NETWORKING

Business Networking in the Modern Age

2011-01-18T21:35:00.000-08:00

Networking between businesses has never been easier than it is today.

Time was once when representatives of local businesses had to drag themselves away from their concerns to attend meetings of the Chamber of Commerce or the local business forum and, whilst that method of personal interaction is still vitally important for the purpose of knowing who's who in your local business community, there are now so many different ways of keeping in touch with others within either your neighbourhood or your niche.

The latter is so very important. It has always been fairly easy to interact with business people operating a few yards along your own street. Traditionally it has been more difficult to get in touch with others operating in the same line of business as yourself who might be based in some other part of the country, or indeed in another country.

Social media like Facebook and Twitter, along with business focused resources such as LinkedIn, have proved to be valuable. They have almost literally brought the world home to your computer screen. Today it is so easy to communicate with anyone anywhere else in the world that we very much take it for granted.

But why would we wish to be in contact with other business people anyway? Particularly those with whom we are competing in the same finite and frequently scarce market?

This question needs to be looked at from different scenarios. If you were the manager of a public house, for instance, and another similar enterprise was located next door to your own (unlikely though that may be in this day and age) then your neighbour and yourself would clearly be in competition with each other. If however the other premises were situated a few streets away you would in all likelihood share many of the same customers, those who move around from place to place. You would have a shared interest in maintaining the popularity and the standard of the neighbourhood for incoming visitors, and in identifying troublemakers and sharing intelligence on such things as drug taking and other anti-social behaviour.

Of course most neighbourhoods will be host to a wide range of completely different and varying business interests. Once again these will have a mutual interest in raising the appeal of the area in which they operate so as to encourage more visitors from outside who will, it is hoped, use all the services and patronise all the shops and retail outlets. They will have a mutual interest in eradicating crime such as robbery, vandalism and anti-social behaviour that invariably has the effect of deterring custom.

Networking Leads - Justify

2011-01-18T21:34:00.003-08:00

Savvy networkers can take their networking to the next level by joining exclusive networking groups. There are strict criteria and certain groups attract specific members according to profession and industry. Weekly meeting facilitate the process of exchanging business, resources and relationships. One of the main purposes of these groups is to generate leads and contacts for their members.

This article is one of four in a series which concentrates on building the right leads and creating a networking advantage.

Justify Getting the Lead

Once you have obtained a list of leads or contacts, the next step is to follow through. Be cautious of how you do business and associate with others. A good exercise may be to justify or list the benefits of getting those particular leads. Look through your business plan or goals and find out how this contact lines up with your marketing plan.

One good way to get started is to make a list of expectations for getting the leads. Find ways of building these contacts to improve your business, business processes or career endeavors. Find parallels of how those leads can create more profitable and beneficial connection. Ask questions which can be tracked and are measurable.

Look for the value in pursuing the leads. Are they going to be easily workable and obtainable? Are they going to generate the business or connections which you desire? Can they be acquired in a timely manner or cost extra time and energy? Is the lead worth the extra time and energy? Can you afford to spend that kind of time and energy without sacrificing your other obligations or agendas? Evaluating these types of questions gives you insight on how to approach the matter without bearing much risk.

Networking Leads - Juggle

2011-01-18T21:34:00.001-08:00

Individuals, who find networking beneficial, tend to join exclusive networking groups to enhance their networking agendas. These groups provide a structured support for building business and social relations. They are organized through weekly meeting and are selective in their membership and guests who are invited. The main purpose of these groups is to generate leads for advancement and growth.

This article is one of four which illustrates on how professionals can obtain quality leads for business and social success.

Juggle Multiple Leads

Networking is a tool for business as well as an art form. It requires skill and ability for even the most professional of individuals. Once you have obtained your list of leads or contacts, the next step is to properly follow up. The method in which you follow up can determine the success rate of achieving favorable outcomes among your lead pool. It may be wise to contact multiple leads at one time to gain momentum and consistency.

This requires you to be diligent and focused on your approach methods. Create specific ways of how to reach out to your leads and stay in contact. Draft a chart or sheet which lists information about each lead and the progressive steps of the connections. Make notes of best ways of interacting with the leads once you have made the initial contact. Be specific in how you log in responses, leave messages and take notes during conversations or meetings.

Although it can be considered a tedious task, the more organized you are the better. Reach out to group members to find the best practices. Share thoughts, ideas and resources which are useful and relevant to the process.

Benefits Of Networking

2011-01-18T21:33:00.003-08:00

Networking provides numerous benefits. Networks are easier to install than ever before. In spite of the technical nature of this in-depth network coverage, just using networks is easy and the benefits quickly become obvious.

Simplified Resource Sharing

Resource sharing is easier over a network; whether the network uses a peer or client/server configuration is immaterial.

1) Shared Disk Space

Networked computers can share their hard disk space with each other. At first glance, this doesn't seem momentous; after all, many computers have large hard drives. But it's not the file-storage capabilities that are important here - it's sharing applications and files. It is satisfying to be able to find a copy of a file you require, copy it to your desktop computer, and work on it without leaving your chair.

2) Shared Applications

Although sharing files is an important reason for networking, sharing applications is another, equally important reason. Shared applications can be as prosaic as using a copy of Microsoft Word stored on another user's drive or as elaborate as a groupware application that routes data from user to user according to complex preset rules.

A groupware application (also called groupware or collaborative software) is an application that enables multiple users to work together using the network to connect them. Such applications can work serially, where (for instance) a document is automatically routed from person A to person B when person A is finished with it, or it can be software to enable real-time collaboration. IBM's Lotus Notes software is an example of the former, and Microsoft's Office has some real-time collaborative features.

3) Shared Printers

A third aspect of resource sharing is shared printers. Standalone printers-that is, printers attached to computers that aren't networked-represent a significant capital expense. Printers typically also cost a lot to run; they consume ink or toner when they print, and inkjet and toner cartridges are typically expensive.

4) Networking Is Faster

Given everything else that has been said here, it seems obvious that networking is faster than not networking. And, in fact, it is faster. Just think about it:

. No more printing memos-use email!

. No more running from desk to desk to check everyone's availability for a meeting-use the group calendar!

. No more wondering whose Rolodex has the name of the person you need to call-you can get it from the contact database.

