Oracle makes comms billing platform Linux compatible

Oracle has announced Linux support for its Communications Billing and Revenue Management platform, which is used by media and telecoms companies.

It said customers running Communications Billing and Revenue Management on Linux may benefit from a total lower cost of ownership, greater flexibility and scalability, a greater choice of x86 servers, and Oracle’s own Linux support packages.

Oracle now provides Linux support for an entire end-to-end system for the communications industry, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications, Fusion middleware and Oracle Database.

Communications Billing and Revenue Management enables communications service providers to manage, monetise and maximise each revenue stream for any customer type, service offering, partner relationship, payment method, business model or geography.

SAP Finds CRM Partner For Marketing Tools

SAP revealed Monday it has entered into a partnership withRecognition Systems Group of the United Kingdom to addmarketing-planning and campaign-management features to its customer-relationship management suite.

SAP and Recognition Systems have agreed to jointly develop integration between SAP's enterprise resource planning and data warehouse packages and Recognition's Protagon suite, which offers customer-segmentation tools to help marketing professionals plan and analyze marketing campaigns. The integrated offering will be available in the second quarter of next year.

Analysts says the partnership will help SAP get to market on time in the CRM arena. If SAP had built marketing software from the ground up, as it is doing for the sales and customer support components of its CRM suite, it would have taken at least another year, says Steve Bonadio, an analyst at Meta Group.

"I think SAP felt a lot of pressure from the marketplace not only to deploy a solution but articulate a strategy," says Bonadio. "This partnership is in part to fill some holes where SAP didn't have a direction. They desperately needed to have a story."

SAP announces customer relationship management tools

By Craig Stedman

WALTHAM, Mass. -- SAP AG, the leading vendor of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, has let rivals such as Siebel Systems Inc. and Oracle Corp. get big headstarts in developing software that can automate sales, marketing and customer service operations for users. But SAP finally plans to release a long-promised set of customer relationship management (CRM) applications in mid-December.

At a press conference here yesterday, SAP executives said five CRM packages are due to ship next month. Those include sales force and field service automation applications, call center management software and separate e-commerce products. The e-commerce software supports online sales to businesses or consumers and allows customers to check the status of their order and its shipment via the Web.

Until now, the only CRM products announced by SAP were a product configurator and call center software tailored specifically for telephone companies.

Hasso Plattner, SAP's co-chairman, acknowledged that the German vendor struggled with the broader CRM offering. "For some time, SAP was preparing for this [market] without knowing exactly where the journey was going," Plattner said.

But yesterday's announcement was "the starting point for a rollout campaign that we'll take to every large customer we have," Plattner added. SAP hopes to sell at least $200 million worth of the new applications next year and expects the CRM product line to become "the major driver for our software and consulting revenues" during 2001, he said.

Plattner and other SAP executives said the CRM applications should be able to compete head-to-head with rival products from Oracle and San Mateo, Calif.-based Siebel. But for users who plan to be early adopters, SAP's biggest selling point is the promise of an integrated system that combines the sales, marketing and service packages with its flagship R/3 ERP software and other add-on applications for data warehousing and supply-chain planning.

"Across the board, our strategy is extremely focused [on SAP]," said Ed Toben, CIO at Colgate-Palmolive Co. in New York. "This is complicated stuff, and you have to do anything you can to simplify it."

Colgate-Palmolive is helping SAP design a follow-on CRM application for doing joint planning of product promotions with the retailers that sell the toothpaste and other consumer goods the company makes. Toben said he expects that package to be ready for initial use in Colgate-Palmolive's U.S. operations by next spring. He also is looking at installing SAP's sales force automation software but not until Colgate-Palmolive finishes upgrading all of its business units to a new version of R/3 later next year.

The long-term plan is to tie all of SAP's applications together so that Colgate-Palmolive's business activities can be planned, executed and then analyzed in a continuous cycle, Toben said. Doing that now "is cumbersome," he added.

Dow Corning Corp. currently is using sales force automation software from another vendor, identified by sources as Siebel, in a limited installation. But CIO Harry Ludgate said the Midland, Mich., maker of silicon materials plans to switch to SAP's new software over the next year or so to avoid the headache of trying to integrate applications from multiple vendors.

"We were waiting to see enough evidence from SAP that they wanted to get into this space and develop a competitive product," Ludgate said. "Before, it wasn't guaranteed that that was going to come to pass. Now, I think there's abundant evidence that it will."

But the big challenge for SAP will be to get more users to think of CRM applications as part of a bigger enterprise application picture and not just as stand-alone products, said John Hagerty, an analyst at AMR Research Inc. in Boston. "SAP has to get people to think about [CRM] in their terms,'' Hagerty said. "Right now, I still think it's still looked at as separate pieces."

CRM makes it to the big time

IT managers turn their focus from cost-cutting to revenue-driving applications
By Lee Pender, PC Week Online

From IT managers to vendors to partners, everybody wants a piece of CRM systems.

The latest is IBM, which last week entered into a deal with Siebel Systems Inc. to jointly develop and market Siebel's market-leading customer relationship management applications. Siebel also will tune its applications for IBM platforms.

The move is the latest in a series of deals bringing CRM to the forefront of the enterprise applications market and grabbing the attention of e-commerce decision makers.

Not long ago, CRM was almost an afterthought, a front-office bolt-on to ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications. But as companies battle for customers in an age when the Web has made customer loyalty a fleeting concept, CRM has moved near the top of IT managers' wish lists.

The reason is economics: While ERP applications generally focus on cutting costs and automating internal processes, CRM is a revenue driver aimed at giving sales forces the tools they need to win and retain customers. Some CRM users said the competitive environment created in part by the Internet has made CRM a prior ity—in effect, becoming the tail wagging the ERP dog.

"It's becoming [a necessity]," said Jamie Wells, director of IT at Comdial Corp., a telecommunications company in Charlottesville, Va. "The demand for being able to manage sales cycles effectively is becoming more and more important."

