By Renee Boucher Ferguson
November 29, 2007
Microsoft wants Titan to challenge Salesforce.com's on-demand development platform.
The question is, How long will it take Microsoft, a slow-moving technology behemoth if previous releases are any indication, to catch up with Salesforce.com in a market Salesforce created?
While Microsoft has based its Titan marketing campaign on the software's multitenant capabilities, CEO Steve Ballmer said in July at the company's Worldwide Partner conference that Titan will also be used as a platform for on-demand application development.
"[We] will add CRM [customer relationship management], and we will add an application development platform for departments and small businesses called Titan. … In the case of Titan, there's an opportunity for you to build applications that would literally run on our servers," Ballmer said.
"You have to use the kind of declarative programming model, workflow model on which our own CRM product is built, but you can, of course, write your own Titan applications on either on-premises hosted or hosted in our data centers," he said.
Salesforce.com, in less cryptic language, has been marketing its platform capabilities for the past year. In October 2006 the company unveiled its Apex on-demand programming language and platform.
This year, Salesforce.com announced Force.com (dubbed platform-as-a-service), which bundles development "services," including custom user interface and logic building capabilities along with database and integration capabilities. Force.com also includes AppExchange, Salesforce.com's application marketplace that's been compared, by the company mainly, to eBay and Amazon.com for the business world.
Read more here about the introduction of the Force.com platform.
At its partner conference this summer, Microsoft said it's building its own marketplace, expected in 2008, that will be an online environment where partners can showcase their company, applications and templates to customers, who can, in turn, download functionality and rate partner efforts. Ditto for AppExchange.
What Microsoft will offer with Titan is an on-demand, multitenant application development platform. What's not clear yet is how mature those capabilities will be.
Eric Berridge, CEO and co-founder of BlueWolf, an on-demand system integrator with close ties to Salesforce.com, has watched Microsoft's Titan release closely. He said Microsoft has made a wise move in building Titan, but the company has a ways to go in the on-demand development world.
"The reason Microsoft came out with Titan at all is a defensive move against Salesforce.com—period," said Berridge. It is a good first step and a very wise move. But I don't know if they know if they can take it to the platform level. If you look at the customization capabilities in the on-premises version [of Dynamics CRM] it never evolved to the level of flexibility that other CRM packages have, so there are some decisions Microsoft will have to make."
Berridge said that while Titan will be compatible with .Net, Microsoft's development environment, there isn't a lot of flexibility in the platform. "You can't configure an application in a multitude of ways without jumping into a programming environment, and that's limited to the CRM data model," he said.
"There are no [custom] objects, no UIs. It really keeps programming central to core CRM. And I am still questioning the maturity of [Titan's] core API [application programming interface] set. That's going to be a key component to selling into non-Microsoft accounts," Berridge said.
Ovum analyst Warren Wilson said that despite Microsoft's reputation for being slow to catch on to a few key technology movements, such as the Internet, the company shouldn't be discounted in its on-demand platform initiatives.
"Microsoft is deliberate more than slow. They've been famously slow on embracing the Internet years ago. But when they do [embrace new technology], then they're relentless," said Wilson. "We'll see the same thing with Microsoft's Dynamics applications. The fact that they're slow shouldn't give competitors any false sense of complacency."
Wilson pointed out another tactic Microsoft may take with Titan: using it as the basis for a development platform—both internally and externally—for its Dynamics ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications.
"Microsoft has been careful to avoid speculating on what might follow Titan in terms of its other Dynamics products, but with vendors like NetSuite out there with an on-demand ERP suite, with SAP launching Business ByDesign [on-demand ERP suite], Microsoft has to be thinking about enabling on-demand versions of the rest of the Dynamics family," said Wilson. "And Titan and CRM will offer at least a laboratory for how you do that, if not the actual product foundations."
While Salesforce.com has not taken the direct approach to developing ERP applications (of which CRM is a clear extension), the company has been direct in spelling out the fact that Apex and the Force.com platform are applicable for building not only CRM applications, but ERP-strength applications. At least one vendor, Coda Group, has committed to building out an on-demand ERP suite on Force.com.
Beagle Research founder Denis Pombriant said that market forces will determine whether Salesforce stays in the lead against Microsoft.