. No more racing around from computer to computer to get the file you need-just copy or open it from the network drive.

Networking Tips For the College Student

2011-01-18T21:33:00.001-08:00

Networking is becoming increasing popular on the collegiate scene and many students are taking advantage of its valuable benefits. College students are networking at campus social events, volunteer/community activities, lectures, conferences and career fairs. College students can also branch out and start to build social and professional relationships with their business counterparts for ongoing success. Although it may appear that students have limited funds, limited time and limited resources, this article is designed to shatter those false theories and provide opportunities for college students to excel in their networking endeavors!

Listed below are tips and suggestions which are practical for college students who are networking and want to build relationships for academic and career advancement.

The Great Follow Up

College students are encouraged to follow up immediately after meeting professionals, business people and other college students at networking events. Follow ups can be in the form of email, phone calls or written correspondence. The follow up should not only be timely, but also professional and meaningful for both parties involved. In the follow-up make sure to include the reason for following up and the purpose of building a relationship.

On Campus Activities

College students should be very proactive in their networking objectives and initiate one-on-one gatherings. It is an excellent way to build relationships and develop their networking skills. Although college students tend to operate on limited funds, here are a few suggestions of how they can approach their business counterparts for success meetings.

Art / Cultural Shows On Campus

We recommend that college students invite professionals and colleagues to art, cultural and social activities on campus. Most of these events are free and if they are after hours, your business counterparts might not have to pay for parking. It is a great opportunity to show your business counterpart around the campus and inform them of various activities within the student body.

Lunch on Me

College students can also offer to meet up with their business counterparts on campus and have lunch at the cafeteria or at a nearby restaurant. Depending on the eating situation, students can use their student id card or meal plan to cover the meal expenses. Yes, if you are inviting someone to breakfast, lunch or dinner, it is your responsibility to pay. The other person may be courteous and pay for their half but do not always assume the latter. It is a sign of respect, etiquette and kindness.

Head of the Class

Another great way to build relationships, is to invite your business counterpart to sit in on one of your favorite classes or lectures/speeches. It would be a great learning experience and you can use that opportunity to introduce your counterpart to your professor, friends and other college/university staff. You can also use that opportunity to ask to be invited to social and business events of your business counterpart.

These are excellent ideas for building relationships, taking initiatives and moving towards your networking goals. College students should also remember to follow up in a timely manner, be punctual for all events and meetings and to be professional in their social and business dealings with their business counterparts.

Networking Memberships - Upload

2011-01-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

In order to gain the most of your networking endeavors, it is key to join a professional networking group. These groups have an existing and workable model for creating a strong and efficient network with like minded individuals in a business atmosphere. The structure, mission and representatives of the group are the needed ingredients for a successful networking experience.

This article is one in a series of four articles which explores the dynamics of memberships in quality organizations. Individuals can learn important tips for maximizing their participation and efforts.

Upload Your Expertise into the Group

We live in a digital age and use the computer and online technologies for practically everything in our lives. This should also run parallel with your social and business endeavors. As a member of an organization, focus on adding value and relevance to the group. Besides paying your dues and attending events regularly, seek out ways to market your expertise to improve the quality of the organization. One suggestion is to set up a meeting with the director or president of the group and explain your initiatives. Create a list of your strong character and professional traits, or a list of services or products which you or your company offers. Follow up with an exchange system for implementing the services or distributing the products.

Although this can be viewed as a form of solicitation, make clear your objectives and intent for the meeting. This could be facilitated through a bartering or vendor relationship. There are several ways to create a partnership or association to get more involved and engaged within the group. Do not limit your interactions to just the leadership of the group. Find ways to connect and partner with fellow group members and associates. These types of alliances foster business and economic growth and attract potential new members

Networking - For Window Cleaning Business Owners

2011-01-18T21:31:00.003-08:00

As a window cleaner you might have a hard time opening up, maybe talking to others in the window cleaning industry, or others in another industry. Well I have some BIG news for you, things need to change. This article was written to show you how important networking can be if you harness the power it holds. Have you ever heard the saying "it's not what you know, its who you know"? Of course you have. This saying is very true especially in the times we live in. I know many who have degrees in a field or spent many years studying at popular schools and end up jobless or working a "normal" job that any high school applicant could have landed. Then on the flip side you have ones who are just out of high school and have high end paying jobs or careers because they "knew someone" - THAT right their is an example of how important networking is for you personally as a window cleaner.

Six degrees of separation (also known as the "Human Web") points to the fact that on average everyone on the entire planet is friends or acquaintances 6 steps away from any other person. So basically you know someone who knows someone 6 times over who knows Obama or even Lady GaGa. How can you use this to your advantage? If you take time to know a guy who does pressure washing in the next city over, you think he can refer you to a well paying client? If you talk to the guy at the donut shop who's dad owns 3 story commercial building with dirty windows wouldn't you agree that you already have an advantage or "your foot in the door" over any other window cleaner to take care of that building? If you make friends with another window cleaner in the same area and give him a job you just didn't want to do or couldn't take care of don't you think he would return the favor sometime in the future? These are all examples of how you as a window cleaner can network with other window cleaners and other people in general.

The other day a window cleaner from San Diego was looking for help on a large commercial job out here where I live. I offered to help him. It turns out he has TONS of experience in commercial low rise and high rise buildings, I had the privilege of learning from him throughout the day. My interest in focusing on commercial buildings for my business grew. This window cleaner knew the owner of a popular water fed pole company who could sell me a brand new 60' Full Carbon fiber water fed pole for $700, originally $2,800. I know doubt gave the guy a call. Towards the end of the work day this window cleaner from San Diego decided to sub contract the job out to me, I would be making $1,000 on my own in one work day every three months. Turns out the guy who manufactures the water fed poles needed help with his website, I was happy to help him and he ended up giving me the pole for FREE.

Social Networking Sites

2011-01-18T21:31:00.001-08:00

Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have become a mainstream part of the American and world pop culture. "Social networking" is the term used to describe websites where people set up their own personal web page, use this to meet new friends and reunite with old friends, and otherwise create a network of friends and contacts on the Internet.

Online social networks have become a way to keep in touch with your oldest friends in the world, share your love of games, network for love, reignite old romantic flames, or even further your career through business networking. Because tweeting and Facebooking provides such a variety of advantages and options to such a wide range of people, social network sites have become a mainstream online phenomenon.

