Oracle Executive CRM Summit: Opening up the conversation

By Stuart Lauchlan, news and analysis editor

Oracle president Charles Phillips kicked off the two-day Oracle Summit on the social networking evolution of the customer management market with some product sabre rattling. But he also had some interesting insights into the opportunities presented by Web 2.0 in these 'uncertain times'.

The elegant Hotel Lutetia in Paris was once home to senior Gestapo officers during the occupation in World War II. But the guests checking in this week were of a far less sinister nature, in the form of business executives from all around Europe who gathered for a two-day Oracle summit on the social networking evolution of the customer management market.

While CRM and the future development of the market was to be the central theme of the summit, it kicked off with a setting out of the Oracle stall from Oracle president Charles Phillips. This was partly preaching to the converted – the attendees were existing Oracle customers – but the company has expanded so rapidly through acquisitions that such scene setting is now practically de rigeur in order to keep up with the latest additions to the portfolio.

“We are certainly the largest enterprise software company overall,” said Phillips. “We have three basic businesses – databases, middleware and applications. We've grown a lot. We have over 3,000 products. We are not the same company we were when we only had a database. We continue to grow in that market. We now have more market share than IBM and Microsoft combined according to Gartner. We are now number one in middleware following the BEA takeover. The third business is applications. We continue to expand here, not just in back office. We go well beyond ERP. If you think about applications from enterprise vendors you think about ERP and CRM. But we also have line of business applications that drive revenue. That brings us closer to customers.”

More is less, argued Phillips, telling the audience that the more Oracle software that they use, the more benefit they will realise. “You start to reduce complexity. You can remove duplication. You don't want each application to have its own security, for example, there should be one central security point,” he said. “To have all these things designed by different companies, makes a lot of work for you or have you hire a bunch of consultants. We do that for you. The more Oracle products you use the more you share infrastructure, the more one plus one makes three.”

Phillips also pledged that Oracle would remain emphatically enterprise-focused. “We're not going to get distracted and go off to chase the consumer market or go after internet companies or sell X-Boxes,” he said. “All our acquisitions have been in the enterprise space. We are going to stay focused. We will spend $3 billion in development this year, regardless of any acquisitions. Acquisitions are a way to supplement innovation. If there is something interesting or innovative in another company in the enterprise space, we probably know about it. Companies come to tell us about it because they want to be bought by Oracle.”

The changing nature of customer engagement

With the software stack lined up, Phillips moved on to discuss the changing nature of customer engagement and management. “These are uncertain times and in uncertain times you need to have more certain opportunities,” he said. “The timing of this conference is perfect. It's the perfect time to be closer to your customers and to have more complete, accurate and timely information about your customers. It's a great time to understand them more and get an edge over your competition.”

These new imperatives map onto Oracle's software stack, he added. “Everything we do builds on something we've done in the past,” he said. “You need to collect information on customers in a more efficient way. You need to analyse the information better. Thirdly, customers are interacting in a different way. They are going to have conversations. You can ignore that or you can take advantage of the growing network of customers who are having conversations about you.

“You need a multichannel architecture that pulls in information from multiple sources. We can give you a single view of the customer. In the past we had fragmented customer information across channels. The data in CRM 2.0 is much richer. People spend more time online and are willing to give you more data than before. The trick is what you do with that data and how you analyse it.

“Within Oracle, I have a dashboard where I can see things like the global pipeline. That's just the metrics. But what kind of things do you need to analyse. If you collect enough customer data, you can see trends. We can get to some sophisticated analytics. If you tell me the product, the size of the deal and your industry, I can tell you the sequence of events that lead up to a transaction. We have an analytics group that looks at this information on a constant basis.

"Once we know who the customer is, we can look at past purchasing. We can look at who you are and what you have installed and we can predict what you'll buy next within four products. We have that level of sophistication now that we didn't have five years ago. We know the customers. We won't waste money trying to get you to look at things you don't want to buy. We can be more productive and get more out of what you are spending. You give customers information that they care about.

“Then you want to take advantage of new channels. Customers want to engage with customers. They want to participate in the conversation. There are consumer networks. Productivity networks in business to business, such as the Oracle Technology Network. Then there are customer networks where people talk about experience of our products. Is it all good? No, but I want to know if there are things in there that I don't like. Our willingness to engage and respond brings us closer to customers. Last month we took down a website and asked them to enter their idea for Oracle. It was an overwhelming success. If you didn't want to do it, you could skip to the regular website. It demonstrated that in all communication forms, customers want to participate, they don't want one way communications.”

Salesforce.com Deals with Google After Failing to Land Zoho

Zoho's product evangelist discusses the deal that never went down, dishing about Salesforce.com's corporate practices.Vegesna said Salesforce.com is spending too much on marketing and not enough on R&D.

Salesforce.com's fortified integration with Google could bolster both companies' strategies to tackle Microsoft in the applications market.

But the deal might not have happened if Salesforce.com acquired Zoho two years ago. That's what Zoho Evangelist Raju Vegesna told eWEEK in a phone interview April 14 following the publication of a controversial blog post by Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho parent company AdventNet.

Vegesna told eWEEK that as late as 2007, Salesforce.com and Zoho were in negotiations to be at least partners, if not to consummate an outright marriage.

The SAAS (software-as-a-service) business applications leader considered buying Zoho, Vegesna said, to leverage the company's collaboration software suite, which Zoho positions as an alternative to Google Apps and Microsoft's Office suite.

Such a deal appears to be all but dead now that Salesforce.com has proclaimed Google as its Apps platform of record.

Courtship Before Marriage

Salesforce.com declined to comment for this report, but Vegesna said Salesforce.com and Zoho began discussing a relationship, possibly even an acquisition in 2006.

However, Zoho's concern about Salesforce.com cost structure, which according to these estimates includes spending eight times more on marketing than research and development, prompted Zoho to offer to partner first.

"Let's date first before we get married," Vegesna said he recalled thinking. "We thought we'd experiment as an AppExchange partner, and if it goes well, maybe we'll take it up to the next step."

Zoho, one of the first Salesforce.com customers back in 1999 before it started using and selling its own Zoho CRM product, worked to integrate with Salesforce.com AppExchange in 2007.

But Salesforce.com pulled the plug a few days before it could go live, telling Zoho it could not work with AppExchange any longer because it had a competing product in Zoho CRM.

Later in 2007, Vegesna said Salesforce.com and Zoho rekindled conversations, discussing a possible acquisition. Financials were not discussed, and the talks didn't go well.

A deal was long dead even before April 14's Google-Salesforce.com bond, according to Vegesna, who echoed Vembu's blog when he said the company's corporate cultures were at odds.

