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.”

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

JCP goes green with Great Plains, Datacentrix

Johannesburg City Parks (JCP) is now online with the integration of a comprehensive Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains ERP system, implemented by Datacentrix.

JCP, a Public Benefit organisation incorporated in 2001 by the Metropolitan Municipality of Johannesburg, uses Great Plains as its core financial and line of business system to manage parks, public open spaces, cemeteries and crematoria, and also to maintain street trees and its internal equipment.

The Datacentrix Microsoft Great Plains system is commissioned to ensure JCP can manage its finances in such a way that it will ensure the city's service delivery mandate within allocated budget. The JCP manages a budget in excess of R300 million per annum.

Says Karl van Eck, CFO at JCP and executive sponsor of the project: "The new Great Plains ERP system replaced and integrated inherently disparate software systems, combating the issues of manual-intensive financial tracking processes that JCP was experiencing. These processes are now supported by a full ERP system, deployed within 10 months by Datacentrix.

"While the old systems focused more on the financial side, the new Great Plains software integrates this with the operational aspect. The solution proposed by Datacentrix certainly best suited our needs and we will start seeing the real benefit from an operational perspective within the next two to three years."

According to Phokeng Mohatlane, Account Director at Datacentrix, a significant factor in the new solution's speedy implementation was the extensive experience Datacentrix has with Great Plains implementations, as well as the commitment demonstrated by JCP to the project. "The contract was awarded to Datacentrix, having fulfilled the various tender criteria that included its black economic empowerment status.

"The system uses the Field Services module to effectively schedule routine preventative maintenance on parks etc, as well as manage service calls on the servicing of JCP's own equipment," she adds. "Over 50 JCP staff members interact with the Great Plains system to maintain our parks and make the city a better place to live in."

Source:itweb.co.za

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."

ERP competition heating up in Europe

Oracle and Sage closing on SAP, reports IDC.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2007 vnunet.com

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!

Fashion industry laps up IT for backend revamp

Hello!

Review: Sage Act 2007 CRM software
VNUNet.com - Dec 14, 2006
Installation can also be a fairly lengthy process, especially on thesingle-user version we tested. That’s because Microsoft’s. Net framework has tobe loaded if not already present, followed by SQL Server 2005 Express to managethe database. However, database setup is automated so you don’t have to be atechnical wizard to either install or start using the program. Another consideration is the need for a fairly well-specified computer withplenty of available memory, especially where the database is hosted on the samePC. We tested on a 3GHz Windows XP PC and found 1GB of Ram gave far betterperformance compared with the minimum 512MB specified. Although it can be used on its own, you don’t get the full benefit of ACTunless it’s shared, with support for up to 10 users in the basic ACT 2007package.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2170933

Fashion industry laps up IT for backend revamp
Economic Times - Dec 20, 2006
Designers JJ Valaya, Tarun Tahiliani, Ritu Kumar and
Satya Paul are implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) to keep up with the new fashion retailing and
technology trends. The IT tools might not walk the ramps but are
definitely helping designers consolidate their backstage business. Both
Tahiliani Design and Satya Paul’s desire for greater control over
inventory planning, procurement and production led them to adopt this IT
planning tool. Satya Paul has had ERP in place for some time and is
already using it to track consumer buying patters across individual stores and
across various brands... The firm
is helping to implement the ERP package for various retail businesses. “Apart from managing their burgeoning retail businesses and
supply management the IT tools help designers to deliver customised
‘just-in-time fashion’ for a clientele across international
locales,’’ says Sharmila Katre, business co-coordinator, Tahiliani
Design “There is an inclination to move from an unorganised to an
organised environment in the medium scale outfits,” says Sushant Dwivedy,
business group lead (MBS), Microsoft. Though Microsoft is gunning
for the medium and small retail businesses for their ERP solutions business, not
everyone has been able to sell the ERP that well to the Indian market. While global fashion houses are moving to sophisticated apparel ERP
and prefer to dress in BlueCherry suite, the Indian designers, keeping in line
with their affordable prêt retailing, are investing in low-cost ERP
solutions by Microsoft or SAP and giving the niche BlueCherry suite a complete
miss. The New York-based Computer Generated Solutions (CGS) company, which has
developed significant parts of BlueCherry software at their India site, has
decided not to launch this product in India. Though the company
claims it has been providing BlueCherry to some of the top apparel manufacturers
and retailers in North America, it feels that Indian corporates, retailers and
design houses are not ready for this sophisticated solution. Pricing is the one
of the main issues for the product.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/856668.cms

Chinese Tech Bubble Survivor
Forbes - Dec 20, 2006
The company's software division has more than 5,000 customers worldwide in manufacturing, financial services, health care, home building, real estate, and wholesale and retail distribution. Software products include Pivotal CRM, c360 CRM add-on products, industry solutions and development tools for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform.
http://www.forbes.com/finance/2006/12/20/china-internet-software-pf-ii-in_jd_1220gurusow_inl.html?partner=rss

Non-Synchronized CRM Used Widely For Staffing, Report Finds
TMCnet - Dec 11, 2006
Click here to learn more. The recruiters who use only Microsoft Outlook and an ATS were the most likely to name a need for enhanced placements, i. improved access to qualified candidates and faster rates of placement. Respondents who relied on rudimentary front-office technology had the most need for upgrades to enhance placement rates, the survey found. Seventy-one percent of respondents felt that sourcing candidates from multiple job boards and sites, directly from their front-office software, would improve their placement rate, and eighty-seven percent of respondents agreed that an integrated front-office would have a positive impact on revenue growth; while 15 percent thought that such an integration would have a substantial impact on revenue growth.
http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-bullhorn-staffing-crm-/2006/12/11/2155391.htm

NewsFactor Network | Microsoft's Open XML Wins Approval as a...
NewsFactor Network - Dec 11, 2006
Open XML is Microsoft's foray into the open-format world and the default format for Office 2007. It saves documents in XML (Extensible Markup Language) with Zip compression technologies, not the formats that Microsoft used in prior versions of Office. As a result -- and because Microsoft will not demand royalties for using Open XML -- software from other publishers will be able to read Office documents saved in Open XML. Both Corel, which makes the WordPerfect suite of business tools, and Novell, which offers a version of OpenOffice. org, have announced support for Open XML. Only IBM, also an ECMA member, voted against Open XML as a standard, claiming the format is too complex for true multivendor use. Open-Source Competition


Famous (and sometimes infamous) for guarding the inner workings of its software, Microsoft's decision to publish the basic format of Office documents comes when a growing number of industries, not to mention a vocal set of government agencies, have called for document archives to be saved in a standard format that would be compatible with future document-creation software.
http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Microsoft-s-Open-XML-Wins-Approval/story.xhtml?story_id=023001SOKV17

Microsoft Advances Business Intelligence Solution
Xtvworld - Xtvworld (press release) - Dec 11, 2006
Redmond, WA, USA, December 11, 2006 -- Microsoft Corp has released community technology preview (CTP) for its integrated performance management application Microsoft® Office PerformancePoint™ Server 2007. Scheduled for general availability in mid-2007, Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 brings together next-generation monitoring, analytics and planning capabilities in a complete performance management application.
http://press.xtvworld.com/article15853.html

