Microsoft building out hosted CRM capabilities

How are things?

Microsoft challenges Salesforce in hosted CRM
VNUNet.com - Mar 30, 2006
com in hostedcustomer relationship management (CRM) systems, by announcing a new version ofits own Dynamics CRM product to be hosted by members of its global partnercommunity. The Dynamics CRM Professional Edition for Service Providers, announced atMicrosoft’s Convergence event in Dallas, will feature the same roles-based userinterface and integration with Outlook as the on-premises version, and willprovide enhanced manageability, said Dynamics CRM product marketing directorKevin Faulkner. Microsoft has been working with service providers, software vendors andresellers on an early-adopter programme since it announced its decision totarget the sector last December, according to Faulkner. The product shares the same code base and business logic as the on-premisesversion, enabling firms to migrate easily from one to the other, as theirbusiness needs change.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2153093/microsoft-challenges-salesforce

Microsoft building out hosted CRM capabilities
InfoWorld - Apr 3, 2006
0 product last week, dubbed the Professional Edition for Service Providers. Unveiled at Convergence, the Microsoft Business Solutions Group’s annual customer show, the new release includes application connectors to Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, and Siebel, as well as to Microsoft’s own Dynamics GP, NAV, and AX business applications. In addition, the connectors can be used in a hosted single-tenancy mode, which will allow service providers to provision the CRM package prior to an on-site customer installation. “With this pre-provisioning you can set up a system and configure it to Exchange server before you even know who the customer is,” said Kevin Faulkner, product marketing director for Dynamics at Microsoft.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/04/03/76892_14NNmscrm_1.html&source=searchresult

PC World - Partners Craft Office Live Add-ons
PC World - Apr 5, 2006
Microsoft has said Office Live will be available in three flavors. Office Live Basic is a free, ad-supported service that will give small businesses a basic Web presence and e-mail accounts. Office Live Essentials, which will cost about $30 a month, adds collaboration capabilities and 22 applications such as CRM, project management, calendaring and employee management. A third service plan, Office Live Collaboration, is for companies that already have their own Web presence, but want all of the collaboration and applications. It also will cost about $30 monthly. Building Block for Business Roger Otterson is president of Qualitec, a consulting firm in San Diego that specializes in small businesses that also is working with Microsoft to provide add-on applications for Office Live. Some Microsoft partners may see Office Live as a service.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125318,00.asp

SugarCRM offers support to open-source users
InfoWorld - Apr 5, 2006
As part of that deal, SugarCRM is due to release version 4. 5 of its CRM software under the Microsoft Community License. The license is part of Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative, a program for sharing source code with customers, partners and governments. 5 is in "middevelopment right now," and should appear in June with support for Microsoft's SQL Server database according to Roberts.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/04/05/77146_HNsugarcrm_1.html

Keeping Up with the Googles
BusinessWeek - Mar 30, 2006
's Windows Vista operating system until next year makes the software giant look like a dinosaur stuck in the tar, but that's not the whole picture. Its efforts to match the Googles of the world with fast online innovations.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2006/tc20060330_055915.htm

The move to open source is good for BZ Results
InfoWorld - Apr 3, 2006
He cites the frequent, fast security updates available for Apache servers as an example of how the open source community delivers faster than traditional providers. Although many commercial application vendors and service providers offer low-cost options, Lackey doesn’t trust them. He compares the operational stability and reliability of the open source MySQL database and SugarCRM application to the problems he had using an earlier, proprietary CRM server, which went through seven updates before it functioned correctly. Likewise, he’s dubious about the reliability of SaaS (software as a service), a misgiving he feels the multiday outages that Salesforce. com experienced earlier this year confirmed. BZ delivers online marketing workflow management platforms for auto dealerships to help them serve customers via the Web. As such, Lackey says it’s critical for his company to have a strong technology platform... For example, a key advantage of SugarCRM was the portability of its data set. “We need to share with other tools. We’re not restricted to whether the Salesforce API is up or down, and we don’t have to worry about what platform we have, as we would for Microsoft SQL.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/04/03/76518_14FEosscasebzr_1.html

SAP Bulks Up - Forbes.com
Forbes - Apr 3, 2006
How big of a threat do they pose to your business?I see them as a huge threat to themselves. You have a company that has obviously run out of ideas in their core business, which is their database business--that's their DNA. When they realized that it was becoming commoditized, prices were beginning to drop, strong competition from market leaders like Microsoft (nasdaq:.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/04/03/sap-oracle-ellison_cx_df_0403sap.html

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Mar 31, 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... 87, 300 shares,
4. 25%, Stealth Stock): The company is an emerging player
in the on-demand customer relationship management (CRM)
space. On Monday, the company announced that its on-demand
CRM technology being used by the U. Department of
Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) has enabled the
agency to cut its email volume from 3,000 per week to 40
per week by filtering out spam. RightNow has been boosting
its customer base and sales in each of the past few years
and is on track to deliver nearly 50% sales bookings
growth in 2006, based on management guidance from its
fourth-quarter earnings conference call. This strong
growth will increase earnings and cash flow in 2006 and
beyond, which should drive the stock closer to $20 a share
in the coming 12 months.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/_googlen/archives/200603311656.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=SU&cm_ite=003966

Shunra's network-testing crystal ball gets better
InfoWorld - Mar 31, 2006
I finally got it installed on a clean XP PC without any trouble. Shunra’s magic starts with VE Modeler. VE Modeler uses Microsoft Visio as its drawing board for the test topology, and has custom Visio shapes to define end points, multi-network gateways, QoS gateways, and WAN clouds. All of these symbols have user-definable properties so that they accurately represent each part of the WAN to be tested. For instance, the WAN cloud defines latency, packet loss and other link faults, and the gateways define link speeds, queuing options, and bandwidth utilization. IT can link any number of symbols to create as simple or complex a WAN simulation as needed. This release features a couple of new shapes that really spice up WAN simulation.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/31/76789_14TCshunra_1.html

See you later.

