Archive

My natural inclination right now is to say something like, "I want to buy a vowel," but really, I want more. I want a few words, and like my buddy the eminent guru, Paul Greenberg, I would like a few that have not been combined together quite as frequently as "as a service." It is remarkable how ou...

RightNow and Demandware have developed a new mash-up that integrates the former's CRM and customer service offerings with the latter's e-commerce suite. The result is an application that incorporates product content management and promotion with such interaction functionality as click-to-chat, while...

NetSuite has introduced SuiteBundler, a new platform for its channel partners. The product is a new component in its development and integration toolset, SuiteFlex. SuiteBundler offers a new generation of development tools for its third-party channel partners so they can continue to create vertical ...

Not too long ago, advice to keep a CRM implementation simple would have focused around due diligence for the application. It would have focused on negotiating the best deal with a systems integrator. Most of all, it would have focused on a clear needs assessment driving the application. That was the...

There is a wealth of options out there for startup online retailers looking to craft and manage all-important marketing campaigns and programs, as Part 1 of this series discusses. While e-tail technology and support continues to get cheaper and become more ubiquitous, the barriers to commercial succ...

Designing effective marketing campaigns and finding the right marketing mix are primary concerns for any online retailer. They are especially important for start-ups and small to medium-sized businesses competing with larger and better established e-tailers, as well as the rapidly growing number of ...

Microsoft has cut by almost half the cost of its CRM Live application for partners, bringing its price point down to $15 per user per month. The price cut, of course, is part of Microsoft's ongoing support for its partner network that the company must leverage to make inroads in the Software as a Se...

I have been anticipating the Sales 2.0 conference coming up in San Francisco for many reasons. As a certified, bag-carrying sales guy for a number of years, selling is part of me and though I am an old dog, I do enjoy at least hearing about new tricks. I am also an avid fan of the game and many of ...

Hoping to turn up the heat on BEA's board of directors, Oracle on Tuesday set a deadline for the company to accept its $6.7 billion buyout offer. In a letter to BEA's board, Oracle said its current offer of $17 per share in cash would expire at 5 p.m. on Oct. 28. Oracle said the board has rejected i...

SAP has had a wealth of good news to share this week, as it announced a planned acquisition, reported rosy earnings and scored a significant coup. First, with an eye toward ramping up its capabilities in business rules management, SAP announced Wednesday that it plans to acquire Yasu Technologies. S...

"We need more leads!" cries the sales manager. "What happened to the ones we gave you last month?" replies the marketing manager. "Those leads were lousy" retorts the increasingly frustrated sales manager... and so goes the never-ending lead "quality vs. quantity" debate in many organizations. New r...

What a week. It's amazing how much news you can make by throwing around a few billion dollars. We found that out by observing the sound (though maybe not the fury) of SAP and Oracle placing billion dollar bets on the future outlines of the enterprise software industry. In the last week or so, Oracl...

AT&T is revamping its policies to allow consumers to prorate their early termination fee according to how long he or she has been on the plan. The company is also allowing customers who switch plans or change phones during the course of their contract to maintain the same contract instead of re-...

CorraTech, an open source software services firm, introduced Opensuite, a pre-beta release of its latest open source endeavor. The project is an open source-based integration of -- for now -- three of the leading open source applications in rich e-mail, document management and CRM. "This is a pre-pa...

Oracle announced it wants to acquire BEA Systems, a provider of Web-based business productivity and integration software, for $6.7 billion, or $17 per share in cash. BEA has already rejected the offer, according to news accounts, saying that Oracle's bid seriously undervalues the company's overall w...