Vendors

Federal Agency Demands, Competition Challenge Cloud Vendors
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.

CRM Vendors Are the Worst CRM Practitioners
May 31, 2013

I've worked as a journalist covering CRM, and I've worked with vendors trying to explain and educate potential customers about CRM. In both roles, I've seen one troubling trend that very few vendors seem able to buck. That trend is this: Most CRM vendors suck at CRM. I know -- if anyone should get CRM right, it should be the CRM vendors. They should be modeling proper usage to their customers.

Budget Roadblocks Stymie Federal IT Managers
May 14, 2013

Government information technology managers will no doubt spend every nickel of the Obama administration's 2014 proposed IT budget of $81 billion. They will also likely be dissatisfied with the business environment that affects IT acquisition and deployment. For starters, the proposed 2014 budget for IT, which actually shows a small gain versus anticipated 2013 spending, is not a sure thing.

SugarCon 2013: New Direction, Old Message
April 10, 2013

Sugar CRM took its annual customer and partner show on the road this week and brought what had been a Bay Area extravaganza to the Big Apple -- the better to attract a sizable population of customers and partners from Europe and other points beyond North America. It seems to have worked, because even though New York is one of the most cosmopolitan of cities, I heard a lot of European languages in the corridors, and I met many people from countries across the Pacific.

Fed IT Contract Window Still Open - but Budget Is Pinching
April 09, 2013

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking a broad range of information technology products and services with a potential contract value of $80 million over 10 years. That's a nice chunk of business, and it's just one of many potential federal IT contracts now available. In addition to providing these opportunities, federal agencies have remained active in awarding major IT contracts.

Colosa Builds Better BPM Into SugarCRM
April 04, 2013

SugarCRM and Colosa are getting set to debut a new Sugar module based on a visual tool that lets users design business process workflows inside SugarCRM. They'll be able to control the way tasks get routed; track how long it takes to complete; and control which screens get displayed and their order. The module, ProcessMaker SugarCRM Edition, contains a full BMPN 2.0 designer and engine.

Marketo Winds Up for Risky IPO
April 03, 2013

Marketing automation company Marketo filed paperwork with the SEC on Tuesday to launch an initial public offering valued at $75 million. The company has not yet proposed a stock price. It does say in the filing that it is considered an "emerging growth company," and it plans to list on Nasdaq under the symbol "MKTO." The most telling portion of the filing was the company's description of risks.

Fed IT Funds Circle Drain Due to Poor Procurement Policies
March 27, 2013

Federal agencies routinely pass up opportunities to improve information technology performance, and save money at the same time, by failing to seek vendor competition in the procurement process, according to a recent survey. Federal IT professionals revealed that their agencies could save as much as $15.8 billion per year.

Feds Stoke IT Vendor Competition
March 20, 2013

The continuing debates in Washington over federal government spending may be tiring to most Americans. The discussions have ranged from the political primaries a year ago, through the federal elections last fall, and now well into 2013. On the other hand, constant attention to better management of taxpayer funds may yield some better ideas -- and better actions -- for eliminating inefficiencies.

Let's Hear It for The Ecosystems!
March 06, 2013

Could we have a moment of sustained loud noise for all of the companies that form the various ecosystems around major product lines? I mean it. The ecosystem -- and maybe not even social -- is the story of the last five years. While many of us have been talking up social, the ecosystems have been adding immeasurably to the customer experience.

Demandbase Tech Targeting Trims B2B Marketing Waste
March 04, 2013

Demandbase has incorporated a new filter in its Demandbase Company-Targeted Advertising platform. The filter, called "Technology Targeting," lets users target and personalize display ads based on the technology they use. In other words, users can now include the specific criteria of 'technologies used' as part of their campaign targeting requirements with the Demandbase platform.

The Dollars Are in the Details - and the Details Should Be in CRM
March 01, 2013

The devil is in the details, the saying goes. When it comes to B2B selling, the dollars are also in the details. That's something I learned many years ago while writing about the reseller channel. Back in 2000, the Internet caused significant disruptions of traditional reseller relationships, because many large technology vendors expected online sales to eliminate the need for resellers.

Where Customers Go, Salesforce Service Cloud Follows
February 26, 2013

Salesforce.com on Tuesday unveiled Salesforce Service Cloud Mobile, the first of a number of mobile computing initiatives planned for this year. Salesforce.com is stepping up its focus on mobile in 2013, said Michael Peachey, senior director of solutions marketing.

IntelliBuzz Helps Brands Keep an Eye on Social Media Mentions
February 15, 2013

Intelliverse has rolled out a new cloud-based tool that monitors social media for brand mentions and responds when appropriate. IntelliBuzz is simple enough that a company with minimal IT resources in-house -- that is, a computer and an Internet connection -- can manage this outreach just using the app.

With LiveOps, All Customer Channels Are Created Equal
February 01, 2013

LiveOps this week debuted LiveOps Engage, a browser-based desktop agent app that centralizes myriad channels -- phone, email, live chat, SMS, Twitter and Facebook -- on one screen. The screen also displays the history of past interactions with the customer. "This release is bringing together all of the channels of communication, both inbound and outbound," said CEO Marty Beard.

Zurmo: Playing Games Is Serious Business
January 04, 2013

Last summer, open source CRM provider Zurmo threw its hat into the CRM ring with a beta version of its particular take on the hot new gamification software category. The theory is simple: CRM, especially sales force automation, has notoriously poor user adoption figures. Why not use some of the fun features people are accustomed to seeing in games and social media to drive adoption?

Coremotives Connects the Marketing Dots
December 14, 2012

CoreMotives, a Silverpop company, has launched a new integration that ties revenue-tracking capabilities embedded in its CRM system to the Ticketmaster sales application. The upshot is that teams that use Ticketmaster to market tickets can also easily track which campaigns actually led to a sale.

Microsoft Dynamics Aims to Pull All the Pieces Together
December 07, 2012

Microsoft next month will roll out a service update for Microsoft Dynamics CRM that will have a new user interface, integration with Yammer, Skype and Office 2013, and cross-browser support. In general, the theme of tight integration with other Microsoft technologies runs through the release, said Seth Patton, senior director of Microsoft Dynamics CRM product marketing.

Avaya Puts More Eggs in BYOD Basket
November 26, 2012

Avaya IP Office joined the BYOD revolution with the release of version 8.1 earlier this year. Now the company is gearing up for more changes, including a forthcoming release that will integrate video functionality into its feature set. It will continue to expand its functionality around mobility in 2013, said SVP Tom Mitchell, president of Avaya Go to Market.

Genesys One Gives Mid-Market a Second Shot
November 16, 2012

Genesys is making a play for the middle market with the release of Genesys One. The last time the company targeted the middle market was more than 10 years ago, when it was owned by Alcatel. Since then, the middle market has changed significantly. Both customer needs and buying behavior have changed considerably, observed Brian Bischoff, vice president of global offer management for Genesys.