"Hiring lots of salespeople is not good for a company," he said. "They cannot deliver affordable software." But part of the disparity, he admitted, is that Zoho prefers to remain private.

While Vegesna said Zoho operates under the "never say never" clause that most companies take, he agreed Salesforce.com is probably not going to come knocking again anytime soon.

He also questioned whether or not Salesforce.com and Google would be able to work together because Salesforce.com focuses on the enterprise while Google is pretty open to work with anyone. Some analysts agree.

IDC analyst Rachel Happe said Salesforce.com is serving some big accounts and needs the service-level agreements required by larger businesses, while Google targets businesses that want to pay little or nothing.

"That difference will likely cause tension in the relationship, but it will also likely grow over time," Happe told eWEEK April 14. "In the short term it gives Salesforce some publicity and a product extension, and it gives Google a go-to-market channel for its Apps product."

Gartner analyst Tom Austin told eWEEK April 14 the Salesforce.com-Google deal is designed to generate more press for cloud computing in the hope that it will generate longer-term dividends for Salesforce.com.

What those benefits are, he added, is unclear.

Source:eweek.com

Microsoft CRM 4.0 released

Software giant Microsoft has now released the latest edition of their CRM software CRM 4.0.

This release was codenamed Titan and the company managed to keep their promise by releasing it in this year itself.

The company said that the software would be available to their customers and hosting partners to download online.

Software giant Microsoft has now released the latest edition of their CRM software CRM 4.0.

This release was codenamed Titan and the company managed to keep their promise by releasing it in this year itself.

The company said that the software would be available to their customers and hosting partners to download online.

Microsoft said that this new edition features multitenant architecture which would enable them and their partners to host CRM in much higher volumes.

This would help them compete more efficiently with rival companies in this segment like Salesforce.com.

The company added that the hosted edition of the service codenamed CRM Live would be available sometime later next year. said that this new edition features multitenant architecture which would enable them and their partners to host CRM in much higher volumes.

This would help them compete more efficiently with rival companies in this segment like Salesforce.com.

The company added that the hosted edition of the service codenamed CRM Live would be available sometime later next year.

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

HR Technology Advisors & T.H.G. Sales Automation Releases Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Benefits Brokers

New Client Management System for Benefits Brokers Leverages Existing Microsoft Technologies

Marblehead, MA – October 16, 2007 — HR Technology Advisors (HRT), a national, independent human resources and benefits technology consulting firm and reseller, in a joint venture with Microsoft Partner T.H.G. Sales Automation (T.H.G.), has taken Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM (Customer Relationship Management) 3.0 Professional and adapted it to fit the business needs and workflows of the Employee Benefits Brokerage firms. In addition to rich, core functionality fully integrated into Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows brokers to track group benefits, pension, and individual policy information, manage service issues, monitor prospects and renewals, conduct mail merges, automate their own unique internal workflows and much more.

“In an ever evolving market, our benefits brokerage clients need to stay ahead of the competition. As their businesses become more complex, HRT’s customers will now have access to a CRM system designed to be a natural extension of Microsoft Office and Outlook®, providing a familiar and intuitive work environment that fosters user adoption and productivity,” says Don Rowe, Principal, HR Technology Advisors. “Because Microsoft CRM provides seamless integration with software employees are already using, those employees find it very easy to navigate, helping companies improve productivity, control costs, and maximize return on investment.”

In addition to the Outlook integration, the Microsoft CRM for Benefit Brokers system integrates with handheld devices and Microsoft SharePoint, enabling brokers to collaborate in real-time with their customers via the Web through the deployment of customer portals. Brokers will be able to buy the system and host it themselves or lease it with third-party hosting. Users can access the system from their desktop inside of Outlook or independently via the Internet. The flexibility of Microsoft CRM also enables firms to make modifications to their system to fit their specific business needs.

For more information about Microsoft CRM for Benefits Brokers, please contact HR Technology Advisors at 508-520-9800.

About HR Technology Advisors, LLC

HR Technology Advisors (HRT, http://www.hrtadvisors.com) is a national, independent technology brokerage and consulting firm focused entirely in the HR & Benefits technology marketplace. Unlike many others, HRT is not a manufacturer or builder of technology. Instead, we are independent and objective. Our approach is simply to find the best vendors available in the marketplace and bring that technology to our clients. We broker best-of-breed technology and provide consulting support to ensure appropriately solution implementation and successful adoption. HRT’s clients include principally Employee Benefit Brokers and their employer clients.

About T.H.G. Sales Automation

T.H.G. Sales Automation is a recognized industry expert in implementing CRM solutions on a global basis. T.H.G., a Microsoft Certified Partner, offers a comprehensive line of products and services including Project Management (needs analysis, requirements gathering, and functional specifications), Design and Development, Implementation, Training, Analytics/Reporting, and Support based on your choice of CRM solutions. T.H.G.'s staff has more than 100 years of combined experience in the CRM industry. They have pooled their expertise to develop a logical approach to designing and implementing CRM solutions that lead to successful outcomes for their clients. T.H.G. Sales Automation makes it their business to improve the way you do business.

About Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM gives every customer-facing employee the information they need to truly impress customers. With Microsoft CRM, you can create a centralized repository of customer data that sits neatly alongside Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Outlook - the applications your employees probably use every day. From Outlook, employees access Microsoft CRM sales, marketing, and customer service modules to make sales decisions, market products, solve problems, and get strategic views of the business. It’s CRM that works - because it works the way your users already do, works the way your business already does, and works the way technology should.

Contact:

Don Rowe, Principal
HR Technology Advisors, LLC
Phone – 888-520-0980
drowe@hrtadvisors.com

Taking SaaS to market

The SaaS model is gaining ground with vendors focusing on it in a big way. By Neeraj Gandhi

The concept of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been brewing for quite some time now. Starting life as the ASP model it has moved on and evolved into a hosted model with greater flexibility than the one-size-fits-all of its early days. The idea of hosting software applications for the enterprise has generated a considerable amount of interest amongst vendors, as also among enterprises for the flexibility that such a model offers.

According to Gartner Inc., worldwide total software revenue for SaaS within the enterprise software markets is projected to surpass $5.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 21 percent over 2006.

Some popular applications like payroll, accounting, CRM and video conferencing are working successfully on the SaaS model. In fact, there have also been initiatives on part of vendors to offer ERP on a SaaS platform. Microsoft recently launched its ERP as a service offering and Sage Software introduced its CRM solution through a similar model. This trend of delivering software-based services over the Internet is an indicator of a shift in the way IT consumption is being viewed today.

