How are you?
Local, Danish IT firms announce merger
Pakistan Dawn - Jan 9, 2007
I am confident that the combined synergies and tremendous demand for IT resources in Europe will put us on the right track to be one of the first IT organisations in Pakistan employing more than 1,000 IT professionals. "
Aqcel was a pioneer in the IT outsourcing and development market, and since 1997 it had been delivering development solutions based on Microsoft technology worldwide. Aqcel was also among the largest suppliers of Microsoft CRM solutions. The Aqcel Group expected a 2007 turnover of approximately $0. With the merger, Mondo expected its own turnover for 2007 to be US$18 million. "The Aqcel Group suits Mondo perfectly, and brings us a great number of benefits from day one.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/09/ebr8.htm
CRM News: Must Read: Microsoft Opens CES With Vista, Kicks Apple...
CRM Buyer - Jan 8, 2007
CRM Buyer features CRM product information, reviews and comparisons. It is an independent source updated each day.
http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/must-read/55034.html
Study Up on Software
thestreet.com - Jan 9, 2007
Software as a ServiceA related but somewhat different trend is software as a service, the hallmark of Salesforce, which is expected to appreciate by about 14%. Rather than sell perpetual licenses for expensive software run on a customer's network, Salesforce sells inexpensive subscriptions for customer relationship management software that runs on its own servers. The company is growing steadily and helped put Siebel, a vendor of conventional CRM software, out of business. Who are the losers? First and foremost is Red Hat (RHT) , expected to lose 11. 6%, after a crummy 2006 that saw the stock depreciate by 18%. Once a highflier, Red Hat is suffering from a deflation of expectations as Wall Street worries that the entry of Oracle and Microsoft (via a partnership with Novell (NOVL) ) will damages its prospects. Although there's no evidence yet that those fears are well-founded, the company has a lot to prove in the coming year... Because it is so widely held and is still seen as a technology bellwether, Microsoft is something of a special case. It gained 13% in 2006 and is expected to gain another 8% going forward. Much of the discussion about Microsoft last year centered on Vista, the new version of Windows. Now that it's out (for business users, that is) the constant speculation about whether the company would ship on time has ended. The stock did get a bump when it became clear that Vista would finally get out the door. Now the more important questions are: When will Vista drive revenue and by how much? Much of Wall Street figures that the new operating system won't be a significant force on the business side, which accounts for the bulk of sales, until 2008. That argument has been made so many times it doesn't need to be elaborated here, but it is worth noting that some analysts say Wall Street is missing a bet.
http://www.thestreet.com/pf/newsanalysis/techsoftware/10331517.html
Infragistics Officially Opens for Business in Tokyo
Earthtimes.org - Jan 8, 2007
NET products, documentation and sample applications. A Japanese-language Website is also available both for product information and localized e-commerce sales. Back office integration, including a Japanese- localized usage of Microsoft CRM and accounting has also been completed. About InfragisticsInfragistics has been the market leader in the presentation layer components industry for over 18 years, and has matured into a multi-platform Enterprise Software products and services vendor with global reach in nearly every Fortune 2000 company. Infragistics empowers developers to build and style great application user interfaces for Windows Forms, ASP. NET, WPF and JSF platforms, and additionally offers user interface test tools, support, training and consulting services.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,41582.shtml
NewsFactor Network | Microsoft and Ford Team on In-Car System
NewsFactor Network - Jan 8, 2007
The automaker will put Microsoft's system in a dozen models, starting in 2008. The system will be optional and is likely to cost less than $1,000, officials noted. Slow Development
Microsoft has made inroads in the automotive industry in the past, with its first in-car OS in 1998. A few years later, Bill Gates predicted demand would increase steadily, and the company made a commitment to more development in the area. In 2004, Microsoft contributed some software to Mercedes and BMW, and had its OS included in some products from Nextech and Clarion. A year later, it unveiled a major revamp to its Windows Automotive software, created to help automotive designers build in-car features with speech recognition, Bluetooth, and other technologies. Road Ahead
Although Microsoft has worked for years to bring its operating system to the driving experience, consumer adoption has been slow in coming, noted Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio.
http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Microsoft--Ford-Team-on-In-Car-System/story.xhtml?story_id=0200029PQF8K
Open Source Software Closer to Commercial Enterprise Software |...
