Archive

Hewlett-Packard on Monday unveiled network management software developed from tools it acquired when it bought Novadigm and Consera Software earlier this year. OpenView Automation Manager is part of HP's plan to build a set of individually available components as a replacement for the unwieldy Utili...

Siebel Branch Teller, a new retail bank solution that invigorates cross sales and customer care at branches, finally brings CRM to the channel that originates most financial services relationships with consumers. The product, which uses IBM middleware specifically designed for the retail banking ver...

The introduction of retail RFID comes with many challenges: technological capability, the adoption of appropriate software architectures and the production of cohesive standards, to name but a few. Not the least of these challenges is finding ways to address the concerns of consumer privacy groups. ...

The time has come for not only a new faith in CRM but a new following -- by small and midsize companies. Since Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft introduced a CRM product to its Business Solutions line in January 2003, it has captured more than 2,500 small and midsize organizations representing mor...

It's that time again; the earnings calls for CRM, ERP, hardware and services vendors are being scheduled, rehearsed and delivered to shareholders, industry and financial analysts. What's common across the more than two dozen calls I've listened to that span CRM, ERP and SCM software, hardware and se...

Like millions of other Americans, I sometimes struggle with pop-up ads and spyware. Given an opening, these small programs can bring even the fastest new computer to its knees. Luckily there is a cottage industry growing up around this problem, and there is also a lot of free software available to...

Pressed to establish best practices and comply with global quality audits, Indian business-process outsourcers (BPOs) have taken an interest in outsourcing firms in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom and employed the help of outsiders to guarantee their future success. Approximately 8...

Oracle today announced a quarterly schedule of security bulletins and patch releases for 2005 that is "a bit of a tradeoff," according to one analyst. "I fully understand why Oracle would want to use a timed release-cycle, but I'm not sure what the reason is for their decision to move away from the ...

The irony is too strong to ignore. Gartner, Forrester, IDC and other analyst firms are all forecasting that outsourcing will continue growing rapidly. Yet not one is forecasting when industry analysis itself will move offshore. With so many conceptual thinkers in these companies, someone has got to...

The consumer backlash against unsolicited telemarketing and e-mails coupled with ever-increasing competition for customer attention have forced companies to take a new look at their inbound call centers. Long considered a profit drain and necessary evil, inbound call centers are now seen as a critic...

For several years now CRM vendors have been touting their customer satisfaction scores as a way to claim an advantage over their competitors. But for just as long we have watched as a trend emerged showing company after company changing their CRM brand. Changing CRM vendors is not a trivial proces...

East Coast grocer Stop & Shop has introduced shopping carts that give consumers Internet accessibility at their fingertips. The smart carts, from IBM and Cuesol of Quincy, Massachusetts, feature on-board IBM touchscreen computers that double as personal assistants when the laser scanner on the c...

The move to add tiny radio antennas on shipments of pharmaceuticals will not be enough to prevent counterfeiting and tampering, analysts said. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and several drug makers announced they would be putting RFID-tagged labels on medicine bottles beginning with the impo...

RightNow Technologies and UCN will team up to deliver an on-demand contact center solution, the companies announced today. The partnership will combine RightNow's on-demand CRM applications for customer service and UCN's hosted communications infrastructure for call centers in a system that will all...

Don't breath a sigh of relief yet. Although PeopleSoft's board announced today it unanimously rejected Oracle's "best and final" offer of $24 a share, it ain't over till it's over, and it ain't over. The takeover bid is now in the hands of PeopleSoft's shareholders, who must decide by Nov. 19 wheth...