The latest CRM software suite rankings from Forrester still show SAP and Oracle-Siebel leading the pack, but the distance is not that great.
In fact, as the CRM market has matured, some of the software products in the market have become very difficult to differentiate, said William Band, principal analyst with the Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm and an author of the report.
"That's the interesting thing about this market," Band said. "At one level, the solutions are very similar. You can say it doesn’t matter, but when you get down to specific use cases, there are differences. If you're a buyer, you still have to do your homework."
According to the report, Oracle's Siebel offering and SAP CRM still have the most complete applications with good usability, but CDC, Microsoft, Oracle's CRM On Demand application, RightNow and Salesforce.com are all gaining ground thanks to relatively fast deployment times and ease of use. Meanwhile, the Oracle CRM product that is part of its E-Business Suite (EBS) and its PeopleSoft CRM are good options for customers already running those ERP applications.
Source:SearchCRM.com
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Infor Selects Microsoft as Preferred Technology and Tools Provider for Infor Software Solutions
Infor, the leading provider of business software for mid-market companies, today announced that it will closely align its key business applications with a wide range of complementary Microsoft products, forming software solutions that are easier for mid-market companies to deploy and use.
News
* Next-generation Infor software solutions that use Microsoft tools and technologies will be designed to:
o Use a unified, intuitive graphical interface running on Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for an improved end-user experience across all applications.
o More tightly integrate widely adopted Microsoft server-based products and industry-standard technologies, enabling IT to deploy Infor solutions faster and manage them more easily.
o Use Infor ION™ for application interoperability, data sharing and management for a more seamless and secure flow of information.
* The Microsoft products and technologies that will be integrated with Infor applications include:
o Microsoft SharePoint® 2010 acting as the foundation for portal based, unified interfaces for applicable Infor applications.
o Microsoft Silverlight® for dynamic graphical interface elements.
o Microsoft SQL Server® as the preferred Infor database.
o Microsoft Reporting Services as a part of the foundation for the Infor Business Intelligence strategy across its portfolio.
o Microsoft Single Sign-On service for storage and mapping of credentials across applicable Infor applications.
o Microsoft Windows Server® as the preferred on-premise operating system.
* Infor also plans to deliver pre-built reports, dashboards and analytics that run within Microsoft SharePoint 2010 to help reduce customers' cost to build and upgrade their reporting environments. These will combine rich backbone data from Infor applications via Infor ION, with proven Microsoft Reporting Services and analysis capabilities.
* Infor also expects to accelerate the introduction of new products through increasing alignment with Microsoft technologies because it will allow greater code re-use, more standardization of technologies across applicable Infor applications, and decreased overall design complexity.
What Microsoft Says
"In Infor we see a leading partner that is using the Microsoft platform to provide simplicity and flexibility for great customer value," said Walid Abu-Hadba, corporate vice president, Developer and Platform Evangelism, Microsoft Corporation. "Companies want simplified, integrated solutions to help manage their business processes, and by integrating Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, Silverlight and SharePoint 2010 into their solutions, Infor will help companies of all sizes -- from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies -- improve their efficiencies and reduce costs by simplifying how they use business software."
What Altimeter Group Says
"The perception of Microsoft according to more than 74.6% of business and IT leaders recently polled is one of neutral and trusted supplier," said R "Ray" Wang, founding partner and analyst at Altimeter Group. "As Microsoft's technology offerings are enjoying a renewed interest and reinvestment among customers, partners and critical OEMs, Infor's customers should be pleased to see the close integration with the company as it will simplify software deployment and ease of use."
What We Say
"The business software industry is at a crossroads," said Jim Schaper, chairman and chief executive officer of Infor. "For too long, business software vendors have failed to meet the needs of mid-size companies that are increasingly frustrated with the high cost and complexity of traditional enterprise applications that were designed for multi-billion dollar corporations. By integrating the rich functionality of Infor's applications with Microsoft's intuitive technologies, we will be able to provide mid-size businesses with fast and affordable solutions that meet their functionality needs and are easy to use. This combination of power and simplicity is the direction our industry is headed."
Additional Resources
* More information about Infor ION is available at www.infor.com/company/ION.