Working on the fly Chris Jenkins
Australian IT - Dec 12, 2006
"I know people have been talking about this for quite some time, in terms of the potential, but we're actually starting to see that hit. "
The increase in bandwidth available to mobile users means there is less need for customised, mobile-specific applications, especially as many corporate software packages now have a web browser interface. "It's easy for people to try it out because of the web browser enablement of so many ERP and CRM systems," Gartner's Simpson says. Hamill describes mobile access to industrial enterprise applications such as SAP and Oracle and Seibel as the "final wave" of business mobility, saying the phenomenon won't necessarily be restricted to laptops. Device makers such as Nokia and RIM are also doing a lot of work on developing interfaces to enterprise systems, he says. But despite the arrival of the big end of the application market, email and internet access remain the cornerstones of most company's mobile needs. In the smartphone arena, BlackBerry still had an edge on Microsoft's Exchange-based mobile email system, as it offers more management options and is less data-intensive, Simpson says... In the smartphone arena, BlackBerry still had an edge on Microsoft's Exchange-based mobile email system, as it offers more management options and is less data-intensive, Simpson says. Gartner's own testing showed Microsoft's systems could be up to four times as data-hungry as the RIM service - a particular problem in Australia with its per kilobyte pricing and download caps. Microsoft would eventually get its product into shape, but it could take several years, he says. Following its acquisition of IntelliSync, "Nokia has finally started to make some progress in this area," he says. "Microsoft and RIM aren't the only game in town. "
The threat from web-based email systems such as Google's Gmail also shouldn't be discounted, he says. The availability of usable email software in an increasing number of phones is also expected to open the door to more employees being able to access work email on the move.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,20896464%5E15397%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

2006: A year of IT highs and lows
InfoWorld - Dec 11, 2006
” --Ted Samson “I wouldn’t be surprised to see SaaS services (at) $5 per month, per user. ” -- Josh Greenbaum, EAConsult 2006 didn’t quite make it as “The Year of SaaS,” but it came darn close. Spurred by the success of firms such as Salesforce. com, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAS created SaaS CRM products with integration to their on-premises software as a differentiator. Even more important: SaaS providers, led by Salesforce, laid down a solid foundation on which to build new services in 2007 and beyond. Take, for example, AppExchange, an online market of sorts that Salesforce.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/12/11/50NNtechwatch_2.html

Take care.

ERP integration is lure for IT chiefs

Hello!

Salesforce.com integrates to get ahead
Register - Nov 27, 2006
com is today expected to take its latest step towards improving integration with third-parties' software, including business rival Oracle. The hosted CRM pioneer will announce an extension to its recently launched Apex platform and language called ConnectOut, which enables other applications to be notified of business events in Salesforce. ConnectOut – part of Salesforce. com’s new ApexConnect family of services - is scheduled for release with the Winter 07 edition of Salesforce... com claimed dozens of customers are in production on ConnectSAP. com also provides integration with Microsoft Office, Outlook and Lotus Notes. According to Salesforce. com, it is helping reduce the cost of integration associated with installing applications. "Prior to ConnectSAP and ConnectOracle a lot of that connection was developed with Salesforce.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/27/salesforce_oracle_integration/

ERP integration is lure for IT chiefs
ComputerWeekly.com - Nov 24, 2006
The idea of using Office as an interface onto back-end enterprise systems, such as SAP and Oracle, is already beginning to find favour among IT chiefs. One IT director of a global company said, "People are familiar with the Office interface and they find it difficult to adapt to interfaces for enterprise resource planning applications. So integrating ERP or CRM with Office should make it easier for users and save on training. " ADVERTISEMENT... "I see no benefit having enterprise integration defined by Microsoft - its track record is not one to be proud of in this area," said one IT manager. Many users are looking at integrating the Sharepoint 2007 groupware platform into ­Office 2007 to allow staff to share information from within Office applications. Kevin Kincaid, IS development manager at property services firm Telereal, said that of all the Vista releases "upgrading to Office 2007 is probably the easiest case to make". "Office 2007 also removes certain limitations found in the current version of, for example, Excel.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2006/11/24/220170/ERP+integration+is+lure+for+IT+chiefs.htm

Sage Leads The Pack In London
Forbes - Nov 29, 2006
-based supplier of accounting, customer relationship management (CRM) and business management software to small and midsized businesses, is the only technology company listed on the FTSE 100 share index, a roll call of the 100 most highly capitalized companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was the sole member of another select group today, being the top blue chip riser on the market. The Newcastle-based company added 17.
http://www.forbes.com/enterprisetech/2006/11/29/sage-group-crm-markets-equity-cx_cn_1129markets07.html?partner=rss

Small firms thinking big
VNUNet.com - Nov 23, 2006
Relationship-building is a constant challenge – particularly because JGB hasa smaller margin of error than many of its competitors. If a business that JGBinvests in experiences problems that are not identified early, that investmentcould potentially be in jeopardy. To help address the issue, JGB recently invested in a hosted CRM applicationfrom. Since installing the software, JGB estimates that it has saved more than£20,000 through better security, greater reliability, improved visibility andspeed of response, and through faster communication. This experience of CRM is pretty typical of medium-sized companies, saysThompson – Gartner’s research shows that smaller companies often see moredramatic benefits from CRM technology than larger organisations.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2169263

NewsFactor Network | Xbox 360 Live Overwhelmed by Demand
NewsFactor Network - Nov 24, 2006
On Wednesday, Microsoft launched a new Xbox service that lets users of Xbox 360 Live download TV shows and films, many in high definition. The service boasts content from Warner Brothers, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Turner Broadcasting, Paramount, MTV, and CBS, with more content to be released weekly. But the new service tanked when users reported widespread problems with the downloads, complaining of wait times in excess of four hours or downloads that stopped cold in the middle of transmission. What's more, their accounts were charged as if the downloads went off without a hitch. On his blog at www.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12000DMAC33C

NewsFactor Network | Firefox 2 Browser Struck by Password Flaw
NewsFactor Network - Nov 24, 2006
us The Mozilla Foundation, which maintains code for the Firefox browser, has acknowledged that there is a problem with the Firefox Password Manager and has named it bug #360493. Microsoft has also admitted that the newly discovered password bug can affect Internet Explorer as well, but most reports indicate that Firefox is the more likely target because of the way it stores usernames and passwords. --> Related Topics.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12000CANNOOO

Meeting the challenge - vnunet.com
VNUNet.com - Nov 23, 2006
Sixty per cent of the time that I am called in to help small businesses is todiscuss how to improve sales. What we learn from large firms, such as customerrelationship management (CRM) systems, can be adapted to SMEs to provide focusand direction. CRM systems can add real volume – on average, sales growth of between 30 and50 per cent is not uncommon. And another area is innovation through teamwork. How can you use technologyto share wisdom, to share problems, particularly when people are spreadgeographically?Collaboration products such as... CRM systems can add real volume – on average, sales growth of between 30 and50 per cent is not uncommon. And another area is innovation through teamwork. How can you use technologyto share wisdom, to share problems, particularly when people are spreadgeographically?Collaboration products such as. You can link up your entrepreneurs and they can come forward withinnovations. But for me, the key is to ask the question: what do I really needto do to move this organisation forward, and then turn to the IT guys and say,how can you help me to do that?Watch the web seminar online.
http://www.vnunet.com/computing/analysis/2169293/meeting-challenge

