Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff used strong language during a recent earnings call to describe a patent-infringement lawsuit leveled against his company by Microsoft, which he equated with "alley thugs." Microsoft alleges that Salesforce infringed on nine of its patents related to cloud-based applications. Benioff also hinted that Microsoft’s lawsuit could grievously affect other cloud vendors. Although Microsoft has traditionally focused on hybrid and on-premises solutions, its increased attention to the cloud brings it into competition with companies such as Salesforce.
Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff minced no words in describing the recent patent-infringement lawsuit leveled against his company by Microsoft, using the pulpit of a May 20 earnings call to compare the legal action to a late-night mugging.
“The reality is that these patent trolls are unfortunately just part of doing business in technology these days,” Benioff told analysts and reporters, according to an earnings-call transcript published on Seeking Alpha. Microsoft alleges that Salesforce, which markets cloud-based applications for business intelligence and other areas, violated nine of its patents.
From there, Benioff’s language escalated:
“They’re basically the alley thugs. Every thriving economy has alley thugs, and we do, too, and that’s fine,” Benioff said, “Personally, I’m just disappointed to see this from a former leader of our industry, but it’s imminently resolvable, and it’s not material to our day-to-day business.”
Benioff suggested that the lawsuit could have a broad impact on companies developing similar cloud-based platforms: “I think it probably has more ramifications for other cloud vendors than it, honestly, does for us because we’re strong. And a lot of other cloud CEOs have been contacting me, and my heart goes out to them and because I feel like that’s the real impact is that if you go through it, you can see where this is going. And there’s obviously a next step here, and it’s not about us, it’s about others.”
The amount of damages claimed by the lawsuit remains unspecified, although the patents contested by Microsoft cover very specific areas such as “Method and system for mapping between logical data and physical data,” “Method and system for stacking tool bars in a computer display,” and “System and method for providing and displaying a Web page having an embedded menu.”
While Microsoft continues to play out its legacy in desktop-based and hybrid software, the cloud has become an area of increased focus for the company, as more and more businesses gravitate toward receiving applications over the Web as opposed to running them on-premises. Meanwhile, Salesforce has been at the vanguard of pushing cloud-based platforms as the way of the future—placing it on a collision course with Microsoft as the software giant tries to adopt a suitable strategy in that market.
Salesforce’s recent push to attract developers also puts it at odds with Microsoft, which has pushed application development using its .NET framework. For its part, however, Microsoft is framing the lawsuit against Salesforce as a straightforward case of patent infringement.
“Microsoft has been a leader and innovator in the software industry for decades and continues to invest billions of dollars each year in bringing great software products and services to market,” Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing, wrote in a May 18 statement. “We have a responsibility to our customers, partners and shareholders to safeguard that investment, and therefore cannot stand idly by when others infringe on our IP rights.”
But Benioff’s comments cast the lawsuit as a more strategic move by Microsoft, a point of view supported by some analysts.
“Microsoft considers these to be the core patents, ideas that differentiate Microsoft’s offerings broadly,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst of the Enderle Group, wrote in an e-mail to eWEEK. “They won’t license these and approached Salesforce and Salesforce evidently [blew] them off, likely thinking that Microsoft wouldn’t litigate because they rarely do.”
In that spirit, Enderle theorized, Microsoft could be choosing to make an example of Salesforce, if only to flex its litigation muscle: “Microsoft’s investment in this effort will be significant. They’ve been doing this for decades.”
The Salesforce lawsuit comes at a time when Microsoft finds itself embroiled in other legal action, including a patent-infringement lawsuit leveled against it by Canadian firm i4i that has already passed through several rulings and appeals. On May 17, Microsoft announced that it would pay $200 million to settle a patent-infringement suit leveled against it by VirnetX, which builds communication and collaboration technologies.
Source:eweek.com
Monday, May 24, 2010
Business Intelligence and Analytics Were Bright Spots Last Year
by Timothy Prickett Morgan
A lot of areas in the IT business were slammed last year, with double-digit revenue declines, but the market for business intelligence, analytics, and performance management (meaning the performance of the business, not the underlying systems) software was not one of them.
According to the bit and money counters at Gartner, these three interrelated software products accounted for $9.3 billion in combined revenues in 2009, up a modest 4.2 percent from the $8.9 billion companies brought in during 2008.