Facebook

Facebook is the site people wanting to contact old classmates and childhood friends use. When you establish a page, you'll get friend suggestions according to your current address, your childhood addresses, and the schools you attended. Once you start to add friend, you might receive suggestions from their list of friends, so that you have an ever-expanding network of people you might have known throughout your life. Eventually, you tend to reunite with dozens, if not hundreds, of old friends and acquaintances.

Another aspect to Facebook is the tendency people have to meet their old boyfriends and girlfriends online and catch up on old times. Often, the nostalgia for a lost love turns into a reunion of another sorts, or people who had mutual crushes in their teen years or college days end up hooking up for romantic relationships, to see what might have been or fulfill a long-standing fantasy. This has led one preacher to deride Facebook as a "portal to infidelity", though it should go without saying that the vast majority of people on Facebook are more interested in telling you about their kids, their spouse, and their latest trip to the grocery store. (Also, that particular preacher turned out to have a past far seedier than your average Facebook fancy.)

Twitter

Twitter gives people the ability to send short, pithy "tweets" to all the people in their online network. Each tweet only contains 140 characters or less, so brevity is key on Twitter. Submitting links to favorite online stories or re-tweeting other people's tweets is a way to show people what it is you care about, as well as show what you're following on the computer.

Since a few athletes and politicians began tweeting, and since a few of these celebrities got into trouble for posting on Twitter something they didn't entirely think through, Twitter has become a place to follow mini-scandals. A number of celebrities have become big Twitter phenoms--Ashton Kutcher most famously.

MySpace

MySpace was the first huge, mainstream social networking site. MySpace began as a portal for bands, musicians, and musical artists to find jobs, bandmates, and other career opportunities. At a point, My-Space morphed into a portal for a mainstream audience, including millions of teens and tweens. While Facebook and Twitter have surpassed MySpace in the social consciousness these days, this is still a massive web presence still impacting the culture.

Linked In

LinkedIn specifically caters to business professionals wanting to find job, meet business contacts, and otherwise advance and network in the career field and business world. With 85,000,000 people linked into the site, this is a place anyone with a commercial venture, business skills, or need for a job should have a page on.

There are a huge number and variety of social network websites out there, and you should view LinkedIn as the type of niche sites available out there. If you have a particular hobby, interest, or venture in mind, you can probably find a web address that lets you network socially online in this field of interest.

Successful Business Networking

2011-01-18T21:30:00.001-08:00

Are you serious about building your business through networking? Then you need an approach designed to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

It seems obvious that the purpose of networking is to find prospects, right? So you scout the room, identify the most likely candidates, launch into your 30-second intro and follow up with the ten reasons why you should get together for a meeting next week.

On the odd occasion this may net you a sale, but for the most part you'll just be met with glazed eyes and a blank expression. Because the other people in the room have come, not to buy, but to sell their own products or services.

How do you get to the point then, where your networking contacts start buying from you, rather than trying to sell to you? Follow these tips, and you'll be well on your way:

1. Settle in for the long haul.

Networking is not a speedy promotional solution. It's a way to build a network of business contacts who know, like and trust you; a network of people you stay in touch with, and become friendly with.

Once you have that network, you will start to find that you're receiving business, leads and referrals from all directions.

2. It's better to give than to receive.

Concentrate first on bringing value to the people you meet, and to the groups you join. Your listening skills, and your willingness to offer free advice and assistance, or to make connections will make you much more memorable than your elevator speech ever will.

For every person you meet, ask yourself the following questions:

· What are their objectives and goals?
· How can I help them achieve those objectives?
· How might they benefit from connections with other people I know?
· How could they benefit from my information or ideas?
· What can I do right now to be helpful?

3. Stay in touch.

Without follow-up your networking activities will be waste of time and money, and yet it's the easiest step to ignore.

Again, though, if you follow up with a sales message you'll turn people off. Rather, try following up with some advice on a challenge mentioned at last night's meeting; or a link to a website your contact may be interested in. Try putting them in touch with someone they should meet.

You'll be establishing yourself as someone worth knowing, and definitely laying the foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship.

4. Use Social Media.

One of the easiest ways to invite people to stay in touch these days is to invite them to join you on social media. It's an invitation that is non-threatening and widely accepted, and it gives you the perfect vehicle with which to stay top of mind as an expert in your field.

5. Be Clear.

Finally - and yes, it's just as important as all the above - be clear about what your business has to offer.

While you're building those relationships and helping other people, it's obviously crucial that you are communicating clearly what your own business is, and what solution you provide:

· Create an elevator speech that succinctly states (a) what problem you solve, (b) how you solve it, and (c) for whom.
· Take printed materials that are professional and branded. They should summarize what you do, and provide details of websites, social media sites and other sources of information.
· Follow-up with communications that are clearly branded with your 'signature' or tagline, explaining what you do.
· Use social media and internet marketing activities designed to establish you as an expert in your field.

Above all, remember to think of networking not as an opportunity to go out there and sell, but as a platform for building mutually beneficial relationships. The long-term benefits of those relationships will far outweigh the short-term gains of an occasional sale - and you'll have more fun!

Social Networking For Business - Building Business Relationships On Facebook

2011-01-18T21:29:00.002-08:00

The inevitable evolution of maintaining personal relationships, or even making personal relationships via social networks, leads to using social networking for business. Building business relationships on Facebook, for example, is an excellent way to introduce yourself to people all over the planet with like-minded interests. New business prospects and potential product buyers can be just a few clicks away on the Internet.

How To Start Social Networking For Business
Beginning with a computer, an Internet connection, and a Facebook account, one of the best places to start social networking for business is to join Facebook Groups. Building business relationships by joining Facebook Groups is a nice way to grow your social network.

Prior to becoming a member of a particular Group, you should be able to list the reasons for joining that specific group. After all, joining a Facebook Group, whether it be for social networking for business or any other intention, that doesn't support your initiative will only contribute to information overload - something we all hope to avoid! So, in order to find appropriate Facebook Groups to join, start by identifying your type of business - what are you marketing and how might someone search for and find information about it on Facebook? The very best way to figure this out is to do it - open up your popular search engine in your browser and start searching just like anyone else would do. For example, if your business markets and sells weight loss products and dietary supplements, someone might search for "nutrition", "health", "wellness", or "weight loss". These search terms are called keywords or keyword phrases. Take note of those that result in relevant results, especially Facebook Groups. When you find relevant Facebook Groups, assess them as described below since, after all, if you found them by searching on keywords or keyword phrases connected with your business or product, other people doing the same searches are those with whom you're looking to build relationships!