At Infor, we work with a core belief. We believe in the customer. We believe that the customer is seeking a better, more collaborative relationship with its business software provider. And a new breed of business software: created for evolution, not revolution. Software that's simple to buy, easy to deploy and convenient to manage. Our 70,000 customers in more than 100 countries stand with us. We look forward to your sharing in the results of our belief. There is a better way. For additional information, visit www.infor.com.
This announcement reflects the direction Infor may take with regard to the specific product(s) described herein, all of which is subject to change by Infor in its sole discretion, with or without notice to you. This announcement is not a commitment to you in any way and you should not rely on this document or any of its content in making any decision. Infor is not committing to develop or deliver any specified enhancement, upgrade, product or functionality, even if such is described in this announcement and even if such description is accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should," "will," and/or similar expressions. Many factors can affect Infor's product development plans and the nature, content and timing of future product releases, all of which remain in the sole discretion of Infor. This announcement, in whole or in part, may not be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Infor or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Infor expressly disclaims any liability with respect to this announcement.
News
* Next-generation Infor software solutions that use Microsoft tools and technologies will be designed to:
o Use a unified, intuitive graphical interface running on Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for an improved end-user experience across all applications.
o More tightly integrate widely adopted Microsoft server-based products and industry-standard technologies, enabling IT to deploy Infor solutions faster and manage them more easily.
o Use Infor ION™ for application interoperability, data sharing and management for a more seamless and secure flow of information.
* The Microsoft products and technologies that will be integrated with Infor applications include:
o Microsoft SharePoint® 2010 acting as the foundation for portal based, unified interfaces for applicable Infor applications.
o Microsoft Silverlight® for dynamic graphical interface elements.
o Microsoft SQL Server® as the preferred Infor database.
o Microsoft Reporting Services as a part of the foundation for the Infor Business Intelligence strategy across its portfolio.
o Microsoft Single Sign-On service for storage and mapping of credentials across applicable Infor applications.
o Microsoft Windows Server® as the preferred on-premise operating system.
* Infor also plans to deliver pre-built reports, dashboards and analytics that run within Microsoft SharePoint 2010 to help reduce customers' cost to build and upgrade their reporting environments. These will combine rich backbone data from Infor applications via Infor ION, with proven Microsoft Reporting Services and analysis capabilities.
* Infor also expects to accelerate the introduction of new products through increasing alignment with Microsoft technologies because it will allow greater code re-use, more standardization of technologies across applicable Infor applications, and decreased overall design complexity.
What Microsoft Says
"In Infor we see a leading partner that is using the Microsoft platform to provide simplicity and flexibility for great customer value," said Walid Abu-Hadba, corporate vice president, Developer and Platform Evangelism, Microsoft Corporation. "Companies want simplified, integrated solutions to help manage their business processes, and by integrating Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, Silverlight and SharePoint 2010 into their solutions, Infor will help companies of all sizes -- from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies -- improve their efficiencies and reduce costs by simplifying how they use business software."
What Altimeter Group Says
"The perception of Microsoft according to more than 74.6% of business and IT leaders recently polled is one of neutral and trusted supplier," said R "Ray" Wang, founding partner and analyst at Altimeter Group. "As Microsoft's technology offerings are enjoying a renewed interest and reinvestment among customers, partners and critical OEMs, Infor's customers should be pleased to see the close integration with the company as it will simplify software deployment and ease of use."
What We Say
"The business software industry is at a crossroads," said Jim Schaper, chairman and chief executive officer of Infor. "For too long, business software vendors have failed to meet the needs of mid-size companies that are increasingly frustrated with the high cost and complexity of traditional enterprise applications that were designed for multi-billion dollar corporations. By integrating the rich functionality of Infor's applications with Microsoft's intuitive technologies, we will be able to provide mid-size businesses with fast and affordable solutions that meet their functionality needs and are easy to use. This combination of power and simplicity is the direction our industry is headed."
Additional Resources
* More information about Infor ION is available at www.infor.com/company/ION.
At Infor, we work with a core belief. We believe in the customer. We believe that the customer is seeking a better, more collaborative relationship with its business software provider. And a new breed of business software: created for evolution, not revolution. Software that's simple to buy, easy to deploy and convenient to manage. Our 70,000 customers in more than 100 countries stand with us. We look forward to your sharing in the results of our belief. There is a better way. For additional information, visit www.infor.com.
