CRM Buyer: CRM News and Information for System Purchasers

Wednesday - May 16, 2012

SugarCon, the SugarCRM user meeting held in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, did some important things for Sugar. It was a coming out party of sorts for a company with a distinct business model and strategy, namely open source. It was also validation of that strategy and, for many, a new realization of what open source means. In my discussions with CEO Larry Augustin and CTO and cofounder Clint Oram, I got a new sense of how pervasive open source really is in the software marketplace. [More...]

Federal Cloud Adoption, Part 2: Raining Contracts

Wednesday - May 16, 2012

The U.S. government's pursuit of cloud-based technology has been characterized by a blizzard of policies, directives, technical studies, proposed contract vehicles and conferences. The federal "cloud first" initiative, requiring agencies to give priority consideration to cloud solutions for IT operations, began in December 2012. Now, an idea of how much business is at stake for IT vendors has surfaced -- and it's impressive. [More...]

Sapphire Now: It's a Mobile, Social, Cloudy, Collaborative World

Tuesday - May 15, 2012

The Sapphire Now conference kicked off Monday in Orlando, Fla., with 60,000 customers, partners and employees of SAP participating, either at the conference facility or watching it online. The first day of the event offered the usual lineup of celebrity speakers -- corporate and otherwise -- with Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong featured in the morning and SAP Co-CEO Bill McDermott in the afternoon. [More...]

Federal Cloud Adoption, Part 1: Lots of Baby Steps

Tuesday - May 15, 2012

The U.S. government is learning quickly that achieving the next big thing in information technology depends upon implementing a huge number of little things. For federal IT managers, that big thing is the cloud. Federal agencies have busily pursued cloud solutions since December 2010, when the government adopted its "Cloud First" policy, requiring agencies to give priority consideration to cloud technologies. [More...]

ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE REPORT
CRM Conference to Showcase the Retail Experience

Monday - May 14, 2012

CRM Conference is being held May 29 to 31 at the Chicago Hyatt Regency. This annual event offers a unique agenda for retailers, said Devon Wylie, CEO of CRMC. "It's specifically focused on case studies from topnotch multinational retailers. With this approach, attendees can get actionable learnings they can take home with them." [More...]

PRODUCT PROFILE
Zoho Boosts Its Social Enterprise Creds

Friday - May 11, 2012

Zoho has enhanced its menu of offerings by incorporating social media into its customer support features. It has also added a Facebook social media integration point to its flagship application. The changes went live on Thursday, added automatically to the applications. These two developments are modest compared to the company's massive overhaul to its suite at the end of last year. [More...]

OPINION
When Your Business Goofs, CRM Can Be Your Best Friend

Thursday - May 10, 2012

There are three things certain in life. We all know the two cited by Benjamin Franklin, but there's a third certainty that we all face regularly and have to cope with constantly. That's the certainty that we'll make mistakes. Everyone makes them; if it hasn't happened to your business, you haven't been in business long. [More...]

INSIGHTS
Sustainable CRM

Wednesday - May 9, 2012

There was an interesting article about airlines in The New York Times last week, "When Flying 720 Miles Takes 12 Hours," but the subtext was all about CRM, or at least where CRM has to go. If you know me at all, you know I closely attend to macroeconomics and energy issues, and they are all over this article. [More...]

EXPERT ADVICE
BPM and CMOs: A Match Made in Heaven

Tuesday - May 8, 2012

There's been a lot of talk recently about how BPM is gaining traction across a wide variety of industry verticals. BPM's surge is part of the larger trend of agile development; organizations are weary of growing top-heavy and employing a number of individuals to perform tedious, manual processes. [More...]

OPINION
Making Customers the Object of Devotion

Monday - May 7, 2012

The proliferation of customer service channels can be both a blessing and a curse. It can be a blessing in that companies now have more ways than ever to address customer needs and resolve customer issues, potentially leading to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. At the same time, the proliferation of customer service channels can be a curse. [More...]

PODCAST
Getting What You Want From ERP in the Cloud

Monday - May 7, 2012

Through the Ariba Network, Cox Enterprises manages multiple ERP systems for an improved e-procurement strategy. The $15 billion communications, media, and automotive services company has moved toward more efficient indirect spend efforts to improve ongoing operations and drive future growth across more than 50,000 employees. [More...]

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