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Choosing the right system in the first place is key to optimizing your investment in a customer relationship management system -- and that process can be strewn with potential pitfalls. While the selection process can be unnerving, implementation can be a downright nightmare -- and, in some cases, w...

Oracle has acquired Telephony@Work, an on-demand provider of IP-based software infrastructure for hosted contact center services. Telephony@Work provided much of the functionality in Oracle's OnDemand Contact Center application via an OEM deal the company had with Siebel, which Oracle has since acqu...

RightNow Technologies has introduced two new voice applications that provide contact center agents with enough identifying information about the customer to eliminate the need to repeat information when a call is transferred to a new agent. The new functionality addresses a long-standing customer c...

Microsoft and partner company Panorama Software will develop more than two dozen industry-specific business intelligence applications based on Microsoft's product platform, including future releases such as the recently announced Microsoft Office PerformancePoint 2007. There has been a significant i...

Onyx has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by M2M Holdings, a private equity firm jointly owned by Battery Ventures VI and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners, in an all-cash transaction for US$92 million, or $4.80 per share. Closing is anticipated in the third quarter, subject to approval by a...

Companies are still not fully utilizing one of their largest and most familiar IT investments -- their ERP systems -- suggests a new study by performance management firm Ventana Research. At face value, this may seem surprising; companies typically invest tens of millions of dollars in ERP systems t...

Even at post-tech bubble prices, adopting a CRM system requires a sizable commitment for any firm. Many of the companies making these investments, though, still are not realizing the maximum value for their money due to common missteps before and after the implementation. Some firms, for instance, a...

Microsoft is teaming up with CDC Software, which recently acquired partner company c360, to make inroads into the China market. The two companies are discussing plans to provide Microsoft Dynamics CRM on a hosted basis in China, Kevin Faulkner, product-marketing director for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, ...

When RightNow Technologies announced plans to acquire Salesnet, executives at Art Technology Group mulled over how the deal might impact them. In the first quarter, the company had launched two on-demand customer service applications -- ATG Answers OnDemand and ATG Customer Care OnDemand -- that co...

Earlier this week, RightNow Technologies announced its acquisition of Salesnet, an on-demand vendor known for its highly specialized sales methodologies. It was a coup for the Bozeman, Mont.-based vendor, says founder and CEO Greg Gianforte, for a number of reasons -- not least because it lopped a y...

Salesforce.com has released an application that is expected to build out and bolster its nascent reseller channel. Called "AppExchange OEM Edition," it is an on-demand platform that independent software vendors can use to develop applications to sell without a separate contract from Salesforce.com.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers' Management Barometer survey has identified CRM as one of the top drivers of change management initiatives among multinationals today. The typical company is currently using an average of five change strategies to achieve desired benefits, it said. Leadership training, at 77...

RightNow Technologies announced it has acquired Salesnet, a provider of specialized, on-demand sales force automation (SFA) methodology, in an all-cash transaction for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition, which is being hailed as a smart move on the part of RightNow, will expand its customer base an...

Witness Systems has added new functionality to its Impact 360 Workforce Optimization application that it launched last year. Impact 360 is the application derived through combining Witness Systems' software with technology obtained in its Blue Pumpkin acquisition. In this release, Witness Systems ti...

In a major leap for a company that only recently introduced the Software as a Service model, SAP announced it is combining its on-demand CRM application with its on-premise CRM suite in a new product it calls SAP CRM 2006s. "We are moving our entire CRM product [line] to the hybrid model," Angela Ba...

Onyx has upgraded its analytics application with the introduction of Onyx Analytics 3.0, a product within the vendor's Performance Management portfolio. New features in this release include scorecarding and event monitoring functionality. Scorecarding allows users to monitor and rate performance aga...

CRM vendors -- the champions of customer service best practices -- received dismal ratings for their own treatment of online customers in a new survey. The Customer Respect Group has rated customer service in such industries as banking, airline and travel, telecom, consumer goods, manufacturing, foo...

Unica has introduced a new Web analytics application that is based partly on technology it acquired from Sane Solutions and then rebranded. Affinium NetInsight offers flexible reporting and viewing capabilities that are adaptable to most business scenarios, Unica SVP Carol Meyers told CRM Buyer. "We...

Business intelligence vendor SAS has added five new software-as-a-service applications to join its original on-demand offering, SAS Solutions OnDemand: Web Analytics. The SaaS product line, first introduced in 2001 as an ASP service, is growing steadily, Richard Roach, senior director of SAS Soluti...

SAP announced the implementation of the second phase of its software-as-a-service strategy, first introduced in February, as a prelude to its annual customer conference, SAPPHIRE '06, which is set to begin next week. SAP has also upgraded its initial SaaS sales application -- as it promised it would...