This announcement reflects the direction Infor may take with regard to the specific product(s) described herein, all of which is subject to change by Infor in its sole discretion, with or without notice to you. This announcement is not a commitment to you in any way and you should not rely on this document or any of its content in making any decision. Infor is not committing to develop or deliver any specified enhancement, upgrade, product or functionality, even if such is described in this announcement and even if such description is accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should," "will," and/or similar expressions. Many factors can affect Infor's product development plans and the nature, content and timing of future product releases, all of which remain in the sole discretion of Infor. This announcement, in whole or in part, may not be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Infor or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Infor expressly disclaims any liability with respect to this announcement.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Is Microsoft Office 2010 Worth the Money?
Partners have had their hands on Office 2010 for a while now, but the massive productivity suite just rolled out to consumers on Tuesday. It's not cheap -- depending on the version, it runs from about $150 to nearly $500.
Five hundred dollars? (It just looks so much more dramatic spelled out.) Granted, that's for the highest-end version of the software (Office Professional 2010), but your editor does much of his work on a netbook that only cost $350 -- and that was with an upgrade to 2GB of memory plus the cost of shipping. We at RCPU are still trying to figure out Office 2007 (at home -- not in the office). Why on earth would we move to Office 2010? Heck, Office 2003, like XP, still works just fine. Your editor is typing in Microsoft Word 2003 right now.
It used to be that buying a new version of Office was just a given. Each version was pretty significantly better than the one before, and not much of anything else could seriously compete with it (fire away, StarOffice and WordPerfect fans). Now, though, there are lots of productivity-suite options not named Office, and some of them are free. For one, Microsoft recently released its own (limited) free online version of Office. Then there are OpenOffice.org and Google Apps (among others), both of which cost nothing for basic versions and are compatible with Microsoft Office.
We believe that the primary driver for sticking with Office is fear. Sure, Google Apps and other such suites are supposed to be compatible with Word and Excel, but...what if they're not? What then? Will people be able to open my files? Will I have to use some sort of weird adapter? It's all too scary to consider.
Free online suites are compatible -- Google Docs might be a bit clunky to use, but the brief process of transitioning a document from Docs to Word has been as smooth as silk in our experience. We use Google Apps every day and convert Docs documents to Word documents all the time. Still, the thought always persists: Is this really going to work? Better check Word just to make sure...And so Office rolls on, and so does the revenue for Microsoft, and for partners that's probably not a bad thing.
We have a comment on Office from RCPU e-mail legend Peter, who really wasn't too impressed by it:
“I went to the Office 2010 launch in Melbourne this week, and that was a major disappointment. What do they do with that $9 billion per year, anyway? The main presenter looked like he was about 12 years old. Office 2010 looks just like 2007 with a few fixes. Call me a Luddite, but I'm still on XP Pro and Office 2003. Microsoft folk actually seem to believe that their customers like that idiotic ribbon thing. They were not at all impressed when I told them repeatedly that I actually like Google!”
Peter, we like Google too, and we're still trying to get around Office 2007. The question is, though, would you go all-Google, all the time? We at RCPU aren't so sure that we would...yet. But free vs. $150 and up really does seem tempting.
Source:onwindows.com
Five hundred dollars? (It just looks so much more dramatic spelled out.) Granted, that's for the highest-end version of the software (Office Professional 2010), but your editor does much of his work on a netbook that only cost $350 -- and that was with an upgrade to 2GB of memory plus the cost of shipping. We at RCPU are still trying to figure out Office 2007 (at home -- not in the office). Why on earth would we move to Office 2010? Heck, Office 2003, like XP, still works just fine. Your editor is typing in Microsoft Word 2003 right now.
It used to be that buying a new version of Office was just a given. Each version was pretty significantly better than the one before, and not much of anything else could seriously compete with it (fire away, StarOffice and WordPerfect fans). Now, though, there are lots of productivity-suite options not named Office, and some of them are free. For one, Microsoft recently released its own (limited) free online version of Office. Then there are OpenOffice.org and Google Apps (among others), both of which cost nothing for basic versions and are compatible with Microsoft Office.