Technology News: Security: Firefox, IE Vulnerable to Password Theft
TechNewsWorld - Nov 24, 2006
Both Mozilla and Microsoft have acknowledged the problem and are working on fixes. Compliments of ATG,.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/54413.html

What does the future hold for Cisco? - vnunet.com
VNUNet.com - Nov 27, 2006
Those watching the companywill have noticed a succession of product launches starting with the release ofthe Digital Media System at the end of September, followed by the release of theUnified Communications (UC) for SMEs and the Telepresence ‘Meeting Solution’ inOctober. As recently as 1 November, Cisco also launched its CRM Connector, whichplugs into Microsoft Dynamics software. What people might not have noticed though is that Cisco has changed its logo,even though it is noticeably different. They may also have missed last month’sreport that the company has announced its intent to acquire Orative, a smallCalifornian-based mobile telephony software specialist. However, Wall Streetcertainly noticed because the company’s stock, which for some time has beengoing nowhere in particular, started to rise sharply again. This is not just because the markets like the way that Cisco’s new logolooks.
http://www.vnunet.com/crn/analysis/2169494/does-future-hold-cisco

Our Challenge Is Change, Not Globalization
Forbes - Nov 27, 2006
Consider that Google's revenue per employee is around $1. 3 million, on a forward basis. Shockingly, that's more than twice as high as the revenue-per-employee figures at Microsoft (nasdaq:.
http://www.forbes.com/execpicks/columnists/global/2006/1127/016.html

RealMoney.com: Software Gurus Like the Other Software Giant
thestreet.com - Nov 24, 2006
This is used by corporations to integrate back-office functions such as distribution, accounting, human resources and manufacturing. The software is popular because it helps companies become more productive and efficient, which reduces costs. SAP's position with corporations has enabled it to grow by moving into other business-related software fields, including supply chain and customer relationship management, usually referred by its initials, CRM. SAP continues to grow at a nice pace. Its most recent financials, as of Sept. 30, showed that for the first nine months of this year, its revenue was up 13%, while earnings per share rose 16%.
http://www.thestreet.com/p/_yahoo/rmoney/software/10323873.html

Mistakes Made On The Road To Innovation
BusinessWeek - Nov 27, 2006
They must reinvent the company. Even at healthy companies, business model innovations are essential to retaining their competitive positions. Microsoft (MSFT)Chief Executive Steve Ballmer says he no longer thinks of his competition as individual companies. Instead, "it's alternative business models that we'll have to compete with or embrace," he says. His two biggest threats are the open-source phenomenon and advertising-supported software. There's no better example than Kodak of the importance of coming up with new ways of doing business -- and the difficulties of succeeding. At its peak, Kodak was an icon of American technology innovation... A watershed moment came when Siebel competed against upstart Salesforce. com for the business of tech giant Cisco Systems (CSCO). Even though Cisco was tilting toward Salesforce. com, (CRM) Seibel's sales people pushed traditional product software because they'd get richer commissions that way. Siebel lost the deal, and its business was forced to sell out to Oracle (ORCL). "There were groups of disbelievers in the organization, which is a recipe for disaster," says Bruce Cleveland, who ran the software-as-a-service initiative. GIVE YOUR NEW INITIATIVES ROOM TO BREATHEA company's core business and its new initiatives are typically at odds with one another.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_48/b4011421.htm?chan=rss_topEmailedStories_ssi_5

Good luck!

Customer demands, Novell the best partner

Nice meeting you!

Microsoft tailors Dynamics CRM for Office and Vista
InfoWorld - Nov 7, 2006
4 to the same price list as its Dynamics Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suite. The move will simplify how customers order CRM and other products in the Dynamics line, Microsoft said. Dynamics CRM will still be available through volume licensing channels. The company's Dynamics product group is responsible for a range of back-end business applications, including supply chain and financial applications... That version will be hosted by Microsoft. CRM is offered as a hosted service by its partners and as on-premise software. This week, Microsoft is also adding the Dynamics ERP suite to its Subscription Licensing Model. Dynamics ERP includes the applications Dynamics AX (Axapta), Dynamics GP (Great Plains), Dynamics NAV (Navision) and Dynamics SL (Solomon). Through its partners, Microsoft will let customers either license the applications or subscribe to .
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/11/07/HNmsdynamicscrm_1.html&source=searchresult

Customer demands, Novell the best partner
CNET News.com - Nov 3, 2006
It is now quite common for a customer to choose Windows to run a CRM or production management system, and choose Linux to run a print server, file server, or a rapidly changing environment. What has changed is that now customers are using virtualization to better utilize their servers, and they now want to run Windows and Linux on the same server. Customers also wanted assurances that they would not be caught in the crossfire of patent infringement lawsuits between the vendors. These customer requests caused Microsoft to look for a Linux partner who would work cooperatively to make interoperability successful, and recognize the IP rights of both companies. Novell has a long history as a commercial software company and has significant ownership and patents in the Unix and Linux space... What has changed is that now customers are using virtualization to better utilize their servers, and they now want to run Windows and Linux on the same server. Customers also wanted assurances that they would not be caught in the crossfire of patent infringement lawsuits between the vendors. These customer requests caused Microsoft to look for a Linux partner who would work cooperatively to make interoperability successful, and recognize the IP rights of both companies. Novell has a long history as a commercial software company and has significant ownership and patents in the Unix and Linux space. Novell was a great fit for Microsoft, and vice versa. I wrote a blog about more of the details here.
http://news.com.com/5208-1016_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=22583&messageID=199404&start=-1

Showtime for the Xbox 360
BusinessWeek - Nov 7, 2006
But to Microsoft (MSFT), it's always been seen as that—and a whole lot more. Microsoft wants the machine to be the digital entertainment hub in your home; a way for customers to consume all.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2006/tc20061107_374903.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology

Microsoft Plays a New Zune
BusinessWeek - Nov 8, 2006
That might not be enough. Zune’s large display and wireless capability.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2006/tc20061108_782680.htm?sub=techmaven

PeopleSoft co-founder launches his ERP Workday
InfoWorld - Nov 6, 2006
At the same time, the company will "deepen and broaden" its HCM offering, Duffield said. Workday also announced four key partnerships, and the most significant is with Microsoft Corp. The software giant to date has limited presence in the on-demand applications market, with the focus on hosted CRM (customer relationship management) software, not ERP. Workday and Microsoft are hoping to provide integration between Workday software and Microsoft's Outlook, SharePoint Server and Exchange Server products some time next year. Turning to the other partnerships, systems integrator Accenture Ltd. is building a practice around Workday technology. Payroll specialist Automatic Data Processing Inc... Workday also announced four key partnerships, and the most significant is with Microsoft Corp. The software giant to date has limited presence in the on-demand applications market, with the focus on hosted CRM (customer relationship management) software, not ERP. Workday and Microsoft are hoping to provide integration between Workday software and Microsoft's Outlook, SharePoint Server and Exchange Server products some time next year. Turning to the other partnerships, systems integrator Accenture Ltd. is building a practice around Workday technology. Payroll specialist Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) is integrating its PayForce product with Workday's offerings.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/11/06/HNerpworkday_1.html&source=searchresult

Q&A: Salesforce.com to be on-demand computing platform
InfoWorld - Nov 2, 2006
IDGNS: Talking about Salesforce. com being a platform begs the question: Will you ever stop selling CRM software?Benioff: We're in two businesses today. We're the leading independent CRM vendor and also the leading on-demand platform. We'll always be in CRM. Our largest user Cisco has 7,500 users on Salesforce. Before they had Siebel. Merrill Lynch has more than 5,000 Salesforce users... IDGNS: What do you think Oracle will do about on-demand applications?Benioff: Oracle's got to be there. They aren't there and they're doing a terrible job. Microsoft is in the same spot, they've got nothing. Lots of companies would like to do on-demand, but they've not figured out how to crack the code. With our AppExchange Incubator, we're giving companies physical space in San Mateo, California at the former Siebel headquarters. It's US$20,000 per cube per year. We're looking to offer incubators in Singapore, Bangalore, London and Tokyo.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/11/02/HNsfplatform_1.html

Have a nice day!