“The e-ticketing, travel portals and e-banking phenomena that have caught our imagination are all manifestations of a trend towards conducting business on the Web. This shift in thinking–away from a hard copy only scenario to a preference for online–has been from the end user perspective. It has now begun in the enterprise segment as well. This is manifested as a willingness to explore new models for IT deployment–including software-as-a-service,” says Sushant Dwivedy- Lead, Microsoft Business Solutions, Microsoft India.

Thomas Abraham, Managing Director, Sage Software India Pvt Ltd puts forward a word of caution saying, “SaaS is a relatively new concept in India. There are applications like Sales Force Automation (SFA), CRM and accounting and payroll that use the SaaS model. The key issue to be addressed is that of data security. Some large enterprises may be nervous about migration of data, and could decide to exit the hosted offering. While data security should not be seen as a concern, companies should clearly identify how data migration can be done.”

Adoption: bit by bit

Enterprises are acknowledging SaaS as an efficient model for their businesses. This growing interest is fuelling the momentum of its adoption. In fact enterprises across verticals are embracing this model. Presently enterprises that are providing sales automation, logistics and financial services are in fact successfully operating on the SaaS model.

There is quick adoption of SaaS by product and service companies like banking, finance and health. However in percentage points, says James D Foy, CEO & President, Aspect Software, “The adoption level of SaaS today is in single percentage points because of the fact the market is new. This level will increase to 25 to 40 percentage points gradually in the years to come as more enterprises adopt this model.”

In addition, “Education, marketing automation, logistics/procurement sourcing and human resource are also looking at SaaS as a model for operation,” says Munish Gupta, AVP Program Management, High Tech, GlobalLogic.

“Companies that are suppliers to large Indian and global firms such as automotive spare part manufacturers, textile and pharmaceutical companies are driven both by the desire to improve their bottom-line and also by increasing pressure from larger partners to streamline their supply chains,” adds Dwivedy.

SaaS enables ‘quick start up’ with limited investments. It also allows the companies to move the application in-house should they desire that after using the hosted model and testing the applicability for their business. “SaaS is a power solution with zero up-front capital requirements. It is scalable and provides a great platform for SMBs and they can benefit from it in a big way,” adds Foy.

According to Dwivedy of Microsoft, SaaS will increase the affordability of ERP solutions by eliminating upfront capital expenditure and also eliminating the need for in-house IT resources and additional infrastructure.

He says, “We believe that the SMB segment will be the first off the bat in India to embrace the SaaS model. Among them, enterprises with global ambitions and desire to rapidly improve their business process in an increasingly competitive market will be the leaders in the pack.”

Go to Market

The SaaS model is fast gaining ground, and the market is receiving considerable focus from vendors. In such a scenario there are lots of offerings for the enterprise. There is growing trend of ‘Push towards the market’ as far as SaaS is concerned, and vendors are leaving no stone unturned to target their customers.

Vendors are resorting to an aggressive marketing campaign to penetrate the Indian market for SaaS. Sage Software has introduced a number of marketing initiatives to drive traffic to its Web site, in.sagecrm.com and to induce trials. Likewise a radio campaign and promotion through the Web is being done. They have also launched a PR campaign to create awareness in the market.

“We have an installed base of entry-level sales automation customers as well as ERP customers who are being targeted to migrate or sign up for this service. We are also expanding our partner community to address new markets like Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, TN and Karnataka to attract first movers in this space. Our focus will be to induce trials first. That gives us the customer touch points to move the relationship forward,” says Abraham.

Aspect Software provides solutions on the SaaS platform for contact centers, and is deploying measures to seize this opportunity. “We are basically focusing on creating a strong partner network to take our solutions to the market. Besides this, we are also doing branding in a focused fashion to make our products known,” says Foy. In addition the company is also resorting to conferences, undertaking promotional events and trade-based communication promotion.

Microsoft on the other hand has created a strong partner framework for its SaaS strategy, and also plans to create awareness about the benefits of this IT consumption model. “Our strategy is based on three delivery models, allowing for the greatest degree of customer choice and partner opportunity. In the On-Premise model software is installed at the customer location and licensed to the customer. In the Hosted by Partner model the infrastructure and software is owned and licensed by the partner, who purchases Microsoft software licenses. Lastly, in the Hosted by Microsoft model we own the infrastructure and provisioning of the software, which is provided as a service to customers,” says Dwivedy.

An affordable alternative

Businesses are adopting SaaS as an effective, affordable alternative to traditional packaged software. Vendors are marketing their products aggressively. However it’s not just solutions that they are looking at. In fact what they are demanding is customized or on-demand solutions that best serve their needs. This demand could range from customized ERP or CRM solutions to automation of services etc. However, just repackaging enterprise products as on-demand solutions is not enough.

“We see enterprises climbing on to this bandwagon with requirements for Lead Management. This is a huge pain area for many enterprises and they are happy to have a standalone solution to address this need. The other challenging demand from enterprises would be to have customized offerings in a hosted model. This gets complex as implementation costs shoot up and really the only benefit to companies will then be no infrastructure investment and maintenance,” says Abraham of Sage Software.

Dwivedy is of the view that enterprises look for automation. He says, “Enterprises are increasing focus on automating their supply chain. This helps them increase productivity by connecting to their supply base in real time. Deploying infrastructure on their end can be expensive. Adopting ERP through a hosted model enables a cost-effective approach to supply chain automation.”

He adds, “The second scenario gaining ground is the need for CRM with the distribution chain and channel partners. Again hosted delivery enables broader availability and access for the partner ecosystem that an organization works with.”

It should be noted that it is not merely the automation of services, availability of solutions through the distribution chain, or even low subscription cost that enterprises are demanding. There is an increasing demand of security, and usability among businesses.

Gupta of GlobalLogic says, “Enterprises today look for performance, security, usability, integration with back-office applications, scalability and multi-browser compatibility, when it comes to SaaS solutions.”

The SaaS solution platter

The Sage CRM solution comes with built-in analytics and dashboards, and sales, marketing, and service professionals can immediately act on relevant business, customer, and market events. The Sage CRM sales force automation solution within Sage CRM is designed for SMB sales teams. It allows sales teams in enterprises to effectively manage, forecast, and report on all phases of the sales cycle.

Aspect Software on the other hand offers solutions on the SaaS platform for contact centers. Its flagship solution, Aspect Unified IP 6.5 provides automatic call distribution (ACD), predictive dialing, voice portal capabilities, Internet contact, workflow management, multichannel recording and quality management. Another of its products named Performance Edge offers campaign management, workforce management and quality control.

