Archive for March, 2006

Hybrid CRM deployments trickle in

Hybrid CRM deployments trickle in

“I’m surprised it’s taken this long for companies to deploy hybrid CRM,” said Liz Roche, managing partner with Stamford, Conn.-based Customers Inc. “I’ve always believed that hybrid deployment architectures were the only way to go. It’s taken the software vendors three to four years to figure out it’s not an entirely hosted or an entirely on-premise world. In fact, this is the promise of next-generation composite applications.”

Hybrid CRM, it has potential and offers the best of both worlds.

23 March, 2006 | No comments

Collaboration, CRM v.2 and the Truth about Chat - Weigh In

Collaboration, CRM v.2 and the Truth about Chat - Weigh In - weighin - CIO

While self-service models, new-age knowledge management and more flexible on-demand deployment models are driving this next wave of CRM, an increasingly important foundation is collaboration. From blogs and wikis to IM and user forums, collaboration applications are undergoing a bit of a renaissance, especially as a business tool. At the same time, there still are a sizable number of “old-school” collaboration tools like Lotus Notes in many large organizations.

Blogs, wiki, chat, and CRM, oh my! It is great to see all these technologies converge in support of customer-organization digital stakeholder relationships.

23 March, 2006 | No comments

Ajax Write

Michael Robertson . com

What if there was alternative for Microsoft Word that would install and open in 6 seconds, read and write Microsoft Word .doc files and run on Macintosh, Microsoft Windows or Linux computers? And oh yeah, it was FREE so consumers didn’t have to pay $499 for Microsoft Office. I’m excited to announce that day is here.

For those that don’t know who Michael Robertson is, he is the creator os MP3.com and Linspire (a Linux Operating System that uses Click-n-Run for application distribution - pretty cool stuff).

While I would say Michael is giving himself way too much credit for this one (Larry Ellison was promoting the idea 10 years ago) I have to give him props for making this a reality. IMHO this is the future of application development for most people. Most people do not use 5% of the power of any Word Processing package. With broadband connections individuals can now access the latest and greatest features in moments with no installation hassles, no upgrade hassles….but what will Microsoft’s response be? The key will be if Michael can figure out a way to make money with this. Stay tuned…

23 March, 2006 | No comments

Google Sued over Ranking

RED HERRING | Google Sued over Ranking

KinderStart.com has sued Google, accusing the search giant of unfair trade practices and a lack of objectivity in search results after the information portal for parents said its site stopped being listed in the results as prominently as it had been in the past.In its filing in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California on Friday, the company said the search engine had blocked its site, contributing to a sudden decline in page views, and in turn, revenue. The company alleges that Google violated the “free flow of speech, traffic, and commerce” to the site.

Very interesting. This is not the first time Google has been accused of this practice. But we all need to realize, Google knows the right thing to do and they always do the right things Seriously, I had a similar thing happen to me. I started a site called Success in Balance in hopes of creating a community where people could gather and talk about how they could be successful and still keep their priorties in line. I started off great and listed it with Google. Typing in the works “Success in Balance” always yielded results where the site was in the top 5. But then I posted something negative, but 100% accurate about one of their adsense adverstisers. Next thing I know it I can type in successinbalance.com and still could not find the site! The only way to find the site was to follow listings from other sites. Was this a coincidence? Who knows. Google reveals nothing as everything is a “trade secret.” The bottom line is Google has Microsoft syndrome. They can do no wrong and they think they know what’s best. This should be a fun one to follow.

22 March, 2006 | No comments

CRM On Demand Is In Demand

CRM On Demand Is In Demand

It has take a few years for On-Demand CRM Solutions to find it’s place and acceptance in the marketplace. The improvement and reliability of the Internet, faster deployment, easier support, improvement in the functionality, and integration capabilities have fueled rapid growth. But, hold on, this is just the beginning!

I must agree with the authors summary. On demand CRM is still in the early stages, but if certain things happen it will be a winner. But with that said there is strength in the ASP model in general. Businesses are not in the business of running software. They are in the business of producing their product and service and anything that can help them focus on the core service in a cost effective manner is a winner.

22 March, 2006 | No comments

Pageflakes - The whole Web at your Fingertips!

Pageflakes - The whole Web at your Fingertips!

Now I don’t know if this will catch on, but this is one very cool internet portal. If the technology can be ported to the organization they have a real winner! Check it out.

22 March, 2006 | No comments

What Portals Should Be

What Portals Should Be

All of which makes me wonder if this couldn’t be the future of intranet portals. I suppose the business behind PageFlakes could be convinced to sell their backend to a company for internal use (if that’s not already their business model). I honestly have no idea how long it would take to produce flakes for internal data (e.g., inventory numbers, etc.). I also don’t know how practical it would be to create RSS feeds for much of that data. Could an RSS feed stay updated with information from a sales database? If so, the Ajax approach to portals applied by PageFlakes could signify a quicker, cheaper approach to traditional portals like Plumtree.

