CRM

There is a considerable amount of speculation about how the molten mass of what was once our financial system will affect our real economy and, closer to home, the CRM industry. Many observers take as their first approximation the Great Depression, which started with the stock market implosion of 19...

Not that it's a done deal like the title might suggest, but Siebel seems to be reconstituting itself into a rival power in the CRM market once again. After Oracle OpenWorld, I made the observation that Siebel appeared to be returning to its old prominence. The introduction of new products based on W...

For public utilities, the world seems to be taking on a green hue. Their customers are the beneficiaries of an effort to preserve resources -- and save a bit of cash in the process -- as they move toward electronic bill payment, have their lights dimmed automatically, and place orders online. For ex...

Enterprise Resource Planning systems have become the core platform for both internal and cross-company business processes. By integrating business functions, data and interfaces, they can bring many benefits, process efficiencies, improve customer service and -- if coupled with the right business st...

Microsoft gave audience attendees at the 2nd annual Microsoft Business Intelligence conference a sneak preview of its forthcoming SQL Server this week, code named "Kilimanjaro." It was an appropriate venue for its debut, given its increased emphasis on BI. New functional areas of emphasis in the ser...

Partner/agent management has a moderate to severe impact on organizational effectiveness, according to 63 percent of the companies that participated in a recent Aberdeen Group study, "Channel Sales: Renaissance in Partner Management." The research explored the challenges, strategies and tactics from...

I have to admit that it's hard to concentrate on business with so many issues and crises swirling around lately. As if the presidential election was not enough, the financial meltdown is threatening an economic meltdown, and I am forever asking myself what this all might mean to CRM. The political ...

Last year's online shopping season surpassed $29 billion in sales, up a full 20 percent from the previous holiday. More consumers did their shopping online than any holiday season before, due to the convenience and increasing popularity of the Internet as a way to get too many things done in too lit...

Cyber Monday, once considered the No. 1 shopping day for e-commerce and retail Web sites, has become the official kickoff to the holiday season and a key marketing event for the online community. As with any economic marker, it is vulnerable to credit crunches and significant financial tide changes....

All companies have similar problems, with one of the biggest being the ongoing challenge of growing their revenues. In today's declining economy, companies are seeking new ideas, new solutions, and proven advice to fight off competition and stay above water. The most successful organizations are not...

Sometimes you walk away from a user group meeting concluding that the company didn't introduce much that was really new. You might get the usual product announcements or the dot-version releases and you may take a course that makes you a little smarter about the fine points of some esoteric feature...

Oracle introduced a new collaborative platform called "Beehive" at OpenWorld last week. To be sure, it was hardly the only announcement the enterprise software vendor made -- but it did serve as grist for many bloggers. Oracle is basically jumping on a bandwagon in the collaboration space, said Davi...

With so many companies tightening their budgets in the midst of the tough, uncertain economic climate, there's a tendency to look at social networking as the new, free panacea. I've seen a few financial services and insurance companies start social networking strategies, promising to be open and rea...

As Wall Street unwound last week, RightNow CEO Greg Gianforte watched from a vantage point an ocean away. He was in London, making a stop on his self-assigned global tour to visit the company's top 50 users. Like many people, Gianforte is viewing the events with a combination of uncertainty and cau...

The other day I had a conversation with some nice people from the market research company Coleman Parkes Research. They wanted to tell me about a study they have recently concluded about social networking. I have to say it was pretty interesting stuff. I will leave it to you to search for them and t...