Similarly Microsoft is offering hosted ERP. Hosting the Microsoft’s Dynamics Suite makes ERP solutions more affordable by eliminating upfront capital expenditure and also eliminating the need for in-house IT resources and additional infrastructure. Customers will have to pay on a per user per month basis. “Microsoft believes that this new offering will allow a larger set of SMBs in India to adopt and benefit from ERP services,” adds Dwivedy. In addition it also offers Windows Live, Microsoft Dynamics and Hosted Exchange.

Forecast for SaaS

It can be said that the stage for transformation from a traditional on site IT model to the SaaS model of IT deployment has been set. What needs to seen is how fast this transformation will take place. Although Indian enterprises have now become acquainted with SaaS, large-scale adoption is missing. Many are currently working on this model and reaping its benefits. At the same time there are businesses, mainly SMBs, who still have to adopt this model.

According to Dwivedy, “In India, the change will happen in multiple areas. The change in the SMB segment will be led by ERP deployments which is often the first step to a broader IT deployment. Enterprises that are constantly looking to leverage technology to deliver richer, better experiences to users will use next generation Web technologies to combine a high level of customer interactivity with the broad reach of the Web, rather than having to choose one or the other.”

Abraham of Sage Software is of the view that SaaS will play an increasing role in the future as companies complete their experience cycles and there would be some concrete data on the benefits of the same.

He adds, “The models and technologies will evolve making SaaS more customer friendly to implement and use. SaaS will always be a great generator of leads for application vendors as many organizations will try before they decide to buy or rent. There will be many more applications available on hire as the trend would be for organizations to minimize investments in infrastructure and trained manpower to manage the infrastructure and applications.”

That said, clear monetary advantages are required if SaaS is to be a successful proposition.

Gupta of GlobalLogic predicts a new level of adoption for SaaS saying, “SaaS in India will have to be integrated with mobile phones, because business users are likely to have data-enabled mobile phones. This tight integration along with the use of Web 2.0 technologies can help Indian SaaS providers build next-generation applications.”

He adds, “SaaS in India will not be limited to just enterprise applications. It will also extend to collaboration. One day in the near future, SMBs may need only mobile clients with Web browsers. Everything will be on the server and integrated with the mobile phone. We are not yet there, but 2008 will see the first steps in this direction.”

Bidvest Bank selects Microsoft CRM for client services

Recently launched Bidvest Bank, a leading provider of specialised foreign exchange and banking services in southern Africa, through its retail brand, Rennies Foreign Exchange, has implemented Microsoft's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to improve services to clients.

Microsoft Gold Certified partner, IS Partners, was responsible for the implementation.

Bidvest Bank is unique in that its niche success includes foreign exchange, trade finance and related activities.

The CRM solution encompasses contact management, sales force automation and basic case management components to address the bank's key objectives of improving customer retention and profitability, as well as customer growth and efficiencies.

"Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 has provided a central repository of client-based information to be used by staff and executive management. Sales and marketing staff, for example, are primarily responsible for capturing client contact and related information into the CRM system," says Heath Turner, CRM director at IS Partners.

Bidvest Bank's product sales stages include client contact, application documentation, credit evaluation and facility documentation. The processes involved in the various sales stages have been automated for each product category, such as credit and non-credit, for example.

Basic case management has further ensured that any queries and service-related issues can be captured against a client and assigned to the staff member responsible. Excel templates have also been provided for data take-on, and have been populated from the bank's source systems.

"All Bidvest Bank's transactional data resides in two core systems. These include the treasury, derivatives and capital markets system and the debtors and collections management system," explains Turner. "The CRM system is fully integrated to ensure new or updated customer information, which resides in the CRM system, can be directly uploaded to the operational systems."

Gavin Bower, Director Treasury and Corporate Banking at Bidvest Bank, says: "The Microsoft-based CRM solution offers ease-of-use, a good fit within our existing environment, a lower total cost of ownership as well as the ability to customise the application to our specialised requirements.

"IS Partners demonstrated to our satisfaction that Microsoft CRM would meet or business objectives and deliver value, while their methodology ensured a sizable project such as this could be more successfully implemented in smaller, manageable stages."

Microsoft CRM Live Price: long-term options and pricing

QUESTION: I have been hearing a lot about CRM Live. Is that the next version of Microsoft CRM? What's different about CRM Live and who should consider using it?
EXPERT RESPONSE: Dynamics CRM Live is Microsoft's new hosted offering of Dynamics CRM. Microsoft announced the development of CRM Live over a year ago, but officially kicked off the early access program and announced product and pricing information at the worldwide partner conference earlier this month. CRM Live is essentially the same product as the on-premise Microsoft Dynamics CRM product, and offers several key advantages over competitors like Salesforce.com, including:
Price: CRM Live will be priced significantly less than Salesforce.com at $44 per user per month for online access and $59 per user per month for online and offline synchronization. There is even an expected promotional price as low as $39 per user per month. Long-term options: Because CRM Live and Dynamics CRM are built on the same code base and are in many ways the same product, customers will have the option of remaining in a hosted environment or converting their licenses and bringing their implementation in house at the end of their contract. This provides incredible flexibility for customers because they are not locked into either hosted or on-premise, and can make the decisions about where to run CRM according to what is in the best financial interest of their business. No other hosted CRM provider can currently offer this alternative. CRM Live is going to bring some real competition into the hosted CRM market that has been dominated by Salesforce.com. Look for CRM Live to be available later this year. You can read more about the product at www.crmlive.com.

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.

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

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.

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.

CRM News: Must Read: Vista: Changing the World One PC at a Time

Hello!

SaaS vendors welcome SAP to the hosted midmarket party
InfoWorld - Jan 26, 2007
"As well as validating the hosted approach, both Francis and Nelson also believe that whatever SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle come up with will trail what their companies already offer because those vendors lack the eight years of experience both firms have already gained in SaaS. "They're offering on-demand as a loss-leader product," Francis said, with the three vendors tending to position their hosted applications as more of an on-ramp to their main applications business, their on-premise software families. As part of its midyear . Oracle, meanwhile, sees SaaS as applicable to all its applications but expects to put more focus on its on-demand operations at some unspecified point in the future.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/07/01/26/HNmidmarketsap_1.html