We believe that the primary driver for sticking with Office is fear. Sure, Google Apps and other such suites are supposed to be compatible with Word and Excel, but...what if they're not? What then? Will people be able to open my files? Will I have to use some sort of weird adapter? It's all too scary to consider.
Free online suites are compatible -- Google Docs might be a bit clunky to use, but the brief process of transitioning a document from Docs to Word has been as smooth as silk in our experience. We use Google Apps every day and convert Docs documents to Word documents all the time. Still, the thought always persists: Is this really going to work? Better check Word just to make sure...And so Office rolls on, and so does the revenue for Microsoft, and for partners that's probably not a bad thing.
We have a comment on Office from RCPU e-mail legend Peter, who really wasn't too impressed by it:
“I went to the Office 2010 launch in Melbourne this week, and that was a major disappointment. What do they do with that $9 billion per year, anyway? The main presenter looked like he was about 12 years old. Office 2010 looks just like 2007 with a few fixes. Call me a Luddite, but I'm still on XP Pro and Office 2003. Microsoft folk actually seem to believe that their customers like that idiotic ribbon thing. They were not at all impressed when I told them repeatedly that I actually like Google!”
Peter, we like Google too, and we're still trying to get around Office 2007. The question is, though, would you go all-Google, all the time? We at RCPU aren't so sure that we would...yet. But free vs. $150 and up really does seem tempting.
Source:onwindows.com
Friday, June 11, 2010
The ERP Software That Can Transform Your Business
The market for ERP software is highly competitive and it’s most definitely a buyer’s market
Looking for the best ERP solution for your company is not an easy task in today’s market with all the providers, systems and applications to choose from; there is so much potential for distraction and it’s hard to make the right choice. But don’t be put off. Yes, the market is highly competitive, but, by its very nature, this is great for consumers. It means only the best players and solutions can survive. If they refuse to listen to and watch the demands of customers, change in technologies and emerging practices, then they’ll suffer a fall.
Some of the top ERP sellers are as follows:
Microsoft (Microsoft Dynamics)
Microsoft is a giant when it comes to IT. However, it doesn’t occupy the same position when it comes to ERP. It is, though, amongst the best and its Dynamics package is fast becoming the solution of choice for those looking for a flexible solution that helps increase efficiencies and increase profitability.
“Success in the manufacturing industry requires producing the right products, in the right quantities, at the right time, with good quality, and at a price the customer is willing to pay,” says Microsoft. “The flexibility to respond to compliance standards and the ever-changing needs of customers is also imperative for success. Meeting these demands requires the ability to make quick decisions based on accurate data.”
Microsoft Dynamics boasts an impressive client list and there are a number of success stories, including that of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe, which manufactures, sells, and distributes more than 18,000 forklifts each year throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
“Our dealers expect a high efficiency level with as few mistakes as possible, and due to Microsoft Dynamics, we are able to hold on to this high efficiency service level, now and in the future,” Robert Vleeschhouwer, General Manager of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe’s Information Systems Department, says.
Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software. They automate and improve financial, customer relationship, and supply chain management.
Oracle ERP (also called E-Business Suite)
Oracle is one of the top players in the ERP market, focusing on innovation and results, and how they can benefit customers.
Its manufacturing family of applications enables you to optimise production capacity, from raw materials through final product, regardless of manufacturing methodology, and a unified data model provides a single, accurate view of your manufacturing process. This means businesses can configure customer orders, optimise subcontracting, and manage cost, quality, and compliance.
“Oracle customers use Oracle technology, applications, and services to build information systems that help them retain the value of existing investments, stay competitive in the current economic climate, cut costs and improve security, make compliance easier, and manage complex upgrades with fewer risks,” the company says.
Infor
Infor is another big name in the ERP market and it aims to develop flexible, low-cost ERP solutions that match the way businesses work, delivering the “critical” ERP tools required to thrive in a lean world.
Its ERP solutions help companies:
• Reduce operational costs and improve efficiency
• Gain better visibility into transactions
across the enterprise
• Make better business decisions
• Deliver the right product at the right time
• Keep customer promises
• Adopt manufacturing best practices, including lean.
