service-oriented architecture. They now have the heft to do that.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2149790/oracle-plots-integration

Top 10 IT New Stories of the Week - CIO News Alerts - News - CIO
CIO - Feb 3, 2006
Sticking with Massachusetts, the state has named a permanent replacement for former chief information officer Peter Quinn who recently resigned citing political pressure. After proposing plans to migrate off Microsoft’s software in favor of the OpenDocument file format, Quinn found himself under intense local and international scrutiny. The new CIO, Louis Gutierrez, is set to continue Quinn’s plans of beginning the move over to OpenDocument in Jan. However, the state’s current governor is stepping down at the end of this year and the next incumbent would have the option to name a new CIO in 2007.
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=17453

Securing SAAS
eWeek - Feb 6, 2006
Roberts, Peter Coffee and Ryan Naraine. With everyone from Salesforce. com to SAP to Microsoft to Google joining in, on-demand applications are unquestionably the way that most software will be delivered in the coming years. Yet there will be few products or services on display at next week's RSA Security Conference that focus on securing those very applications. The paucity of third-party on-demand security solutions is only part of the problem. Malicious hackers will always be one step ahead of the patch unless developers make applications more secure from the ground up. Microsoft and Oracle, for instance, have been trying this, but they will control only a few of the many on-demand applications coming on the horizon... The paucity of third-party on-demand security solutions is only part of the problem. Malicious hackers will always be one step ahead of the patch unless developers make applications more secure from the ground up. Microsoft and Oracle, for instance, have been trying this, but they will control only a few of the many on-demand applications coming on the horizon. In addition, most current service applications are merely "Web enabled" (remember that one?) for on-demand use and not designed with the on-demand model in mind. This does not mean you should scrap your on-demand initiatives. IT managers should be putting all their software-as-a-service projects through the same security screens as everything else. The business model of on demand makes too much sense to fail, but only when vendors start solving their own uptime and security issues can we truly say that on demand is here to stay.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1918820,00.asp

Bloomberg.com: Investment Tools
Bloomberg - Feb 8, 2006
" The company plans to report preliminary earnings estimates for thefourth quarter of 2006 by early February. About CDC Software CDC Software, The Customer-Driven Company(TM), is a provider ofenterprise software applications designed to help organizationsdeliver a superior customer experience while increasing efficienciesand profitability. CDC Software's product suite includes the PivotalCRM (customer relationship management), c360 CRM add-on products,industry solutions and development tools for the Microsoft DynamicsCRM platform, Ross Enterprise - ERP (enterprise resource planning) andSCM (supply chain management), MVI real-time performance management,IMI warehouse management and order management, Platinum China HR(human resource) and business analytics solutions. These industry-specific solutions are used by more than 5,000customers worldwide within the manufacturing, financial services,health care, home building, real estate, and wholesale and retaildistribution industries. The company completes its offerings with afull continuum of services that span the life cycle of technology andsoftware applications, including implementation, project consulting,outsourced business services, application management and offshoredevelopment. CDC Software is the enterprise software unit of CDCCorporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and is ranked number 18 on theManufacturing Business Technology 2006 Global 100 List of Enterpriseand Supply Chain Management Application vendors. For more information,please visit www.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=AGN:US&sid=aU4SlW6yCyxY

CRM News: Scribe Software, CoreTrac, Universal Computer Systems
TMCnet - Feb 4, 2006
Click here to learn more. 0 customers to Scribe Insight and how it increases the return on their CRM investments," said Lou Antonucci, Scribe's Director, Channel Sales. "By making it simple and straightforward to bring enterprise data together into Dynamics CRM 3. 0 to create one view of the customer, sales teams are increasing revenue and serving customers better. "
…
CoreTrac, Inc.
http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-crm-customer-relationship-management-/2006/02/04/1342533.htm

SAP and Microsoft Introduce Duet Software; Bringing Together the...
noticias.info - Feb 5, 2006
� May 2, 2006 � Twelve months after first unveiling plans to create �Project Mendocino� � a joint product that enables people to interact quickly and easily with SAP business processes and data through Microsoft� Office applications � SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and Microsoft Corp. today announced that the two companies are scheduled to ship the product on time in June, 2006. The product is officially named Duet software for Microsoft Office and SAP. Nearly 100 joint customers and industry partners � including Atmel and Infosys � have been exploring the software�s benefits in early release versions since late 2005. SAP and Microsoft also announced plans to enhance the capabilities of Duet this year and to release additional business scenarios in the second half of 2006. Duet allows information workers to use their familiar Microsoft Office environment to access selected SAP business processes and data. This improved and flexible access to dedicated SAP application functionality will help companies who use Duet to save time and money, increase process compliance, and improve decision making... � Organization management: Allows employees and managers to access organization information and HR-related tasks in the familiar Outlook environment. Expanded Product Roadmap In the second half of 2006, SAP and Microsoft plan to offer two value packs for Duet, providing additional business scenario support, enhanced platform capabilities and language support. These value packs will expose five additional scenarios in the Microsoft Office system coming from mySAP ERP and mySAP Business Suite applications for customer relationship management (CRM) and supplier relationship management (SRM). The scenarios are: recruitment management, travel management, analytics, purchasing management, and sales activity management. With these value packs, capabilities of Duet will go beyond self-service for employees and managers to enable line-of-business operational efficiencies and cost savings. The value packs are designed for compatibility with the next release of mySAP ERP and the 2007 release of the Microsoft Office system and will expand language support to include English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese. �With Duet, SAP and Microsoft are delivering a people-ready solution for our joint customers, which gives decision-makers improved access to the information they need to be effective,� said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division.
http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=173382&src=0

