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Microsoft Live CRM lashed
Inquirer - Jul 14, 2006
This time the butt of the groundlings' cabbages and turnips is its Live CRM service. Although a lot of the negative reactions the company has been receiving recently have mostly been the Anybody ButMicrosoft obsessive types, the announcement of Live CRM arguably merited its mauling. Microsoft's on-premises CRM has had challenging early years with Redmond forced to pull a release and changemanagement of the group. A slow-ish start wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for Redmond being on the wrong end of comparisons withthe likes of Salesforce. com and others in the on-demand movement that have been growing at high-double-digit and eventriple-figure percentage rates not seen in business software since the last century. After expending lots of wind playing down the importance of the software-as-a-service movement, Microsoft then wenton a backtracking expedition insisting it "got it" about online business apps as well as consumer services... In one of his staff memos that, as ever, was leaked immediately to press, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reached forhis black cap and software-as-a-service Bible and asked, "Is it the end of software as we know it?"Benioff noted that Ray Ozzie's big power move was no coincidence as Ozzie is Microsoft's biggest booster for changein software delivery. He perhaps weakened his argument by then suggesting that the huge field of Ajax-based online productivity apps backup his thesis, but that's another story. Those partners that were offering hosted versions of Microsoft CRM did not appear too happy. Others noted that Microsoft was "the new IBM" and not in a positive way either.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=33043
Microsoft has missed boat, says Benioff
Australian IT - Jul 18, 2006
module-subheader --> SALESFORCE. COM founder and chief executive Marc Benioff has hammered Microsoft's attempt to launch itself into the software-as-a-service market with a hosted version of its customer relationship management product, saying the software giant had been "left behind". Microsoft announced last week it would launch Microsoft CRM Live, an online adaptation of its existing Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and integrate it with Windows and Office Live. Mr Benioff, whose company has been banging the online application drum for years, said Microsoft was doing too little, too late. Internet companies such as Google and Yahoo were leaving traditional software vendors behind in the field of hosted applications, he said. Mr Benioff is a well-known evangelist for Web 2. 0, a term used to refer to internet-based applications that run without client software.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,19822432%5E15316%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html
Microsoft's Vista, Office delays complicate partner plans
InfoWorld - Jul 17, 2006
com, Siebel, and others. Ballmer said his company would release the product in the second quarter of 2007 and “won’t be outhustled by anybody” in the fast-growing SaaS (software as a service) market. Partners will play a role by integrating CRM Live with Windows and Office Live, as well as other Microsoft products, said Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft CRM. With new enterprise search, security, and SaaS products on tap, Microsoft also signaled that it is willing to use its deep pockets to break into areas that established companies now dominate. For example, SSA (Security Software Advisor) is a new program that provides considerable cash incentives to partners that deploy Microsoft security products such as the Forefront family of client and server security products, ISA Server, and Antigen messaging security products. To promote its security wares, Microsoft is promising to “skill up” existing partners on security and is permitting certifications from organizations such as ISC2 and ISACA to satisfy its Security Partner Competency, said Steve Brown, director of product management for security, access, and solutions at Microsoft. Microsoft is also dangling cash, offering partners bonuses of as much as 20 percent of the total sales of its security products, and 30 percent in the next seven months, Brown said.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/17/29NNmsftpartnercon_1.html
Microsoft discovers secret to impressing Wall Street
Register - Jul 19, 2006