"Salesforce is going gangbusters with Force.com," said Pombriant. "They signed a 45,000-seat deal with Japan Post. What was significant about that is the deal excluded CRM; it's strictly Force.com and the applications Japan Post wants to build. The good news for Microsoft is that they've come a long way [with platform capabilities]. They're in the ballpark. But they may be somewhere between one half and one full generation behind."
source:eweek.com
Data Recovery Bulletin
Friday, November 30, 2007
Reller Lands at Microsoft's Platform and Services Division
by Barbara Darrow
November 29, 2007
Tami Reller, a Great Plains and Microsoft Business Solutions veteran, has a new job as CFO of Microsoft's Platform & Services Division.
She retains her corporate vice president title and reports to Kevin Johnson.
The news went out Thursday internally in a note from Johnson, who is president of PSD, the group responsible for Microsoft's Windows and tools franchises.
Reller, who came to the company by way of its acquisition of Great Plains Software in 2001, is well liked and respected, especially by the cadre of MBS employees and partners. Many expected her to take on the top job at MBS after Doug Burgum and then Satya Nadella moved on, but that job went instead to Kiril Tatarinov last summer
Reller's direct reports will include Charlie Songhurst, Rik van der Kool, according to Johnson's note.
source:entmag.com
Data backup, recovery becoming critical to all
November 29, 2007
Tami Reller, a Great Plains and Microsoft Business Solutions veteran, has a new job as CFO of Microsoft's Platform & Services Division.
She retains her corporate vice president title and reports to Kevin Johnson.
The news went out Thursday internally in a note from Johnson, who is president of PSD, the group responsible for Microsoft's Windows and tools franchises.
Reller, who came to the company by way of its acquisition of Great Plains Software in 2001, is well liked and respected, especially by the cadre of MBS employees and partners. Many expected her to take on the top job at MBS after Doug Burgum and then Satya Nadella moved on, but that job went instead to Kiril Tatarinov last summer
Reller's direct reports will include Charlie Songhurst, Rik van der Kool, according to Johnson's note.
source:entmag.com
Data backup, recovery becoming critical to all
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
OmniVue Business Solutions' Pyden Advances to Next Round of Inc. Award
Jeff Pyden, founder and managing director of OmniVue Business Solutions which specializes in the implementation, hosting and support of financial and operational management software -- Microsoft Dynamics GP, SL and CRM -- was selected by Inc. Magazine to advance to the next round of the publication's 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year search. Pyden's entrepreneurial story has been posted on Inc.com and can be accessed at http://www.inc.com/entrepreneur/2007/profile/index.php?pyden249
Pyden was recently honored as a finalist for the AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) Southeastern Spirit of Endeavor Award in the Technology Innovation category. He was recognized for his achievements in making enterprise-level business software more accessible to small and midsized businesses.
Founded in 2003, OmniVue leads the Southeast in hosted deployments of Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains), SL (formerly Solomon) and Microsoft CRM. By offering businesses a choice in how they deploy their business management software, either on-premise or on-demand, companies are able to tailor the solution that’s best for their business with the flexibility to change as needs dictate.
A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, OmniVue is the provider of choice for businesses looking to automate and streamline financial and customer relationship management to help drive business success. , Please visit www.omnivue.net for more information about OmniVue Business Solutions.
Pyden was recently honored as a finalist for the AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) Southeastern Spirit of Endeavor Award in the Technology Innovation category. He was recognized for his achievements in making enterprise-level business software more accessible to small and midsized businesses.
Founded in 2003, OmniVue leads the Southeast in hosted deployments of Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains), SL (formerly Solomon) and Microsoft CRM. By offering businesses a choice in how they deploy their business management software, either on-premise or on-demand, companies are able to tailor the solution that’s best for their business with the flexibility to change as needs dictate.
A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, OmniVue is the provider of choice for businesses looking to automate and streamline financial and customer relationship management to help drive business success. , Please visit www.omnivue.net for more information about OmniVue Business Solutions.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
JCP goes green with Great Plains, Datacentrix
Johannesburg City Parks (JCP) is now online with the integration of a comprehensive Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains ERP system, implemented by Datacentrix.
JCP, a Public Benefit organisation incorporated in 2001 by the Metropolitan Municipality of Johannesburg, uses Great Plains as its core financial and line of business system to manage parks, public open spaces, cemeteries and crematoria, and also to maintain street trees and its internal equipment.