"Even though growth was nowhere near the levels of 2008, and by no means immune to the recession, BI showed that it is not as cyclical as many other software areas, recording healthy growth in one of the toughest years recorded in software history," explained Dan Sommer, senior research analyst at Gartner, in a statement accompanying the figures. "The dominant vendors continued to put BI, analytics, and PM front and center of their messaging. Organizations largely continued their BI projects, hoping that resulting transparency and insight would enable cost-cuts and improved productivity and agility. However, there is no doubt pressure has intensified on deal sizes and price points on new sales throughout the year."
As readers of The Four Hundred know full well, IBM has put business analytics and optimization at the heart of its Smarter Planet marketing strategy. But IBM has yet to launch a Smartie analytics appliance that is based on the Power Systems i platform and exploit some of the advanced features that make it suitable for exactly this kind of work and particularly for AS/400 and i shops that already have their production databases on Power gear and the OS/400, i5/OS, and i For Business operating systems. To my great disappointment.
Across this combined software category, Gartner reckons that German software giant SAP is the king, and will no doubt improve its position if it prevails in its $5.8 billion acquisition of database maker and analytics expert Sybase, which I told you about in last week's issue. SAP might have been the market leader in the BI-A-PM racket in 2009, with $2.08 billion in revenues and giving it 22.4 percent of the pie, but its business was off six-tenths of a percent, according to Gartner. The acquisition of BusinessObjects helped SAP, but as the big player aimed at large enterprises who slammed on the spending brakes, SAP took the hit.
Oracle, thanks to its acquisition of Hyperion nearly three years ago, was the number two player in this BI-A-PM space, says Gartner, with $1.35 billion in sales, up 5.2 percent from 2008. SAS Institute was right on Oracle's heels, with $1.32 billion in sales, up 3 percent, followed by IBM, with $1.14 billion in sales, up 14 percent. If you want to know why IBM is talking up Smarter Infrastructure and Smarter Planet and even releasing its own version of the Hadoop MapReduce and file system software used by Yahoo, Facebook and others (as it did last week). this is why: IBM sees a lot of growth potential in big data crunching.
Microsoft is a distant fifth in the BI-A-PM space, with $739.1 million in revenues last year, but also grew at an 8.5 percent clip, more than twice as fast as the market at large. MicroStrategy, with $205 million in sales and growing at 5.4 percent last year, is still hanging in there as an independent, but with a market capitalization of $880 million as this newsletter goes to press, it is hard to imagine that IBM or Oracle won't snap it up soon. Other vendors made up another $2.93 billion in sales of BI-A-PM products, up 3 percent and getting a 25.7 share of the pie. There are obviously a lot of niche players down there, and they are all acquisition targets from the big boys, too.
By product category, business intelligence and data warehousing platforms accounted for just under $6 billion in sales last year, up 4.8 percent from 2008. Corporate performance management (CPM) suites accounted for $1.94 billion in revenues, up 3.6 percent, while analytic applications and performance management software (this is distinct from standalone CPM suites and represents modules that are add-ons to existing ERP, SCM, and CRM applications) brought in $1.4 billion in sales, up 2.3 percent.
A lot of areas in the IT business were slammed last year, with double-digit revenue declines, but the market for business intelligence, analytics, and performance management (meaning the performance of the business, not the underlying systems) software was not one of them.
According to the bit and money counters at Gartner, these three interrelated software products accounted for $9.3 billion in combined revenues in 2009, up a modest 4.2 percent from the $8.9 billion companies brought in during 2008.
"Even though growth was nowhere near the levels of 2008, and by no means immune to the recession, BI showed that it is not as cyclical as many other software areas, recording healthy growth in one of the toughest years recorded in software history," explained Dan Sommer, senior research analyst at Gartner, in a statement accompanying the figures. "The dominant vendors continued to put BI, analytics, and PM front and center of their messaging. Organizations largely continued their BI projects, hoping that resulting transparency and insight would enable cost-cuts and improved productivity and agility. However, there is no doubt pressure has intensified on deal sizes and price points on new sales throughout the year."
As readers of The Four Hundred know full well, IBM has put business analytics and optimization at the heart of its Smarter Planet marketing strategy. But IBM has yet to launch a Smartie analytics appliance that is based on the Power Systems i platform and exploit some of the advanced features that make it suitable for exactly this kind of work and particularly for AS/400 and i shops that already have their production databases on Power gear and the OS/400, i5/OS, and i For Business operating systems. To my great disappointment.