“Global competition and pricing pressures place an extraordinary demand on today’s manufacturers to strive for new levels of efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness,” says Infor.
“Having the manufacturing control to respond appropriately to a volatile market, along with the operational agility to anticipate what will be demanded in six months or a year, can mean the difference between struggling to survive, or setting
the pace.”
SAP ERP
SAP ERP is a software program that is aimed at providing solutions to the users in overcoming their technical and managerial problems with regards to data handling and transformation. It has become a favourite choice of corporates as it renders valuable services to companies by redefining the way business should be done.
“A sound foundation is necessary to compete and win in the global marketplace,” says SAP. “The SAP ERP application supports the essential functions of your business processes and operations efficiently and is tailored to specific needs of your industry.”
Some of the advantages of SAP ERP are:
• Improved alignment of strategies and operations
• Improved productivity and insight
• Reduced costs
• Improved financial management and corporate governance
• Retaining top performers
• Providing immediate access to enterprise information.
IFS
Last but not least, we have IFS, one of the world’s leading providers of component-based business software.
Its industry-focused solutions help leading companies improve profitability, meet regulatory requirements, and take advantage of new business opportunities.
Unsurprisingly, it works extensively with leading automotive brands such as Honda, BMW, Lotus, Volvo and Toyota, providing component based solutions that enable them to adapt in a rapidly changing world.
Conclusion
So, there we have it – our review of the best ERP sellers on the market is complete.
What is best for you? Well, that’s difficult to answer and it will involve a lot of research; it is vital you choose a provider who builds software programs that suit your needs. A lot of factors will come into play in deciding the credibility of the ERP sellers, so choose wisely.
Source:execdigital.com
Looking for the best ERP solution for your company is not an easy task in today’s market with all the providers, systems and applications to choose from; there is so much potential for distraction and it’s hard to make the right choice. But don’t be put off. Yes, the market is highly competitive, but, by its very nature, this is great for consumers. It means only the best players and solutions can survive. If they refuse to listen to and watch the demands of customers, change in technologies and emerging practices, then they’ll suffer a fall.
Some of the top ERP sellers are as follows:
Microsoft (Microsoft Dynamics)
Microsoft is a giant when it comes to IT. However, it doesn’t occupy the same position when it comes to ERP. It is, though, amongst the best and its Dynamics package is fast becoming the solution of choice for those looking for a flexible solution that helps increase efficiencies and increase profitability.
“Success in the manufacturing industry requires producing the right products, in the right quantities, at the right time, with good quality, and at a price the customer is willing to pay,” says Microsoft. “The flexibility to respond to compliance standards and the ever-changing needs of customers is also imperative for success. Meeting these demands requires the ability to make quick decisions based on accurate data.”
Microsoft Dynamics boasts an impressive client list and there are a number of success stories, including that of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe, which manufactures, sells, and distributes more than 18,000 forklifts each year throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
“Our dealers expect a high efficiency level with as few mistakes as possible, and due to Microsoft Dynamics, we are able to hold on to this high efficiency service level, now and in the future,” Robert Vleeschhouwer, General Manager of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe’s Information Systems Department, says.
Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software. They automate and improve financial, customer relationship, and supply chain management.
Oracle ERP (also called E-Business Suite)
Oracle is one of the top players in the ERP market, focusing on innovation and results, and how they can benefit customers.
Its manufacturing family of applications enables you to optimise production capacity, from raw materials through final product, regardless of manufacturing methodology, and a unified data model provides a single, accurate view of your manufacturing process. This means businesses can configure customer orders, optimise subcontracting, and manage cost, quality, and compliance.
“Oracle customers use Oracle technology, applications, and services to build information systems that help them retain the value of existing investments, stay competitive in the current economic climate, cut costs and improve security, make compliance easier, and manage complex upgrades with fewer risks,” the company says.
Infor
Infor is another big name in the ERP market and it aims to develop flexible, low-cost ERP solutions that match the way businesses work, delivering the “critical” ERP tools required to thrive in a lean world.
Its ERP solutions help companies:
• Reduce operational costs and improve efficiency
• Gain better visibility into transactions
across the enterprise
• Make better business decisions
• Deliver the right product at the right time
• Keep customer promises
• Adopt manufacturing best practices, including lean.
