CRM

Amdocs, an erstwhile CRM stalwart that has increasingly transformed itself into an end-to-end provider of communications industry software, has filled in missing functionality with a new acquisition. The company has signed an agreement to acquire Cramer Systems Group, a provider of operations suppo...

I was in Chicago for a few days of R&R when Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, spoke at the Microsoft partner meeting in Boston. As a result, I got news of the company's latest projected delivery dates for its on-demand CRM not from Microsoft, but from Paul Greenberg's blog: "On Demand Means Righ...

When it comes to CRM analytics, companies often make the same mistakes, many of which could be corrected by a change in focus and a better understanding of exactly what CRM analytics is, new research suggests. Improved understanding would lead to better opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling...

Three technology companies have joined together to propel radio frequency identification applications forward. OATSystems, ADT Security Systems and Intel are paying for technology implementation to win grocery retailers over to RFID investment. Grocers suffer from slim profit margins. That means the...

Microsoft has announced plans to write Dynamics CRM Live -- its own Software as a Service CRM offering -- on the same code base used for earlier versions of its on-premise application and for the hosted offerings of its partners. Right now, only the partner hosted offering and the on-premise applica...

Business intelligence applications have always delighted company executives -- at least as they watched simulated exercises on a sales rep's laptop. Real-world execution, though? Until recently, that has left much to be desired. To be sure, it is not entirely the fault of the vendor. Earlier generat...

For many manufacturers, indirect channels provide the majority of their revenue yet carry only a small percentage of their most profitable products. Instead, indirect channel partners opt to move literally tons of low-margin items, competing in the marketplace on price and availability alone. The el...

Erstwhile open source CRM vendor TechWhale Solutions is getting set to launch its beta 3.0 version of BlueWhaleCRM in August, which the company says will significantly leverage AJAX and ATLAS technologies. In preparation, TechWhale has rolled out an interim release, version 2.0, based on the .NET fr...

Channel partners serving U.S. small and medium-sized businesses can expect their sales to this group to rise by 17 percent to US$154 billion over the next year, according to AMI-Partners. SMBs can expect to see a greater selection of customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, ma...

Earlier this year I spent a couple weeks in Australia visiting subsidiaries. I was amazed to see how the seemingly smallest of processes Australian companies use to communicate internally have major implications globally. It's been tempting to create a maturity model that shows the wide gulf in or...

Oracle is replacing the IBM tech stack that has supported the Siebel OnDemand application with, not surprisingly, its own tech stack, according to statements made by executive vice president Charles Phillips during a recent conference call. Before its acquisition by Oracle, Siebel had a close relati...

Implementing a Web Analytics Solution for your site can be fraught with all kinds of peril, but knowing what you're in for goes a long way toward avoiding the biggest headaches, as Part 1 of this two-part series points out. Part 2 continues the discussion of effective ways to deal with potential pro...

By definition Search Engine Marketing refers to both paid search and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The former is based on a pay-per-click advertising model as companies bid on specific search terms or in the case of Google, AdWords, to get a more visible placement within search engine results.

Implementing a tag-based Web analytics solution is rarely the slam-dunk that vendors imply. Depending on how your site is structured and how dynamic your content is, tagging can range from fairly straightforward to fiendishly complex. How can you tell which experience you're likely to be in for? Thi...

CDC Software has made its third offer to acquire mid-market CRM vendor Onyx, offering shareholders a choice of all-cash or cash-and-shares in CDC. The offer -- US$4.85 per share in cash, or $2.50 in cash and $2.50 in CDC stock -- comes a few weeks after Onyx signed a definitive agreement to be acqui...