Wells chose J.D. Edwards & Co. as an ERP provider based largely on the company's offering of Siebel's CRM system. J.D. Edwards became a Siebel reseller this year and offers Siebel's CRM applications integrated into the J.D. Edwards back end. Comdial passed on PeopleSoft Inc., SAP AG and others because of a lack of CRM offerings, Wells said. PeopleSoft has since bought No. 2 player Vantive Corp., and SAP is building its own CRM components.

"[CRM] was very much a part of the decision," Wells said. "We believe that by giving [salespeople] the tools they need to be successful, we can drive more revenue through our sales channel."

Despite CRM's promise, implementations can be risky. While generally not as massive as ERP, CRM still requires major time and financial investments by customers.

"If you install a product like this, you're betting your company on it," said Al Kruzel, controller at the Dwyer Group, a Waco, Texas, franchise management company that uses Pivotal Corp.'s CRM offering, eRelationship 2.

In addition, because they're unfamiliar with CRM, some companies are implementing the technology in a way that doesn't take full advantage of its capabilities.

"The technology can be squandered," said Howard Berg, president of Berkeley Enterprise Partners Inc., a Boston CRM implementer. "If it's properly set up under a business architecture, it can be a demand-generation vehicle. It definitely can be a customer retention vehicle."

Another challenge IT departments face is finding a CRM system flexible enough to map to a company's current business processes. In that sense, CRM differs from ERP.

"The classic ERP thing is to change your business to fit the [ERP] system's processes," said Vantive user Bill Carney, CIO of Genicom Corp., a Chantilly, Va., printer manufacturer. "You can adapt [CRM]."

ERP vendors have not been the only software players to recognize customers' desire for CRM. Smaller vendors are scaling up to join in. Next week, GoldMine Software Corp., of Pacific Palisades, Calif., will introduce GoldMine Front Office 2000, which will feature integrated customer service and support.

Redi-Direct Marketing Inc., the parent company of Windsoft Inc., a Denville, N.J., CRM vendor, recently bulked up its CRM offering by purchasing SalesBook Systems, of Westbrook, Maine. SalesBook specializes in creating CRM for handheld devices at small businesses.

Within CRM, categories such as partner relationship management have emerged. Last week, San Francisco-based Allegis Corp. released Sales Partner 2.0, an application aimed at allowing companies to communicate with channel partners via the Web.

Even with all the hype surrounding CRM, some users remain skeptical. Mark Skeie, a PeopleSoft user and IT manager for pharmaceuticals at 3M Corp., in St. Paul, Minn., said his company would follow the CRM market carefully and proceed with caution.

"I'm not aware of anybody who can wave the flag and say, 'Here's what I've done for the company because we have the software installed,'" Skeie said.

NetSuite Professional

NetSuite Professional is the only mid-market application for companies with more complex inventory and order management needs. It combines customer-facing CRM and Web capabilities with back-office ERP capabilities in a single powerful application. NetSuite Professional allows you to unite disparate departments with one system. It's easy to use, quick to deploy, and has enough flexibility to support all your business processes.

Streamline Intensive Order and Fulfillment Processes. NetSuite Professional offers the tools to streamline order and fulfillment processes across key departments of your business, helping you satisfy customers with quick turnarounds while keeping inventory costs low. Serialized inventory, units of measure, and bar coding help you manage inventory and reduce costs. And with exclusive UPS integration, shipping and tracking are integrated to ensure timely delivery.

Automate Your Processes. NetSuite Professional automates all your key business processes—from lead generation to sale orders, from product shipment to customer service—across your entire company and through your trading partners. Since all corporate data is held in a single system, executives access one real-time view of all their key business metrics, enabling them to make better, faster decisions in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Improve Collaboration. NetSuite Professional improves collaboration among customers, suppliers and partners through self-service portals, providing for improved lead management, shipment tracking, bill payment and more.

Reduce IT Costs and Maintenance. As a Web-based, hosted solution, NetSuite Professional significantly reduces your total cost of ownership. There is no software to install, no hardware to purchase and maintain, and no upgrades requiring complex re-implementation over time. Our team of IT professionals manages your maintenance, support, and upgrades at our world-class data center. As a result, you can focus on running your business, while NetSuite runs your software.

Use Real-Time Dashboards for Better Decision Making. Dashboards give you a real-time snapshot of your business, enabling you to make better, faster decisions. You can view anything from leads, commissions, sales revenue and forecasts, to bank balances, receivables and payables.

Microsoft picking up rivals' CRM users

How's it going?

Microsoft CRM: Friend or Foe?
Destination CRM - Feb 15, 2007
In addition, Microsoft's Great Plains division, which was set up when the company acquired accounting software maker Great Plains in December 2000, currently resells and comarkets Siebel Systems Inc. 's enterprise CRM offering. Microsoft made its foray into the CRM space official on February 25 by unveiling plans to deliver Microsoft Customer Relationship Management, a CRM solution built on its. Slated for release by the end of the year, Microsoft is aiming the CRM solution at small and medium-size businesses. The product, which Microsoft has not yet announced pricing for, will initially be sold through the Microsoft's Great Plains division. Most analysts estimate that pricing will start at $500 per user... Microsoft made its foray into the CRM space official on February 25 by unveiling plans to deliver Microsoft Customer Relationship Management, a CRM solution built on its. Slated for release by the end of the year, Microsoft is aiming the CRM solution at small and medium-size businesses. The product, which Microsoft has not yet announced pricing for, will initially be sold through the Microsoft's Great Plains division. Most analysts estimate that pricing will start at $500 per user.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=2229