The Datacentrix Microsoft Great Plains system is commissioned to ensure JCP can manage its finances in such a way that it will ensure the city's service delivery mandate within allocated budget. The JCP manages a budget in excess of R300 million per annum.
Says Karl van Eck, CFO at JCP and executive sponsor of the project: "The new Great Plains ERP system replaced and integrated inherently disparate software systems, combating the issues of manual-intensive financial tracking processes that JCP was experiencing. These processes are now supported by a full ERP system, deployed within 10 months by Datacentrix.
"While the old systems focused more on the financial side, the new Great Plains software integrates this with the operational aspect. The solution proposed by Datacentrix certainly best suited our needs and we will start seeing the real benefit from an operational perspective within the next two to three years."
According to Phokeng Mohatlane, Account Director at Datacentrix, a significant factor in the new solution's speedy implementation was the extensive experience Datacentrix has with Great Plains implementations, as well as the commitment demonstrated by JCP to the project. "The contract was awarded to Datacentrix, having fulfilled the various tender criteria that included its black economic empowerment status.
"The system uses the Field Services module to effectively schedule routine preventative maintenance on parks etc, as well as manage service calls on the servicing of JCP's own equipment," she adds. "Over 50 JCP staff members interact with the Great Plains system to maintain our parks and make the city a better place to live in."
Source:itweb.co.za
JCP, a Public Benefit organisation incorporated in 2001 by the Metropolitan Municipality of Johannesburg, uses Great Plains as its core financial and line of business system to manage parks, public open spaces, cemeteries and crematoria, and also to maintain street trees and its internal equipment.
The Datacentrix Microsoft Great Plains system is commissioned to ensure JCP can manage its finances in such a way that it will ensure the city's service delivery mandate within allocated budget. The JCP manages a budget in excess of R300 million per annum.
Says Karl van Eck, CFO at JCP and executive sponsor of the project: "The new Great Plains ERP system replaced and integrated inherently disparate software systems, combating the issues of manual-intensive financial tracking processes that JCP was experiencing. These processes are now supported by a full ERP system, deployed within 10 months by Datacentrix.
"While the old systems focused more on the financial side, the new Great Plains software integrates this with the operational aspect. The solution proposed by Datacentrix certainly best suited our needs and we will start seeing the real benefit from an operational perspective within the next two to three years."
According to Phokeng Mohatlane, Account Director at Datacentrix, a significant factor in the new solution's speedy implementation was the extensive experience Datacentrix has with Great Plains implementations, as well as the commitment demonstrated by JCP to the project. "The contract was awarded to Datacentrix, having fulfilled the various tender criteria that included its black economic empowerment status.
"The system uses the Field Services module to effectively schedule routine preventative maintenance on parks etc, as well as manage service calls on the servicing of JCP's own equipment," she adds. "Over 50 JCP staff members interact with the Great Plains system to maintain our parks and make the city a better place to live in."
Source:itweb.co.za
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
CDC Software acquires local Microsoft CRM reseller
Enterprise software service provider, CDC Software - a subsidiary of CDC Corporation - has acquired Microsoft CRM specialist Snapdragon Consulting.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Snapdragon will become part of CDC Software’s Australian consulting services arm, Praxa Limited. Monetary information about the deal couldn’t be disclosed.
In an interview with CRN, John Clough, chairman of Praxa said this acquisition aligns with Praxa’s plan to gain greater breadth in Microsoft technologies and specifically more depth in CRM.
“Snapdragon has a well-estabilished SMB and enterprise customer base which Praxa can leverage throughout Australia. The acquisition provides Praxa with greater breadth in complementary Microsoft technologies, and specifically more depth in Microsoft CRM expertise, allowing us to cross-sell our existing services to a wider customer base,” he said.
According to Clough Snapdragon will be incorporated into CDC Software’s Australian consulting services arm, Praxa Limited. It will relocate Snapdragon’s existing teams, based in St Leonards and Melbourne, to its North Ryde and South Melbourne offices respectively.
Industry veteran Guy Riddle will remain general manager of the Snapdragon business, said Clough.
All of Snapdragon’s 12 staff will move over to Praxa, taking the total number of staff to over 250 employees, he said.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Snapdragon will become part of CDC Software’s Australian consulting services arm, Praxa Limited. Monetary information about the deal couldn’t be disclosed.