Pretty interesting commentary and interesting thoughts. As I played with some Yahoo! Gadgets the other day I wondered about how they might be used on a larger sale, and this is the same concept. If some basic frameworks can be created and standaradization (such as XML) emerges, we could see the growth of portals all over the place. Then there will be true power in portals.

22 March, 2006 | No comments

Who owns the Internet? We have a map that shows you. |

CIO Blogs - Who owns the Internet? We have a map that shows you. |

I’ve been following the net neutrality debate for a while now. Real briefly, the telecommunications industry is lobbying for the right to manage the traffic that flows over their networks as they see fit. For more read the post linked above. Everyone is focusing on the last mile, which makes sense because that is the part of the network where there is the most congestion. But getting rid of net neutrality would also give the companies that own the fiber and routers at the core of the Internet the ability to manage data there.

This is a must read. I had not heard about this until I came across this post. Big implications that many are not even thinking about! More later I hope.

22 March, 2006 | No comments

Maybe Your CEO Shouldn’t Blog

Naked Conversations: Maybe Your CEO Shouldn’t Blog

The bottom line: CEOs should nurture cultures that encourage blogging. They should encourage the open culture and using blogs to get closer with customers.

Interesting discussion on the blog by the authors of Naked Conversations. It seems some think the CEO should blog and some think the CEO should not. Who’s correct? Well as I teach my Systems Analysis & Design students, it all depends on the objective of the company. That’s where I think the post is off point. Sure in many cases it might be argued that the CEO should not blog, but in just as many cases one could make the argument that the CEO should. It all comes down to strategy.

20 March, 2006 | No comments

Yahoo! Braces For Google - Forbes.com

Yahoo! Braces For Google - Forbes.com

But there might be another finance site drawing traffic soon: Google (nasdaq: GOOG) is reportedly creating its own version of a finance destination to tap into the endless fascination that people have with money.

Interesting article about how Google might challenge Yahoo! in some content areas. In addition the possibility of blogs at Yahoo! is discussed.

20 March, 2006 | No comments

Cell phone-optimized Wikipedia now available

Cell phone-optimized Wikipedia now available

What did we ever do before the internet? Remember when you still had to go through volumes and volumes of encyclopedias to find little tidbits of information? Do you remember making use of a paperback almanac to play “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego”? Those days are long behind us now, especially thanks to sites like Wikipedia, and now the ultimate reference site is being offered in a cell-phone optimized version.

Very cool. Wikipedia for the cellphone or PDA. I will definitely be bookmarking the site.

20 March, 2006 | No comments

West Sussex gets big benefits from CRM

PublicTechnology.net

“Our Help Points currently sit at the core of our citizen information service, providing the personal touch as well as linking the council services”, explains Stephen Gray, West Sussex Accessible Services Partnership Organiser. “No-one in the county is further than 5 miles away from a Help Point. If you work in Crawley and live in Shoreham you can report issues local to work or home and be sure that they will be dealt with.”

Not was we normally think about when we talk CRM, but Citizen Relationship Management is basically the same thing. What is great about this case study is it shows how using the technology properly can not only fix the problems with managing customer, but can actually improve the relationship. That is what CRM is all about.

17 March, 2006 | No comments

The bottom line on blogging

Kansas City Star | 03/14/2006 | The bottom line on blogging

Business is talking, and consumers aren’t just listening anymore. They’re talking back.

Blogs — online journals popular for several years with teens and anyone else with a desire to share details about their lives or a favorite hobby — are finding a place in corporate America.

Gotta give it to the Kansas City Star, they did a nice job of covering blogging for business. They highlight some of the key players and address some key issues.

16 March, 2006 | No comments

Get Your CRM to Work the Way You Do, Not The Other Way Around

CRM Today: Get Your CRM to Work the Way You Do, Not The Other Way Around

In his book, CRM at the Speed of Light, Paul Greenberg faces the question, how do you avoid lagging and ultimately the loss of customers when they are moving lightning fast, demanding constant changes in the speed required to complete their transactions? The answer, Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Most businesses and business owners are familiar with the potential functionality of this solution-the challenge is getting your team to use it.

Some good points on how to make CRM work for you. IMHO CRM is not a fad, but it is here to stay. Companies that utilize the technology effectively will do well. Others who just mess with it or do it to be like everyone else will find themselves out of business.

16 March, 2006 | No comments

Fellow: Is Wikipedia Legit?

The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Fellow: Is Wikipedia Legit?
Although traditionally ideas gained authority when they were published, and the “scarcity of paper…created the regime of authority,” the internet complicates the picture, Weinberger told the modest audience of around 25.

Harvard weighs in on Wikipedia…well not really, but the Harvard Crimson covers an event where the topic was discussed.

16 March, 2006 | No comments

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