Microsoft picking up rivals' CRM users
Computerworld Australia - Feb 15, 2007
Global Comfort Systems plans to replace its Siebel call center application with the latest Microsoft CRM software for its integration with the other applications and its relatively lower cost, said Andrew Fralick, Information Technology Director at Global Comfort unit Webasto Product North America. Global Comfort, based in Stockdorf, Germany, expects the cost of installing Microsoft CRM to be about the same as it would be to upgrade its Siebel call center software, he said. Fralick's own unit has been using the Microsoft CRM software for about two years through multiple versions; He called the newly installed Version 3. 0 an enterprise class product. Fralick said the Fenton, Mich. unit's sales force did suffer through the defects of earlier versions of the software. "The [initial] product wasn't a flop... Despite the cost of licensing, end user retraining and data cleansing associated with the cutover, it was "worth it in the end," said Kretchman, a panelist at the Convergence conference. He said customization of the Siebel software by sales personnel led to IT support problems. The more rigid Microsoft CRM process improved the efficiency of its 60 users, Kretchman said. Wilson intends to upgrade to Microsoft CRM 3. 0, most likely this fall, Kretchman said. Helene Cole, CEO of Altara, a Basking Ridge, N.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1516427329

Salentica Systems First CRM Partner to Join Microsoft's Insurance...
PR Web - PR Web (press release) - Feb 15, 2007
DistributorDesk allows insurance industry users to work with Microsoft CRM in a manner that reflects their normal business dealings within all their sales channels -- supporting proprietary or non-proprietary sales distribution models. Whether a distributor, broker, captive or non-captive agent, or part of the management team, the Salentica industry-specific modules, will allow access to all the information that you need. "Our intent with Salentica and Microsoft has always been to expand our deep domain expertise to develop effective, easy-to-use, client management solutions which make a difference in the financial services marketplace" said Bill Rourke, President Salentica Systems. "We are very pleased to be a partner in the Insurance Value Chain as it enhances our relationship with Microsoft, adds further depth to our solutions and therefore our customers.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/12/prweb487182.htm

Elucid Software Triggers Eight-Week Payback for Axminster Power Tools
PR Web - PR Web (press release) - Feb 15, 2007
L) and was formed out of the Enterprise Resource Planning software division of Kewill Systems just after 2000. As software authors for ERP and accounting software, K3 has approximately 1600 customers in the UK and abroad. SmartVision CRM, based on the standard Microsoft CRM application, is a product specifically developed for the manufacturing and supply chain industries over and above standard Microsoft CRM. Elucid software is the UK�s market leading, multi channel business solutions with 1,100 users across the UK. Elucid has specialist functionality to support companies that have multiple channels to market covering catalogues, web, call centres, retail outlet, direct mail and much more. All Elucid products are developed around core Microsoft technology. For more information please visit.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/11/prweb178446.htm

Best Buy Selects Microsoft
EFYTimes - Feb 15, 2007
�Microsoft technologies such as Windows Mobile are playing a key role in enabling Geek Squad to deliver on its fundamental commitment: to give the customer a superior service experience,� said Rich Christensen, vice president and business information officer at Best Buy. �It provides our field personnel with rapid and constant access to comprehensive real-time customer information, an obvious competitive advantage over businesses that don�t. �Best Buy also recently decided to add Microsoft Dynamics CRM to its own IT services and solutions offerings. This will enable Best Buy For Business customers to benefit from the same features and functionality within the product that the major retailer uses in managing its customer relationships. Best Buy also offers Microsoft Dynamics � Point of Sale, an easy-to-use, affordable single-store application that enables small retailers to track and manage sales, inventory and customer information. Microsoft Dynamics � Point of Sale 2. 0 will be demonstrated in select Best Buy For Business stores.
http://www.efytimes.com/efytimes/fullnews.asp?edid=16284

TECH ED - Microsoft begins to ship Dynamics AX 4.0
Computerworld Australia - Feb 15, 2007
While he estimates that the "majority" of the Dynamics AX installed base runs the software on Microsoft's SQL Server, some users still run the applications on top of Oracle's rival offering so Dynamics AX 4. 0 includes support for the Oracle 10g database. While Microsoft has talked up hosting capabilities for its Dynamics CRM 3. 0 software of late, the vendor hasn't been so vocal about hosting for its ERP applications. However, McKee pointed out that Microsoft partners Unisys and OneNeck IT Services have been hosting Dynamics AX 3. 0 for a number of customers since July. Computerworld Buyer's Guide - Vendors Matched to this Article.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;726466261

Survey: What (Potential) Apex Developers Want from Salesforce
eWeek - Feb 15, 2007
"By making the Apex platform and programming language available, Salesforce. com is enabling the ecosystem to lead the way for the next level of innovation in on demand. "
The Apex technology will, if it takes hold, propel Salesforce from an on-demand CRM supplier into the realm of platform provider. Appirio's Weinstein believes that what Salesforce has today is "very appropriate" for developers. "It's a matter of more and more incremental capabilities," he said. But the cost of those services is still in question—and it's a key point for ISVs [independent software vendors] looking to build a business around Salesforce's platform... Net or J2EE nowhere on the site does it say, 'made by Microsoft,' or 'made by Sun. ' Nor are users charged every time they click on that site. As it stands now, that's not the case with Salesforce development. "That matters to our clients," said Fox. As one of Salesforce's largest system integrators with a mainline into customers who may also consider Apex as a development platform beyond CRM, Fox said he is looking for Apex to have the same level of development tools that he would find with Java.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2095479,00.asp

Invensys Gives Baan CRM Another Chance
Destination CRM - Feb 15, 2007
Whereas Aurum once competed to set the standards in sales automation, Invensys CRM employs Microsoft Outlook as the contact management front-end. Karulf admits up front that Invensys will have to compete in a "best of breed" rather than total solution role. He highlights patented technologies in mobile database synchronization and configurators as potential advantages to developing a true PRM (partner relationship management) system ahead of the competition. The improvements in the first (version 4. 2) Invensys release of the former Baan FrontOffice suite are modest, with better integration between the pricing and marketing functions, expanded international language support, some bug fixes and performance optimizations.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=1108

Take care.