WebProNews - Jan 9, 2007
The acronym refers to the foundational foursome of the open-source movement: the Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL database and, collectively, the Perl, PHP and Python programming languages. Development tools such as Eclipse and application servers such as JBoss have also gained popularity--and trust--especially now that major vendors such as IBM, BEA Systems and Borland have adopted or supported them commercially. But what about the next step up the software ladder? Is open source ready for ERP, business intelligence or CRM?Ready or not, it's happening; the first industrial-grade applications in these areas are now emerging. And CIOs will soon need to decide how to approach these fresh options in their enterprise software catalog. As with the adoption of the LAMP players, these new open-source enterprise applications likely will find their way into the enterprise at a departmental or small-project level. As a result, "we don't see [these applications] on CIOs' agenda at all," notes Michael Goulde, an open-source senior analyst with Forrester Research. But, he warns, "CIOs should sync up with their development teams to see [where such applications] might have payback to the organization.
http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/expertarticles/wpn-62-20070109OpenSourceSoftwareClosertoCommercialEnterpriseSoftware.html
CRM News: Web Services: What Everyone Needs to Know About SOA
CRM Buyer - Jan 4, 2007
CRM Buyer features CRM product information, reviews and comparisons. It is an independent source updated each day.
http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/aP0nrFZeBdcrX6/What-Everyone-Needs-to-Know-About-SOA.xhtml
CRM News: E-Commerce: Amazon Beefs Up Answer Service After Google...
CRM Buyer - Jan 4, 2007
CRM Buyer features CRM product information, reviews and comparisons. It is an independent source updated each day.
http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/V07accDsa8166x/Amazon-Beefs-Up-Answer-Service-After-Google-Drops.xhtml
NewsFactor Network | Microsoft Leaves Critical Word Flaws Unpatched
NewsFactor Network - Jan 10, 2007
us In its first monthly patch release of the year, Microsoft published four security updates that addressed 10 vulnerabilities related to Windows and Office applications, but did not issue a patch for two critical vulnerabilities found in Microsoft Word last month. "Do not open or save Word files that you receive from untrusted sources or that you receive unexpectedly from trusted sources," Microsoft warned in December. --> Related Topics.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=022000RB0G9M
Savaria Concord Implements Soffront CRM to Improve Sales, Lead...
Business Wire - Business Wire (press release) - Jan 9, 2007
in 2005, thereby doubling our business volume and the amount of leads we receive,” explained Ian Clark, marketing manager, Savaria Concord Lift. “Prior to Soffront, leads were manually downloaded from automatically generated. txt files into Microsoft Access and then distributed to the appropriate dealers. This process was highly inefficient and not feasible once the size of the company expanded. We needed a more efficient way to automatically manage leads from multiple websites. ” According to Clark, they looked at competing systems offered by well-known companies such as Salesforce. com and Siebel Systems prior to selecting Soffront CRM.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070109005172&newsLang=en
Satuit Announces Another CRM Client
TMCnet - Jan 5, 2007
fixed-income strategies to institutional investors, including insurance companies, corporate pension plans, public pension funds, Taft-Hartley funds and foundations and endowments. "SatuitCRM has everything we were looking for in a CRM package without any modifications," said Tim Daley, Assistant Vice President for Oppenheimer Investment Management.
http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-satuit-crm-/2007/01/05/2216495.htm
Is Google Going to Start Marketing?
WebProNews - Jan 8, 2007
It's all about being customer-centric rather than product-driven. That's not to say that product-driven companies like Microsoft or Google do not produce good products. Apply enough money and talent and good products should result. However they will not be as appropriate as they could be to meet customer needs if customers aren't part of the dialogue. That dialogue process can be very well served by the blogging process if senior management is self-confident enough to allow it. Of course the Titanic cannot turn on a dime... Of course the Titanic cannot turn on a dime. A huge organization does not change culture in months but rather in years. CRM Magazine suggests how it can be done in an article:. See how they describe the effect on Microsoft:Robert Scoble was blogging about Microsoft independently and the company, rather than shutting him down, recognized him as an authoritative voice, which gave him the freedom to be effective.
http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/blogtalk/wpn-58-20070108IsGoogleGoingtoStartMarketing.html
NewsFactor Network | Microsoft Confirms NSA's Role in Vista...
NewsFactor Network - Jan 10, 2007
us The NSA's involvement with Windows Vista -- which was confirmed by Microsoft this week -- is not the first time the NSA has provided guidance to Redmond. The NSA previously collaborated with Microsoft on the best methods to secure Windows XP and Windows 2000. The agency also has been credited with reviewing the Vista Security Guide published on Microsoft's Web site. --> Related Topics.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=02300000OA5R
EContentMag.com: Jadu Launches "Web 2.0" Content Management...
EContent - EContent (press release) - Jan 5, 2007
-based provider of enterprise content management systems has announced a range of products developed to provide 'Web 2. 0' technology to help organize information and content within an organization and enhance corporate communication. The new products range from feature enhancing modules for the Jadu CMS, such as Jadu Multimedia, which enables video casting and podcasting, to full platform products such as XFORMS Professional, an eforms system that integrates with CRM systems and enables self-service, and Jadu Intranet 2. 0, a social computing web portal for organizing, publishing, and blogging information within an organization.
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=18932
Goodbye.