… Corporate News - Picis implementeert FastTrack BI van...
Netherlands Corporate News - Netherlands Corporate News (persbericht) - Feb 5, 2006
nl -->( BW)(CLEARPEAKS) Picis Implements ClearPeaks' FastTrack BI(TM) forSiebel CRM; Real-Time Analysis for Better Customer Insight Business Editors BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2006--Picis, the leadingworldwide provider of information systems for surgery, emergencydepartment and intensive care units across the hospital enterprise,recently implemented ClearPeaks' FastTrack Business Intelligence (BI)for Siebel Customer Relationship Management (CRM). FastTrack BI is acomprehensive end-user reporting environment based on the BusinessObjects platform, which allows Picis to easily tap into the wealth ofcustomer information stored in their CRM system from Siebel. "We have recently implemented a best-of-class CRM system allowingus to track all customer interactions with the objective to betterserve our customers with an even more focused approach," says KevinPettet, executive vice president of client operations, Picis. "WithClearPeaks' FastTrack BI solution we are now able to better analyzeour data, segment our customers, measure the ROI of our marketinginitiatives and provide an automated and rolled-up sales forecast. This capability will allow us to be more competitive, offer betterservice to our customers and provide a faster response to changingmarket conditions. By providing FastTrack BI for Siebel CRM, ClearPeaks enables itscustomers to effortlessly extract the vital information contained intheir CRM systems by using a ClearPeaks developed Business ObjectsUniverse. FastTrack BI is easy to deploy, flexible, user-friendly andallows business users to report and analyze Siebel Systems CRM data ina language they can easily understand in real-time and without theneed for a costly data warehouse... com About Picis Picis is the leading, worldwide provider of information systemsthat deliver proven best-in-cluster patient care transformation forthe highest-acuity care areas of the hospital. Headquartered inWakefield, Massachusetts, Picis has installed systems in more than 900hospital worldwide, automating more surgical procedures, emergencyvisits and intensive care stays than any other company in the world. Picis has received numerous awards, including those from Microsoft,Ernst & Young, HCIT Research, Healthcare Informatics and Frost andSullivan. Picis was recently named to both the Deloitte & Touche Fast500 and the Inc. Magazine 500 lists (105th overall) of the fastestgrowing private companies in the U.
http://www.netherlandscorporatenews.com/archive/en/2006/05/02/f022.htm

IT Weekly Roundup, Feb. 3
Microsoft Certified Professional - Feb 3, 2006
0 securely stores all e-mails and attachments, provides
secure access to indexed e-mail for CRM systems and Web portals such as Microsoft
SharePoint, and offers single-instance storage and compression technology to
control data volume. Pricing starts at $40 per managed mailbox.
http://www.mcpmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=879

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Feb 3, 2006
Now let's take a look at the portfolio and some of the
moves we made this week. One quick note: Ones are stocks we would buy now, while
Twos are stocks we would buy only on a pullback from
current levels. And as a reminder:
-- A Game Breaker is going to change the landscape of an
industry, as Intel, Microsoft and Wal-Mart did in their
sectors. Investors can make big money in these stocks by
getting in before the crowd. -- Inflection Point stocks have a broken business model
that's on the mend but has yet to be recognized by the
market. Investors who recognize a turnaround early can
pocket strong returns. -- Stealth Stocks are often unknown names to the general
public, but can be hugely profitable investments,
especially when they score well in the Alpha component of
our proprietary rating system... We are moving Wireless
Facilities to a Two rating this week as 2006 capital
expenditures guidance from the large wireless providers
appears to be for only mid-single-digit percentage growth
over 2005 levels. While Wireless Facilities has
historically been able to grow its top line by a higher
percentage rate than the capital spending budgets of its
customers, a report from research firm Jefferies this week
says the wireless portion of capital budgets will grow by
less than 2% in 2006. Even so, the company is a prime
candidate to benefit from the rollout of digital video to
wireless devices in the coming years, so we will continue
to hold our small position and monitor the company for
signs of stabilization in the wireless business before
recommending shares. Trade closer to $6 a share would
likely prompt a sale from the model portfolio.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/_googlen/archives/200602031706.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=SU&cm_ite=003966

CIO - Dial VoIP for Vulnerability
CIO Australia - Feb 3, 2006
If we didn't have all that, I'd be scared. " Here's what a number of early VoIP adopters have done to realize the cost savings of VoIP and to save their companies from a potential disaster. Full VoIP Ahead
With VoIP, PBXs - the backbone of the traditional phone system - are replaced by IP voice servers that usually run on Microsoft or Linux operating systems. These "call management boxes" deliver VoIP services and log call information - and they are susceptible to virus attacks and hackers. VoIP is even more sensitive than data when it comes to disruption and packet loss. Yet many security measures that are applied to data networks don't work well for VoIP. For example, traditional firewalls can result in delays or blocked calls, and encryption can cause "latency" and "jitter" (packet slowdowns that can disrupt calls).
http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;845465733;fp;16;fpid;0

Bye.