Salesforce ups developer tools

How's things?

On the Record: Marc Benioff
San Francisco Chronicle - Oct 8, 2006
" That's a big change from the model we're talking about. They are preparing to release their most anticipated piece of software ever next year, called Vista. What they just said was all the Microsoft CRM customers are going to have to upgrade and change all their software if they want to run with Vista. Well, that is just a game that I think all of us are tired of playing. Every time Microsoft upgrades one thing, you have to change everything else, and you have to pay for the update fee. That's not how it is with Google. That's not how it is with Yahoo.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/08/BUG2QLICVV1.DTL

Salesforce ups developer tools
Register - Oct 9, 2006
Early next year the company will make developer tools and code available. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff will detail the announcement later today at the firm's user conference... CRM rival NetSuite is offering defecting Salesforce customers a discount for switching to its product. ® Track this type of story as a. Related storiesSalesforce. com targets Wall Street with wealth creation plan (27 February 2007).
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/09/salesforce_dev_tools/

Salesforce.com CEO: Customization is king
CNET News.com - Oct 9, 2006
Hosted CRM competitors include. Apex is in a closed beta test now and will enter open beta in the first quarter of 2007, Benioff said. The production version will be available in the second quarter. The service will run on hundreds of Dell servers, Chairman Michael Dell said in a video appearance. The systems are Intel processor-based models, the PowerEdge 1850 and 1950, according to a presentation by Parker Harris, Salesforce.
http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-6124153.html

Salesforce.com CEO: Customization is king
USA Today - Oct 10, 2006
com offers an online version of customer relationship management (CRM) software, which tracks details such as customers' purchasing history, sales force quotas, or supervisors' approvals of discounted product prices. Hosted CRM competitors include NetSuite and RightNow Technologies, while traditional software companies including Oracle, SAP and Microsoft also are in the market. Apex is in a closed beta test now and will enter open beta in the first quarter of 2007, Benioff said. The production version will be available in the second quarter. The service will run on hundreds of Dell servers, Chairman Michael Dell said in a video appearance. The systems are Intel processor-based models, the PowerEdge 1950 and 2950, according to a presentation by Parker Harris, Salesforce.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/cnet/2006-10-10-apex_x.htm?csp=34

EMC, Microsoft sing Duet
InfoWorld - Oct 9, 2006
"This is the culmination of a vision we've been working on for a number of years," Bernard said. "It's about unifying the front end with the back end that the casual user needs to interact with in ECM, ERP, and CRM. "And EMC and SAP won't be the only vendors to get hooks into Office, Bernard said. "Overall, we are seeing all of the major ECM vendors actively building tight links into desktop tools like Outlook and partnering aggressively with Microsoft," said Melissa Webster, program director, content and digital media technologies at IDC. Vendors of all stripes are beginning to collaborate to make it much easier for users to have full, unimpeded access to enterprise applications from their familiar desktop productivity software, she said.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/10/09/41NNecmduet_1.html

Enterprise Content Management Systems
VNUNet.com - Oct 5, 2006
“This trend will accelerate with both Microsoft and. ” Needless to say,OpenText is working with those two named players on development projects... ”As Oracle sees it, there is a significant shift underway in how ECMapplications are perceived. Organisations have realised that content no longerneeds to be merely stored: it needs to be proactively managed and shared toenable companies to drive efficiency. “Many organisations are trying to drive increased process efficiencies byintegrating their knowledge workers with their process workers, whompredominantly use customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) and human resource management systems (HRMS) administrativeapplications,” says Elsham. Pete Atkinson, MD for European operations at Percussion, agrees there isgrowing realisation that CM is more than merely consolidation of infrastructure. “For the first time since the web bubble burst, business units are again incharge of budgets and purchases of CM solutions,” he says. “They desireapplications that let them utilise content more effectively to achieve theirline-of-business objectives. ”So, while traditional ECM vendors have been grappling with developing anaccommodation with the big infrastructure suppliers, mainly for scalabilityreasons, there has also been a seismic shift in consciousness about how theirapplications are marketed within enterprise business units.
http://www.vnunet.com/information-world-review/features/2165805/enterprise-content-management

SOA finds its VoIP | InfoWorld | Test Center | October 09, 2006 | By...
InfoWorld - Oct 9, 2006
But PBX vendors Siemens and Avaya, as well as data upstarts BlueNote Networks and Ubiquity Software, are laying the groundwork today. Back-office service and application providers such as Salesforce. com and SAP are also jumping on the bandwagon, communications-enabling CRM and ERP applications, along with enterprise integrators such as IBM Global Services and Accenture. SOA-enabled unified communications are not just another form of CTI (computer-telephony integration), more of the click-to-call and customer screen pops you’ve seen in the call center for years. Applications will no longer have to access these functions directly through the specialized CTI protocols, such as TAPI, JTAPI, and CSTA, of yore. Business developers will no longer need to learn the intricacies of SIP... Siemens has worked with Salesforce. com and Siebel to integrate its unified communications Web services with CRM applications, and it is working with IBM and SAP to embed its communications software components into IBM’s WebSphere Everyplace Service Delivery platform as well as SAP’s NetWeaver. OpenScape runs on top of Microsoft Live Communications Server, which federates with other LCS servers and public IM service providers to share presence information. BlueNote’s SessionSuite line provides a number of distributable software-based telephony services that, rather than using its own separate PBX provisioning and management system, run on typical datacenter servers and integrate with Microsoft’s Active Directory and Radius. “Our business model is not about PBXes and $200 desktop phones,” says BlueNote’s Bament. “We don’t provide reworked CTI APIs. We’re a software solution.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/infoworld/article/06/10/09/41FEsoavoip_2.html

Google's Video-Search Challenge
BusinessWeek - Oct 10, 2006
"Some of Google's competitors in video search are very close to that future, if not already there. And many are sharing their technology with Google's biggest rivals. Microsoft (MSFT) has struck a deal to use Blinkx video-search technology. Similarly, search engine Lycos is also using Blinkx to find videos on its user-generated video site. PodZinger has agreements with leading video blog Rocketboom and other video sites. There are also YouTube competitors that have been steadily improving their video-search capabilities (see BusinessWeek.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2006/tc20061010_914750.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

Bye.

The shift toward hardware independence | Tech News on ZDNet

How's things?