Across this combined software category, Gartner reckons that German software giant SAP is the king, and will no doubt improve its position if it prevails in its $5.8 billion acquisition of database maker and analytics expert Sybase, which I told you about in last week's issue. SAP might have been the market leader in the BI-A-PM racket in 2009, with $2.08 billion in revenues and giving it 22.4 percent of the pie, but its business was off six-tenths of a percent, according to Gartner. The acquisition of BusinessObjects helped SAP, but as the big player aimed at large enterprises who slammed on the spending brakes, SAP took the hit.
Oracle, thanks to its acquisition of Hyperion nearly three years ago, was the number two player in this BI-A-PM space, says Gartner, with $1.35 billion in sales, up 5.2 percent from 2008. SAS Institute was right on Oracle's heels, with $1.32 billion in sales, up 3 percent, followed by IBM, with $1.14 billion in sales, up 14 percent. If you want to know why IBM is talking up Smarter Infrastructure and Smarter Planet and even releasing its own version of the Hadoop MapReduce and file system software used by Yahoo, Facebook and others (as it did last week). this is why: IBM sees a lot of growth potential in big data crunching.
Microsoft is a distant fifth in the BI-A-PM space, with $739.1 million in revenues last year, but also grew at an 8.5 percent clip, more than twice as fast as the market at large. MicroStrategy, with $205 million in sales and growing at 5.4 percent last year, is still hanging in there as an independent, but with a market capitalization of $880 million as this newsletter goes to press, it is hard to imagine that IBM or Oracle won't snap it up soon. Other vendors made up another $2.93 billion in sales of BI-A-PM products, up 3 percent and getting a 25.7 share of the pie. There are obviously a lot of niche players down there, and they are all acquisition targets from the big boys, too.
By product category, business intelligence and data warehousing platforms accounted for just under $6 billion in sales last year, up 4.8 percent from 2008. Corporate performance management (CPM) suites accounted for $1.94 billion in revenues, up 3.6 percent, while analytic applications and performance management software (this is distinct from standalone CPM suites and represents modules that are add-ons to existing ERP, SCM, and CRM applications) brought in $1.4 billion in sales, up 2.3 percent.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Oracle To Acquire Secerno for Database Security
Oracle has agreed to acquire database firewall-solutions provider Secerno. The move keeps Oracle competitive with IBM, which acquired Guardium in December. Secerno will be Oracle's first line of defense against threats from outside and inside as more people access databases through analytics and business intelligence tools.
Oracle is still integrating Sun Microsystems into its fold, but that didn't stop it from making yet another acquisition. On Thursday, Oracle agreed to acquire database firewall-solutions provider Secerno.
Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the acquisition is expected to close before the end of June. Analysts said that puts Oracle in a position to compete more effectively against IBM in the database market.
In acquiring Secerno, Oracle gets firewall solutions that work with both Oracle and non-Oracle databases. Oracle is tapping into the demand for security solutions that protect databases against sophisticated hacker attacks. Secerno's technology promises to block unauthorized activity in real time.
"The Secerno acquisition is in direct response to increasing customer Relevant Products/Services challenges around mitigating database security risk," said Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Oracle Database Server Technologies.
Oracle's Plans with Secerno
He made clear that Oracle plans to use the Secerno technology as a first line of defense against threats from both the outside and within an organization. As he explained it, the firewall makes a protective perimeter around databases that will complement Oracle's other database-security solutions.
In other words, Secerno offers a missing piece that Oracle thinks will bolster its database-security suite to protect data privacy, block threats, and enable regulatory compliance. The missing piece is like the one IBM acquired last December when it scooped up Guardium, so it's not surprising that Oracle is making this acquisition. In fact, it was almost a must, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
"Secerno and Guardium, which IBM acquired, offer tools that both help to secure database assets and also to track the activities of people who are accessing that data," King said. "So you can basically be alerted to see if any particular employee is coming by a place they are supposed to stay out of or trying to slip the lock."
Monitoring Internal Database Threats
Although external threats are real, King said internal threats are just as possible in a world where customer sales and credit data can be used for personal profit. With business analytics and business intelligence tools, King noted, companies can search databases for actionable insights that drive revenue. But in doing so, it opens up the database to new groups of users.
Logically speaking, the greater number of people who have access to the database, the greater the threat. It's critical to secure such data because it's subject to regulatory compliance. When customer information leaks from the database, it tends to make national headlines in a hurry.