“Global competition and pricing pressures place an extraordinary demand on today’s manufacturers to strive for new levels of efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness,” says Infor.
“Having the manufacturing control to respond appropriately to a volatile market, along with the operational agility to anticipate what will be demanded in six months or a year, can mean the difference between struggling to survive, or setting
the pace.”
SAP ERP
SAP ERP is a software program that is aimed at providing solutions to the users in overcoming their technical and managerial problems with regards to data handling and transformation. It has become a favourite choice of corporates as it renders valuable services to companies by redefining the way business should be done.
“A sound foundation is necessary to compete and win in the global marketplace,” says SAP. “The SAP ERP application supports the essential functions of your business processes and operations efficiently and is tailored to specific needs of your industry.”
Some of the advantages of SAP ERP are:
• Improved alignment of strategies and operations
• Improved productivity and insight
• Reduced costs
• Improved financial management and corporate governance
• Retaining top performers
• Providing immediate access to enterprise information.
IFS
Last but not least, we have IFS, one of the world’s leading providers of component-based business software.
Its industry-focused solutions help leading companies improve profitability, meet regulatory requirements, and take advantage of new business opportunities.
Unsurprisingly, it works extensively with leading automotive brands such as Honda, BMW, Lotus, Volvo and Toyota, providing component based solutions that enable them to adapt in a rapidly changing world.
Conclusion
So, there we have it – our review of the best ERP sellers on the market is complete.
What is best for you? Well, that’s difficult to answer and it will involve a lot of research; it is vital you choose a provider who builds software programs that suit your needs. A lot of factors will come into play in deciding the credibility of the ERP sellers, so choose wisely.
Source:execdigital.com
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Salesforce.com Scores World Cup CRM Deployment
The 2010 FIFA World Cup gets underway on Friday, and it will bring hundreds of thousands soccer fans to South Africa over the next month. To cope with an anticipated ten-fold increase in visitor calls and online contacts, South African Tourism has turned to Salesforce.com for a rapidly scalable and social-network-connected CRM environment.
South Africa is used to hosting visitors to its wildlife parks and reserves. But the World Cup is expected to draw as many 300,000, including many first-time visitors to the country. With 64 matches set for nine different cities, more travel will be required once visitors arrive in country. The combination required big changes for South African Tourism, which normally handles pre-visit calls from would-be visitors.
"We had to turn our call center inside out to handle calls from within South Africa, whether people need help with travel logistics, accommodations or ticket availability for specific games," said William Price, global manager of e-marketing at South African Tourism.
The government-sanctioned agency had an aging, custom-built CRM system built on Microsoft technology, but Price says he immediately thought about cloud possibilities when planners estimated calls might jump from 1,000 to 2,000 per week up to 10,000 to 15,000 during each week of World Cup play. Salesforce.com was one of seven CRM systems and three software-as-a-service options the agency considered.
Learn about issues that may arise and discover an effective tool to smooth the transition
Simplify Your Migration to Exchange 2010
"The World Cup has been a great catalyst for us to get something that is easy and quick to deploy and something we don't have to invest in from a software point of view," Price said. "When it came time for deployment, it took Salesforce about three weeks to get the system up and running, which is phenomenal from an implementation standpoint."
Social-network-analysis capabilities were also of interest, as South African Tourism wants to monitor what tourists are saying even if they aren't using a telephone. Salesforce.com was able to plug in South African Tourism's existing Twitter handle and Facebook profile (along with followers and friends) into the agency's CRM implementation.
"We'll be able to listen to these networks, so if there a lot of Tweets on 'FIFA' or 'World Cup' or another keyword we discover, we can quickly figure out what people are saying and start managing and directing those conversations using our Twitter handle and our Facebook page," Price said.
South African Tourism is also planning a June 11 launch of a feedback portal through Salesforce Ideas, an electronic survey capability through which the agency can gather crowd-sourced tips on transportation logistics or favorite side trips, hotels and restaurants.