Bugs and Fixes: Critical Fixes for Windows, IE, Office
PC World - Sep 22, 2006
The company just shipped 12 bug patches--9 of them critical--affecting everything from Windows to Internet Explorer to Office apps. And unfortunately, things have not gone smoothly. In keeping with what is now a regrettably familiar pattern, hackers launched a zero-day attack on a hole that one of the fixes addressed, before the patch could be released. This exploit was designed to target the Windows "Server service," which handles file and printer sharing in Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 through Windows Server 2003 as well as in Windows XP SP1 and SP2... A Broken IE Fix Shortly after releasing a cumulative update for Internet Explorer 6. 0 SP1 that patched six critical holes, Microsoft discovered a problem. The new patch introduced a bug that crashed IE under certain circumstances--such as when running CRM (customer relationship management) applications like PeopleSoft and Siebel. At about the same time, eEye Digital Security, a security research firm, discovered that an attacker could take advantage of the crashes to commandeer a computer running Windows 2000 SP4 or XP SP1 (though not SP2). Two weeks later, Redmond released an updated patch. Grab the fixed fix, which includes the cumulative updates of the previous patch, over Automatic Updates or from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-042 (".
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127065-c,virusesworms/article.html

The shift toward hardware independence | Tech News on ZDNet
ZDNet - Sep 21, 2006
The growing number of mobile employees that work in a "virtual office" need, and are demanding, access to their files and data without being restricted to an individual PC or intranet. This evolution is the driving force behind the Software as a Service revolution. Functionality and flexibility without the costs
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model of software delivery where the software company provides applications--such as CRM and sales force automation solutions, e-mail and collaboration software--which customers access through JavaScript enabled Web browsers. Users log in to specified Web pages for immediate and up-to-date access to their business application(s). These applications do not require desktop clients or downloads, freeing up device memory and increasing accessibility. Their potential often exceeds that of traditional boxed software by integrating the application with the Internet's communication capabilities, making it easy to instantly share data, such as customer information, calendars and other files. With a cost structure that fits the small business budget and services that meet their needs, smaller companies are finally reaping the benefits of applications that have typically been available only to big businesses that could afford to make large investments in hardware, software and IT staff.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6118152.html

Can Web-based applications outwit, outplay, outlast the desktop?
InfoWorld - Oct 2, 2006
“It’ll be fun,” he says. No access to my Microsoft Office apps, just the Web 2. 0 equivalents that seem to be popping up like gaffes at a Bush press conference. The point of this little exercise was to see whether anyone would seriously contemplate replacing desktop with Web-based productivity apps. And if not, how close are we? After all, whenever Google waves its hands in this direction, the pundits swoon. Not to mention that enterprises would save gazillions in licensing and desktop maintenance... I’ll be looking at additional applications on the. And before the flame mails start, let me be clear that my selection of apps for my WINO (Week of INternet Office) project are … personal. Which apps appealed to my particular style of working is partially based on features and partially on ease of use in the user interface -- I’m a creature of Office, and I don’t feel like spending the week staring at a Help menu.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/10/02/40FEbrowseapp_1.html

Second third-party fix out for Windows bug | CNET News.com
CNET News.com - Oct 1, 2006
The group, calling itself the Zeroday Emergency Response Team, or ZERT, created. People have a choice of third-party fixes. Security company Determina on Friday.
http://news.com.com/Second+third-party+fix+out+for+Windows+bug/2100-1002_3-6121630.html

With Online Friends Like These…
BusinessWeek - Sep 27, 2006
Microsoft's (MSFT) Internet Explorer, the most widely used Web browser, had the most attacks against it and accounted for 47% of all Web browser attacks. Symantec saw 38 new vulnerabilities in its software, a 52% increase over the past six months. Microsoft has addressed the problems as Symantec reported them and developed downloadable patches to shore up its systems. Mozilla, maker of the popular Firefox open source browser, had 47 vulnerabilities, an increase of 276%. Even Apple Computer's (AAPL) Safari browser, which is typically immune to many weaknesses shared by other more popular browsers, had 12 vulnerabilities. Most of those vulnerabilities were discovered by testers whose purpose is not to exploit them, but to help the companies protect their applications.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060927_746300.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology

Fool on the Street: Akamai Access [Fool.com] October 02, 2006
Motley Fool - Oct 2, 2006
Broadband, dude, broadbandAkamai is there, too, but its recent sales growth has approached 50%. Some of that surely owes to its early-2005... And Microsoft, a big customer in software downloads -- Akamai's network has delivered millions of beta copies of the Vista operating system -- seems likely to turn to Akamai when its. No wonder media is Akamai's largest segment, accounting for 38% of revenue, according to chief financial officer J.
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06100223.htm

SAP Eyes "Third Way" Software
BusinessWeek - Sep 29, 2006
How many of them understand their differentiators? According to Agassi: "About 10 per cent. As an example, he pointed to the way Apple was able to roll out its iTunes music store in just three months, based on an SAP backbone, whereas one-time digital music leader Napster took a year and was left behind. On a flying visit to Europe - he is normally based on the US west coast - the executive talked positively about the company's partnership with Microsoft and didn't miss the chance to disparage arch-rival Oracle. In recent years Oracle bought PeopleSoft and Siebel, both major players in business software, traditionally around HR and CRM respectively. SAP will continue to look for smaller acquisition targets - once upon a time that's how Agassi came into the fold - but he added: "We don't believe in buying customers. We want to see benefit the day after [any acquisition], not the day before," with a nod towards Oracle's approach. He also said Oracle customers must be "confused" about where the former PeopleSoft and Siebel products are being taken, saying "there is no real road-map"... As an example, he pointed to the way Apple was able to roll out its iTunes music store in just three months, based on an SAP backbone, whereas one-time digital music leader Napster took a year and was left behind. On a flying visit to Europe - he is normally based on the US west coast - the executive talked positively about the company's partnership with Microsoft and didn't miss the chance to disparage arch-rival Oracle. In recent years Oracle bought PeopleSoft and Siebel, both major players in business software, traditionally around HR and CRM respectively. SAP will continue to look for smaller acquisition targets - once upon a time that's how Agassi came into the fold - but he added: "We don't believe in buying customers. We want to see benefit the day after [any acquisition], not the day before," with a nod towards Oracle's approach. He also said Oracle customers must be "confused" about where the former PeopleSoft and Siebel products are being taken, saying "there is no real road-map". Oracle declined to respond to these comments when contacted.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/sep2006/gb20060929_100437.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business

See you later.

Sonata partners with Microsoft for ERP solutions

How are you?