If you do not find relevant Facebook Groups while searching via your favorite search engine in your browser, using the collection of relevant keywords you noted in the previous step and type them, one-by-one, into the Facebook search bar and search! Searches within the Facebook site itself will list all Facebook Groups associated with your keyword or keyword phrase. If any of the resulting Groups seem interesting, click on the Group name to "enter" the Group.

Review Facebook Group to determine individual social networking for business relevance
While reviewing the Group page, note recent member postings, number of members, Group descriptions, number of people who "like" the group, and corresponding materials. You can find this data on the Group's "wall". I recommend NOT joining just any Group. Again, you want to avoid - at all costs - the chance of information overload. So, if, based on the descriptions and member postings, this Group seems to be a good place to attempt social networking for business, ensure that the Group is current (people are actively posting, communicating, and networking) and that the number of members and "likes" are appropriately large (by this, I mean that given the popularity of your business, there are a large enough number of followers to make it worth your while to join). If all the numbers seem appropriate and acceptable and the group fits your business interests, join the group!

Now that you are "on the inside," it's time to network. Social networking for business starts the same way as networking online and offline - say "Hello!" Make yourself known to your fellow members by saying "hello" in a wall post, a status message on the Groups wall. Your message will be seen by everyone who visits the page and even those who have linked their email account to Group messages. Having to chase after all relationships can be time-consuming and tiring, if not unsuccessful, so make everything you say instructive. At the very least, do so because it will be sandwiched in between other members postings and you want to stand out and attract relationships to you.

How to Network: An Advanced Networking Technique for New Financial Planners Who Want to Survive

2011-01-18T21:29:00.001-08:00

As a brand new financial planner or life insurance agent, you might be surprised when you start networking (the company will insist). You'll meet people, they'll smile, you ask what they do, they'll ask what you do, and then you tell them. They'll stop smiling. They'll drop your hand and they might even take a step or two back.

See, they've met a lot of financial planners who haven't taken the time to read or learn anything about networking. Those other guys think that business networking events are a place to meet prospects, hand out their card and get appointments to "get to know each other" which really means that they want to start filling in the blanks in the prospect form that the company provides.

No one likes this. And since networking is actually a process that is not selling, but instead a way to get to know, like and trust other people who you might do business with someday, their blunders are working against you.

How do you start networking with people who are way ahead of you, who have met plenty of your colleagues who have almost ruined the process for you? Surprise them - in a good way. Don't try to find out what life insurance they have, or if they have a 401k or even if they have money at all (well, hopefully they have a little bit but don't ask!).

Here's an idea that will really blow their mind and will possibly make you a friend for life. Tell them that you promise to not ask them for their business for a year. Write it down on your card: I promise to not promote anything that I sell until X date. You can tell them that you will provide them with ideas and suggestions but onlyif they ask you first!

This will help them feel incredibly safe. And they'll be open to a real relationship. Make it a joke. Laugh about it, then suddenly get all serious and tell them, "No really, it is vitally important to me to build relationships first. If you decide at some point that you very much want to do business with me, I would be honored. But until then, I pledge to never bring it up."

P.S. This requires that you have other means of bringing in business, such as advertising, seminars, articles and other marketing strategies so that you don't starve in the meantime.

Beth Bridges has attended over 2,000 networking events in the last 7 years as the Membership Director and Chief Networking Officer of a large west coast chamber of commerce. She has successfully used variations on this technique over the years (even though people always love a Membership Director).

"Making Your Supply Chain a Competitive Advantage: Implementing S&OP" If you receive errors when attempting to view this white paper, please insta

2011-01-09T22:01:00.000-08:00

There are as many definitions of S&OP as there are practitioners and consultants (maybe more). Here's one we've found applicable across many businesses and industries:

Sales and Operations Planning is a continuous, structured process for managing the supply chain so that supply is balanced with demand in accordance with the business strategy.
It incorporates Demand Planning, Supply/Demand Balancing, and Inventory Management subprocesses which meet monthly and interact continually to create and execute a single set of integrated plans.
It provides continuous monitoring of performance vs. plan and a disciplined way of responding to changes to minimize disruptions and maximize the bottom line. The process culminates in a monthly meeting at which

recent performance vs. plan is reviewed, and
plans and alternatives for future sales and operations are presented to senior management for decision-making / approval.

The definition is deceptively simple, perhaps, until you examine the details. Let's point out the most important points, so you can compare with your business' current state:

Continuous, structured process
Single set of integrated plans
Subprocesses&8230;interact continually
Disciplined way of responding to changes
Senior management decision making/approval

Continuous, Structured Process

S&OP is not just a monthly meeting. Nor is it something you do sporadically and only when there's a crisis to address. Occasional flashes of brilliance are great, but you can't count on them to run a supply chain. S&OP is a way of managing the entire supply chain for dependable, reliable, reproducible results.

S&OP is also a structured process. The same set of steps and subprocesses are repeated each month in preparation for the "Executive S&OP Meeting." Meetings are scheduled a full year in advance, to avoid calendar conflicts. Charts (very similar month to month) are issued beforehand and minutes afterwards. Action items have both responsibilities (who) and timetables (when) attached, and are reviewed at the following meeting.

While entire organizations may be allowed to participate by teleconference, the speaking roles are clearly defined in order to keep the meeting focused and brief (1 to 1 ½ hours). All the hard work either has been done before the meeting (generating plans, alternatives, pros and cons, assumptions) or will be done afterwards (executing the plans and monitoring for adherence to plan). Anything unusual or controversial has already been communicated, so that there are no surprises at the meeting itself.
Single Set of Integrated Plans

Here is the heart of the S&OP process, often referred to as "one set of numbers" or a "single version of the truth." In businesses without an S&OP process, even those which may have some sort of demand and/or supply planning in place, all too often each function has its own set of spreadsheets containing its "version of the truth."