Price said South African Tourism will also exploit Salesforce.com's built-in business intelligence and workflow capabilities. The former gives South African Tourism real-time trend analysis on types of inquiries, volumes of calls by category, and the languages of incoming contacts. The latter provides case management and escalation capabilities, so special problems or complaints can be routed to appropriate contacts or departments.
Once the World Cup is over, Price said South African Tourism will phase out the old CRM system, which is still handling calls from outside of South Africa, and permanently replace it with Salesforce.com.
"We may cut the number of licenses we'll need by half, but it's a powerful CRM tool that we can also use for knowledge management," Price said. "We want to be able to capture the information our call center agents are giving people over the phone so we can share that through our online presences."
South African Tourism expects as many as 300,000 visitors during the World Cup, though Price said that's down from pre-recessionary highs of more than 400,000 visitors per month. Despite the success of online channels for European ticket sales during the 2008 World Cup in Germany, Price said many South Africans don't have Internet access, so in-country ticket sales have been predominantly through physical distribution sites including banks and vending machines.
Source:informationweek.com
South Africa is used to hosting visitors to its wildlife parks and reserves. But the World Cup is expected to draw as many 300,000, including many first-time visitors to the country. With 64 matches set for nine different cities, more travel will be required once visitors arrive in country. The combination required big changes for South African Tourism, which normally handles pre-visit calls from would-be visitors.
"We had to turn our call center inside out to handle calls from within South Africa, whether people need help with travel logistics, accommodations or ticket availability for specific games," said William Price, global manager of e-marketing at South African Tourism.
The government-sanctioned agency had an aging, custom-built CRM system built on Microsoft technology, but Price says he immediately thought about cloud possibilities when planners estimated calls might jump from 1,000 to 2,000 per week up to 10,000 to 15,000 during each week of World Cup play. Salesforce.com was one of seven CRM systems and three software-as-a-service options the agency considered.
Learn about issues that may arise and discover an effective tool to smooth the transition
Simplify Your Migration to Exchange 2010
"The World Cup has been a great catalyst for us to get something that is easy and quick to deploy and something we don't have to invest in from a software point of view," Price said. "When it came time for deployment, it took Salesforce about three weeks to get the system up and running, which is phenomenal from an implementation standpoint."
Social-network-analysis capabilities were also of interest, as South African Tourism wants to monitor what tourists are saying even if they aren't using a telephone. Salesforce.com was able to plug in South African Tourism's existing Twitter handle and Facebook profile (along with followers and friends) into the agency's CRM implementation.
"We'll be able to listen to these networks, so if there a lot of Tweets on 'FIFA' or 'World Cup' or another keyword we discover, we can quickly figure out what people are saying and start managing and directing those conversations using our Twitter handle and our Facebook page," Price said.
South African Tourism is also planning a June 11 launch of a feedback portal through Salesforce Ideas, an electronic survey capability through which the agency can gather crowd-sourced tips on transportation logistics or favorite side trips, hotels and restaurants.
Price said South African Tourism will also exploit Salesforce.com's built-in business intelligence and workflow capabilities. The former gives South African Tourism real-time trend analysis on types of inquiries, volumes of calls by category, and the languages of incoming contacts. The latter provides case management and escalation capabilities, so special problems or complaints can be routed to appropriate contacts or departments.
Once the World Cup is over, Price said South African Tourism will phase out the old CRM system, which is still handling calls from outside of South Africa, and permanently replace it with Salesforce.com.
"We may cut the number of licenses we'll need by half, but it's a powerful CRM tool that we can also use for knowledge management," Price said. "We want to be able to capture the information our call center agents are giving people over the phone so we can share that through our online presences."
South African Tourism expects as many as 300,000 visitors during the World Cup, though Price said that's down from pre-recessionary highs of more than 400,000 visitors per month. Despite the success of online channels for European ticket sales during the 2008 World Cup in Germany, Price said many South Africans don't have Internet access, so in-country ticket sales have been predominantly through physical distribution sites including banks and vending machines.
Source:informationweek.com
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Microsoft Shows Off BI "Engine Of The Devil"
Microsoft hinted at some amazing new capabilities coming to its BI products in yesterday’s Business Intelligence Conference keynote, including an "engine of the devil" that allows instant analysis of more than 2 billion rows of data.