CRM News: Must Read: Vista: Changing the World One PC at a Time
CRM Buyer - Jan 29, 2007
CRM Buyer features CRM product information, reviews and comparisons. It is an independent source updated each day... Everyone seemed to realize the world was changing, and PCs would never be the same. On launch, people lined up around the block to get in, and this was the first and only time an OS was given the same kind of treatment that a game system or a hot toy like Tickle Me Elmo or the Cabbage Patch Kids received. Microsoft was a star, Bill Gates was a rock star, and Windows 95 was a best seller. Windows 98 to XP SP2PCs were changed, and for the rest of the '90s, PCs gradually became kind of boring. There was a huge focus on enterprise and, for much of this time, it seemed the industry had almost forgotten about the user. Growth was good, but it laid a foundation for a market collapse in the next decade. In addition we (well, Al Gore) discovered the Web, and we gradually moved from processor-centric computing.
http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/must-read/55422.html

EBay Posts Big Q4
Forbes - Jan 25, 2007
“We are pleased with such strong financial results and look forward to making Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system widely available to all customers next week. ”In the second quarter of 2005, Microsoft had reported earnings of 33 cents per share. That was during the launch of Xbox 360, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3. One year later, these products have contributed over $1 billion of revenue growth, the company said. More On This TopicCompanies:.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/01/25/ebay-internet-update-markets-equity-cx_rs_0125markets16.html?partner=moreover

Microsoft Takes Manhattan
Forbes - Jan 30, 2007
As broadband Internet becomes an even more central component in the PC’s architecture, no one knows what the operating system will look like in five years. Meaning no one knows if Microsoft will have a major, big-deal Windows reboot ever again. Did I mention Microsoft is throwing a lot of money at this launch? On Tuesday morning, the software giant hired spandex-clad acrobats to drape Vista and Office logos on the side of a building. Then they took their guests to the swanky Cipriani banquet hall, across from Grand Central Station. Sitting in rows inside the old Bowery Savings Bank building, about 150 reporters and photographers dined on fare ranging from smoked salmon to spinach- and ricotta-stuffed cannelloni. (The sea bass was wonderful; the lamb chops were a bit dry.
http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/30/windowns-vista-launch-tech-intel-cx_df_0130windowslaunch.html?partner=msn

Independent Online Edition > SME
Independent - Jan 26, 2007
But, while acknowledging that it is facing increasing competition, it is seeking to become the world leader in its field and hence is aiming for dramatic growth. John Simpson, senior director, sales consulting at Oracle, says that one of the ways the company is going about this is by installing a customer relationship management (CRM) system. He says CRM is vital because acquiring new customers, looking after existing ones and making sure none are lost is vital for growth. MessageLabs is using it to help it focus on improving sales, marketing and client service by measuring, respectively, leads per member of the marketing team, deals per head of the sales team and tickets per head in the client service team. It is a sign of how even comparatively small companies are turning to the sort of technology that was once the preserve of the largest corporates in their attempts to become more competitive and to achieve ambitious growth plans. Moreover, high-technology companies are not the only ones recognising the benefits of using increasingly sophisticated software to help them run their operations. Software companies that have traditionally dealt with larger businesses, such as SAP and Microsoft as well as Oracle, are all seeing growing interest from smaller customers as it becomes more widely recognised that installing high-performance technology need not be as expensive as had been thought... It is a sign of how even comparatively small companies are turning to the sort of technology that was once the preserve of the largest corporates in their attempts to become more competitive and to achieve ambitious growth plans. Moreover, high-technology companies are not the only ones recognising the benefits of using increasingly sophisticated software to help them run their operations. Software companies that have traditionally dealt with larger businesses, such as SAP and Microsoft as well as Oracle, are all seeing growing interest from smaller customers as it becomes more widely recognised that installing high-performance technology need not be as expensive as had been thought. Many companies stick to CRM or some other distinct application, such as finance or human resources management. Indeed, CRM even has its own subset, called sales force automation (SFA), which has as its goal the streamlining of the entire sales process to make businesses more efficient, improve customer interactions, increase customer satisfaction and save time and money. Paul Fielder, applications sales manager with Explorer, an Oracle partner based in Leeds, says: “SMBs [small and medium-sized businesses] tend to buy software to solve specific problems. This means they end up with a lot of different systems, which makes it very difficult to get business intelligence.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/sme/article2184716.ece

Internet TV Is Finally a Reality Show
BusinessWeek - Jan 29, 2007
"The digital decade is happening," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told the audience at the Consumer Electronics Show in January as he unveiled the company's own IPTV offerings. "People want to do things with their content across multiple platforms. "At least Gates and other digerati are convinced that will be the case with a new generation of tech gear, software, and services. This time around, however, both consumer electronics companies and computer companies such as HP, SanDisk (.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2007/tc20070129_246549.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology

The INQUIRER Top 3 Hug-and-Make-Ups
Inquirer - Jan 26, 2007
So for all you star-crossed lovers out there, here you go with something for the weekend, The INQUIRER's Top 3Hug-and-Make-Up stories. Microsoft and Stac Electronics. Microsoft ramming the OS with a ton of utilities isn't new, kids. In 1993, itplanned disk compression for DOS 6. 0 called DoubleSpace but it had earlier talked to market leader Stac about licensingits Stacker software. Stac sued, Microsoft countersued and eventually, the arguing ended with Microsoft taking a stakein Stac and paying it royalties... Not very gentlemanly, is it?1. Tom Siebel quit Oracle because Larry Ellison didn't get CRM, or so the story goes. Siebelset up what turned out to be the 800-pound gorilla of the sector but when times got tough, Ellison's Oracle snapped upthe company in 2005. That's rough love for you. Now all eyes are turned to what Ellison will pull to bring downSalesforce. com, another company that is run by a former employee, Marc Benioff.
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37243

Mac and Windows ...proprietary parts
CNET News.com - Jan 30, 2007
iPod iMac and probably iPhoneYet even for you the "Mac Defender" deep down a frustration has been building because with all the control over the hardware and software your Macs are not that much better then the PCs. Microsoft doesn't make hardware (nevermidnd the mice and the xBox) and yet they manage to tie in hundreds of different manufacturers together under a crapy beige box that is definetely not as sharp looking as a Mac. and yet this box can run anything you can through at it. Please don't argue about the work office environment, there are so many old legacy aps... that are no longer made but still work and the managers would not replace them, how about accounting software? quick books for mac is not going to cut it if you have a large payroll. how about a CRM database? Sure you can argue that there is a program like Final Cut Pro for video editing that has become popular and indeed it is a wonderful product, but with the intel chip ported this tool is going to be short lived on the mac only platform and nine out of ten of the major video production houses are running PCs. 90% of the TV you watch is edited in AVID, sure there is a Mac version but the real NITRIS system is built on the PC platform, can't evne touch the Games issue unless you are like stuck in 1999... that are no longer made but still work and the managers would not replace them, how about accounting software? quick books for mac is not going to cut it if you have a large payroll. how about a CRM database? Sure you can argue that there is a program like Final Cut Pro for video editing that has become popular and indeed it is a wonderful product, but with the intel chip ported this tool is going to be short lived on the mac only platform and nine out of ten of the major video production houses are running PCs. 90% of the TV you watch is edited in AVID, sure there is a Mac version but the real NITRIS system is built on the PC platform, can't evne touch the Games issue unless you are like stuck in 1999.
http://news.com.com/5208-12_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=24558&messageID=233270&start=0