Microsoft Takes Third Shot at Buggy Security Patch
PC World - Sep 13, 2006
Microsoft today was forced to release its third version of the update because of a new security bug discovered in the update, according to Tony Chor, a group program manager with Microsoft. First released on August 8,. Embarrassingly, it also introduced a security vulnerability into the browser, which was fixed last month... " His posting can be found here: Problems Cropped Up Fast Microsoft customers ran into problems with MS06-042 soon after it was released. Web sites that used HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) 1. 1 compression to speed up the downloading of images could cause the browser to fail and users of Web-based applications such as PeopleSoft, Siebel, and Sage CRM had problems with the software. Later in August, security researchers at eEye Digital Security disclosed that Microsoft had introduced a new critical security vulnerability in the update. Two days later Microsoft fixed the eEye bug in the MS06-042 re-release. Apparently this re-release did not address this latest but "similar" vulnerability mentioned by Chor. Microsoft executives could not be reached immediately for comment.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127140-c,browserbugs/article.html

Sonata partners with Microsoft for ERP solutions
Economic Times - Sep 12, 2006
Targeted at growing
companies, these applications can be customised to meet any business need such
as financial management, supply chain management and customer relationship
management, Sonata Software on Tuesday informed the Bombay Stock
Exchange. "With our experience
of implementing over 100 ERP or CRM solutions and our proactive investments in
Microsoft Dynamics we are in a unique position to enable our customers adopt
Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions with minimum disruption to their
on-going operations," Sonata Information Technology Director Sujit Mohanty
said. Microsoft Dynamics
increases a company's efficiency by connecting employees, customers and
suppliers, which eventually translates into higher profits for
businesses. Microsoft Dynamics
ERP and CRM applications integrate easily with Microsoft's core products such as
Office and Windows. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4. 0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM
3... Microsoft Dynamics
ERP and CRM applications integrate easily with Microsoft's core products such as
Office and Windows. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4. 0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM
3. 0 for the Indian market was introduced last
year. Sonata is a leader in ERP
and CRM implementations, management and has been Microsoft's partner for the
last 15 years. Sonata
Information Technology Limited (SITL), is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sonata
Software Ltd. Shares of the
company closed at Rs 29.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1984203.cms

Sonata launches Microsoft Dynamics
Hindu - Sep 13, 2006
Microsoft Dynamics increases company's efficiency by connecting employees, customers and suppliers, which eventually translates into higher profits for businesses. "

Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM applications integrate with Microsoft core products such as Office and Windows to simplify processes across an organisation. Microsoft introduced Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4. 0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3. 0 for the Indian market last year. While the offerings are targeted at companies across the board, Microsoft has seen high customer traction from manufacturing, logistics and distribution, construction, retail, automotive, professional and IT services and public sector companies.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200609130352.htm

ASPs snake back into hosting limelight - vnunet.com
VNUNet.com - Sep 11, 2006
“Most of it is going on under the radar, buthosted applications are becoming more and more mainstream and most sizeablesoftware vendors have some presence in this space now. ”Sage has various CRM offerings pitched at different levels and based aroundthe Accpac software and technology it acquired from CA. Oracle has also boughtits way into this part of the market – and into CRM as well – through theacquisition of Siebel. Microsoft is also looking to make a splash in the sector:Hosted Exchange has been available for some time and Microsoft is pushing thelatest of its CRM packages hard as a hosted solution. According to James Murfin, hosted applications product manager at MicrosoftUK, there are already about 300 partners in the UK offering some kind of ASP oron-demand applications service. Some already offer hosted SQL and even Officeapplications and Microsoft is signing up more partners every week, Murfin said. Some are already very well established; e-know.
http://www.vnunet.com/crn/analysis/2163922/asps-snake-back-hosting

Salesforce.com adds mash-ups to new CRM
VNUNet.com - Sep 13, 2006
"In the same period. Two versions verses 21.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2164169

Sensex closes 110 pts up at 11,660
Economic Times - Sep 12, 2006
90 as the company came closer to acquiring Irish company, Pinewood valued
at over $100 million. Sonata
Software Ltd rose 0. 5% to Rs 29 after it informed BSE that Sonata Information
Technology Ltd, in association with Microsoft India Pvt Ltd, launched Microsoft
Dynamics, ERP and CRM solutions from
Microsoft. Ranbaxy Laboratories
Ltd slipped 0. 10 on announcing the launch of its branded product,
Avessa inhalation capsules in India for the treatment of
Asthma.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1984131.cms

Market surges past 11,600-mark
Times of India - Sep 12, 2006
90 as
the company came closer to acquiring Irish company, Pinewood valued at over $100
million. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3:00
pm :

Sonata Software Ltd rose 0. 5% to Rs
29 after it informed BSE that Sonata Information Technology Ltd, in association
with Microsoft India Pvt Ltd, launched Microsoft Dynamics, ERP and CRM solutions
from
Microsoft. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2:45
pm :

Punj Lloyd Ltd rose 2. 3% to Rs 768 on
entering a joint venture with Swissport International.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1983869.cms

Unpacking Amazon's Unbox Video Service
BusinessWeek - Sep 7, 2006
It offers DVD-quality downloads, triple the video quality of the leading rivals, and a free downsized version for some Microsoft Windows-compatible portable devices. The videos also can be viewed starting in as little as five minutes, while the rest of the movie continues to download. And unlike with other services, they can be downloaded to multiple personal computers. "ULTIMATE DESTINATION. " Amazon is offering thousands of movies from most of the major studios, such as Warner Bros.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060907_611445.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives

Treo Troubles Trigger Palm Plunge
BusinessWeek - Sep 8, 2006
and is moving to expand its reach overseas. And it has become software-agnostic, offering devices on both the Palm and Microsoft operating systems, as well as BlackBerry Connect and Good Technology e-mail services. Still, the Treo's design hasn't substantially changed since it was introduced three years ago—close to an eternity in the fad-driven cell-phone business. Analysts correctly predicted Palm would quickly lose market share as consumers flocked to slimmer designs like the Q and Motorola's hit Razr phone over the bulky Treo. "The big question around the Treo is when will it get a design refresh?" says analyst Cliff Raskind at Strategy Analytics.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060908_222115.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories

Sybase's $425 Million Mobile Plan
Motley Fool - Sep 11, 2006
At more than four times revenues, the price tag is not cheap. But for Sybase to be a true player in the mobile enterprise space, it needs what Mobile 365 offers. First, Mobile 365 has a hosted solution, which is similar to Salesforce.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2006/09/11/sybases-425-million-mobile-plan.aspx

Take care.

Google Uses the Salesforce

Nice meeting you!

Salesforce.com shares jump as it turns in a loss
Register - Aug 18, 2006
is delivering the promise of on-demand services to nearly 25,000 customers with more than 500,000 subscribers around the world today. The comment was presumably a dig at Microsoft's CRM software and Oracle's Siebel venture. The firm netted 57,000 new subscibers to its services in the quarter, up 63 per cent on the Q2 2005 total. ® Track this type of story as a. Related storiesSalesforce.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/18/salesforce_q2_2006/

Google Uses the Salesforce
Motley Fool - Aug 23, 2006
After a free 30-day trial, Salesforce customers can pay $300 a month to continue the service, which manages paid-search campaigns while also tracking potential leads. With nearly 25,000 corporate clients and more than half a million subscribers to its hosted applications, Salesforce -- which provides online services for employees to track customer leads, accounts, marketing campaigns -- is no slouch. If successful, Salesforce. com's service has many implications.
http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2006/mft06082302.htm?ref=foolwatch

Critical Flaw Found in IE Patch
PC World - Aug 23, 2006
Patched browsers would crash when using Web-based versions of several applications, including PeopleSoft, Siebel, and Sage CRM. Web sites that used HTTP 1. 1 compression to speed up the downloading of images could also cause the browser to fail. These issues are described on.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126879-c,browserbugs/article.html