Finance is working off a set of numbers all its own, instead of a dollarized version of the S&OP plan. Sales may or may not have a forecast. Operations may or may not believe it and so may decide to "adjust" it to what they think is more realistic. Or perhaps no sales forecast is provided, so that operations are forced to do the best it can to outguess demand and produce accordingly.

Pity the poor business (true story) in which the demand planner found out that his plant was going to be down for three weeks. He was stocking out of product right and left when, half way through that time, he finally called the plant. He had assumed they were having mechanical problems ' but learned that they'd decided unilaterally to go down for inventory control. Obviously, there was no S&OP process in this business.

So how do you get to a single set of integrated plans? That's where the subprocesses come in.
Subprocesses . . . Interact Continually

The Demand Planning, Supply Planning (also called Supply/Demand Balancing), Inventory Management, and Financial Planning subprocesses are not strictly sequential and are definitely not independent of each other. Each has a cross-functional component.

The Demand Planning meeting, for example, should include a representative from supply planning. Why? Suppose Sales proposes to double the amount of product X it sells for next month. The supply planner may be able to say without reference to anything but the knowledge in his head that supply of product X is very tight, and there's no way operations can supply double the usual amount next month. Or suppose Marketing wants to pull the introduction of a new product up two months earlier than previously planned. The supply planner may be able to say right away that the equipment required can't be installed within that time frame. By having supply planning represented in this meeting, we can prevent a lot "looping back" to revisit earlier stages in the planning cycle. This is why it's so important to have cross functional representation in each subprocess meeting. In addition, it's important to have each function hear and understand the discussions to comprehend "where the other side is coming from" instead of just looking at the final output and wondering, "What in the Sam Hill were they thinking?"

Similarly, at each step of the way, finance needs to be identifying gaps between plans and the Annual Budget or other financial commitment to the corporation. Specific plans to fill these gaps ("hope" is not a plan) must be devised and responsibilities and timelines assigned.

Once a monthly set of plans is approved, communications among the subprocesses continue throughout the month as there are fluctuations and variations from plan.
Disciplined Way of Responding to Changes

Having a "single set of integrated plans" doesn't mean blindly following the plan all month if, for example, expected demand is not materializing, or demand for one product is much higher than expected. What it does mean is that when the "continuous monitoring" detects such deviations, there is a structured, defined way for all plans to change together.

Depending on business policy, this may mean a quick re-cycle of the whole monthly process in mid-month. More efficiently, it may mean that under pre-defined circumstances (e.g., deviation of more than X% from plan), the demand planner and supply planner together, say, may be empowered to collaborate informally with the other supply chain stakeholders and then change the operational plans. In such a case, they would also be obligated to inform all other supply chain participants ' sales, finance, inventory management, top management, etc., of the new plans. The details of the changes, their causes and outcomes, would be reviewed at the next S&OP meeting.
Senior Management Decision Making/Approval

The S&OP meeting itself is not just (or even mainly) for reporting how you did last month. Its reason for being is for decision making by top management. The top business manager, be it CEO or Division Manager or General Manager, is a must-have attendee. All other top management (sales, finance, operations, etc.) must either attend or send a delegate empowered to make decisions in his/her place. The meeting cannot be hamstrung because Joe couldn't make it. Also present, of course, are the Demand Planner, Supply Planner, Inventory Manager, and Finance representative, along with the S&OP Coordinator (who may be the same individual as one of the other roles) who has prepared the slides and made sure all the necessary pre-work and communications are done.

Each month, the S&OP Coordinator presents the integrated plans decided on by the team, along with the assumptions behind them. If there are unknowns to be considered (e.g., there may be a strike four months from now which would idle two of our three plants), then alternative scenarios and the pros and cons of each should be prepared in advance. The art of being the S&OP coordinator is guessing in advance what sort of questions management is likely to ask and being prepared with the answers (How soon do we need to start building inventory if there is a strike? How much will we have to build? What will it cost us? How likely is the strike? If we build the inventory and then there is no strike, how long will it take us to work it off?). Each and every month, top management has a decision to make, even if it is only to approve the single set of integrated plans presented by the team.
Why should a business implement S&OP?

Tangible Benefits

Traditionally, S&OP has been seen as a way of reducing costs ' and indeed, it does that admirably. A study by consulting firm PRTM showed that best-in-class companies typically run with 50-80% lower inventories than the median, while providing 15% higher on-time deliveries and 40-64% shorter cash-to-cash cycle times. Sunsweet Growers, the world's largest producer of dried fruit, reduced its production overruns from 30% to 12% after implementing a full S&OP solution. In addition, they eliminated costly overtime, improved schedule stability, and decreased changeovers.

Perhaps more importantly, S&OP is now being seen as a way to increase the top line as well as to cut costs. Rhodia Eco Services, a $230 million dollar division of global chemicals giant Rhodia, Inc., implemented a full S&OP process which enabled it to improve its overall capacity availability from 85% to over 90%. The increased capacity allows Eco Services to respond more quickly to last-minute changes in demand and to gain market-share.

Aberdeen Group, in its March, 2005 "Investing in S&OP: High Value Opportunities," reported that its research indicates that a typical $500 million revenue/year business investing in upgrading its S&OP processes can gain an average of $25 million/year in gross margin.
Intangible Benefits

One of the greatest intangible benefits of a well-run S&OP process is the increase in organizational effectiveness ' and corresponding decrease in unnecessary pressure on individuals in supply chain functions. Instead of firefighting, these professionals now have time to think proactively about continuous improvement opportunities.

Crises occur much less frequently than before, because the planning process itself creates visibility of potential problems far enough out that alternatives can be developed and contingency plans evaluated and approved.

This is key to the "competitive advantage" we mentioned: it's difficult to put a dollar value on preventing the train from wrecking, but it's far, far better and cheaper than cleaning up after it. You didn't disappoint a customer. You didn't miss your numbers because of out-of-control inventories. As a result, your stock price didn't fall. It's difficult to put a number on being proactive, but it's not at all difficult to recognize the benefits.

Sometimes, once things are running very smoothly, someone will ask, "Why do we need to keep having these monthly meetings?" The answer, of course, is that the process which culminates in the monthly meeting and the consensus path forward which comes out of it are precisely what keeps everything running smoothly.
Why start with S&OP instead of, for example, with scheduling?