Microsoft improves business processes with Dynamics

Hi!

Microsoft tweaks CRM to improve hosting
InfoWorld - Mar 27, 2006
com and NetSuite have "a close feedback loop" to their customers since they develop, deliver and host the software, she added. NaviSite and Telecom Italia are among the partners already hosting its CRM software, according to Wilson. "It's not going to be Microsoft CRM hosted in someone's closet," he quipped. Microsoft will advise users on what issues should be addressed in contracts with hosting providers, not only around SLAs (service level agreements), but also in relation to privacy and data ownership concerns, Wilson said. The software vendor hopes that its partners will build additional functionality on top of the vanilla Microsoft CRM software, particularly services targeting specific industries and geographies, he said. Microsoft is also due to announce on Monday the first of a number of prepackaged connectors. The company will announce that a connector between Microsoft's CRM and its Dynamics GP ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications is now available, with connectors for its other ERP software Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX out in the first quarter of 2007... "It should be easy to connect Microsoft to Microsoft," analyst McCabe said. "The bottom line is they have to do it and they're kind of late. "A Microsoft CRM connector to the company's BizTalk Server and integration with Oracle's Siebel CRM software should become available in the third quarter of this year. Connector templates integrating Microsoft CRM via the company's BizTalk Server into ERP applications from Oracle and SAP will appear over the next 12 months, according to Wilson.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/27/76824_HNmstweakscrm_1.html

Microsoft improves business processes with Dynamics
VNUNet.com - Mar 29, 2006
In the opening keynote, Microsoft Business Division president Jeff Raikessaid Wave 1 of Microsoft's Dynamics strategy is now half complete, with CRM 3. 5 already shipping, and Dynamics AX 4.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2152966

Gates lays out future for enterprise apps
InfoWorld - Mar 27, 2006
's business software running in Dallas through Tuesday, the Microsoft chairman and chief software architect also shared his vision of a world of work in which "smart" tables will function as adhoc screens for mobile devices. He barely touched on the company's announcement Monday of its increased push into facilitating hosted versions of its CRM (customer relationship management) software as well as providing new integration capabilities for its Dynamics GP ERP (enterprise resource planning) product. Instead, Gates spoke in more general terms about the ongoing coming together of the "structured" world of financial and human resources applications with elements of the Internet world including the ability to do mashups, the blending of data and tools from different sources. He neatly sidestepped the issue of whether Microsoft plans to eventually enable the hosting of all its software. "We don't think there'll be a huge swing to one model at the expense of the other," Gates said in response to questions previously collected from Convergence attendees... 's business software running in Dallas through Tuesday, the Microsoft chairman and chief software architect also shared his vision of a world of work in which "smart" tables will function as adhoc screens for mobile devices. He barely touched on the company's announcement Monday of its increased push into facilitating hosted versions of its CRM (customer relationship management) software as well as providing new integration capabilities for its Dynamics GP ERP (enterprise resource planning) product. Instead, Gates spoke in more general terms about the ongoing coming together of the "structured" world of financial and human resources applications with elements of the Internet world including the ability to do mashups, the blending of data and tools from different sources. He neatly sidestepped the issue of whether Microsoft plans to eventually enable the hosting of all its software. "We don't think there'll be a huge swing to one model at the expense of the other," Gates said in response to questions previously collected from Convergence attendees. On-premise software will continue to have an appeal, with software hosting proving more popular with smaller companies, he added.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/27/76837_HNgatesfuture_1.html

Support grows for Eclipse
VNUNet.com - Mar 23, 2006
The moves were announced at the EclipseCon conference in America, and shouldhelp IT directors considering Eclipse-based development tools instead of purelycommercial alternatives such as Microsoft Visual Studio. Computing giant IBM announced new Eclipse services and tools, and said it waspiloting a new support offering for firms using the Eclipse platform. Thesupport offering is aimed at firms that want developers to use the open-sourceEclipse development environment with proprietary Eclipse based tools such asIBM's Rational branded tools. The firm also announced Rational Data Architect, an enterprise data modellingand integration design tool, and a beta version of Workplace Forms Designer 2,which enables designers to create XML forms describing business processes. Version 1 of the forms designer should be finished in the summer of 2007... Version 1 of the forms designer should be finished in the summer of 2007. IBM was a founding member of the Eclipse open source project and subsequentlyof the Eclipse Foundation. Separately, CRM vendor SugarCRM also announced that it had joined Eclipse,while Salesforce. com and Compuware each pledged their continued support for theopen source development project. Permalink to this story.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2152639

Apple vs. That Other Apple
BusinessWeek - Mar 29, 2006
And there is also the matter of online distribution of The Beatles songs. To this date, they can't be downloaded legally from any vendor. Rumors suggested last year that Microsoft (MSFT) had sought to negotiate rights with Apple Corps to carry The Beatles for download in time for the launch of its MSN Music service. The rumors died almost as soon as they surfaced, suggesting any negotiations had collapsed. And that represents yet another piece on the chess board. With its control of the world's most popular music download service, Apple Computer could offer The Beatles a huge promotional bonanza -- one that would represent a huge money-making opportunity for both parties. Such a deal could conceivably be worked out in the wake of a settlement between them, but here's the rub: Would Apple Corps go along with selling Beatles tracks for 99 cents, or would it demand richer terms that would lead to consumers paying higher prices? UNSETTLED SCORE.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2006/tc20060329_560215.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_computers