it's on target with vision and earnings. Microsoft already relies on client and server and tools - along with Office - for more than half of its business. Earlier this year, Microsoft said it expects its ERP and CRM business to hit profitability in 2007 and become its next $1bn business. By combining ERP and CRM with Office, though, it will be impossible to say for sure how they are performing. With revenue from new business unproven, Wall St. will be looking for positive growth in Microsoft's bread and butter businesses of Windows and Office. Microsoft is due to report its fourth quarter and fiscal 2006 on Thursday.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/19/microsoft_financial_reporting/
Salesforce introduces partner management
InfoWorld - Jul 17, 2006
com’s summer release is typically an opportunity to hype minor upgrades. Up to now, Salesforce has thrived in a market that Microsoft ignored. Those days may be over. Due in mid-2007, Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM Live reportedly will be based on multitenancy architecture, pioneered by Salesforce. com, in which one instance of the software is shared by all customer accounts... Up to now, Salesforce has thrived in a market that Microsoft ignored. Those days may be over. Due in mid-2007, Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM Live reportedly will be based on multitenancy architecture, pioneered by Salesforce. com, in which one instance of the software is shared by all customer accounts. CRM Live will be designed to make SaaS applications vastly easier to scale, manage, upgrade, and provision. In his keynote address at Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Boston, CEO Steve Ballmer singled out Dynamics CRM Live as a major opportunity for the company’s huge network of business partners to make money through customizations, add-ons, referrals, and hosting.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/17/29NNsalesforcenews_1.html
SAP suffers peer pressure
Register - Jul 13, 2006
Shares in SAP subsequently fell by seven per cent in afternoon trading. SAP is facing competition from both Microsoft and Oracle. While Microsoft is seeing growth from its own ERP and CRM applications, it is still very much in the midst of developing a coherent business applications strategy. That makes Oracle the bigger threat, and Larry Ellison’s company has been gunning for SAP on the back of a string of acquisitions, including Siebel. Announcing results earlier this year, Oracle was quick to point out 100 per cent year-on-year license revenue growth in Europe, SAP's strongest geographical region and home base. "It's very satisfying to be doing well right in SAP's backyard," Oracle president Charles Phillips said in a statement at the time.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/13/sap_second_quarter_preliminary_results/
Microsoft Bets on Integrators For Hosted Services
ITworld.com - Jul 19, 2006
But like so many other areas in which it has lagged behind, when the giant wakes up, it can bring considerable resources to the table. So it is with hosted services. One initiative we'll be seeing is a partner-based customization model for Microsoft's CRM Live. What Ballmer says is that Microsoft expects its partners to grow its business in the so-called software-as-a-service segment. The partner revenue model for this is a long way from the time-honored practice of delivering and installing software to a customer and then charging an annual maintenance fee. With software-as-a-service, partners should expect to see significant revenue from advertising. In addition, there are commissions associated with selling the Windows Live and Office Live services.
http://www.itworld.com/Man/3917/nls_solutions_msbet060720/
Putting a price on a virtual computer
CNET News.com - Jul 17, 2006
The company may not even run the software itself, instead buying it or renting it from a third-party hosting service. Microsoft, for one, has been ahead of the curve when it comes to virtual machines and dual-core chip licensing practices, but somewhat behind when it comes to hosted software, said Ovum Summit analyst Dwight Davis. The company just this week finally committed to offering a hosted version of its CRM (customer relationship management) software, for example. "Microsoft is finally starting to bite that bullet," Davis said. "It has to be a player, but it does so with some trepidation about what the impact will be on its bottom line. "
Software makers are also trying to figure out how many new licensing options to introduce and when. Although some leading-edge customers are using virtualization as a mainstay throughout their company, many have yet to even try out the technology.
http://news.com.com/2100-7339-6094502.html
Salesforce.com syncs into SAP R/3
InfoWorld - Jul 17, 2006
" The vendor plans to weigh what integration capabilities its partners have built and currently offer via its AppExchange network. The other leading ERP vendor is Oracle Corp. Both Oracle and SAP offer their own hosted CRM products. showed itself more serious about on-demand CRM, recently announcing .