Sometimes businesses think that their biggest "pain point" is something very deep in the supply chain process, such as plant scheduling. Why should such a business begin with S&OP implementation instead of plunging directly into improving scheduling?

The answer lies in the description above of the nature and benefits of S&OP. A business needs a coherent plan ' including an agreed upon forecast ' before it can really benefit from improving execution steps. If, as if often true in businesses without an S&OP process, manufacturing distrusts the forecast and schedules based on its own guess, an improved scheduling process could result in simply making more of the wrong stuff. Solving the underlying problem of agreeing upon a "single version of the truth" to be used throughout the supply chain must precede improving execution steps if the business is truly to optimize its supply chain.
What has to change for S&OP to work?

For most companies, effective S&OP means an entirely new way of managing the supply chain. It means that jobs are going to change ' everyone's job. Here are just a few of the key areas that must change.
Data Visibility

One of the necessary prerequisites for a robust S&OP process is the visibility of data. In many businesses, even a single inventory planner, for example, may not be able to easily view his worldwide inventories. With S&OP, many people in many locations can view these inventories, in order to promise orders, plan production, monitor warehouse capacity, etc. Just the data visibility itself tends to allow businesses to improve their inventory levels.

"Data visibility" also implies usability, meaning that paper reports don't cut it. One custom film business had twenty-five voluminous paper reports generated daily from its order entry/inventory system, but no on-line visibility. No one had time even to sift through all these reports, much less to try to understand and correlate the data. Organizing this data so that it could be delivered electronically as useful information gave this business the starting point for developing an effective S&OP process.

Finally, data visibility is necessary for data-cleanup; your decisions can only be as good as the data on which they are based.
Sharing Data and Decision Making

There is no "need to know" in the supply chain. An effective supply chain requires much more open, honest communication than before across functions and hierarchical levels. Decisions have to be made more quickly, using a wider range of data, and considering a wider range of alternatives ' and the decision-making authority needs to be pushed as low as possible in the organization. Furthermore, since supply chain personnel are generally already juggling more data and alternatives than they can possibly analyze, enabling technology will be necessary to allow such broader-based decisions to be made.
Re-inventing Reward Systems

Frequently, the incentive systems in functional silos within a supply chain reward behavior which optimizes the metrics for that silo but suboptimizes the business as a whole. For example, sales reps are frequently rewarded for exceeding forecast (which wreaks havoc with supply), while manufacturing is rewarded for maximizing yield, regardless of whether the pounds they are making are the ones the business needs. Incentives need to be redesigned to recognize that everyone, regardless of function, needs to work toward "optimizing the whole, not the parts."
Education on the Big Picture

If everyone is to cooperate on "optimizing the whole," everyone needs to understand the impact of his/her actions and data on the rest of the supply chain. For example, one business found that its customer master contained "Rubbermaid" spelled 8 different ways and "IBM" spelled twelve ways. Obviously, if different customer numbers are associated with each spelling, and if a computer system is generating a statistical forecast by customer, there will be 8 or 12 forecasts, respectively, where there should be one apiece.

Once the CSRs who maintained the customer masters were made aware of the impact of their entry of "duplicate" records, they were much more careful to search for existing entries with similar spellings before creating new customer masters.
Business Process and Technology

Business processes are the way people go about accomplishing given tasks within an organization. Frequently these processes have grown up over time, but no one remembers anymore why that particular process is done that way: "That's the way it's always been done." The old process may have been the best one possible at some point in time with the data and systems available ' but as circumstances changed, in all probability the processes have not kept up.

As the business has grown and the rate of change in the marketplace has increased many-fold, the old, manual processes must give way to new ones which leverage "best practices" and take advantage of newer technologies in order to respond rapidly to changed circumstances.

Changing technologies without changing the business processes which surround them is one of the surest ways to get the very least "bang for your buck." The greatest system in the world is worthless if no one uses it. If business processes are not truly, deliberately, and openly changed (and documented), people will slip back into their old, sub-optimal ways of doing things as soon as no one is looking.
How does one go about implementing S&OP?

The "Big Bang" approach to business change is a sure-fire path to failure. Instead of changing everything at once, which merely maximizes pain and risk, take smaller steps with clearly defined benefits so that the organization can absorb each change at its own pace before moving on to the next. We recommend the following five-step approach:

Understand Your Demand and Its Variability.
Analyze Your Inventory and Position It to Support Demand.
Create a Collaborative Demand Planning Process.
Build a Quantitative Framework for Balancing Supply and Demand.
Institutionalize the S&OP Process.

1. Understand Your Demand and Its Variability.

Every business' demand patterns will differ, and every business needs to be aware of just what its demand pattern is in order to most cost-effectively serve its customers.

Using at least two years of sales history, answer these and similar questions appropriate for your business:

Which products/customers are most variable/difficult to forecast, or cause the most production problems if the forecast is too low?
Which products have only a few customers?
Which products would be appropriate for MTO (Make to Order)?
Which customers provide the shortest lead-times? What problems is this causing in the supply chain?
Which customers/products are most profitable? Which are getting the best customer service? (The answers may surprise you!)
How can shipment history in the ERP be used most effectively for statistical forecasting, and at what level of aggregation?

What new business processes do you need to put in place to ensure that analyses such as these are repeated on a regular basis?

Top Ten Considerations For Choosing A Server Virtualization Technology

2011-01-09T22:00:00.001-08:00

The playing field for server virtualization has become much more crowded over the last few years. Competition is always good for a market as more choices always push vendors into providing better products at more competitive prices. It can be very time consuming to digest each vendor's marketing materials to come to the right solution for your organization. This checklist provides a list of the main considerations and basic differences between the technologies to provide a starting point for technology evaluation. The three main technologies discussed in this analysis are: hardware virtualization, para-virtualization and OS virtualization.

Technology Overview

Hardware Virtualization

Hardware virtualization is probably the most commonly known technology, including products from VMware, Parallels and Microsoft. The technologies are designed to support multiple types of OSs on a single server and are characterized by technology that virtualizes hardware resources in order to manage and dedicate them to Virtual Machines on the server.

Para-Virtualization

Para-virtualization is similar to hardware emulation because in concept it is designed to support multiple OSs on a single server. The only implementation of this technology today is the Xen open source project. Xen customizes the operating system to provide more efficient processing and lower overhead which results in better performance than hardware emulation.