In an interview with CRN, John Clough, chairman of Praxa said this acquisition aligns with Praxa’s plan to gain greater breadth in Microsoft technologies and specifically more depth in CRM.
“Snapdragon has a well-estabilished SMB and enterprise customer base which Praxa can leverage throughout Australia. The acquisition provides Praxa with greater breadth in complementary Microsoft technologies, and specifically more depth in Microsoft CRM expertise, allowing us to cross-sell our existing services to a wider customer base,” he said.
According to Clough Snapdragon will be incorporated into CDC Software’s Australian consulting services arm, Praxa Limited. It will relocate Snapdragon’s existing teams, based in St Leonards and Melbourne, to its North Ryde and South Melbourne offices respectively.
Industry veteran Guy Riddle will remain general manager of the Snapdragon business, said Clough.
All of Snapdragon’s 12 staff will move over to Praxa, taking the total number of staff to over 250 employees, he said.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Microsoft CRM Replaces GoldMine at AccessVia
Microsoft announced that AccessVia, a vendor of in-store signage, labels and e-commerce applications, has selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 to integrate all its internal data and processes, replacing its previous system, based on GoldMine software for CRM.
AccessVia, based in Seattle, provides communications services to retailers.
The company had been using three separate internal IT systems for customer relations, time tracking and sales. Forecasting and planning were "suffering," company officials say, since the company had outgrown its software.
Scott Hunter, systems administrator for AccessVia, said with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, "we were able to consolidate several internal processes and tools into a single offering that brought the whole company onto the same page."
AccessVia officials say the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system allows better reporting, improving its filtering and reporting by tenfold, compared to its previous software. And with its integrated system, company officials say they have cut the time needed for support from its IT team by 75 percent.
The company also has retired its Microsoft Office Access database for licensing management, incorporating that function into Microsoft Dynamics CRM as well.
Earlier this week Microsoft announced that Logos Bible Software, a developer and distributor of Bible software in multiple languages, selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM to replace its aging customer relationship management system with technology that integrates all customer data.
Logos, a $15 million company based in Bellingham, Washington, offers software used by members of the clergy, seminary students, missionaries and lay leaders in more than 180 countries. Its electronic Bibles, theological works, pastoral resources and other texts are available in numerous languages, including Greek, Hebrew and Latin.
The company chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM to "gain comprehensive new efficiencies not available with its previous CRM system, which required customer service representatives to navigate a number of unconnected databases to retrieve information," according to Microsoft officials:
"With the earlier system, agents had to call customers back because they needed to look for answers to questions in several different places." Microsoft Dynamics CRM technology will allow the service staff to collect all its customer information in one system.
Source:callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com
sponsored by GreenJolly
AccessVia, based in Seattle, provides communications services to retailers.
The company had been using three separate internal IT systems for customer relations, time tracking and sales. Forecasting and planning were "suffering," company officials say, since the company had outgrown its software.
Scott Hunter, systems administrator for AccessVia, said with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, "we were able to consolidate several internal processes and tools into a single offering that brought the whole company onto the same page."
AccessVia officials say the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system allows better reporting, improving its filtering and reporting by tenfold, compared to its previous software. And with its integrated system, company officials say they have cut the time needed for support from its IT team by 75 percent.
The company also has retired its Microsoft Office Access database for licensing management, incorporating that function into Microsoft Dynamics CRM as well.
Earlier this week Microsoft announced that Logos Bible Software, a developer and distributor of Bible software in multiple languages, selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM to replace its aging customer relationship management system with technology that integrates all customer data.
Logos, a $15 million company based in Bellingham, Washington, offers software used by members of the clergy, seminary students, missionaries and lay leaders in more than 180 countries. Its electronic Bibles, theological works, pastoral resources and other texts are available in numerous languages, including Greek, Hebrew and Latin.
The company chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM to "gain comprehensive new efficiencies not available with its previous CRM system, which required customer service representatives to navigate a number of unconnected databases to retrieve information," according to Microsoft officials:
"With the earlier system, agents had to call customers back because they needed to look for answers to questions in several different places." Microsoft Dynamics CRM technology will allow the service staff to collect all its customer information in one system.
Source:callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com
sponsored by GreenJolly
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