CRM Software's Glass Slipper
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Custom CRM software developer Salesforce.com is still growing at warp speed, although it may take a natural dip in 2005.
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Blog: Salesforce.com, SugarCRM find bones to pick with Microsoft's depiction of its hosted Live CRM plans.
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SugarCRM has released the 5.0 version of its open-source customer relationship management software following a long period of development and testing.Sugar 5.0 features improvements in three main areas, according to the company:&#160;A new on-demand architecture designed to improve security, tools that let nontechnical users build custom modules, and an AJAX e-mail client that is compatible with any server that supports the POP3 protocol. The release also delivers upgraded dashboarding capabilities.The software went through three beta cycles and was tested more than 30,000 times by members of SugarCRM&#39;s open-source community, said Chris Harrick, senior director of product marketing for the Cupertino, California, company.Harrick said the open-source development model allows software to be vetted far more thoroughly than an in-house quality testing team can.In-house teams &quot;serve their purpose. They do a good job, and they&#39;re hard-working people. But [open-source provides] the wisdom of the crowd,&quot; he argued.Harrick downplayed the fact that it took three betas to achieve a release-worthy product. &quot;I think it&#39;s really a result of our development process. We iterate quickly and get it out there,&quot; he said.The company has created a Flash demo that walks through the new features in detail.China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group, said SugarCRM is looking to land larger enterprise customers with the 5.0 release.&quot;This is the most substantial kind of project they&#39;ve done ... it was really crucial for them to try and get this right,&quot; Martens said.&quot;We think it&#39;s good, but the bottom line is we want to see bigger users for Sugar until we get really excited,&quot; she added.In a space crowded by seemingly similar CRM offerings, SugarCRM has tried to differentiate itself partly through fostering a user-friendly image, according to Martens. The company&#39;s attitude, according to Martens, is, &quot;Forget about the technical guys, we&#39;re Sugar and you can configure us. We&#39;re friendly.&quot;SugarCRM Professional in on-demand form costs $40 per user per month.
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Taking a page from major enterprise software providers like Oracle and SAP, Microsoft announced this week Business Ready Customer Care, an initiative that includes major enhancements to its maintenance and support program for Microsoft Dynamics, ERP and CRM, applications.
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Implementing a CRM system and putting some business intelligence into the processes may help in boosting sales or in creating an end-to-end strategy for those who have been around during the implementation, but what happens when a new hire sits in front of the complex, customized application?
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InfoWorld - Targeted mainly at its VAR (Value Added Reseller) channel, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Version 4.0 was released to manufacturing this week.
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For years, companies large and small have been convinced that if they want the sophisticated functionality of enterprise-class software like ERP and CRM systems, they must buy pre-packaged applications. And, to a large extent, that remains true.
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Cisco Systems plans to offer a tool to help small and medium-size businesses use Microsoft CRM software in combination with a Cisco IP communication system.
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com September 29, 2004, 2:57 PM PT. This fourth priority&#39;s main focus has been improving or obtaining CRM and ERP software for the past year and a half.
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InfoWorld - NetSuite, the other hosted CRM company, laid out version 2007.0 this week of its CRM, ERP, and PRM (partner relationship management) SaaS (software as a service) solution.
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com September 22, 2004, 12:36 PM PT. This fourth priority&#39;s main focus has been improving or obtaining CRM and ERP software for the past year and a half.
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Taking a page from major enterprise software providers like Oracle and SAP, Microsoft announced this week Business Ready Customer Care, an initiative that includes major enhancements to its maintenance and support program for Microsoft Dynamics, ERP and CRM, applications.The customer support initiative does three things: Extends for five years the time over which Microsoft will support its products; offers more creative financing solutions for buying its CRM and ERP products, and promises to create a more transparent environment for its channel partners and their customers about future upgrades and products.Industry analyst Josh Greenbaum, principal at Enterprise Applications Consulting, said the fact that Microsoft is offering an additional five years of software support is in recognition of how well Oracle's extended support program is working for its customer base.Under the new Microsoft program there will be a total of five years of "mainstream" support for its products plus an additional five years of extended support, according to Christine Bell, director of global services product management, for Microsoft Business Solutions.Greenbaum says the extended support is a smart move on Microsoft's part."Oracle found out that extending support for their applications does not mean customers are gong to stall on [buying] new releases. They [Oracle] have a good upgrade flow despite or maybe because of extended support," Greenbaum said.In today's market, most vendors make upgrades a revenue-neutral event."You still get maintenance revenue either way, so why cause anxiety when you don't have to," added Greenbaum.On the financing side, Microsoft is now offering more options, including financing both the cost of hardware and software.Also available through March 2008 is a program called Smart Pay which will allow customers to select what their monthly payments will be for the first year.Finally, Bell said that Microsoft is making the commitment to deliver statements of directions that look out to the next 12 to 14 months."It will be very specific and talk about features and functionality," said Bell.Microsoft will include written documents on a special partner and customer Web site and will not require signing a non-disclosure agreement.The roadmap details are expected to start in November.
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In the hype of the CRM boom a few years ago,  sales force automation software seemed largely forgotten. Though not quite a dinosaur, it certainly was not a hot topic.
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(Source: Oracle) Certain vendors preach the software deployment model du jour as the only sure-fire path to CRM success before understanding your business requirements. Selecting the right deployment model must first and foremost address your key business problems and challenges, enabling you to meet your strategic business goals. And the more you know the pros and cons of each deployment model, the more certain it is that you will embark on a path to CRM success. Find out which CRM Deployment option is right for your business, register now.
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com September 27, 2004, 8:25 AM PT. This fourth priority&#39;s main focus has been improving or obtaining CRM and ERP software for the past year and a half.
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com September 14, 2004, 7:32 AM PT. This fourth priority&#39;s main focus has been improving or obtaining CRM and ERP software for the past year and a half.
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InfoWorld - Taking a page from major enterprise software providers like Oracle and SAP, Microsoft announced this week Business Ready Customer Care, an initiative that includes major enhancements to its maintenance and support program for Microsoft Dynamics, ERP and CRM, applications.