"Secerno, it's a great additive technology that Oracle is very wise to have purchased for its own offerings," King said. "Between IBM's Guardium deal in December and now Oracle's deal, I think it will probably be considered a must-have type of technology for players in the database market."
Source:newsfactor.com
Oracle is still integrating Sun Microsystems into its fold, but that didn't stop it from making yet another acquisition. On Thursday, Oracle agreed to acquire database firewall-solutions provider Secerno.
Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the acquisition is expected to close before the end of June. Analysts said that puts Oracle in a position to compete more effectively against IBM in the database market.
In acquiring Secerno, Oracle gets firewall solutions that work with both Oracle and non-Oracle databases. Oracle is tapping into the demand for security solutions that protect databases against sophisticated hacker attacks. Secerno's technology promises to block unauthorized activity in real time.
"The Secerno acquisition is in direct response to increasing customer Relevant Products/Services challenges around mitigating database security risk," said Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Oracle Database Server Technologies.
Oracle's Plans with Secerno
He made clear that Oracle plans to use the Secerno technology as a first line of defense against threats from both the outside and within an organization. As he explained it, the firewall makes a protective perimeter around databases that will complement Oracle's other database-security solutions.
In other words, Secerno offers a missing piece that Oracle thinks will bolster its database-security suite to protect data privacy, block threats, and enable regulatory compliance. The missing piece is like the one IBM acquired last December when it scooped up Guardium, so it's not surprising that Oracle is making this acquisition. In fact, it was almost a must, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
"Secerno and Guardium, which IBM acquired, offer tools that both help to secure database assets and also to track the activities of people who are accessing that data," King said. "So you can basically be alerted to see if any particular employee is coming by a place they are supposed to stay out of or trying to slip the lock."
Monitoring Internal Database Threats
Although external threats are real, King said internal threats are just as possible in a world where customer sales and credit data can be used for personal profit. With business analytics and business intelligence tools, King noted, companies can search databases for actionable insights that drive revenue. But in doing so, it opens up the database to new groups of users.
Logically speaking, the greater number of people who have access to the database, the greater the threat. It's critical to secure such data because it's subject to regulatory compliance. When customer information leaks from the database, it tends to make national headlines in a hurry.
"Secerno, it's a great additive technology that Oracle is very wise to have purchased for its own offerings," King said. "Between IBM's Guardium deal in December and now Oracle's deal, I think it will probably be considered a must-have type of technology for players in the database market."
Source:newsfactor.com
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Microsoft Takes Google Head On
Microsoft this week is releasing the 2010 versions of its Office and SharePoint applications. Sure, there are a range of new and exciting features, but unlike previous Office versions, that is not where this launch is making the most noise. Microsoft’s strategy for competing with Google and owning the cloud is coming more into focus, and that is where this release will make or break Microsoft’s dominance on the office suite front.
First let’s talk about the features. Three areas really catch my eye when we look at the enhancements to Office 2010: collaboration, business intelligence and social networking. Office 2010 really takes collaboration to the next level. Users can edit documents simultaneously, with changes being locked at the paragraph level in Word and at the slide level in PowerPoint. As changes are saved, the other authors get a note that updates are available, but it’s very unobtrusive and flows naturally. One caveat to this is that the document must be stored on a SharePoint 2010 server.
And Microsoft continues to follow through on its commitment to bring business intelligence to every user in the organization. Sparklines and Slicers in Excel 2010 create entirely new, simple ways for any user to intelligently interpret and evaluate data. They are basically charting/graphing and PivotTables simplified and improved. I think the average user will have a lot more success working with these tools than anything they've had in the past. If you have more complex data-analysis needs, the new PowerPivot add-in for Excel makes it much easier to import and work with large amounts of SQL Server right inside Excel.
If you live and breathe e-mail like I do, the Outlook 2010 upgrade is a must-have. First off, the Ribbon Bar we got in Office 2007 is now in Outlook. Like it or not, it’s here to stay. As a side note, all of Office 2010 includes the ability to customize the Ribbon Bar, which I think makes it much, much better. The first major issue Outlook 2010 tackles is e-mail overload. The conversation view, which was in previous versions, is greatly improved and really works well. With the click of a button, you can ignore entire e-mail threads that don’t relate to you, or "clean up" a conversation, which gets rid of all the redundant messages within a message back and forth. It will take a little getting used to, but once you get it, you'll like it.