10 ways to become more effective

Tech-management tips.

By Julie Bort, Network World

No. 1: Fine-tune your IPS.

"There's a lot of set-it-and-forget-it mentality in intrusion-prevention system marketing, and it's dangerous," says David Newman, president of testing facility Network Test and a Network World Lab Alliance member

Fuzzing, in which the exploit is changed just enough for the security mechanism to miss it, trips up many IPSs, Network World's recent IPS test showed.

Network managers need to understand how each exploit works and how their IPS detects them, and then upgrade that protection routinely.

No. 2: Sell security by its benefits.

Start selling security to the purse-holders the way you do all other technology investments -- in measurable terms that relate to the business, recommends Mandy Andress, president of testing facility ArcSec Technologies. Rather than saying how dangerous viruses are as a method to gain the budget for a reputation services anti-spam defence, for example, illustrate how much productivity could be gained by adding another layer of anti-spam control.

No. 3: Automate desktop and network access.

Wireless badges can come in handy for automated access control to desktop PCs, particularly those shared by multiple users in medical exam rooms, warehouses, call centres and the like.

For example, North-western Memorial Physicians Group implemented Ensure Technologies' XyLoc MD, which uses 900MHz radio-frequency technology encoded on staff ID badges for authentication, says Guy Fuller, IT manager at the Chicago healthcare organisation. This saves the staff time while ensuring that network access and sensitive information are not available to other users.

No. 4: Link physical access to enterprise applications.

IP-based building-access systems built on industry-standard servers and using the existing data network are more affordable than ever because of open architecture products. Advances in server-management technology mean these systems not only are deployable by network (rather than the physical security) staff but are centrally manageable. Plus, they can integrate with ERP applications and network access-control systems.

Georgia-Pacific, a US$20 billion paper manufacturer in Atlanta, is rolling out Automated Management Technologies' WebBrix, an IP-based building-access system, to the majority of its 400 locations. IT used WebBrix's open application interface to write a custom application called Mysecurity that integrates the system with SAP, among other duties. When employees swipe their badges to gain access to the building, they also are sending data to SAP for time and attendance tracking, says Steven Mobley, senior systems analyst at Georgia-Pacific.

No. 5: Delegate an operating systems guru.

"Operating systems configuration can seem to some like a black art," says Tom Henderson, principle researcher for testing facility ExtremeLabs. Setting the wrong combination is bad news. For example, large memory-block move options can affect the amount of dirty cache with which the operating system must deal, he says. If memory/caching options are balanced incorrectly, the machine could freeze. By assigning a stiff member to master the voluminous documentation published by mainstream operating system vendors, servers can be safely fine-tuned to optimal performance for every application. The guru also should master Web server and BIOS setting options.

No. 6: Use VMware server memory smartly.

Without spending a dime, you may be able to boost the amount of memory available on virtualised Windows 2003 physical servers, thereby improving performance of the virtual machines. If all the virtual machines on the same physical box need the same memory-resident code, such as a dynamic link library (DLL), you can load the DLL once into the physical server's main memory and share that DLL with all virtual machines, says Wendy Cebula, COO at VistaPrint, an international online printer with US operations headquartered in Massachusetts. "We've gotten big memory usage benefits by caching once per physical box rather than once per usage," she says.

No. 7: Move applications to a Linux grid.

If you have compute-intensive mainframe applications, don't shy away from lower-cost alternatives such as grid computing because the applications were written in COBOL, says Brian Cucci, manager of the Advanced Technology Group at UPS, which has such a grid. The application will likely have to be redesigned somewhat for the new hardware platform. But vendors can be counted on to help, as they'll want to ally on the new technology.

No. 8: Recognise WAN links may degrade VoIP QoS.

This is particularly true in areas of the country where the public infrastructure is ageing, says Bruce Bartolf, principal and CTO of architecture firm Gensler, in San Francisco. Having completed VoIP installation at seven of 35 sites, Bartolf found unexpectedly high error rates or complete failure on many links. To provide the kind of uptime and quality demanded of phone service, you need to design with alternative fail-over paths on the WAN. Cable may not be much better, but Metro Ethernet, if available, could work well, he says.

No. 9: Ease IP management with an appliance.

Although the tasks that appliances perform can be done with each vendor's gear, "with something as important as IP management, if you don't do it well, you can really hurt your five-nines," Gensler's Bartolf says. He chose Infoblox appliances, which manage numerous tasks, including Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) firmware upgrades. "Rather than dealing with Microsoft distributed file system, loading a TFTP server on a Microsoft server, running DHCP on a Microsoft server, running SMS on top of that, and managing it all, I have an appliance," he says. "I put it in, and it works."

No. 10: Shelve the fancy visuals.

"We found it highly impractical to make our monitoring visual," VistaPrint's Cebula says. VistaPrint relies on remote monitoring to manage its data centres, including one in Bermuda. It uses home-grown tools to track everything from CPU usage to event correlation. Visual graphing of events slowed down detection and analysis, taking network operations staff an average of five to seven minutes per event to use, Cebula says. When the tools used simple red, yellow and green lights, detection and correlation dropped to one or two minutes per event, she says.

And don't forget to keep your monitoring tools on at all times and run spot checks, advises independent consultant Barry Nance. The most common mistake is not to turn them on until an event occurs.

http://www.techworld.com/

Yahoo's 'pipes' get clogged! Company takes down 'mashup' site after demand exceeds capacity

February 09, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Yahoo Inc. said Thursday that it was taking down a prototype Web site called Pipes the same day it was launched. The problem? The site -- aimed at allowing developers to drag and drop multiple Internet data sources such as RSS feeds to create new "mashup" applications -- got more attention than the company expected forcing Yahoo to take it down to increase capacity.

The company, in a statement said: "Thanks to Tim O'Reilly, who called it a 'milestone in the history of the Internet.' But our goal was really just to get developers to test it, play with it and give us feedback. Our pipes are, so to speak, clogged."