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Mar 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... Also, technical problems can be
addressed by phone and over the Internet, so there is no
need for expensive service calls and downtime is limited. Finally, Web-based software has a higher employee adoption
rate as it is user-friendly. With RightNow among the top
on-demand CRM providers, we believe the company will
benefit from the trend of Web-based software and deliver
40% to 50% sales bookings growth in 2006. With that in
mind, we believe shares can ultimately trade to $20. Services Acquisition Corp.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/_googlen/archives/200603241657.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=SU&cm_ite=003966

Why successful IT needs good governance
VNUNet.com - Mar 23, 2006
’IT is propelled by a holistic approach and a service transformation programmeto secure one view of the customer. Nine contact centres have been consolidated into one multimedia IP-basedcentre under the control of a new customer services department. The Avaya-supplied system, which integrates with Siebel customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) software, was designed and implemented by contact centreservices company Sabio in a £1. Roberts says the council selected Sabio, which will provide support duringthe next five years, as a best-of-breed partner. ‘As a council we have a lot of specialist areas, so it’s difficult forexternal service providers to come in and deliver the whole package,’ he says. Adopting a holistic network infrastructure scheme has increased resilienceand stability, and enabled new innovations, such as the Leeds Learning Network,which connects schools, the local education authority, libraries and otherlearning centres... Every user will be provided with a personalised interface, which will tailorservices to the individual’s requirements. Users will also be given roamingaccess to work files and assignments. The environment is modelled on Microsoft Outlook and includes a task list forpupils’ assignments that then appear on teachers’ to-do lists when they arecompleted. Patrick Kirk, lifelong learning infrastructure manager at the council, saysthe organisation is bringing the workflow of a business environment into ateaching environment. ‘The most important thing is that it will enable collaboration. For example,groups of schools will be able to work together on minority subjects in virtualrooms,’ he says. Because access will be enabled through portable devices, Kirk says thecouncil is encouraging schools to allow mobile phones.
http://www.vnunet.com/computing/analysis/2152593/why-successful-needs-governance

NetSuite aims to file IPO, move into China by year-end
InfoWorld - Mar 23, 2006
NetSuite positions its software as covering the area between "QuickBooks and SAP," in other words the midmarket not served by Intuit Inc. 's entry-level accounting software or SAP AG's enterprise applications, Nelson said. NetSuite offers a combination of hosted enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and electronic commerce applications for companies employing under 500 staff, he added. The company currently has around 7,000 customers, 50 percent of whom employ less than 100 workers. NetSuite's primary competitor is Salesforce. com but the company is likely to also face off more frequently against SAP, Oracle Corp. and Microsoft Corp... The company currently has around 7,000 customers, 50 percent of whom employ less than 100 workers. NetSuite's primary competitor is Salesforce. com but the company is likely to also face off more frequently against SAP, Oracle Corp. and Microsoft Corp. as those firms venture further into hosted applications. Competing against Oracle could prove particularly interesting, given that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is one of the founders and the lead investor in NetSuite. Through his Tako Ventures LLC investment company, Ellison owns between 50 and 60 percent of NetSuite, according to Nelson.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/23/76752_HNnetsuiteipo_1.html&source=searchresult

See you soon.

Collaboration, CRM v.2 and the Truth about Chat

Hello!

Microsoft's Promotion Plans
thestreet.com - Mar 16, 2006
html

Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq) will spend $500 million on a new marketing campaign aimed at convincing customers that its software will help them build their businesses. CEO Steve Ballmer announced the campaign at a customer event in New York on Thursday, saying the company's newest software is the fruit of "a $20 billion R&D investment over the past three years that is producing new innovation in a range of categories. "From business intelligence to the mobile work force, from collaboration to communications, and from CRM to enterprise search, the opportunity for software to deliver even greater customer value is limitless," Ballmer said. The marketing campaign comes as Microsoft is in the midst of its strongest new product cycle in years. The software giant has already released a new version of its database software, and by the end of this year it plans to launch new versions of Windows and Microsoft Office... html

Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq) will spend $500 million on a new marketing campaign aimed at convincing customers that its software will help them build their businesses. CEO Steve Ballmer announced the campaign at a customer event in New York on Thursday, saying the company's newest software is the fruit of "a $20 billion R&D investment over the past three years that is producing new innovation in a range of categories. "From business intelligence to the mobile work force, from collaboration to communications, and from CRM to enterprise search, the opportunity for software to deliver even greater customer value is limitless," Ballmer said. The marketing campaign comes as Microsoft is in the midst of its strongest new product cycle in years. The software giant has already released a new version of its database software, and by the end of this year it plans to launch new versions of Windows and Microsoft Office. Microsoft calls its vision "people-ready," and Ballmer took some pains to contrast it with the vision of one of its major rivals. ""We're talking about unlocking the potential of each and every employee.
http://www.thestreet.com/p/pf/tech/software/10274109.html