Microsoft BI engineer Amir Netz joined senior exec Ted Kummert to demo new technology the company is working on to go beyond current capabilities of its recently released PowerPivot "BI for the masses" application. I previously wrote about a demo I attended that showed how easily PowerPivot could handle 44 million rows of data.
Netz had upped the ante Monday at Microsoft’s TechEd conference in New Orleans with a 100-million-row example. Yesterday, using a server with more memory than the desktops used before, he seamlessly tackled the 2-billion-row demo with the same storage technology used in PowerPivot. "You know, we talked about wicked fast yesterday," he said. "This is beyond wicked fast; this is the engine of the devil, right?"
The crowd loved it, but Kummert wasn’t so sure about the characterization. Microsoft senior leadership probably isn’t too keen on branding its products with references to Satan. "You said that, I didn’t," Kummert said, before joking about Netz’s upcoming performance review.
Netz said the company had received great feedback on PowerPivot, but some BI pros wanted more capabilities and functionality. His demo connected the PowerPivot technology that can be used in Excel to SQL Server Analysis Services for some incredible performance metrics.
He explained the demo: "We have 10 widgets on the screen, six slicers and four charts. And each one of those sends two queries to the data source in order to render itself. So we have about 20 queries being sent. Every one of those queries is a full table-scan of the 2 billion rows. So all together whenever I click, we are scanning 40 billion rows, and it takes about two and a half seconds to do that. So if you just do the math in your head, we are seeing here a scan rate of a trillion rows per minute. That's kind of what we're talking about."
Then he jokingly countered Kummert by saying "Performance review!"
Netz also shows some striking PowerPivot data visualization capabilities that reportedly will be available in the next 30 days.
In another tidbit, Kummert said the company was working on bringing the full capabilities of SQL Server to SQL Azure, its cloud-based "set of relational features oriented toward application development scenarios." That mismatch of features has been a point of contention in the SQL Server community.
"We're hard at work on that now," Kummert said. "I'm not announcing the specific release timeframe for that, but this is something you're going to hear from us shortly in the future."
Source:visualstudiomagazine.com/blogs/data-driver
Microsoft BI engineer Amir Netz joined senior exec Ted Kummert to demo new technology the company is working on to go beyond current capabilities of its recently released PowerPivot "BI for the masses" application. I previously wrote about a demo I attended that showed how easily PowerPivot could handle 44 million rows of data.
Netz had upped the ante Monday at Microsoft’s TechEd conference in New Orleans with a 100-million-row example. Yesterday, using a server with more memory than the desktops used before, he seamlessly tackled the 2-billion-row demo with the same storage technology used in PowerPivot. "You know, we talked about wicked fast yesterday," he said. "This is beyond wicked fast; this is the engine of the devil, right?"
The crowd loved it, but Kummert wasn’t so sure about the characterization. Microsoft senior leadership probably isn’t too keen on branding its products with references to Satan. "You said that, I didn’t," Kummert said, before joking about Netz’s upcoming performance review.
Netz said the company had received great feedback on PowerPivot, but some BI pros wanted more capabilities and functionality. His demo connected the PowerPivot technology that can be used in Excel to SQL Server Analysis Services for some incredible performance metrics.
He explained the demo: "We have 10 widgets on the screen, six slicers and four charts. And each one of those sends two queries to the data source in order to render itself. So we have about 20 queries being sent. Every one of those queries is a full table-scan of the 2 billion rows. So all together whenever I click, we are scanning 40 billion rows, and it takes about two and a half seconds to do that. So if you just do the math in your head, we are seeing here a scan rate of a trillion rows per minute. That's kind of what we're talking about."
Then he jokingly countered Kummert by saying "Performance review!"
Netz also shows some striking PowerPivot data visualization capabilities that reportedly will be available in the next 30 days.
In another tidbit, Kummert said the company was working on bringing the full capabilities of SQL Server to SQL Azure, its cloud-based "set of relational features oriented toward application development scenarios." That mismatch of features has been a point of contention in the SQL Server community.
"We're hard at work on that now," Kummert said. "I'm not announcing the specific release timeframe for that, but this is something you're going to hear from us shortly in the future."
Source:visualstudiomagazine.com/blogs/data-driver
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