The site had an initial set of modules to allow users to assemble personalized information sources out of existing Web services and data feeds, Yahoo said Wednesday on the site. Pipes outputs standard RSS 2.0 so users can subscribe to and read pipes in their favorite aggregator, according to Yahoo.

Juan Carlos Perez, of the IDG News Service, contributed to this story.

Big Problems With Vista Emerge

David Richards

Big problems are starting to emerge following the recent launch of Vista as several vendors admit that they are yet to upgrade application software to run on the new Microsoft OS.

Several SMB businesses are reporting potential upgrade problems with the likes of the Contact Tracker CRM software yet to be upgraded. Also causing problems is the lack of network card drivers. In a dire warning Apple has also told iTunes users to "wait" before upgrading their computers to Microsoft Windows Vista, saying its music software may not work properly.

As one CE retail store said "We run two lots of software across both accounting and CRM and neither have been upgraded to run under Vista. When we tried to load them to a Vista machine they failed to load properly".

Apple recently said that it was also aware of several issues including problems playing purchased files and synchronising data. Apple's support website said a new version of iTunes for Vista should be ready "in the next few weeks". iTunes allows computers to synch data with iPods. Vista, the newest version of Windows was launched 30 January.

One brand new desktop machine that had been upgraded to Vista the Explorer browser and the control manager started to scroll even when a mouse was not attached..

Compatibility issues

Apple outlined the compatibility issues and suggested workarounds for those already using Vista in a support document on its website.

Some problems listed were: failure to play music and video purchased from the iTunes store; poor animation performance; and a failure to automatically synchronize media, contacts and calendars.

Apple has also offered Vista users a downloadable tool that will "repair permissions for important files," but does not specify the precise nature of the incompatibility.

According to Associated Press newswires, the company has sold more than 90 million iPods since October 2001.

Microsoft response

Microsoft has a team working with Apple to make iTunes fully functional on Windows Vista, Adam Anderson, a Microsoft Windows spokesman told AP.

He added that the company did not believe these issues were a reason stop using Vista.

When Vista launched, Microsoft said more than 5,000 hardware and software products were already compatible with the operating system.

Both Apple and Microsoft declined to comment on the issue further.

SMARTHOUSE

ERP competition heating up in Europe

Oracle and Sage closing on SAP, reports IDC.

Competition is heating up among vendors in the Western European enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications market, analysts report.

A new IDC study revealed that SAP's overall ERP applications market share made it the leader in all verticals in Western Europe in 2005.

However, at the country level, Oracle and Sage are now challenging SAP's leadership in verticals such as communications, public sector, finance, business services and retail/wholesale in countries such as the UK and France.

"Oracle leaped ahead in its focus industries with its acquisition of PeopleSoft," said Bo Lykkegaard, programme manager for Western European enterprise applications at IDC.

"But Sage has improved its position across most verticals via its domination of the small and midsize company segment in Europe by acquisitions and organic growth."

According to the report, manufacturing makes up approximately 40 per cent of the total ERP applications market, with discrete manufacturing being significantly larger than process manufacturing.

Retail/wholesale is the third largest ERP industry segment. Traditional IT intensive industries, financial services and communications make up only 15 per cent of the market when combined. The public sector makes up another 15 per cent.

"IDC sees further industry concentration ahead in the ERP applications market," added Lykkegaard.

"This concentration will largely be acquisition-driven. Infor's recent acquisitions of SSA Global, Geac and Systems Union will catapult it ahead in the manufacturing and distribution sectors."

Copyright © 2007 vnunet.com

Open-source firms team up for interoperability

Nice meeting you!

Salentica Systems Extends its CRM Functionality to “Anywhere, Anytime”
PR Web - PR Web (press release) - Feb 8, 2007
Following the release of CRM Mobile Express for Microsoft® Dynamics ™ CRM 3. 0, Salentica will extend the functionality of its solution. Extending the core functionality of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3. 0 to mobile devices will allow Salentica users to access and update all the information they need from their CRM, anywhere, anytime. Salentica Mobile Express is device independent and only requires the mobile device to support HTML web pages. Firms can deploy a zero foot print application and let the users decide their mobile device of choice, whether Windows Mobile or other device. Updates from the mobile client are written directly into the CRM database, eliminating the issues around synchronization... "About Salentica Systems Inc. Salentica provides client management solutions for buy- and sell-side financial service firms, built around the Microsoft. NET platform and Microsoft CRM. Salentica extends the platform by creating purpose built components to address specific needs of the financials services market. Salentica’s customer base includes many of North America’s largest financial services firms in mutual fund wholesaling, investment banks, institutional asset management, private wealth management, retail brokerage and insurance. Contact: Bill Rourke, President Salentica Systems Inc. 212-672-1777 ext 222416 366-3456 ext.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/10/prweb445594.htm

Open-source firms team up for interoperability
CNET News.com - Feb 13, 2007
Founding members of the group--called the. OpenSolutionsAlliance. The companies plan to announce the group's formation Wednesday at the Open Solutions Summit, an open-source conference in New York.
http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-6159182.html

Build Customer Relationships--Just Don't Call It CRM
Destination CRM - Feb 8, 2007
and it's just so cheap," he says. "From what I'm hearing so far it's extremely similar to Siebel in its basic use and the features it has. "In fact it was so tempting, according to Ziegele, that Consolidated ordered it in early April. "We're [getting] going with five people, for like five grand," he says, adding that a small pilot was probably the only approach for which he could have gotten approval. He thinks of the pilot as a way to try before you buy. Ziegele finds the features appealing, as well: "It has a Web interface, but also runs through Outlook.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=4100

365 Days of CRM
Destination CRM - Feb 9, 2007
And industry leaders' earnings were lackluster at best. But through it all CRM continued to mature, vendors shook up the market, and many companies garnered their share of ROI. What follows is a look at the highlights--and low lights--of the year in CRM.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=2734