Social networking is focused in Outlook. The Outlook Social Connector is a window pane that sits at the bottom of all your messages. It connects to social-networking sites and shows you updates from your contacts. Microsoft is clearly trying to make the e-mail client the center of your online universe. At the moment, it only works with LinkedIn and MySpace, but Microsoft says a Facebook version is coming soon and likely Twitter as well.
Office 2010 also includes what Microsoft is calling Office Web Apps. These are Web browser-enabled versions of the key programs. There will be a number of ways users can get them. A free version for consumers will be available through the Windows Live SkyDrive service. Businesses can subscribe for a monthly fee through Microsoft Online Services. Lastly, any Microsoft customer can host his or her own version of Web Apps as part of purchase of SharePoint 2010.
So Microsoft is taking a three-pronged approach to competing with Google. The consumer version is free and it competes directly with Google Apps. Everything I have seen and heard suggests that this is a superior product, but I expect this will be an ongoing battle as each side releases new versions and features.
Microsoft is giving businesses that need the Web applications the flexibility to deploy and manage them according to their need. Subscriptions work well for a business that doesn't want to own or manage IT. Just pay for it, use it and don’t worry about it. This is similar to the corporate offerings from Google.
Where I think Microsoft steps up, however, is giving the business that wants to own the technology the ability to still enable Web-based users without the additional subscription cost. SharePoint 2010 on its own is a great product, and I mentioned previously how one of the key new features in Office requires SharePoint. Add to that the fact that SharePoint is probably Microsoft’s fastest-selling product ever, and you have a nice install base. All these companies are getting the functionality for free basically. If not, maybe this helps drive SharePoint adoption even more, as this is the type of selling point that would likely put a company over the edge when making a decision.
Microsoft has chosen to attack Google on its own turf. The Office Web Apps offering targets exactly what Google has been doing for the past few years. When you add in the power of flexibility that Microsoft is giving customers by allowing them to own and host their own solutions, you really see an offering that Google can’t compete with yet. There are about 500 million Office users compared to about 25 million for Google Apps, so Google will have its hands full. I’m looking forward to seeing how this is received, whether it’s profitable for Microsoft and how Google responds.
Source:ctoedge.com
First let’s talk about the features. Three areas really catch my eye when we look at the enhancements to Office 2010: collaboration, business intelligence and social networking. Office 2010 really takes collaboration to the next level. Users can edit documents simultaneously, with changes being locked at the paragraph level in Word and at the slide level in PowerPoint. As changes are saved, the other authors get a note that updates are available, but it’s very unobtrusive and flows naturally. One caveat to this is that the document must be stored on a SharePoint 2010 server.
And Microsoft continues to follow through on its commitment to bring business intelligence to every user in the organization. Sparklines and Slicers in Excel 2010 create entirely new, simple ways for any user to intelligently interpret and evaluate data. They are basically charting/graphing and PivotTables simplified and improved. I think the average user will have a lot more success working with these tools than anything they've had in the past. If you have more complex data-analysis needs, the new PowerPivot add-in for Excel makes it much easier to import and work with large amounts of SQL Server right inside Excel.
If you live and breathe e-mail like I do, the Outlook 2010 upgrade is a must-have. First off, the Ribbon Bar we got in Office 2007 is now in Outlook. Like it or not, it’s here to stay. As a side note, all of Office 2010 includes the ability to customize the Ribbon Bar, which I think makes it much, much better. The first major issue Outlook 2010 tackles is e-mail overload. The conversation view, which was in previous versions, is greatly improved and really works well. With the click of a button, you can ignore entire e-mail threads that don’t relate to you, or "clean up" a conversation, which gets rid of all the redundant messages within a message back and forth. It will take a little getting used to, but once you get it, you'll like it.
Social networking is focused in Outlook. The Outlook Social Connector is a window pane that sits at the bottom of all your messages. It connects to social-networking sites and shows you updates from your contacts. Microsoft is clearly trying to make the e-mail client the center of your online universe. At the moment, it only works with LinkedIn and MySpace, but Microsoft says a Facebook version is coming soon and likely Twitter as well.
Office 2010 also includes what Microsoft is calling Office Web Apps. These are Web browser-enabled versions of the key programs. There will be a number of ways users can get them. A free version for consumers will be available through the Windows Live SkyDrive service. Businesses can subscribe for a monthly fee through Microsoft Online Services. Lastly, any Microsoft customer can host his or her own version of Web Apps as part of purchase of SharePoint 2010.