Collaboration, CRM v.2 and the Truth about Chat
CIO - Mar 20, 2006
With more than 1,000 vendors, according to industry watcher Collaborative Strategies, and accounting for software sales of between $1 billion and $4 billion depending on whom you ask, the collaboration sector is both an emerging and an established market. It’s also incredibly diverse, with tools supporting online communication, like Web conferencing and IM; publishing and sharing via forums, whiteboards and blogs; and coordination of resources or knowledge, like knowledge base tools and groupware applications. The roster of vendors is equally diverse, from IBM and its Lotus offerings and Microsoft with Live Meeting, Groove Networks and SharePoint, to CRM and self-service platform providers like Knova and Sento, which bundle collaboration capabilities as part of an overall solution, as well as emerging “pure-play” vendors like GroveSite, Jive Software and Socialtext. Help Each Other, Help YourselfAs a customer service and marketing tool, the growth of collaboration applications mirrors the rise of intranets and Web applications in the mid-1990s. On one hand, consumer adoption of tools like IM, SMS, blogs and social networks has generated market demand, and even brought these technologies into corporate environments as home and work roles become increasingly blurry. This is especially the case for consumer goods and services companies targeting teen and young adult buyers. For these markets, it’s not a choice to offer online communities or to publish a blog or to support the latest mobile devices; it’s a competitive necessity.
http://www.cio.com/weighin/column.html?CID=19299

vnunet.com interview: Ingres takes on the stack
VNUNet.com - Mar 20, 2006
We don't have tocreate a strategy which says that we're going to go out there and displaceOracle from every site. How do you plan to carve out a market between MySQL andOracle?Oracle's free products are designed to compete against the price pressurefrom open source. In the 1970s and 1980s companies like Oracle and Microsoftwere the leaders; they were the revolutionaries and they were doing things thatwere new and they became the establishment. And so at this point Oracle and Microsoft have established these fortressesof their models. I view Oracle's acquisitions of Sleepycat and InnoDB andTimesTen as ways of deepening or broadening the moat around their fortress. There have been a number of open source players and their perception of opensource is that open source is a price play. They are looking to arbitrage theOracle price points, the Oracle profit margins, and be able to pick up some ofthe things that Oracle can't do... The email vendor will be able to provide the fix directly toyou and that is what I mean by single maintainable stack. You're saying that I'm going to have one physical server and it'sgoing to run a CRM stack, it's going to run a web service stack, it's going torun an email stack and they are all compartmentalised?As you look at a lot of these things, the compartmentalisation becomesimportant. CRM tends to be a complicated application on top of the database, ontop of the operating system. The issue there is that you really want that to bedistinct from your email and collaboration appliance. They still may need to communicate with one another and they'll havereference points where you may take something from the CRM that generates anemail or generates a calendaring event. But you still want them to be somewhatcentrally maintainable from a compartmentalised view. Virtualisation software allows you to make strong compartmentalised systemswithout having to go out and get dedicated hardware.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2152300

Software as a service: The next big thing
InfoWorld - Mar 20, 2006
com, founded in 1999 and still the standard bearer of SaaS business applications, is enjoying dramatic growth, reaching 399,000 subscribers at the end of its most recent fiscal quarter. Employease, which launched in 1996, now delivers HR management through the browser to more than 1,000 customers managing more than 700,000 employee records. And among the major software vendors, Microsoft is hardly the only one exploring SaaS. “All the big players are now in the water,” says Rick McGee, vice president of SaaS strategy for IBM Global Services, noting that Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP are staking their claims. IBM provides the platform for SAP’s new entry into hosted CRM. IBM also has been busy assisting SaaS startups -- the darlings of the VC community -- to create a network of partners that can provide IBM customers with quick-to-market solutions... “All the big players are now in the water,” says Rick McGee, vice president of SaaS strategy for IBM Global Services, noting that Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP are staking their claims. IBM provides the platform for SAP’s new entry into hosted CRM. IBM also has been busy assisting SaaS startups -- the darlings of the VC community -- to create a network of partners that can provide IBM customers with quick-to-market solutions. Meanwhile, SaaS ecosystems are emerging, such as the on-demand, SOA-based platform developed by Rearden Commerce, which connects business customers with travel, shipping, and other service providers through identity-based Web apps. And then there’s Salesforce. com’s exciting new AppExchange platform, which offers a hosted space for sharing Salesforce.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/20/76103_12FEsaas_1.html

A Primer in CRM
BusinessWeek - Mar 17, 2006
For many of us, organization isn't one of our strong points. Keeping track of which customers to follow up with when, how, and, most importantly, why usually requires some.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/mar2006/sb20060317_666759.htm

Wall Street Beat: Product plans get reality check
ITworld.com - Mar 17, 2006
com - Wall Street Beat: Product plans get reality check. and Apple Computer Inc. product plans, and gave a mixed response to international moves by telecommunications companies... The mercurial Ballmer tried to differentiate Microsoft from IBM Corp. by stressing the company's "people-centric" approach toward helping businesses drive revenue growth through software for, among other things, communication and collaboration, CRM (customer relationship management) and business intelligence. He also clarified that the hosted versions of the company's software, being marketed under the "Live" brand, are geared mainly for small and medium-size businesses. Company shares (ticker symbol: MSFT), however, fell by US$0. 09 to close at $27. 27 after the event.
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/060317wallstbeat/

Oracle Adds 'New Leg' to Biz With BI - CIO Tech Informer -...
CIO - Mar 22, 2006
The bundles include analytics software Oracle acquired through its approximately US$6 billion purchase of Siebel Systems, completed earlier this year. Available Wednesday, the three software bundles are branded Oracle Business Intelligence Suite and include the company’s database, its Fusion middleware and analytics software, according to Phillips. The entry-level Standard Edition One bundle is a volume product designed to pit Oracle against Microsoft, Phillips said. The software is limited to two processors and is priced starting at US$25,000. The Standard Edition bundle is aimed at existing Oracle users and includes the company’s Discoverer tools, while the Enterprise Edition is for users working in heterogenous environments, he added. When Oracle first announced its intention to acquire Siebel in September 2005, executives said the purchase’s primary driver was the company’s presence in the CRM (customer relationship management) software market. Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison said that adding Siebel’s CRM customers and products to Oracle’s CRM business would let the company overtake market leader SAP AG... The Standard Edition bundle is aimed at existing Oracle users and includes the company’s Discoverer tools, while the Enterprise Edition is for users working in heterogenous environments, he added. When Oracle first announced its intention to acquire Siebel in September 2005, executives said the purchase’s primary driver was the company’s presence in the CRM (customer relationship management) software market. Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison said that adding Siebel’s CRM customers and products to Oracle’s CRM business would let the company overtake market leader SAP AG. Phillips noted Wednesday that Siebel was also a strong player in BI, with the company deriving 25 percent of its revenue from analytics. Oracle has formed a specialized sales force to sell Oracle Business Intelligence Suite and will provide lifetime support for all the products in the bundles, according to Phillips. "We will invest in these products in perpetuity," he said. Phillips said that Oracle hopes to model its move into BI on its push into the middleware market two to three years ago.
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=19379