Regional business news, at a glance
Arizona Republic - Feb 11, 2007
The upgrades offer direct integration with Microsoft Outlook, simplified administration and field-level data security. Sage also said the new Sage CRM SalesLogix v7 product suite is available. The new version includes interactive sales dashboards, mobile support and productivity enhancements. ACT! contact-management software and SalesLogix customer-relationship-management software are produced by Sage's Scottsdale office.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0926biz-regionalbriefs0926.html

Wi-Fi and VOIP near full convergence
InfoWorld - Feb 14, 2007
Now let's look at those applications. See, here I'm a little pessimistic. Sure, we'll see more IP telephony-capable features in stuff like CRM and vertical apps, but I'm doubtful about seeing anything truly revolutionary. At least not this year. This is going to be the year that phones start talking to customer databases, scheduling client appointments, talking to inventory systems.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/14/08OPenterwin_1.html?PHONES

IN BETA: May the Force Be With You
Destination CRM - Feb 8, 2007
com: IN BETA: May the Force Be With You. com is reinventing itself with what CEO Marc Benioff says is the company's most significant release since launching its hosted CRM product... The S3 upgrade represents what CEO Marc Benioff says is Salesforce. com's most significant release since launching its hosted CRM product in June 2000. Some of the upgrades under the S3 umbrella include HTML rich-media emails designed to enable salespeople to send email massages consistent with the messaging that the marketing department has created, and to enable marketing folks to track the emails; upgrades with Microsoft Outlook so users can click to add any email to S3 for organizationwide visibility and search Salesforce. com's contacts or leads database within Microsoft Outlook; and a shared document library for marketing collateral, presentations, sales tools, and customer support materials that catalogs files into different folders without having to log into a separate file system.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=3326

PRM Is Not So Different From CRM After All
Destination CRM - Feb 8, 2007
Paul Greenberg is fine, thank you. But, I want to change the moniker of the class of CRM applications known as partner relationship management (PRM) to something else: CRM for collaborative sales (CRM-CS). I know you are thinking, "This is worth writing about?" Believe me, it is, because CRM-CS is too important to your business for you to ignore... Paul Greenberg is fine, thank you. But, I want to change the moniker of the class of CRM applications known as partner relationship management (PRM) to something else: CRM for collaborative sales (CRM-CS). I know you are thinking, "This is worth writing about?" Believe me, it is, because CRM-CS is too important to your business for you to ignore. Bite on it--I'm going to give you something to chew.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=3163

destinationCRM.com: New & Noteworthy
Destination CRM - Feb 8, 2007
comOnline CRM Salesnet announced that it has integrated instant messaging capabilities from AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo! into its wireless CRM application. The addition is designed to allow sales teams to IM the Salesnet database for real-time contact information and other sales data, as well as to IM updates to that information back to the system.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=3331

OSBC - Sun seeks to woo HP to Solaris
Computerworld Australia - Feb 8, 2007
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 JBoss and SugarCRM have partnered with Microsoft, as have more traditional vendors such as Sun and IBM, Hilf noted. 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... But Hilf pointed out that Microsoft can benefit from it just the same. Open source companies JBoss and SugarCRM have partnered with Microsoft, as have more traditional vendors such as Sun and IBM, Hilf noted. 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.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1409875335;fp;16;fpid;0

Computerworld - Reviving CRM
Computerworld Australia - Feb 9, 2007
(Let's not kid ourselves: The customer list is what you're spending those billions for. ) With a change in ownership, every Siebel customer is suddenly in play. And with competitors like SAP, Microsoft and especially Salesforce. com lusting after every one of those customers, either you give them a reason to stay or you lose them. A truly visionary future would be one heck of a reason to stay. Besides, you know how the alternative plays out. You've already seen it.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;114960255;fp;16;fpid;0

… POP3 Email Integration Within it's On-Demand Sales...
PR Web - PR Web (press release) - Feb 13, 2007
The new feature allows ClienTracker. com users to create information repositories that track complete history of all communications company-wide. The combination of email and CRM in a single application comes as good news to companies who are currently using multiple software applications to track email, manage clients, and maintain schedules... The combination of email and CRM in a single application comes as good news to companies who are currently using multiple software applications to track email, manage clients, and maintain schedules. Plus, the web-distributed model of ClienTracker. com allows users to access their data and email from any computer with an internet connection, freeing them from complicated remote access processes such as Microsoft Exchange and VPNs. "Recording and tracking inbound and outbound corporate e-mails, and being able to view complete histories along side associated prospects, clients or opportunities no longer requires an expensive solution like Siebel or SAP, nor does it require the user to operate multiple applications at once. " said David Anderson, CTO of ClienTracker. �Plus, we can implement the solution in a matter of days, while those packages take months or years to install and configure. �Companies across all industries are under pressure to develop policies concerning retention and audit procedures regarding their e-mail and electronic documents.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/3/prweb221975.htm

Aspire Technologies, Inc. and MasterMine Software Announce Launch of...
PR Web - PR Web (press release) - Feb 8, 2007
About Aspire Technologies and QuoteWerks™Aspire Technologies, the creators of the award winning QuoteWerks™ sales quoting software, is the leading provider of sales quoting software with its award winning QuoteWerks™ application deployed to thousands of businesses and enterprises worldwide. QuoteWerks™ integrates with all major and leading CRM packages including ACT!™, Goldmine®, Maximizer®, MS CRM, Outlook®, TeleMagic®, salesforce. com® and SalesLogix® enabling businesses in all industries to integrate QuoteWerks™ seamlessly into their existing environments. Aspire Technologies is headquartered in Orlando, Florida and is a Microsoft Certified Partner. For more information please visit... QuoteWerks™ integrates with all major and leading CRM packages including ACT!™, Goldmine®, Maximizer®, MS CRM, Outlook®, TeleMagic®, salesforce. com® and SalesLogix® enabling businesses in all industries to integrate QuoteWerks™ seamlessly into their existing environments. Aspire Technologies is headquartered in Orlando, Florida and is a Microsoft Certified Partner. For more information please visit.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/7/prweb413478.htm