Os Virtualization

OS virtualization is a third approach to virtualization and has been implemented by SWsoft's Virtuozzo and Sun's Solaris Containers. The concept is based on a single OS instance, which provides a leaner more efficient architecture and a single OS per server for management and updates. The main limitation is that it does not support multiple OSs on the same server so it is intended for organizations that are consolidating or deploying multiple virtual servers on a single Linux, Windows or Sun physical server; Solaris Containers obviously supports Solaris while Virtuozzo supports both Linux and Windows. SWsoft Virtuozzo for Linux product does support multiple Linux distributions in the guest virtual servers.

Ten Considerations

#1Management Tools

Many organizations undertake virtualization projects because they can quantify the hard costs of hardware sitting in data centers at 15-20% utilization rates. While hardware and environmental costs are considerable, the administrative costs for managing servers are the largest cost component. Administrative tasks include OS and application updates and patches, backups, installations and provisioning.

The management tools available for each solution vary widely. Some solutions have very few tools available and may be extremely limited. There are many excellent toolsets available with the more mature products.

The process of moving a physical server to a virtual server can be daunting task, particularly if the server is critical to the business. Most of the vendors have tools that help in the migration process, and there are some external vendors that have provided tools for moving not only from physical to virtual, but between virtual environments and even from virtual back to physical. The ability to evaluate a physical server for resource utilization trends to predict and configure an adequate virtual server is rated as the most important component for physical to virtual transition, even above the simple requirement of moving data reliably to a virtualized server. The resource trending capability is only available in a few select P2V tools.

#2. Virtualization Level

Para-virtual and hardware virtualization solutions virtualize the technology from the hardware up to the OS. OS virtualization sits on top of the OS, virtualizing a single instance on a server and taking advantage of all of the underlying hardware technology. Hardware virtualization looks exactly like a dedicated server, ten servers consolidated onto one will still have ten plus one underlying OS.

OS virtualization requires only a single OS instance, although in certain cases OS variances are supported. With the ease of deploying virtualized servers, hardware virtualization sites have actually seen an increase in the number of virtualized servers, beyond what would have been approved on a single server basis. With the complete OS and application structure of each virtualized server, the management workload for IT teams has gotten even larger, rather than decreased with these types of virtualization solutions. OS virtualization deploys on a single OS per server, limiting it to a single OS type, but in the case of management this is quite beneficial.

#3. Performance

Why is processing overhead important? It affects the performance of the application, and ultimately the end-user's satisfaction. Only non-production or non-critical applications should be loaded in a virtualization infrastructure that is high in processing overhead. The processing overhead of virtualization solutions ranges from 1% to as much as 60% between the different product offerings; the virtualized application could perform at near native performance or so slowly it is unacceptable by the end-user. The products in each virtualization technology category vary largely for performance, but generally, the hardware virtualization has the most performance degradation, and the OS virtualization has the closest to native performance.

#4. Density

Many customer virtualization projects are a result of examining server utilization rates which typically are as low as 5-15%. Raising server utilization rates can considerably reduce total cost of ownership of data center resources. Often the new servers that house the consolidated servers are robust with high processing power and capacity, and a single additional virtualized server makes a fast impact on the return on investment analysis. Some virtualization solutions have limitations on the number of virtualized servers allowed on a single server, and other solutions cannot support many virtualized servers based on their architecture and high overhead.

OS virtualization technologies are unique in addressing utilization. There are no limitations on the number of virtualized servers allowed on a single physical server, and the efficient architecture enables many more virtual servers to be supported with adequate processing power on a single physical server which can deliver significantly higher actual "useful" utilization (utilization that does not include overhead as part of it) and associated maximum performance/price ratios and ROI.

#5. Platform Support

Virtualization technologies abstract the virtual servers from the underlying hardware. However, that does not mean that any hardware is supported by the virtual infrastructure. Hardware virtualization and para virtualization in particular have to support each piece of hardware, from straightforward CPU chips to obscure video cards. OS virtualization technologies by definition are built on top of standard OSs and therefore automatically support all of the hardware that the OS supports making them easier to deploy with fewer conflicts. In addition to baseline hardware support, some technologies are able to leverage full hardware technology capabilities inside of virtual machines including full SMP support, 6 bit processing, up to 16 CPUs and up to 6 GB of RAM.

#6. Migration

One of the largest benefits of virtualizing a server is abstracting it from the hardware layer and enabling it to move between servers. Migration capabilities allow cloning or moving a virtualized server from one physical server to another. The benefits of migration include:

Eliminating downtime for hardware upgrades or issues
Avoiding downtime as a result of software changes
Moving virtualized server to a more or less powerful server as requirements change

Many virtualization solutions have cloning or migration capabilities but they vary considerably in capabilities, restrictions and cost structures. A very high-end solution that allows zero-downtime migration is extremely costly and requires a SAN, while another available solution provides near-zero downtime on any networked server as a part of the basic software package. Assess the importance of migration and how it will be used to determine the best it for your environment.

#7. Resource Management

The three technology categories approach resource allocation in different ways. Hardware virtualization and para-virtualization virtualize hardware resources for dissemination to each of the residing virtual servers. The products have varying levels of flexibility for assigning and changing resources. Some resources are dynamic and able to change in real-time, while others require a server reboot or at least virtual server interruption. These two technologies actually assign a virtualized hardware resource to a virtual server; virtualized resources can have limitations such as limited CPU and memory that can be assigned to a single virtual machine

OS virtualization has flexible resource management. Resources may be changed in real-time without interrupting the application or the virtual server. SWsoft in particular allows bursting, which allows unclaimed resources on the server to be used by any virtualized server requiring resources.

#8. Isolation & Security

Each of the technologies has a different approach to isolation and security. The most basic component of a virtualization solution is partitioning. Each virtual machine must be completely isolated so that processes, DLLs, and applications do not affect others on the same server.

The technologies change access points and different components of a regular server so attacks are less likely to be a problem for virtualized servers. Along the same lines of isolation, security between the virtual machines on the same server is also critical. Each of the technologies has a different approaches to these areas, and with the exception of XEN and Solaris Containers, have been tested extensively by enough customers to validate effective levels of isolation and security.

#9. Intended Virtualization Deployment

The top three server virtualization deployments are testing and development, server consolidation, and disaster recovery.