So Microsoft is taking a three-pronged approach to competing with Google. The consumer version is free and it competes directly with Google Apps. Everything I have seen and heard suggests that this is a superior product, but I expect this will be an ongoing battle as each side releases new versions and features.
Microsoft is giving businesses that need the Web applications the flexibility to deploy and manage them according to their need. Subscriptions work well for a business that doesn't want to own or manage IT. Just pay for it, use it and don’t worry about it. This is similar to the corporate offerings from Google.
Where I think Microsoft steps up, however, is giving the business that wants to own the technology the ability to still enable Web-based users without the additional subscription cost. SharePoint 2010 on its own is a great product, and I mentioned previously how one of the key new features in Office requires SharePoint. Add to that the fact that SharePoint is probably Microsoft’s fastest-selling product ever, and you have a nice install base. All these companies are getting the functionality for free basically. If not, maybe this helps drive SharePoint adoption even more, as this is the type of selling point that would likely put a company over the edge when making a decision.
Microsoft has chosen to attack Google on its own turf. The Office Web Apps offering targets exactly what Google has been doing for the past few years. When you add in the power of flexibility that Microsoft is giving customers by allowing them to own and host their own solutions, you really see an offering that Google can’t compete with yet. There are about 500 million Office users compared to about 25 million for Google Apps, so Google will have its hands full. I’m looking forward to seeing how this is received, whether it’s profitable for Microsoft and how Google responds.
Source:ctoedge.com
Monday, May 10, 2010
MDI Holdings earns Microsoft gold rating
Ponte Vedra-based MDI Holdings Inc. said the company has been endorsed as a “Gold Certified Partner” by Microsoft.
The Microsoft program recognizes companies with the highest levels of reliability, experience and capabilities in various technological fields. MDI has earned the certification in business intelligence, custom web development, data management solutions, software-oriented architecture and business process.
“We’re really proud of this recognition from Microsoft,” said David Darnell, vice president of software research and development at MDI. “Our talented programmers and software designers are constantly improving our existing products and creating new solutions for our customers. It’s great to know that Microsoft sees that work and recognizes their talent.”
MDI was also recently featured in the keynote address of Microsoft’s MIX10, The Next Web Now Conference in Las Vegas.
MDI’s E.A.R.L., a product that provides an interactive visual interpretation of the human body to illustrate a patient’s claims and medical history, was created with Microsoft Silverlight, a browser plug-in. It is part of the company’s newly launched MDI Analytics Suite, which allows users to analyze and manipulate data to manage current and future healthcare costs.
“Our customers have been using the E.A.R.L. technology for almost two years,” said MDI Healthcare Solutions President Ted Willich. “We have been working on this latest iteration for the better part of 2009, and what we’ve created is a detailed graphic representation of data that up until now has been very hard to understand. To be recognized at this very important gathering of industry professionals is very gratifying.”
Read more: MDI Holdings earns Microsoft gold rating - Jacksonville Business Journal:
Source:bizjournals.com
The Microsoft program recognizes companies with the highest levels of reliability, experience and capabilities in various technological fields. MDI has earned the certification in business intelligence, custom web development, data management solutions, software-oriented architecture and business process.
“We’re really proud of this recognition from Microsoft,” said David Darnell, vice president of software research and development at MDI. “Our talented programmers and software designers are constantly improving our existing products and creating new solutions for our customers. It’s great to know that Microsoft sees that work and recognizes their talent.”
MDI was also recently featured in the keynote address of Microsoft’s MIX10, The Next Web Now Conference in Las Vegas.
MDI’s E.A.R.L., a product that provides an interactive visual interpretation of the human body to illustrate a patient’s claims and medical history, was created with Microsoft Silverlight, a browser plug-in. It is part of the company’s newly launched MDI Analytics Suite, which allows users to analyze and manipulate data to manage current and future healthcare costs.
“Our customers have been using the E.A.R.L. technology for almost two years,” said MDI Healthcare Solutions President Ted Willich. “We have been working on this latest iteration for the better part of 2009, and what we’ve created is a detailed graphic representation of data that up until now has been very hard to understand. To be recognized at this very important gathering of industry professionals is very gratifying.”