National Business Review (NBR) - Business, News, Arts, Media, Share...
National Business Review - Jan 29, 2007
That’s mighty, as in huge – it’s a wonder that it all fits on a single DVD, or two DVDs if you count the 64-bit version as well. But there’s something in there to please everyone, or offend everyone, depending on the mood of the observer. Admire the luscious Aero user interface, which at last makes those graphics coprocessors in modern PCs do some useful work. Or grumble that Apple has had something similar for years and even Sun has been playing with that stuff... ”Sean McBreen, director of Microsoft New Zealand’s developer and platform strategy group, sees Gadgets as likely to appear within corporate environments as well. Microsoft Dynamics (the old Great Plains, Solomon, Axapta and Navision) is already working on reporting Gadgets that will be able to provide managers with constant indicators of how their business processes are running. There’s also a Dynamics CRM Gadget on the way. “It’s a completely open platform, and I’m really excited by the number of independent vendors coming up with new ways to expose data with tools such as Gadgets. We’re expecting widespread adoption of this technology. ”






29-Jan-2007.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=17168&cid=3&cname=Technology

Da Vinci Twist at British Vista Launch
BusinessWeek - Jan 30, 2007
Vista was first made available to business customers back in November but the software behemoth has now officially launched the operating system to consumers, calling the debut its most important since Windows 95. Speaking at the launch, which was held at the British Library in London, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said: "This is a special occasion, we've worked hard to build a new software platform and we are so excited to see what people will do with it. Microsoft executives showcased elements of Vista including updated security and improved search technologies, as well as the new 'Ribbon' user interface for Office 2007. For more details on the functionality offered by the revamped Vista, see silicon. Microsoft revealed a number of businesses that will be using Vista's desktop 'Gadget' technology—i.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2007/gb20070130_602986.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe_more+of+today's+top+stories

Take care.

Upgrading to Vista? Proceed with caution

Hi!

SAP looks to better serve information workers
InfoWorld - Jan 24, 2007
Moore expects that Microsoft will work on further integration between Office and its Dynamics ERP and CRM families. At present, he doesn't see much conflict between SAP's mySAP products and Dynamics. "We generally don't serve the same market," Moore said. "There is some overlap with Business One and All-in-One. "Business One is SAP's offering for small businesses, while All-in-One is aimed at the midmarket, both areas where Microsoft's Dynamics has an established presence.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/07/01/24/HNsapinformationworkers_1.html

Upgrading to Vista? Proceed with caution
InfoWorld - Jan 22, 2007
“I’m a cautious guy, and typically, I’d be doing the server upgrades first, one at a time, and follow those with the desktop upgrades. But Microsoft releasing three new platforms at once doesn’t happen very often. That’s put us in a spot, plus we were moving to Microsoft CRM as well. ” So at the moment, Connelly has separated his server upgrades from his desktop upgrades, but he is forced to roll out several new desktop platforms simultaneously while still testing a new server back end. “So far, it’s working fine, but it’s definitely a worry. ” The cautious perspective to be sure, but that’s not to say it can’t be done. Justin Ainsworth, senior IT manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing, is in the same boat but is taking the Redmond product blitz in stride.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/22/04FEvista_6.html

Salesforce.com goes from sizzling to merely hot
iT News - Jan 22, 2007
Oracle last month reported that new license sales of business apps in its fiscal second quarter rose less than it had predicted. And new rivals are coming on. Microsoft just released a preview version of CRM software it says can be updated to all customers simultaneously using "multitenant" technology. By midyear, Microsoft plans to host the software from its own data centers, putting it in direct competition with Salesforce. Meanwhile, online accounting software company NetSuite - owned in part by Benioff's ex-boss, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison - is preparing to go public. All of which raises the question of whether Salesforce will need to dip into its US$4. 7 billion market cap for an acquisition that can help it expand.
http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=44651&src=site-marq

SmartCatalog™ Releases Powerful and Intuitive New Rule Manager
PR Web - PR Web (press release) - Jan 19, 2007
com), a best of breed guided selling and configuration solution for CRM and eCommerce, announced today the full version release of the new SmartCatalog™ 6. In order to provide an easy, intuitive experience during the rule building process, the Rule Manger has been re-architected to utilize a tree view, drag and drop GUI along with a simple, easy to use, rule dialog builder. The new version will allow users to create rules in four easy steps and requires no coding or programming... In order to provide an easy, intuitive experience during the rule building process, the Rule Manger has been re-architected to utilize a tree view, drag and drop GUI along with a simple, easy to use, rule dialog builder. The new version will allow users to create rules in four easy steps and requires no coding or programming. The Rule Manager has been completely designed in Microsoft. 0 Forms Application and is written in Microsoft's C# language. The Rule Manager connects directly to any Product Catalog or database in order to retrieve the necessary variables required to build and execute complex rules. SmartCatalog™ enables companies to increase revenues and profits by making the quote-to-order entry process fast, easy and 100% accurate.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/1/prweb498713.htm

Salesforce ups the ante
InfoWorld - Jan 22, 2007
com delivered on its 2006 promise to give ISVs and corporate developers a new programming language called Apex with its. Apex will allow developers to build any kind of SaaS (Software as a Service) application on the Salesforce AppExchange platform... Because it is a fully hosted solution, Apex will also allow coders to create data models and automate business logic and user interfaces without needing to tune it to any specific hardware, database, or operating system. Denis Pombriant, principal at Beagle Research, called Apex part of the New Garage movement that is bringing innovation to the smaller ISVs and hit larger ISVs wedded to older architectures, Pombriant said. Like Siebel before them, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP are trying to co-opt the innovation, engaging with customers only to convert them. “That is the state we are in with these big companies. They are trying to blunt the impact by making it a checklist,” Pombriant said. But there are still many IT professionals voicing objections to deploying a SaaS solution. Pitfalls still exist from storing critical data offline and from the possibility of downtime which requires ironclad SLAs with punitive provisions for lack of service, Pombriant said.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/07/01/22/04NNwinter07_1.html