Apple vs. France
BusinessWeek - Mar 21, 2006
Should the draft law ultimately be enacted and enforced, it could force Apple to make iTunes tracks available on other brands of players as well. Apple is clearly the leader in the digital music business. But other companies including Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) could feel the effects of the French law as well. All three use proprietary technology for digital rights management, the protection of content against unlawful copying. In the longer term, though, the French legislation is a warning shot for the music business. Other countries could decide to enact similar laws, to protect consumers from "lock-in" by a single vendor. The European Commission also could take up the question of whether Apple's proprietary copy-protection scheme and dominant market share together constitute unlawful monopoly behavior.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2006/tc20060321_144066.htm

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Mar 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... Pipeline accelerators include white papers, case studies
and Webcasts. RightNow expects to deliver 40% to 50% sales
bookings growth in 2006 as the need for on-demand CRM
software continues to outpace the need for installed
applications. RightNow's chief competitor, Salesforce.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/_googlen/archives/200603171833.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=SU&cm_ite=003966

Eclipse bulks up, reaches out | CNET News.com
CNET News.com - Mar 19, 2006
com, an on-demand CRM (customer relationship management) provider, and SugarCRM, a sales application company, are to be welcomed into the fold at EclipseCon in Santa Clara, Calif. Attendees there can expect to hear about new projects, such as an effort based on the... For example, a Java programmer can use Eclipse in conjunction with a plug-in for application modeling or performance management. Eclipse is one of the most popular tools for Java programming, according to IT development research firm Evans Data. But in addition to it, the Eclipse Foundation has started a number of projects for other languages, such as PHP and.
http://news.com.com/Eclipse+bulks+up,+reaches+out/2100-7344_3-6051168.html

Take care.

VoIP buddies: Cisco, Citrix, and Microsoft

How are things?

Microsoft Entering Major Product Cycle
Forbes - Mar 15, 2006
com portal, ERP and CRM application, Windows Mobile 5. "New products and technology synergies across all business segments create significant leverage that makes Microsoft a compelling investment and positions the company to deliver above-average growth in comparison to their software peers," said Breza. Over the next year and a half, Breza said he expects above-average growth in "major battlegrounds" such as Business Solutions, MSN, Mobile and Embedded and Home and Entertainment.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/currencies/2006/03/15/microsoft-vista-0315markets04.html

VoIP buddies: Cisco, Citrix, and Microsoft
InfoWorld - Mar 13, 2006
Cisco gave that trend another push last week at the VoiceCon conference, when the company unveiled its Cisco Unified Communications system, a big enterprise bundle that includes voice, e-mail, text, collaboration, videoconferencing, and IM-style presence capabilities. Shortly after, the company announced separate partnerships with Citrix and Microsoft to integrate telephony with their network and desktop applications. Microsoft will integrate its Office Communicator 2005 and SIP-based Office Live Communications Server with Cisco’s new unified system. The integrated technology will support “click-to-call” capability and the ability to transfer computer or desk phone calls from Office Communicator. Murli Thirumale, group vice president of Citrix Gateways, said Citrix was collaborating with Cisco to voice-enable a range of its hosted enterprise applications, including on-demand CRM provider Salesforce. “These two worlds -- applications and telephony -- have largely been separate,” Thirumale said... Microsoft will integrate its Office Communicator 2005 and SIP-based Office Live Communications Server with Cisco’s new unified system. The integrated technology will support “click-to-call” capability and the ability to transfer computer or desk phone calls from Office Communicator. Murli Thirumale, group vice president of Citrix Gateways, said Citrix was collaborating with Cisco to voice-enable a range of its hosted enterprise applications, including on-demand CRM provider Salesforce. “These two worlds -- applications and telephony -- have largely been separate,” Thirumale said. “There are many IT managers around the world who want to voice-enable their apps. ”Thirumale added that the relationship would first focus on integration of its Citrix Application Gateway and Office Voice products with Cisco’s bundle.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/13/76233_11NNcisco_1.html

Rise of the machine
The Age - Mar 10, 2006
Bound by strict privacyguidelines and legislation that regulates how agencies access whatinformation, the idea of a single-view-of-citizen remains ananathema to most arms of government except intelligence, lawenforcement and revenue agencies. To this end, the ATO is porting its legacy client managementsystem onto the Siebel 7 platform to allow easier, faster accessfor taxation officers to the records of taxpayers. Despite this rather large deployment, government users seem shyto nominate the use of Siebel along with other noted CRM-typevendors, with by far the majority citing in-house developments(rising from 118 users in 2004 to 154 in 2006) over the nearestbranded vendor offering of Data Works. Financials softwareWith the core business of government being to collect andadminister money through Australia’s various state and federalrevenue and finance agencies, there is plenty of hay to be made byfinancial software providers. This is one application area that Microsoft has yet to master asFinanceOne continues to post the highest number of respondent usersof 112 in 2006, up convincingly from 79 in 2004. Oracle comes in second at 84 for 2006, also posting considerablegains from 65 users in 2004. SAP comes in third on 71 for 2006, upfrom 65 in 2004.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/management-focus/rise-of-the-machine/2006/03/13/1142098385715.html