Read more: MDI Holdings earns Microsoft gold rating - Jacksonville Business Journal:
Source:bizjournals.com
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Birst Announces the Availability of Birst 4 Spring Release
Birst Inc., a leading provider of on-demand solutions for business intelligence (BI) and analytics, recently announced the availability of Birst 4 Spring Release. Birst 4 Spring Release is the latest update to Birst 4, a comprehensive business intelligence solution that features rapid deployment and high ROI. The new features made available in the Birst 4 Spring Release include more powerful, interactive dashboards for business users, the introduction of geographic mapping with Birst Maps, and new connectors for Hyperion Essbase and Microsoft Analysis Services cubes.
"The Spring Release showcases some very powerful new features that not only empower business users with unprecedented self-service capabilities, but also make it easier for IT to deliver business visualization of critical business data. These new capabilities further demonstrate why Birst is the leader in on-demand business intelligence and analytics," said Stefan Schmitz, Senior Director of Products at Birst.
New and Improved Dashboards and Business Visualization
* BI for Everyone with Improved Interactive Dashboards - new Interactive Dashboard capabilities empower business users to conduct drill-down ad-hoc reporting and analysis from within the dashboard view -- making it even easier to explore key data and make critical business decisions, without ever having to leave the dashboard.
* One Step Further in Business Visualization with Birst Maps - the power of Birst analysis can now be visually mapped to where companies do business. Triggers can be set so that regions crossing critical limits are automatically highlighted with color; business managers can see the status of their region with one glance. With the click of a mouse, users can also drill down into specific geographic areas for detailed information.
* New Connectors for Hyperion Essbase and Microsoft Analysis Services - Birst 4 Spring enables full querying of cube data via XMLA connectors. Using Birst's data federation capabilities, cube-based data sources can be combined with other data sources, either on premise or loaded into Birst, for new types of analysis.
* "The Birst 4 Spring Release takes a great solution and makes it even better for the business user," said Rick Clements, President of Spartan Technologies, a Birst partner. "No other business intelligence solution, either traditional or on-demand, comes close to Birst's easy to use and powerful self-service capabilities. Our customers are really looking forward to this release."
http://www.birst.com/
"The Spring Release showcases some very powerful new features that not only empower business users with unprecedented self-service capabilities, but also make it easier for IT to deliver business visualization of critical business data. These new capabilities further demonstrate why Birst is the leader in on-demand business intelligence and analytics," said Stefan Schmitz, Senior Director of Products at Birst.
New and Improved Dashboards and Business Visualization
* BI for Everyone with Improved Interactive Dashboards - new Interactive Dashboard capabilities empower business users to conduct drill-down ad-hoc reporting and analysis from within the dashboard view -- making it even easier to explore key data and make critical business decisions, without ever having to leave the dashboard.
* One Step Further in Business Visualization with Birst Maps - the power of Birst analysis can now be visually mapped to where companies do business. Triggers can be set so that regions crossing critical limits are automatically highlighted with color; business managers can see the status of their region with one glance. With the click of a mouse, users can also drill down into specific geographic areas for detailed information.
* New Connectors for Hyperion Essbase and Microsoft Analysis Services - Birst 4 Spring enables full querying of cube data via XMLA connectors. Using Birst's data federation capabilities, cube-based data sources can be combined with other data sources, either on premise or loaded into Birst, for new types of analysis.
* "The Birst 4 Spring Release takes a great solution and makes it even better for the business user," said Rick Clements, President of Spartan Technologies, a Birst partner. "No other business intelligence solution, either traditional or on-demand, comes close to Birst's easy to use and powerful self-service capabilities. Our customers are really looking forward to this release."
http://www.birst.com/
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Phocas Launches New Microsoft Dynamics Reseller Program
US partners to benefit from GP2010-ready BI software to deliver additional revenue streams
Microsoft Convergence, Atlanta, USA April 27, 2010: Phocas, the global provider of simple, intuitive Business Intelligence software (BI), today launched its first channel program for the North American market, aimed at Microsoft Dynamics resellers.
“Because Phocas is built on Microsoft technologies including SQL and .NET resellers can expect to make the same margins as they do with their existing Microsoft Dynamics solutions,” said Phil Dodds, director, Phocas. “With these sales margins and the validation of our recent Microsoft Gold Certification, we expect to add at least 50 new resellers through our channel program over the next 18 months.”