Talisma Starts 2006 Strong With Record Customer Growth Company Laps...
PR Web - PR Web (press release) - Feb 13, 2007
Talisma also extended its global reach by signing agreements with new channel partners in Australia, Belgium, China, France, Israel, Germany and the United Kingdom. The 2006 Talisma Customer Conference, held in March, garnered record-breaking attendance and featured dozens of customer presentations. Companies including AOL, Microsoft, Dell, Epson, eSignal, Pitney Bowes, and ShareBuilder detailed how they use the Talisma solution to increase customer satisfaction, drive revenue, and increase business efficiencies. Additionally, analysts from Forrester Research and eVergance gave keynote presentations and moderated panel discussions. Talisma also received industry accolades in the first quarter, capturing CRM Magazine's 2006 Service Leader award for Web-support services and Call Center Magazine's "Best of Call Center Demo & Conference Austin 2006" for Talisma Professional Edition, designed to meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses. "The dramatic growth across our strategic CIM business and on-going CRM vertical businesses, new key partnerships, and expanded sales geographies position Talisma for still greater success in 2006," said Dan Vetras, CEO, Talisma Corporation. "Our momentum just continues to intensify and Talisma is now being looked upon as the thought leader in our strategic markets... Additionally, analysts from Forrester Research and eVergance gave keynote presentations and moderated panel discussions. Talisma also received industry accolades in the first quarter, capturing CRM Magazine's 2006 Service Leader award for Web-support services and Call Center Magazine's "Best of Call Center Demo & Conference Austin 2006" for Talisma Professional Edition, designed to meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses. "The dramatic growth across our strategic CIM business and on-going CRM vertical businesses, new key partnerships, and expanded sales geographies position Talisma for still greater success in 2006," said Dan Vetras, CEO, Talisma Corporation. "Our momentum just continues to intensify and Talisma is now being looked upon as the thought leader in our strategic markets. " About TalismaTalisma is a global provider of Customer Interaction Management (CIM) solutions that enable businesses to deliver a truly exceptional customer experience. Talisma's solutions integrate the power of email, phone, chat, and self service with a robust and mature customer interaction management Web services platform, comprehensive analytics, and a system-wide knowledgebase. Talisma's global customers include AOL, Aviva, Betdaq, Canon, ChevronTexaco, Citibank, Dacorum Borough Council, Daimler-Chrysler, Dell, DHL, E.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/4/prweb374722.htm

Bye.

Does Software Automation Help Increase your Bottom Line?

When you own a small business, time is money. And every time a task that should be automated is handled manually, it wastes your time and your business loses money. To make matters even worse, performing these tasks manually, in front of clients or prospects, projects the wrong image.

Even though technology is readily available and even affordable, many small business owners do not take full advantage of these powerful software packages. It may be hard to believe, but only a small percentage of business owners have the technical expertise necessary to handle the automation process. The others have neither the time to learn nor the ability to hire the experts to do the job.

But one thing is certain: One way to increase your business's bottom line is to get software that automates the tasks you do manually and consequently, inefficiently.

Something as simple as contact management software is so valuable. First and foremost, searching for contact information is never more than a few mouse clicks away. Some software will even allow you to access this data while away from you office.

Have you finally mastered your email system? Love the way it keeps you off the phone? If you're not careful, you'll soon be wasting as much time responding to your email as you did returning your phone calls.

There's not enough space to list all the benefits of using autoresponders or all the ways to utilize autoresponders in your business. Here are just a few - use them to send out product and pricing information, to capture contact names and addresses, to help with frequently asked questions (FAQs) lists, to deliver different chapters of an e-book - anything that keeps your company name in front of existing or potential customers can be handled more efficiently using an autoresponder.

Raise your hand if you're still carrying around your paperbound daily planner! Throw it away and get software to keep track of your appointments and those of all your employees. You'll appreciate how easy it is to know who's doing what and when.

And think about how much time you spend each year gathering the paperwork your accountant needs at tax time to prepare your company income taxes. Why allow your accountant to charge you his or her hourly rate to do the type of data entry you could have been doing all year long IF you had only purchased AND installed business accounting software.

If you think, "Well, I do this only once a year," you are right, but remember, there are many more income-generating things you can do with the time you are wasting. Every second of saved time helps your business operate more efficiently.

Even the most automated of offices is doomed should your hardware ever crash and your data not be backed up. And we're not talking about "if" this crisis will occur; we're talking about "when" it will occur. There are so many easy-to-use and affordable backup software programs available that you've no good excuse for not backing up your valuable data.

There are many other business tasks you can automate but there's not enough room to list them all. Tasks like project management, employee management and inventory management are more efficient when they are automated. You can even translate your paper marketing and sales information for fast and easy delivery via the Internet.

There's no end to the list of office tasks that can be automated using the software that is readily available today. Put together an office automation budget and decide which tasks are the most important to automate. Then get going - you've got work to do!

Is Windows losing out and Linux gaining?

Give me five!