TechWeek: Shorts Drive the August Rally
thestreet.com - Aug 19, 2006
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) , Salesforce. com (CRM) and BEA Systems (BEAS) delivered stronger-than-expected earnings, while Dell (DELL) found new ways to scare customers and investors. And when Microsoft (MSFT) figured out that its "modified Dutch auction had flopped," it changed the timing on the buyback offer. All of this gave the market a solid bounce, with the Nasdaq, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Goldman Sachs Software Index all on the rise. To be sure, the solid earnings reports were an important driver this week. But interviews with money managers and equity strategists suggest that the rally wasn't all that solid. One big factor: short covering.
http://www.thestreet.com/p/pf/newsanalysis/techsoftware/10304744.html

Salesforce.com buys into Google AdWords | CNET News.com
CNET News.com - Aug 21, 2006
is trying to get information from Google AdWords to knowing who the customer is can be kind of a difficult thing," Benioff said. "You tend to lose the link between CRM (customer relationship management) and Google ads. caro -->


Now on News.
http://news.com.com/Salesforce.com+buys+into+Google+AdWords/2100-1014_3-6108046.html

SAP: Tapped for Bigger Things
BusinessWeek - Aug 22, 2006
In 2004, SAP furthered its commitment to ESA by announcing a three-year road map through which it expects to deliver increasingly service-oriented solutions to the market annually, until the entire portfolio of the company's solutions is based on ESA by 2007. Recent product introductions have included SAP CRM on-demand (February, 2006) and mySAP ERP 2005 (May, 2006). THREE GROWTH DRIVERS. We think that a key driver of SAP's recent growth has been the company's notable progress in selling its products to SMB customers. In its recent June-quarter release, the company reported that 30% of its software revenues over the trailing four quarters came from the midmarket... Finally, we have a favorable view of SAP's ability and willingness to collaborate and partner with other technology companies, large and small. A recent example of this is the May, 2006, introduction of Duet software for Microsoft Office and SAP, launched and jointly developed with Microsoft (MSFT). This product brings SAP's ERP data into the workflow of a broader base of users by incorporating Microsoft's ubiquitous Office as a user interface. We expect the primary appeal of Duet to be for the SAP ERP-installed base, with the potential to raise ERP users by four times within its current client base, according to the company. We view these efforts favorably as a less risky, and potentially much cheaper, way to grow its business.
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/aug2006/pi20060822_581271.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_investing

See you later.

Microsoft has missed boat, says Benioff

Hi!

Microsoft Live CRM lashed
Inquirer - Jul 14, 2006
This time the butt of the groundlings' cabbages and turnips is its Live CRM service. Although a lot of the negative reactions the company has been receiving recently have mostly been the Anybody ButMicrosoft obsessive types, the announcement of Live CRM arguably merited its mauling. Microsoft's on-premises CRM has had challenging early years with Redmond forced to pull a release and changemanagement of the group. A slow-ish start wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for Redmond being on the wrong end of comparisons withthe likes of Salesforce. com and others in the on-demand movement that have been growing at high-double-digit and eventriple-figure percentage rates not seen in business software since the last century. After expending lots of wind playing down the importance of the software-as-a-service movement, Microsoft then wenton a backtracking expedition insisting it "got it" about online business apps as well as consumer services... In one of his staff memos that, as ever, was leaked immediately to press, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reached forhis black cap and software-as-a-service Bible and asked, "Is it the end of software as we know it?"Benioff noted that Ray Ozzie's big power move was no coincidence as Ozzie is Microsoft's biggest booster for changein software delivery. He perhaps weakened his argument by then suggesting that the huge field of Ajax-based online productivity apps backup his thesis, but that's another story. Those partners that were offering hosted versions of Microsoft CRM did not appear too happy. Others noted that Microsoft was "the new IBM" and not in a positive way either.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=33043

Microsoft has missed boat, says Benioff
Australian IT - Jul 18, 2006
module-subheader --> SALESFORCE. COM founder and chief executive Marc Benioff has hammered Microsoft's attempt to launch itself into the software-as-a-service market with a hosted version of its customer relationship management product, saying the software giant had been "left behind". Microsoft announced last week it would launch Microsoft CRM Live, an online adaptation of its existing Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and integrate it with Windows and Office Live. Mr Benioff, whose company has been banging the online application drum for years, said Microsoft was doing too little, too late. Internet companies such as Google and Yahoo were leaving traditional software vendors behind in the field of hosted applications, he said. Mr Benioff is a well-known evangelist for Web 2. 0, a term used to refer to internet-based applications that run without client software.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,19822432%5E15316%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html

Microsoft's Vista, Office delays complicate partner plans
InfoWorld - Jul 17, 2006
com, Siebel, and others. Ballmer said his company would release the product in the second quarter of 2007 and “won’t be outhustled by anybody” in the fast-growing SaaS (software as a service) market. Partners will play a role by integrating CRM Live with Windows and Office Live, as well as other Microsoft products, said Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft CRM. With new enterprise search, security, and SaaS products on tap, Microsoft also signaled that it is willing to use its deep pockets to break into areas that established companies now dominate. For example, SSA (Security Software Advisor) is a new program that provides considerable cash incentives to partners that deploy Microsoft security products such as the Forefront family of client and server security products, ISA Server, and Antigen messaging security products. To promote its security wares, Microsoft is promising to “skill up” existing partners on security and is permitting certifications from organizations such as ISC2 and ISACA to satisfy its Security Partner Competency, said Steve Brown, director of product management for security, access, and solutions at Microsoft. Microsoft is also dangling cash, offering partners bonuses of as much as 20 percent of the total sales of its security products, and 30 percent in the next seven months, Brown said.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/17/29NNmsftpartnercon_1.html

Microsoft discovers secret to impressing Wall Street
Register - Jul 19, 2006
it's on target with vision and earnings. Microsoft already relies on client and server and tools - along with Office - for more than half of its business. Earlier this year, Microsoft said it expects its ERP and CRM business to hit profitability in 2007 and become its next $1bn business. By combining ERP and CRM with Office, though, it will be impossible to say for sure how they are performing. With revenue from new business unproven, Wall St. will be looking for positive growth in Microsoft's bread and butter businesses of Windows and Office. Microsoft is due to report its fourth quarter and fiscal 2006 on Thursday.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/19/microsoft_financial_reporting/

Salesforce introduces partner management
InfoWorld - Jul 17, 2006
com’s summer release is typically an opportunity to hype minor upgrades. Up to now, Salesforce has thrived in a market that Microsoft ignored. Those days may be over. Due in mid-2007, Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM Live reportedly will be based on multi­tenancy architecture, pioneered by Salesforce. com, in which one instance of the software is shared by all customer accounts... Up to now, Salesforce has thrived in a market that Microsoft ignored. Those days may be over. Due in mid-2007, Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM Live reportedly will be based on multi­tenancy architecture, pioneered by Salesforce. com, in which one instance of the software is shared by all customer accounts. CRM Live will be designed to make SaaS applications vastly easier to scale, manage, upgrade, and provision. In his keynote address at Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Boston, CEO Steve Ballmer singled out Dynamics CRM Live as a major opportunity for the company’s huge network of business partners to make money through customizations, add-ons, referrals, and hosting.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/17/29NNsalesforcenews_1.html