The new program, which has already seen great success in Australia since its launch in Q4 2009, will offer a secure online portal for resellers. This will include access to a comprehensive suite of product information, training material and technical and marketing collateral that enables them to integrate Phocas as part of their Microsoft Dynamics range. Phocas is also set to announce a similar program for the UK and European markets in the near future.
Over 600 companies and 5000 users worldwide are using Phocas BI solutions, spanning a wide range of vertical markets including manufacturing, electrical, automotive, plumbing, building, industrial and medical.
Phocas’ BI solution is a direct add-on to the Microsoft Dynamics platform, enabling resellers to cross-sell to existing customers already using Microsoft Dynamics AX, NAV and CRM, or to deliver additional value with the latest edition of Microsoft Dynamics’ ERP release - GP2010.
A framework that is customizable to suit business needs, Phocas enables business users to easily access and analyze real-time data across the suite of Microsoft Dynamics solutions. Microsoft Dynamics Resellers therefore have the opportunity to make fast returns by providing their customer base with a solution to delivers immediate ROI and enables them to make future business decisions that improve profitability and performance.
Dodds commented: “The launch of the Microsoft Dynamics Program in the US market represents an exciting step forward for Phocas in the US, complementing our existing direct sales model in the region.”
Phocas is exhibiting at Microsoft Convergence 2010, April 24-27, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, booth 1044.
About Phocas
Phocas is simple, intuitive business intelligence software that unleashes companies business potential. A framework that is customizable to suit business needs, Phocas reveals opportunities that deliver immediate impact and helps companies make future business decisions that improve profitability and performance.
Phocas delivers simplicity and usability to a complex data landscape, created by existing ERP and CRM systems. Whereas traditional Business Intelligence and software tools focus on turning data into information, Phocas has been specially designed to help business users turn information into results.
For more information, please visit www.phocas.biz.
Editorial contact:
Chris Martin
Waggener Edstrom
+44 (0)20 7632 3857
Microsoft Convergence, Atlanta, USA April 27, 2010: Phocas, the global provider of simple, intuitive Business Intelligence software (BI), today launched its first channel program for the North American market, aimed at Microsoft Dynamics resellers.
“Because Phocas is built on Microsoft technologies including SQL and .NET resellers can expect to make the same margins as they do with their existing Microsoft Dynamics solutions,” said Phil Dodds, director, Phocas. “With these sales margins and the validation of our recent Microsoft Gold Certification, we expect to add at least 50 new resellers through our channel program over the next 18 months.”
The new program, which has already seen great success in Australia since its launch in Q4 2009, will offer a secure online portal for resellers. This will include access to a comprehensive suite of product information, training material and technical and marketing collateral that enables them to integrate Phocas as part of their Microsoft Dynamics range. Phocas is also set to announce a similar program for the UK and European markets in the near future.
Over 600 companies and 5000 users worldwide are using Phocas BI solutions, spanning a wide range of vertical markets including manufacturing, electrical, automotive, plumbing, building, industrial and medical.
Phocas’ BI solution is a direct add-on to the Microsoft Dynamics platform, enabling resellers to cross-sell to existing customers already using Microsoft Dynamics AX, NAV and CRM, or to deliver additional value with the latest edition of Microsoft Dynamics’ ERP release - GP2010.
A framework that is customizable to suit business needs, Phocas enables business users to easily access and analyze real-time data across the suite of Microsoft Dynamics solutions. Microsoft Dynamics Resellers therefore have the opportunity to make fast returns by providing their customer base with a solution to delivers immediate ROI and enables them to make future business decisions that improve profitability and performance.
Dodds commented: “The launch of the Microsoft Dynamics Program in the US market represents an exciting step forward for Phocas in the US, complementing our existing direct sales model in the region.”
Phocas is exhibiting at Microsoft Convergence 2010, April 24-27, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, booth 1044.
About Phocas
Phocas is simple, intuitive business intelligence software that unleashes companies business potential. A framework that is customizable to suit business needs, Phocas reveals opportunities that deliver immediate impact and helps companies make future business decisions that improve profitability and performance.
Phocas delivers simplicity and usability to a complex data landscape, created by existing ERP and CRM systems. Whereas traditional Business Intelligence and software tools focus on turning data into information, Phocas has been specially designed to help business users turn information into results.
For more information, please visit www.phocas.biz.
Editorial contact:
Chris Martin
Waggener Edstrom
+44 (0)20 7632 3857
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