Avidian Prophet 4.0 Personal Edition
PC World - Feb 5, 2007
0 Personal Edition. 0, contact manager, Outlook, Avidian, Prophet, 4... -->
Richard Morochove
Monday, February 05, 2007 01:00 AM PST



If business sales leads seem to be trickling through your fingers, you need a good customer relationship management (CRM) application to help you keep closer track of your sales opportunities. Avidian's Prophet 4. 0--a simple and easy-to-use CRM add-on for Microsoft's Outlook--can help you convert mere opportunities into actual sales. I tested the shipping version of the single-PC, $150 Prophet Personal Edition and found the installation straightforward, albeit a tad time-consuming. Prophet seamlessly integrates with Outlook, adding a new mail folder and toolbar to the e-mail client. 0 introduces the ability to set follow-up actions at each sales stage.
http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,128655/printable.html

Is Windows losing out and Linux gaining?
Economic Times - Feb 4, 2007
Meanwhile in West Bengal too, Linux is
seen as a cost-saving solution in many e-governance projects. Other governments,
such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka too have various projects running on
Linux. David-Golliath
Alliance

What’s more — what looked like a
David-Goliath battle between Microsoft and Linux now has Goliath crossing over
to David’s side. It started with the Microsoft’s alliance with
Novell, and its attention-grabbing presence at the recently-held Linux Asia in
New Delhi. While Linux distributors such as Red Hat and Novell see it as a sign
of acknowledgement that “Linux is now a mature technology”,
Microsoft contends that it has customers that have servers running on different
operating systems and with inter-operability becoming an issue, it had to step
in to solve the problem for them. For anyone who had doubts that
Linux might work in India, considering the tardy nature of tech adoption here,
there are IDC figures that show that in terms of server shipments, Linux had a
market share of 19... But clearly there’s room for
coexistence of both proprietary and open source. Says Mr Arora of IDC:
“There are some areas such as web workload, firewalls and high performance
computing, where Linux has a strong presence. Windows, on the other hand has a
sound position in business processing, CRM (customer relations management),
messaging, collaborating, etc. ” But don’t be surprised if Microsoft
has been racking it’s collective brainpower to get into these areas too. “We are working with SGI to get into the high performance computing space
too,” says Balakrishnan. Experts pooh-pooh that. In
the case of high performance computing or HPC, the world’s top 500
computers run on Linux.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1559206,prtpage-1.cms

Inclusiveness is new Oracle search word
Register - Feb 5, 2007
8, which is now capable of supporting data sources and object stores from at least five major third party providers. Oracle Enterprise Search 10g supports Microsoft Exchange and Sharepoint software, IBM's Lotus Notes, and enterprise content management systems from Open Text, FileNet and EMC Documentum... Out of the boxSecure Enterprise Search is set to grow in importance for Oracle. Currently available as a stand-alone search tool, Oracle is to make it available in all its applications. Secure Enterprise Search is already shipping out-of-the box as part of Siebel CRM 8, announced last week. Oracle Enterprise Search indexes and searches public, private and shared content in websites, databases, file and mail servers, CMS and document repositories. It's secure because Oracle's identity management software stops users from accessing data sources and documents they are not allowed to view. According to Oracle, its search combines the ease of use of an internet search engine that users have now come to expect from all their search tools, with the data and identity management rules that ensure users only get access to the information they are entitled to. By adding search to applications such as Siebel, Oracle expects help business users find and use corporate information.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/05/oracle_enterprise_search/

Sage Updates Its CRM Platform
eWeek - Feb 1, 2007
"The new features of SageCRM v6 are focused on improving user adoption, specifically through enhanced usability and administration," said Travis Nisbett, ACT! product manager for Sage Software, based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Sage's latest CRM platform includes data segmentation functionalities for updating groups, advanced search categories and system administration tools such as a territory tree that can be used to move records from one sales territory to another, as well as the ability to update data fields... SageCRM v6 can be used in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook as users can add new business contacts to Outlook while also searching for records. This feature also allows users to file individual e-mails or bundles of e-mails sent from Outlook in SageCRM. SageCRM v6 is available now for on-premises deployment and the on-demand platform, SageCRM. com, will be available beginning in March. Costs vary based on deployment option, number of users and feature sets.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2089546,00.asp

Microsoft Announces 2006 Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation...
PresseBox - PresseBox (Pressemitteilung)(abonnement) - Feb 5, 2007
today announced winners of the Microsoft® Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation Awards 2006, honoring the breakthrough contributions that new and innovative solutions are making in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry in the areas of sales and marketing, manufacturing and supply chain, and clinical development. The awards, announced at the annual meeting of the Drug Information Association (DIA) in Philadelphia, were given to companies that have demonstrated the best use of Microsoft-based solutions for breakthroughs in business processes and practices in each of the categories. �At Microsoft, we believe that innovative technology use in life sciences can create revolutionary new ways of doing business, resulting in breakthroughs in research, product innovation and corporate performance,� said Steve Shihadeh, general manager of healthcare and life sciences at Microsoft. �The companies we are recognizing today exemplify a transformative use of technology and are helping their people better connect and collaborate, as well as make more-informed decisions that drive overall business success. �

Award Winners

Award participants consisted of worldwide life sciences corporations in biotechnology, diagnostics, medical equipment and devices, pharmaceuticals, animal health, nutritional products, and consumer health products. The winners of this year�s Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation Awards are listed here:

Sales and Marketing

� GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Inc. , Mississauga, Ontario... The solution has allowed GSK to dramatically reduce the cycle time between introducing a new product marketing campaign and measuring its results. By using Proscape�s software, a sales representative can easily, quickly and effectively convey key product information in an engaging and memorable way through multimedia presentations running on the Tablet PC. Based on data from GSK�s CRM application, these presentations can be tailored for different market segments, thereby maximizing their educational value. Manufacturing and Supply Chain

� ALTANA Pharma AG, Konstanz, Germany. ALTANA Pharma AG is the pharmaceutical division of ALTANA AG (FSE: ALT, NYSE: AAA), which has its headquarters in Konstanz, Germany. ALTANA Pharma is an internationally successful, research-based company providing innovative pharmaceuticals that create a higher quality of life for patients, modern jobs for highly qualified employees, and a good return for shareholders. In 2005, ALTANA Pharma AG implemented Wassermann AG�s wayRTS (Real Time Simulation) solution � a 64-bit application using Windows Server® 2003, Visual Studio® 2005, Visual SourceSafe® and the 2003 Microsoft Office system � for the operational planning, simulation and scheduling of its largest supply chain across three production sites and eight sales units.
http://www.pressebox.de/pressemeldungen/wassermann-ag/boxid-66565.html

See you.