Tectura joins Serenic Navigator partner channel
Earthtimes.org - Jan 23, 2007
-based Tectura, Inc. has become a reselling partner for Serenic Navigator. Tectura is a leading Microsoft Dynamics partner and provider of Microsoft-based ERP, CRM, and technology solutions to mid-market companies, larger enterprises and their divisions. Tectura provides software, consulting, and IT implementation services to more than 5,000 clients in a multitude of industries, including not-for-profit. Through these services, Tectura delivers business process improvements, greater efficiency, and a clear competitive edge to clients in over 60 countries. Customers benefit from unmatched experience and a solid commitment from more than 1,750 dedicated Tectura employees with over 70 offices throughout 21 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. "We are thrilled to now represent Serenic Navigator, clearly one of the leading financial management products for nonprofit organizations," said Kathy Nohr, Dynamics NAV Practice Lead at Tectura.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,48570.shtml

CRM News: Government: SaaS App Growth Expected in Public Sector
CRM Buyer - Jan 19, 2007
CRM Buyer features CRM product information, reviews and comparisons. It is an independent source updated each day.
http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/dzW3jFKNq4px4R/SaaS-App-Growth-Expected-in-Public-Sector.xhtml

E-Commerce News: Portals & Search: Yahoo Earnings Beat Street
E-Commerce Times - Jan 24, 2007
1 million unique visitors per month in the quarter, the firm said. Sterling Market Intelligence analyst Greg Sterling noted that Yahoo CFO Sue Decker -- who will soon leave that post to head the company's advertising business -- sounded a fairly conservative tone in looking ahead for Google. Yahoo has areas to build on as it wars with Google and, to a lesser degree, Microsoft, including strong foundations in local search and mobile search, which could be a key to unlocking the value of local search, Sterling said. Yahoo scored a victory when Google shut down its live-answer service -- Yahoo Answers now garners more than 90 percent of open ended search query traffic, which may be important in social networking settings, he added.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/As8eIpAfCfAd3r/Yahoo-Earnings-Beat-Street.xhtml

NewsFactor Network | Belgian Newspapers Take On Yahoo
NewsFactor Network - Jan 19, 2007
According to Copiepresse, Microsoft has been working with the newspaper group on a compromise solution. Representatives from Copiepresse, Google, and Yahoo were not immediately available for comment.
http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Belgian-Newspapers-Take-On-Yahoo/story.xhtml?story_id=103009GRQQN6

Why Good Times Are the Most Dangerous
BusinessWeek - Jan 23, 2007
Times were indeed good, or so we thought. Then the bottom fell out. One February morning, our CEO handed me a letter from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the organization empowered by major software companies like Microsoft (.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2007/sb20070123_476563.htm?chan=smallbiz_smallbiz+index+page_keith+mcfarland

Good luck!

Microsoft Debuts Multitenant CRM Offering to Partner Community

How's things?

Microsoft previews next version of Dynamics CRM
InfoWorld - Jan 11, 2007
Titan, which will probably be officially known as Dynamics CRM 4. 0 will be the first Microsoft CRM release based on a multitenant architecture and using a single code base to support three types of usage -- on-premise, hosted by partners or Microsoft. The Microsoft-hosted offering will be called Dynamics Live CRM, the third member of the vendor's growing Live software-as-a-service (SAAS) product family, joining Windows Live and Office Live. Multitenancy is the ability of a SAAS vendor to host multiple customers' applications on a single server instead of dedicating servers to individual customers. Since multitenancy requires fewer servers, it's a cheaper way for vendors to run their hosting operations and they can pass some of those savings to customers, offering them a less costly service. Microsoft plans to give around 300 of its partners early access to Titan in the first quarter of this year, increasing the number to reach more than 1,000 partners during the second quarter, Wilson said. The idea is to give partners time to get comfortable with the concepts of multitenancy and hosted software in general as well as to encourage them to start building extensions to Titan and providing Microsoft with feedback on the new version... "We want to make sure we do terrific job getting CRM Live up and running in North America and get all the operating kinks out," Wilson said. "We aim to move it out internationally as fast as we can. "Microsoft will offer an online marketplace as part of the CRM Live service where partners can offer users technology extensions and as a way to build a community, Wilson said. The marketplace is similar to what Salesforce. originally established with its AppExchange site, as a place where users could access add-ons to its on-demand CRM software. Like rivals SAP and Oracle, Microsoft is looking for ways to give more users more ways to access its CRM applications.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/07/01/11/HNmicrosoftnextcrm_1.html

Microsoft Debuts Multitenant CRM Offering to Partner Community
CRM Today - Jan 15, 2007
“We can deliver the right CRM solution for different companies based on their size, their business requirements, their user roles and their IT capabilities. If their needs evolve over time, we can grow with our customers, and provide them with a CRM platform that fits their needs for the life of the business. ”
Availability
The “Titan” release of Microsoft CRM and the new Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM service are targeted for mid-2007. The Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM service will initially be available in North America; plans for international expansion of the service will be announced at a later time... today announced that it is previewing the next major release of Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM – code-named “Titan” – with a broad range of partners through the company’s Technology Adoption Program (TAP). The new version introduces an advanced multitenant architecture, and uses a single code base to support on-premise deployments as well as software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployments through hosting partners and through the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM service. It also uses a single code base to support on-premise deployments as well as software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployments through hosting partners and the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM service. The “Titan” release is an evolution of the popular Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3. 0 product, and will offer a smooth upgrade path for existing on-premise and SaaS customers. It reinforces Microsoft’s long-term strategy to provide customers with the power of choice, with the ability to choose on-premise or SaaS deployments and access rich CRM capabilities within Microsoft® Office Outlook®, through a Web browser, and from a broad range of mobile devices.
http://www.crm2day.com/news/crm/121073.php

Salesforce.com launches Winter 07 release
InfoWorld - Jan 16, 2007
com launches Winter 07 release | InfoWorld | News | 2007-01-16 | By Ephraim Schwartz. com released its Winter 07 upgrade to its CRM software as a service on Tuesday, with immediate availability. But customers waiting for the release of one of its key components, the Apex programming language, will have to wait a little bit longer... html","leftColumn"); Calling Apex a developer preview, with Beta not promised until "later this year" Salesforce. com is trying to extend its reach by establishing itself as a "platform" company, according to Ariel Kelman, senior director of platform product marketing, not unlike other major enterprise platform vendors such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/16/HNsalesforce_1.html

