CRM Buyer: CRM News and Information for System Purchasers

INSIGHTS
Old Possum's Book of Practical Big Data

Wednesday - June 19, 2013

OK, the title's a cheap riff on the T.S. Elliot book of poems that inspired Cats -- but stay with me, this goes places. A big group of cats is called a "clowder." What if we could access a clowder of big data? Big Data has been taking up a big part of my conscious life lately, what with all the analytics vendors out there and so many companies trying to figure it all out. There are at least three issues that converge when you discuss big data: physical storage, analytics, and one that we don't pay a lot of attention to just yet. [More...]

Contact Center Managers Get Some Mobile Mojo

Tuesday - June 18, 2013

Another day, another mobile app release; except in this case, the app is aimed at the contact center supervisor -- not exactly a role that has been inundated with mobile functionality to this point. The application in question is Five9's latest cloud contact software application, which includes mobile functionality. Enhancements to the suite include multichannel capabilities and an iPad app. [More...]

GOVERNMENT IT REPORT
Federal Agency Demands, Competition Challenge Cloud Vendors

Tuesday - June 18, 2013

The GAO earlier this month found two key deficiencies in a cloud contract that the CIA intended to award to AWS. The GAO decision was prompted by a protest against the contract filed by IBM. GAO is the designated federal agency for handling challenges to federal contracts. The proposed contract provides for commercially managed cloud computing services for the federal intelligence community. [More...]

PRODUCT PROFILE
Thunderhead.com Smooths Out the Wrinkles in Customer Communication

Monday - June 17, 2013

Almost a year after launching its ONE Correspond for Salesforce, Thunderhead.com rolled out version 2.0. A part of the company's flagship ONE customer engagement platform, ONE Correspond for Salesforce allows users to create communications for customers. Via Salesforce's Chatter, it also has strong collaborative features that give users a way to review, edit and approve documents internally. [More...]

OPINION
5 Places Customer Relationships Go to Die

Friday - June 14, 2013

Building a customer relationship -- the kind that lasts a long time -- is a not an easy thing. There are lots of occasions where things can go awry, touch points where signals can get crossed and communications that can unwittingly turn a customer off. In a lot of cases, the conclusion is triggered by something the business does that brings the relationship to a premature end. [More...]

INSIGHTS
Where CRM and BPM Meet

Thursday - June 13, 2013

Pegasystems held PegaWorld in "PegOrlando" this week, and a good show it was. I have always wondered about the difference between CRM (social and otherwise) and BPM, or business process management, so I was happy to attend. Both CRM and BPM deal with the interaction between the vendor and customer, and each is involved in doing the things that make customers come back. [More...]

Overdraft Protection May Do More Harm Than Good

Wednesday - June 12, 2013

Overdraft costs on consumer checking accounts vary widely across financial institutions and often result in more costs and more involuntary account closures for consumers who opt into such coverage, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported on Tuesday. "Consumers need to be able to anticipate and avoid unnecessary fees on their checking accounts," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. [More...]

SAP Pulls Hybris Into Its Stable

Tuesday - June 11, 2013

SAP acquired Switzerland-based enterprise resource planning company Hybris last week in order to add cloud-based, next-generation e-commerce capabilities to its offerings. Hybris has developed an omnichannel commerce platform that allows businesses to incorporate Web, mobile, call center and store actions in their efforts to track and respond to customer activity. [More...]

When Mobile CRM Goes Too Far, Part 3

Monday - June 10, 2013

Mobile everything is the current computing zeitgeist and if that means turning an app or function that is perfectly suited for desktop use into a mobilized one, well, as the thinking goes at so many companies now, just do it. However, mobilizing an app -- even a front-office CRM app -- should not be undertaken lightly. Costs, security issues and customer attitudes all must be considered. [More...]

Bonitasoft Revs Its Execution Engine in Bonita BPM 6

Friday - June 7, 2013

It has been a busy three years for Bonitasoft. Since its launch, the company has: 1) commercialized its open source business process management technology, which it created out of the Bonita Project in the mid-2000s; 2) pulled in $28 million in venture funding; and 3) attracted some 600 customers. This week, the company hit a fourth milestone: the release of its first major upgrade. [More...]

OPINION
How's Your Mistake Process Management?

Thursday - June 6, 2013

Perfection is elusive, if not impossible to achieve. Businesses are made up of people, and people are imperfect. They make mistakes -- mistakes involving internal operations and mistakes that affect customers. How many have planned for those inevitable instances when people prove fallible? Not many. We don't like to envision ourselves as vulnerable to making mistakes. [More...]

Salesforce Buys ExactTarget

Wednesday - June 5, 2013

Salesforce.com has made its biggest acquisition ever: It has snagged marketing automation and campaign management vendor ExactTarget for $2.5 billion. As part of the transaction, Salesforce will acquire all outstanding ExactTarget stock for $33.75 per share in cash. Both companies' boards of directors have approved the deal, which is expected to increase Salesforce revenue by $120-$125 million. [More...]

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