CIO News Alerts
CIO - Mar 9, 2006
com" >CIO
—
Technology buyers were drawn to this year’s CeBIT trade show by several emerging technologies that could help reinvigorate the tech sector after several years in the doldrums. Many of the product announcements here suggested that VoIP (voice-over-IP) and RFID (radio frequency identification) are entering the mainstream, while Web-based CRM (customer relationship management) systems and open-source software have already hit their stride. "Things are rushing by quickly these days. You have to be here to stay on top of everything," said David Kolochter, an IT administrator with German waste management company Umweltservice Bochum GmbH. He was here to look at the new features in Microsoft’s SQL Server 2005 database, released late last year, to decide whether it is worth his company upgrading its 20 or so servers from SQL Server 2000. The buzz around new technologies contrasts with recent years, when businesses were focused more on cutting costs than buying products that would help gain an edge over competitors, attendees said... "Things are rushing by quickly these days. You have to be here to stay on top of everything," said David Kolochter, an IT administrator with German waste management company Umweltservice Bochum GmbH. He was here to look at the new features in Microsoft’s SQL Server 2005 database, released late last year, to decide whether it is worth his company upgrading its 20 or so servers from SQL Server 2000. The buzz around new technologies contrasts with recent years, when businesses were focused more on cutting costs than buying products that would help gain an edge over competitors, attendees said. "The economy is getting better, there are more products coming--I think things are getting interesting again," said Michael Rable, a technical marketing engineer with content management vendor Open Text, here for his 10th CeBIT conference. Boris Zuberbuhler was here to find an online sales system for his printer supplies company, Pelikan Hardcopy (International) AG. He wants a "complete solution" from a single vendor that will plug into Pelikan’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, from SSA Global Technologies’ Baan division.
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=18947

Fixing Engineering's Gender Gap
BusinessWeek - Mar 14, 2006
Women have succeeded in larger numbers in fields such as physiology, biology, and social sciences, and they are having increasing success in starting small businesses. Increasingly, engineers and technologists have an advantage in reaching the top, yet in these fields women constitute the smallest minority. THE NEXT APPLE?Duke University board member Kimberly Jenkins says she often felt lonely and isolated as she rose through the ranks of Microsoft (. It wasn't that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer weren't supportive, but it was a constant struggle to fit in and adapt to the dominant male culture. She found equal challenges at NeXT, a software company run by Apple (.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/mar2006/sb20060314_760860.htm

Oracle trying to cover all its (data) bases
CNET News.com - Mar 14, 2006
It makes sense, Lee agrees, to offer an open-source version of Oracle that competes with open-source database rivals such as MySQL and Ingres. In addition, Oracle can better integrate its applications with open-source code, meaning customers have another option to stay with the company. "For example, a Siebel customer could still use its CRM system, whether it's with an Oracle database or an open-source one. "
Fusing acquisitions together
One of Oracle's bigger tests, Lee adds, will be connecting its acquired product lines together into one coherent software suite. The company has shown it can keep customers by offering them lifetime support on applications they currently run. The biggest issue will be what happens when these customers have to upgrade. Will they turn to SAP or view Oracle as a long-term software provider? "The biggest challenge will be the post-sale services and building long-term relationships," says Lee... For instance, Adobe Systems has given Macromedia executives a number of high-level positions as the companies merged products and business functions. Despite Oracle's acquisitions, Whitehouse notes that there are few executives who would be considered logical successors to Ellison. In fact, two of Oracle's acquisitions--Siebel and PeopleSoft--were run by former Ellison adversaries, Thomas Siebel and Craig Conway, respectively. "Look at how Adobe restructured after the Macromedia purchase," says Whitehouse. "The products dovetailed nicely and many important positions were filled by Macromedia people.
http://news.com.com/Oracle+trying+to+cover+all+its+data+bases/2030-1069_3-6048656.html

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Mar 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... 95%,
Inflection Point): Lawson is a leading provider of
enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that
integrates data from different departments within a
company and makes it accessible for quick analysis. There
was nothing company-specific to report this week, and
Lawson Software shares traded flat. We believe that the
company remains on track to meet or beat its operating
margin target of 15% for the year, reflecting successful
execution of its operational turnaround plans under CEO
Harry Debes. Lawson's previous two quarterly earnings
reports were ahead of analyst forecasts, and we expect
this trend to continue and drive the stock closer to $10 a
share. In light of that, we find the current quote to be
attractive for purchase.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/_googlen/archives/200603101701.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=SU&cm_ite=003966