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/17/HNsalesforcetwenty_1.html&source=searchresult
Microsoft to Google: get your tanks off our lawn
Register - Jul 14, 2006
Microsoft used its conference to demonstrate a strangely familiar capability of exporting customer names and addresses from these business applications for mapping and display using Windows Live Virtual Earth - either a re-branded Windows Live Local, previously MSN Virtual Earth, or just a presentational slip. com already enables integration between customers' CRM data and Google Maps through the AppExchange service launched in January. Microsoft demonstrated the ability to combine search of data with information about people who may be relevant to searches. SharePoint Server will achieve this by crawling through information about people in emails, Microsoft's ActiveDirectory, and links to SharePoint MySites. The combination led chief Ballmer to enthusiastically comment that search and SharePoint Server 2007 are "kind of like a MySpace for real business use. Kind of, Steve, but not really.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/14/microsoft_search_google/
IT gets drafted to babysit the blogs
InfoWorld - Jul 14, 2006
” These best practices include workflow, single-source content repositories, security and permissions, and content auditing and analytics. But on another level, I wonder whether there’s a bigger picture that IT should be thinking about. Will blogs get woven into products and services as a two-way customer-facing communication channel? Should they therefore be integrated with CRM systems? Where do podcasts fit into this? Will there be a battle for control of the blog-o-structure among the PR, market research, product management, and legal departments? And does IT really want to get in the middle of that fight, or just outsource it and get out of the way?Upgrade Cycles Revisited: A couple weeks ago I wrote a. An alert reader in Pennsylvania (I’ll call him Bob) challenged me on this by e-mail, basically saying that four-year cycles suit him just fine. “With resources stretched thin, can most IT shops afford to upgrade software every year or less?” Bob asked... Will blogs get woven into products and services as a two-way customer-facing communication channel? Should they therefore be integrated with CRM systems? Where do podcasts fit into this? Will there be a battle for control of the blog-o-structure among the PR, market research, product management, and legal departments? And does IT really want to get in the middle of that fight, or just outsource it and get out of the way?Upgrade Cycles Revisited: A couple weeks ago I wrote a. An alert reader in Pennsylvania (I’ll call him Bob) challenged me on this by e-mail, basically saying that four-year cycles suit him just fine. “With resources stretched thin, can most IT shops afford to upgrade software every year or less?” Bob asked. “We have a hard enough time keeping up with patches, let alone upgrades. I still have the bulk of my enterprise on Office 2000, and we’re only now looking at upgrading to 2003.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/14/29OPanalysts_1.html
Nokia eyes business apps, VoIP integration
ITworld.com - Jul 19, 2006
General manager of Nokia's enterprise solutions, Vaughn Madeley, said the availability of Intellisync will allow local enterprises to integrate many types of back-end applications, including those developed in-house, and make them available in the field. "With Intellisync we can provide an enterprise with push e-mail, [but] the IT managers' issues were about how to manage these devices and operating systems which Intellisync allows them to do," Vaughn said, adding the software also allows devices to be erased over the air. "The next question was about being able to take back-office CRM (customer relationship management) systems and bringing them out on the road to devices. Vaughn said part of Nokia's Intellisync acquisition was to allow for application extendibility. Nokia's new E series "business optimized" devices ship with the client software pre-installed and the Intellisync server is purchased separately. "IT managers say 'that's great, but I want to consolidate devices from a management perspective' and that's why we brought out the E series which are 3G (third generation) and wireless," Vaughn said. "As a dual-mode device, if you are running a VoIP environment at the end of this year you will be able to get a client that will allow you to step from a GSM to VoIP by switching manually and seamlessly, in the future... "As a dual-mode device, if you are running a VoIP environment at the end of this year you will be able to get a client that will allow you to step from a GSM to VoIP by switching manually and seamlessly, in the future. Nokia has also released the Nokia E50, which aims to bridge the gap between and personal and business phone. The E60 comes with the business connectivity options pre-installed, can integrate with existing PABXs, Microsoft Office file viewers, and a full Web browser based on the open source KHTML project. Enterprises using Avaya's Communication Manager can connect the Nokia E50 directly to their phone networks, using Avaya's one-X Mobile Edition client. The Cisco SIP client is scheduled for 2007. Managing director of telecommunications research firm Telsyte, Warren Chaisatien said businesses need to be prudent with how they approach mobile applications. "Now that companies have deployed mobility solutions [other] than just e-mail and voice communications to things like CRM and workforce automation, they need to understand their business processes to identify where mobility fits," Chaisatien said.
http://www.itworld.com/Net/3303/060719nokiavoip/
Hummingbird in limbo as it mulls takeover bids
VNUNet.com - Jul 17, 2006
“Both vendors are of a size where they are vulnerable to takeover,” Clarkewrote in a research note. “[Open Text and Hummingbird] are clearly not of thesame size as [rivals] such as IBM and EMC. With [Oracle and] Microsoft alsoentering the fray, it will become increasingly difficult for vendors such asOpen Text and Hummingbird to survive on their own. ”Separately,.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2160507/hummingbird-limbo-takeover-bids
See you later.