SAP paints new UI face for mid-market
VNUNet.com - Jan 17, 2007
Although the software is available in the UK withimmediate effect, users will have to wait up to six months for the more advancedProject Muse interface that was first shown off last June. Project Muse is thecodename for a new GUI that taps Adobe Flash and other tools to create a richerfront end. The user-interface changes are in line with broader efforts to demystify SAPby offering simpler tools for accessing data. SAP has a partnership withMicrosoft called Duet that builds bridges between Office applications and SAPback-end data, for example... Project Muse is thecodename for a new GUI that taps Adobe Flash and other tools to create a richerfront end. The user-interface changes are in line with broader efforts to demystify SAPby offering simpler tools for accessing data. SAP has a partnership withMicrosoft called Duet that builds bridges between Office applications and SAPback-end data, for example. SAP will also apply its Best Practices portfolio of horizontal and verticalbusiness scenarios so that firms can mimic the activities of peers and largeroperations. “It’s a very strong market for SAP and the challenge for these customers isto keep the functionality of [enterprise SAP installations] but keep thedeployment time down to two to three months,” said Dale Vile of analyst firm.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2172792/sap-paints-ui-face-mid-market

Enterprises Bridge the Gap Between CRM Systems and Survey-Based Data...
CRM Directory (press release) - Jan 14, 2007
The software also ensures customer feedback is reliable and uses security mechanisms from cookies to complex ballots to prevent multiple submissions. 0 can be integrated with various enterprise database solutions such as Microsoft's SQL Server, Active Directory and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Zumbrunn added that, in 2007, Data Illusion plans to roll out an updated version of Feedback Server that can integrate with CRM systems from Siebel, Oracle, SAP and SalesForce.
http://www.crmdirectory.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=632&Itemid=59

SAP Business One Support Chicago, IL - Alba Spectrum
24-7PressRelease.com - 24-7PressRelease.com (press release) - Jan 13, 2007
This feature makes MRP application very attractive for European companies: German, Italian, French, Spanish, who establishes subsidiaries in the USA
� eCommerce and Web Based CRM. These modules are in process of being incorporated into SAP Business One set of modules. When CRM is fully available in web interface - it will be very strong competitor to Microsoft Dynamics CRM - Microsoft Dynamics GP Great Plains tandem, however with lighter functionality and potentially more easy implementation and deployment

Alba Spectrum, supporting Microsoft Dynamics, SAP Business One clients in USA and Brazil, Oracle E-Business Suite customers in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. We would be happy to help you with cross platform integrations: SAP-Oracle-Microsoft Dynamics, cross platform data conversions, when you are switching from one of the major ERP platform to the competitor - supporting both Microsoft and Java worlds. In Chicago area we support clients in Naperville, Aurora, Wheaton, Joliet, Downers Grove, Lisle, Alsip, Villa Park, Lyons, Chicago downtown, Cicero, Schaumburg, Springfield, Batavia, St Charles, Warrenville.
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rID=22931

IT-Director.com - CommuniGator - small but perfectly formed!
IT-Director.com - Jan 11, 2007
They have a web-based solution, which keeps to the essentials of e-marketing. As such it enables people who have no wish to become IT technicians to create, execute and measure highly effective closed loop campaigns. In essence if you are a marketer who feels comfortable with Microsoft Outlook, then Communigator will enable you to generate collateral, identify targets, execute the campaign, manage the closure and measure the effectiveness. The outcome, if you follow their lead, will be a highly targeted campaign with a double digit response rate, and customers who are more likely to become advocates than if they were mass marketed to with bland offerings on a hope and see basis. Communigator should not be seen as just being about emails, they are about all of the digital channels which can be used as touch points with customers and prospects. The solution is configurable, so that customer preferences can be recognised. It is designed to target receptive customers with quality messages at times when they will be happy to receive the message... It comes as no surprise to find that these solutions are being looked on with great interest by the British Tourism industry, facing as it does the vagaries of the British weather. Obviously using such devices also opens up the opportunity for two-way interactions in real-time, which creates new opportunities unavailable with traditional channels. The solution is not a standalone silo, but is intended to be used to augment and complement many of the key CRM solutions found in the mid market. This is the niche for Communigator at present, so users of solutions such as Sage (who also OEM the product), Microsoft, and Siebel, amongst others, will find that the digital marketing solution is designed to fit. They will also find that Communigator can provide the professional services that are required to help ensure that the solution is integrated and adopted as part of the workflows of an effective marketing organisation. Because Communigator believe that they are capable of ensuring that people do see the sort of returns that have always been spoken of with digital marketing, they encourage people not to take up their offer of providing the solution on an outsourced basis, but encourage people to bring it in-house. To date, Communigator have developed predominately in the UK, based on a solid collection of finance, tourism and high-tech companies, but this is a solution with wide appeal.
http://www.it-director.com/technology/applications/content.php?cid=9129

Burglar-Proof Windows?
BusinessWeek - Jan 11, 2007
This is a good thing. Microsoft, similarly, tried to clean up its act in 2004 with a major upgrade to XP called Service Pack 2, and again with Internet Explorer 7 last fall. But Windows has always been promiscuous about loading software from dubious sources without asking questions. Vista won't install anything, from any source, without explicit permission. (You can turn account control off in a control panel, but it's not wise.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2007/tc20070111_523048.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories

Salesforce says it's beating, mirroring Microsoft
MarketWatch - Jan 16, 2007
Chief Executive Marc Benioff casually trashed rival Microsoft Corp. Tuesday, while acknowledging that his own company is following the footsteps of the software giant. While dismissing Microsoft's announced move into Salesforce's on-demand software turf, Benioff also said that his firm is akin to Microsoft (.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/salesforce-says-its-beating-mirroring/story.aspx?guid=%7BA7713533-8E00-4506-A0EA-525F1935AAA7%7D

Tech stocks finish mixed; Symantec falls sharply - MarketWatch
MarketWatch - Jan 16, 2007
Intel, while expected to show declines in sales and profit compared to the year-earlier period, is also expected to show some improvements related to restructuring and new product releases. Tech bellwether Microsoft Corp. also saw a slight gain in its shares Tuesday, rising to $31.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/tech-stocks-finish-mixed-symantec/story.aspx?guid=%7BE44BF1AE-EE94-4C25-BDB7-E3D9310F2154%7D

JIT? What ever happened to compiled byte code?
CNET News.com - Jan 15, 2007
Don't see Fortress as yet another language to write business software in. And that doesn't include the 4GLs like Informix, 4Js, Sybase's tool, etc... It will be interesting to see what Fortress can and can't do. Most likely the performance gains won't be noticed until you start having multi-core and multi-cpu desktops en mass.
http://news.com.com/Suns+Fortran+replacement+goes+open+source/5208-7344_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=24206&messageID=228161&start=0

See you later.