CeBIT: RIM Adds Instant Messaging to BlackBerry Server
PC World - Mar 10, 2006
HANOVER, GERMANY -- The latest version of Research In Motion's BlackBerry Enterprise Server, introduced at CeBIT on Friday, supports enterprise instant messaging and supports the development of applications that mobilize corporate applications, RIM says. Enterprises that upgrade to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4. 1 can allow mobile Blackberry users to exchange instant messages with users of Microsoft Windows Messenger,. Another new feature allows administrators to wirelessly push data to a new BlackBerry handset for users who have lost their old one, without them having to return to base. Previously, the user would have used a wired connection to a desktop to download their data to a new device, says Charmaine Eggberry, vice president of RIM's European enterprise business unit. The new server also supports BlackBerry MDS Studio, a development tool for creating applications... Previously, the user would have used a wired connection to a desktop to download their data to a new device, says Charmaine Eggberry, vice president of RIM's European enterprise business unit. The new server also supports BlackBerry MDS Studio, a development tool for creating applications. BlackBerry customers are increasingly extending applications other than e-mail, such as CRM (customer relationship management) applications, to their BlackBerry devices, Eggberry says. The new server combined with BlackBerry MDS Studio is aimed at helping developers create the applications, she says. Currently, 60 percent of the existing 60,000 BlackBerry Enterprise Server users already enable access to corporate applications other than e-mail, she says. Additional Security RIM also showed a Bluetooth-enabled smart card reader that can be used to further secure BlackBerry handsets. Customers place the reader near their BlackBerry.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,125030-page,1-c,instantmessaging/article.html

Councils to share IT know-how
VNUNet.com - Mar 13, 2006
The National Computing Centre (NCC), Microsoft and Dell have announced plansfor an IT Proof-of-Concept laboratory at the NCC’s Manchester offices. The labwill be run by the NCC for UK local authorities to test systems and share bestpractices. Three systems are available initially. These are an information-sharingapplication used by Telford and Wrekin Council; an e-benefits system atRotherham Council; and a local government customer relationship management (CRM)system in use at Doncaster, Derby and other authorities. Authorities including Cheshire County Council have expressed interest,according to the NCC... The labwill be run by the NCC for UK local authorities to test systems and share bestpractices. Three systems are available initially. These are an information-sharingapplication used by Telford and Wrekin Council; an e-benefits system atRotherham Council; and a local government customer relationship management (CRM)system in use at Doncaster, Derby and other authorities. Authorities including Cheshire County Council have expressed interest,according to the NCC. “We all hear about more and more new technologies, butwhat transforms our perceptions of the possibilities is hands-on experience,”said Andy Hopkirk, the NCC’s head of programmes and projects. Nigel Bates, head of local and regional government, said local authoritiescould save up to 90 percent of their current IT management costs through betterutilisation of resources. In a related move, the newly formed Active Windows Integrator (AWI) UserGroup will meet in May to discuss the sharing of scripts and knowledge.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2151792/councils-share-know

Bye.

Plug-and-play appliances reshape IT landscape

How are you?

Microsoft Using Macromedia
CNET News.com - Mar 7, 2006
I guess even they know FrontPage is way behind Macromedia for web development. As for the device it sounds like it could work well in the CRM market if they improve the battery life and keep the cost down to slightly over an iPAQ. It would be a good solution for clients that don't need a full size tablet but need more then a PDA... I guess even they know FrontPage is way behind Macromedia for web development. As for the device it sounds like it could work well in the CRM market if they improve the battery life and keep the cost down to slightly over an iPAQ. It would be a good solution for clients that don't need a full size tablet but need more then a PDA.
http://news.com.com/5208-1044_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=14500&messageID=122652&start=-1

Plug-and-play appliances reshape IT landscape
InfoWorld - Mar 6, 2006
During the past year, our Test Center has been inundated with the things. And not just the old standbys like firewalls, switches, and routers. I’m talking appliances that can handle virtually every IT operation: intrusion prevention, intrusion detection, CRM, anti-spam, e-mail security, Web services integration. We’ve even seen a smattering of appliances for Microsoft Exchange that come bundled with managed services (look for our Test Center review in April). What’s notable about this shift toward gadgetry is that IT just can’t get enough of the stuff -- and for good reason. Today’s devices come equipped with software preinstalled and preconfigured, and there’s no futzing around with app servers or operating systems. Just plug one in and watch it run.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/06/76061_10OPeditor_1.html

CeBIT: Samsung Touts 1st Origami Device - CIO News Alerts - News - CIO
CIO - Mar 8, 2006
The device is in the final stages of development, and it’s not known exactly when it will be available or at what price. It will be discussed further at CeBIT press conferences on Thursday by Intel and Microsoft. Microsoft has been cagey about Origami’s details since news of it first leaked out two weeks ago, when the company posted a. Early reports speculated that Origami might be a new hardware product from Microsoft, but it turned out Microsoft is providing the software for a device that will be built by partners like Samsung using Intel processors. The ultramobile system is hardly a new concept.
http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=18867

Salesforce offers all-you-can-eat tariff
VNUNet.com - Mar 6, 2006
Although Salesforce continues to enjoy hyper-growth, at least one analystbelieves it should consider offering an on-premise version of its service. Scott Nelson, managing vice-president of customer relationship management(CRM) at analyst firm Gartner, said the firm would need a non-hosted adjunct toits online capabilities in order to succeed in winning more blue-chip accountswith large numbers of seats. Rivals such as Siebel, Microsoft, SAP, Sage and RightNow Technologies offertheir CRM software in both on-premise and hosted formats but Salesforce hasshown no sign of pursuing a dual-pronged strategy. “I think it’s something they should seriously look at,” Nelson said, speakingahead of the Gartner CRM Summit in London next week, 14-15 March. “[Otherwise]they will limit themselves to a segment of the market. Hosted software is skewedto small and medium-sized firms. There are two alternative delivery models andits makes good, logical sense to support both and share data across them.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2151387/salesforce-offers-eat-tariff