SAP suffers peer pressure
Register - Jul 13, 2006
Shares in SAP subsequently fell by seven per cent in afternoon trading. SAP is facing competition from both Microsoft and Oracle. While Microsoft is seeing growth from its own ERP and CRM applications, it is still very much in the midst of developing a coherent business applications strategy. That makes Oracle the bigger threat, and Larry Ellison’s company has been gunning for SAP on the back of a string of acquisitions, including Siebel. Announcing results earlier this year, Oracle was quick to point out 100 per cent year-on-year license revenue growth in Europe, SAP's strongest geographical region and home base. "It's very satisfying to be doing well right in SAP's backyard," Oracle president Charles Phillips said in a statement at the time.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/13/sap_second_quarter_preliminary_results/

Microsoft Bets on Integrators For Hosted Services
ITworld.com - Jul 19, 2006
But like so many other areas in which it has lagged behind, when the giant wakes up, it can bring considerable resources to the table. So it is with hosted services. One initiative we'll be seeing is a partner-based customization model for Microsoft's CRM Live. What Ballmer says is that Microsoft expects its partners to grow its business in the so-called software-as-a-service segment. The partner revenue model for this is a long way from the time-honored practice of delivering and installing software to a customer and then charging an annual maintenance fee. With software-as-a-service, partners should expect to see significant revenue from advertising. In addition, there are commissions associated with selling the Windows Live and Office Live services.
http://www.itworld.com/Man/3917/nls_solutions_msbet060720/

Putting a price on a virtual computer
CNET News.com - Jul 17, 2006
The company may not even run the software itself, instead buying it or renting it from a third-party hosting service. Microsoft, for one, has been ahead of the curve when it comes to virtual machines and dual-core chip licensing practices, but somewhat behind when it comes to hosted software, said Ovum Summit analyst Dwight Davis. The company just this week finally committed to offering a hosted version of its CRM (customer relationship management) software, for example. "Microsoft is finally starting to bite that bullet," Davis said. "It has to be a player, but it does so with some trepidation about what the impact will be on its bottom line. "


Software makers are also trying to figure out how many new licensing options to introduce and when. Although some leading-edge customers are using virtualization as a mainstay throughout their company, many have yet to even try out the technology.
http://news.com.com/2100-7339-6094502.html

Salesforce.com syncs into SAP R/3
InfoWorld - Jul 17, 2006
" The vendor plans to weigh what integration capabilities its partners have built and currently offer via its AppExchange network. The other leading ERP vendor is Oracle Corp. Both Oracle and SAP offer their own hosted CRM products. showed itself more serious about on-demand CRM, recently announcing .
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/17/HNsalesforcetwenty_1.html&source=searchresult

Microsoft to Google: get your tanks off our lawn
Register - Jul 14, 2006
Microsoft used its conference to demonstrate a strangely familiar capability of exporting customer names and addresses from these business applications for mapping and display using Windows Live Virtual Earth - either a re-branded Windows Live Local, previously MSN Virtual Earth, or just a presentational slip. com already enables integration between customers' CRM data and Google Maps through the AppExchange service launched in January. Microsoft demonstrated the ability to combine search of data with information about people who may be relevant to searches. SharePoint Server will achieve this by crawling through information about people in emails, Microsoft's ActiveDirectory, and links to SharePoint MySites. The combination led chief Ballmer to enthusiastically comment that search and SharePoint Server 2007 are "kind of like a MySpace for real business use. Kind of, Steve, but not really.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/14/microsoft_search_google/

IT gets drafted to babysit the blogs
InfoWorld - Jul 14, 2006
” These best practices include workflow, single-source content repositories, security and permissions, and content auditing and analytics. But on another level, I wonder whether there’s a bigger picture that IT should be thinking about. Will blogs get woven into products and services as a two-way customer-facing communication channel? Should they therefore be integrated with CRM systems? Where do podcasts fit into this? Will there be a battle for control of the blog-o-structure among the PR, market research, product management, and legal departments? And does IT really want to get in the middle of that fight, or just outsource it and get out of the way?Upgrade Cycles Revisited: A couple weeks ago I wrote a. An alert reader in Pennsylvania (I’ll call him Bob) challenged me on this by e-mail, basically saying that four-year cycles suit him just fine. “With resources stretched thin, can most IT shops afford to upgrade software every year or less?” Bob asked... Will blogs get woven into products and services as a two-way customer-facing communication channel? Should they therefore be integrated with CRM systems? Where do podcasts fit into this? Will there be a battle for control of the blog-o-structure among the PR, market research, product management, and legal departments? And does IT really want to get in the middle of that fight, or just outsource it and get out of the way?Upgrade Cycles Revisited: A couple weeks ago I wrote a. An alert reader in Pennsylvania (I’ll call him Bob) challenged me on this by e-mail, basically saying that four-year cycles suit him just fine. “With resources stretched thin, can most IT shops afford to upgrade software every year or less?” Bob asked. “We have a hard enough time keeping up with patches, let alone upgrades. I still have the bulk of my enterprise on Office 2000, and we’re only now looking at upgrading to 2003.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/07/14/29OPanalysts_1.html

Nokia eyes business apps, VoIP integration
ITworld.com - Jul 19, 2006
General manager of Nokia's enterprise solutions, Vaughn Madeley, said the availability of Intellisync will allow local enterprises to integrate many types of back-end applications, including those developed in-house, and make them available in the field. "With Intellisync we can provide an enterprise with push e-mail, [but] the IT managers' issues were about how to manage these devices and operating systems which Intellisync allows them to do," Vaughn said, adding the software also allows devices to be erased over the air. "The next question was about being able to take back-office CRM (customer relationship management) systems and bringing them out on the road to devices. Vaughn said part of Nokia's Intellisync acquisition was to allow for application extendibility. Nokia's new E series "business optimized" devices ship with the client software pre-installed and the Intellisync server is purchased separately. "IT managers say 'that's great, but I want to consolidate devices from a management perspective' and that's why we brought out the E series which are 3G (third generation) and wireless," Vaughn said. "As a dual-mode device, if you are running a VoIP environment at the end of this year you will be able to get a client that will allow you to step from a GSM to VoIP by switching manually and seamlessly, in the future... "As a dual-mode device, if you are running a VoIP environment at the end of this year you will be able to get a client that will allow you to step from a GSM to VoIP by switching manually and seamlessly, in the future. Nokia has also released the Nokia E50, which aims to bridge the gap between and personal and business phone. The E60 comes with the business connectivity options pre-installed, can integrate with existing PABXs, Microsoft Office file viewers, and a full Web browser based on the open source KHTML project. Enterprises using Avaya's Communication Manager can connect the Nokia E50 directly to their phone networks, using Avaya's one-X Mobile Edition client. The Cisco SIP client is scheduled for 2007. Managing director of telecommunications research firm Telsyte, Warren Chaisatien said businesses need to be prudent with how they approach mobile applications. "Now that companies have deployed mobility solutions [other] than just e-mail and voice communications to things like CRM and workforce automation, they need to understand their business processes to identify where mobility fits," Chaisatien said.
http://www.itworld.com/Net/3303/060719nokiavoip/

Hummingbird in limbo as it mulls takeover bids
VNUNet.com - Jul 17, 2006
“Both vendors are of a size where they are vulnerable to takeover,” Clarkewrote in a research note. “[Open Text and Hummingbird] are clearly not of thesame size as [rivals] such as IBM and EMC. With [Oracle and] Microsoft alsoentering the fray, it will become increasingly difficult for vendors such asOpen Text and Hummingbird to survive on their own. ”Separately,.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2160507/hummingbird-limbo-takeover-bids

See you later.