Microsoft develops some Snappy plug-ins for its Dynamics line
InfoWorld - Mar 2, 2006
The first two Snap-Ins might make you giggle: Microsoft actually spent dev time coming up with a Timesheet Management and a Vacation Management Snap-In. So for those of us not managing these tasks quite happily with Excel or a shared calendar, rejoice! You’ve now got a snap-in. But rather than giggling at their seemingly lightweight nature, you’d do better to pay some attention to how they’re implemented. Both Timesheet and Vacation allow users to submit data to a central store using Outlook. That means the Office suite is routing user data to multiple back-end server platforms, not simply Exchange... That means the Office suite is routing user data to multiple back-end server platforms, not simply Exchange. Under Vacation, for example, Outlook routes the request to the appropriate supervisor within the Office front end, and upon approval, it displays this result to the original user while simultaneously updating that user’s information in Dynamics. Redmond gets heavier right after these with a Business Data Lookup Snap-In designed for Dynamics AX as well as Dynamics CRM. These allow users to call up Office applications inside Dynamics task windows -- wheels within wheels, Microsoft apps within Microsoft apps. This functionality lets users, while in Dynamics, call up record-associated documents, copy data back and forth and even attach or delete document records from Dynamics records. Pretty cool, and something that users have been requesting for quite some time. So is this revolutionary? Unfortunately, I don’t see it that way.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/02/75949_10OPenterwin_1.html&source=searchresult

Network firewalls top wish list for security cops
InfoWorld - Mar 3, 2006
Top tools in demand by IT security cops this year, according to Forrester, include network firewalls (55 percent), anti-spyware tools (53 percent), client anti-virus (53 percent), e-mail security gateway (49 percent), strong authentication systems (46 percent), personal firewall software (45 percent), and Tasers (just kidding -- still reading?). Forrester also found that companies want faster signature updates, and consider point products to be more effective on the desktop than suites, although potentially harder to manage. Now, about my mistake: Microsoft is gearing up for its push into the enterprise and consumer desktop protection market, so I decided to try the Windows OneCare Live beta (... He shrugged, smiled, and said, “Hey, it’s a global economy. ”So here’s the scenario: Canada cuts off our BlackBerries, China cuts off our ThinkPads. Germany cuts off our ERP and CRM. It’ll never happen. And anyhow, we own the stuff, so we could just keep running it. Unless of course it’s the on-demand version.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/03/75923_10OPanalysts_1.html&source=searchresult

National Computing Centre plans IT test scheme
VNUNet.com - Mar 7, 2006
The lab will be run by the NCC for UK localauthorities to test systems and share best practices. Authorities including Cheshire County Council have expressed interest,according to the launch press release. Three systems are available initially: an information-sharing applicationused by Telford and Wrekin Council; an e-benefits system at Rotherham Council;and a local government customer relationship management (CRM) system used atDoncaster, Derby and other authorities. “We all hear about more and more new technologies but what transforms ourperceptions of the possibilities is hands-on experience,” said Andy Hopkirk, theNCC’s head of programmes and projects... The lab will be run by the NCC for UK localauthorities to test systems and share best practices. Authorities including Cheshire County Council have expressed interest,according to the launch press release. Three systems are available initially: an information-sharing applicationused by Telford and Wrekin Council; an e-benefits system at Rotherham Council;and a local government customer relationship management (CRM) system used atDoncaster, Derby and other authorities. “We all hear about more and more new technologies but what transforms ourperceptions of the possibilities is hands-on experience,” said Andy Hopkirk, theNCC’s head of programmes and projects. Nigel Bates, head of local and regional government, said, “We believe localauthorities can save up to 90 percent of their current IT management costs byoptimising their infrastructure and managing it more effectively. A primaryobjective of the laboratory is to help them understand how. ”See also:.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2151484/national-computing-centre-plans

Apple: Finding the Root of the Problem
BusinessWeek - Mar 8, 2006
Still, I say it would be a good way for Apple to inoculate itself against the perception -- warranted or not -- that Mac security may be eroding, and get ahead of the curve for any troubles that may be inevitable. That may not be the case, but in matters related to product marketing, it's the public perception, not the reality that really matters. And once you've lost a user's confidence, it's hard to get it back. Just ask Microsoft.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2006/tc20060308_032391.htm

Web 2.0 offers fertile ground for SAAS
InfoWorld - Mar 3, 2006
Now that customers are doing online banking and other common transactions over the Web, they are more apt to embrace other Web-based business services, such as Salesforce. 's highly successful CRM (customer relationship management) service, he said. The emergence of open technology standards over the last several years and the willingness of companies such as IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. to allow their systems to interoperate also is helping to foster growth in the SAAS market. Sal Visca, senior director of engineering for Business Objects SA, said the creation of Web services standards such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) has enabled the Web to move from a transport mechanism to a platform for building services, a phenomenon called Web 2... 's highly successful CRM (customer relationship management) service, he said. The emergence of open technology standards over the last several years and the willingness of companies such as IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. to allow their systems to interoperate also is helping to foster growth in the SAAS market. Sal Visca, senior director of engineering for Business Objects SA, said the creation of Web services standards such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) has enabled the Web to move from a transport mechanism to a platform for building services, a phenomenon called Web 2.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/03/03/76098_030306HNweb2saas_1.html

Dear Subscriber to TheStreet.com Stocks Under $10,
thestreet.com - Mar 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... 16, 300 shares,
4. 48%, Stealth Stock): This company is an emerging player
in the customer relationship management (CRM) space. Research firm JMP Securities released a bullish research
note Wednesday, saying RightNow is in the process of
closing some key deals that didn't close in the fourth
quarter of 2005. JMP says that among these deals is one
with 500 users for a Fortune 500 company. The company is
benefiting from strong demand for on-demand software,
which is less expensive and less cumbersome to install and
has a higher employee utilization rate because of its ease
of use. All of this adds up to a better return on
investment for potential customers.
http://www.thestreet.com/k/su/_googlen/archives/200603031728.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=SU&cm_ite=003966

Have a nice day!