Testing and development organizations were the first to deploy virtualization technologies because the need for developers to use many different operating systems made it quite difficult to manage the associated costs. For development organizations that need different operating systems, one strong option is hardware virtualization. Para-virtualization has plans to support multiple operating systems but hasn't launched that capability. SWsoft's Virtuozzo for Linux does support different Linux distributions on the same server, but does not mix OS families. For testing organizations that need to be able to quickly create many servers for stress testing, most of the technologies would be sufficient although some have much faster provisioning capabilities.

Server consolidation (involving existing applications and/or new applications) is typically done on servers in production supporting live applications and data. The two most important considerations for server consolidation are processing overhead and server utilization. The best technology suited for server consolidation is OS virtualization because it has low overhead and servers it enables has therefore significantly higher utilization.

Disaster recovery solutions are a very common virtualized server deployment. Many organizations find that fully available and redundant systems are too costly for disaster recovery. Virtualized servers that can be activated, booted and made primary servers in a limited amount of time are rapidly becoming the cost-effective and more manageable disaster recovery solutions of choice. There are differences in the technologies regarding boot time and there are other tools and components that may be purchased to supplement server availability.

Business Community Management

2011-01-09T21:58:00.000-08:00

Community Management is also known as : Community Management Company, Outsource Community Management, Online Community Management, Community Management Component, Promoting Community Management, Community Management Plan, Community Management Research, Community Management Report, Community Management Office, Community Self Management, Community Management Presentation, Community Management Communication, Science Game Community Management, Community Strategy Management, Community Management Team, Community Management Moderation, Intelligence Community Management, Critical Community Management, Community Management Challenges, Community Management Software, Community Management Information,
Introduction

Many companies have realized significant value through automating their supply chain with B2B processes. B2B has made an impact and added value, yet inherent problems exist within the traditional model that prevent it from being a sustainable solution in today's business environment. New business challenges arising from everexpanding communication standards, and changing customer expectations and the demanddriven economy have created a need for a new approach that goes beyond B2B.

Business Community Management is a strategic vision that creates a comprehensive view of the supply chain by integrating the technology, business processes and communication of the entire business community to facilitate end-to-end supply chain visibility.

This white paper will examine the current state of B2B communication; detail the steps needed to mitigate the challenges created by B2B; and outline the concepts behind Business Community Management as a new way to approach your business-to-business communication.
The topics included in this whitepaper are:

I. The Current State of B2B
II. Business Community Management: A Comprehensive Approach to Supply Chain Communication
III. Inovis: Your Partner in Comprehensive Business Community Management

The Current State of B2B

After years of implementations, initiatives and mandates, various levels of supply chain communication processes are in place in the majority of large companies operating within the global economy. Companies have realized incredible value from B2B automation.

For example:

A global automotive company and Inovis customer reduced costs by 54% using Managed Services to automate the majority of its supply chain operations and customer communication.
Another national retailer and Inovis customer realized savings of 40% after automating most of its trading community.

Although B2B has delivered significant value, there are a host of business challenges inherent to B2B automation. Combined, these problems prevent B2B automation from being a sustainable solution for moving ahead in today's changing business environment.
Complex technology

Often, B2B initiatives were driven by the need to comply with a certain mandate or meet specific operational requirements, resulting in a piecemeal chain of systems and leaving communication gaps within the supply chain. Therefore, many companies are working with legacy applications and silo solutions that are not interoperable. There is no easy way to synchronize the data from each system to create a comprehensive view of the supply chain. Silo tools create barriers to working within multiple formats and standards, resulting in lost business, missed growth opportunities and further eroding value.

Additionally, B2B technology itself has built-in complexities arising from communication issues with AS2, AS3 and VAN mailboxes, erroneous data exchange as well as trading partner connectivity problems. These problems are commonplace and drain resources. In fact, according to a 2006 GS1 study, most businesses spend between $40 and $80 per error to resolve problems with item data and invoicing data.

Furthermore, connectivity issues are typically recurrent which creates a reactive environment, shifting focus from core business operations toward lower impact issues, wasting time and creating unnecessary productivity costs.
Implementation challenges

Implementing B2B initiatives places large demands on time and resources. Often, implementations run into challenges and time delays created by disparate systems and outdated, inaccurate data. Additionally, each trading partner presents a unique set of circumstances and technology capabilities, which requires additional time and resources to solve. These issues place constraints on already tight budgets and timeframes.
Automation demands and limitations

Today there is a clear business mandate for automating 100% of your supply chain. However, companies face several hurdles in meeting this goal. The first limitation is budget, as companies are being asked to automate more partners with fewer dollars and cycle initial realized savings through several rounds of automation. Another limitation comes from the fact that companies must drill down to the second and tertiary level of suppliers and partners to achieve complete automation. Partners at these levels often lack the willingness or the technology sophistication to tie in to an automated supply chain.
Business Community Management: A Comprehensive Approach to Supply Chain Communication

Considering the challenges that have arisen from B2B processes and the additional business demands posed by changing customer expectations, volume increases and multiple communication formats, companies must reevaluate their supply chain communication processes and adapt. It has become clear that an evolutionary B2B development cannot solve for these multiple issues; companies must make a revolutionary change to achieve an optimized communication solution.

A new view on supply chain automation widens the focus to include the business community of partners and customers that actually make the supply chain operate. Business Community Management (BCM) integrates the technology, business processes and communication of the entire trading community to create end-to-end supply chain visibility.

Three key steps help mitigate the challenges created by a traditional B2B methodology:

Increase Visibility

According to a 2006 AMR study, over 20% of all orders across all industries are in error. Complete end-to-end visibility into your supply chain is essential to successfully manage the increasing complexity of today's B2B environment. A fully optimized business community delivers a comprehensive, real-time view into all B2B collaboration-across all formats and technologies. This level of visibility equates to actionable intelligence that businesses can use to minimize delays and costs associated with errors, stock-outs and chargebacks.

With increased visibility, a business and its partners can move beyond the transaction level toward a more granular item-level of reporting, which enables them to quickly recognize errors and make adjustments in real time, instead of after the fact. A visibility component that allows all members of the community to easily track and view key performance indicators (KPIs) and scorecards helps transform B2B information exchange to a new level of integrated collaboration.

Streamline Processes

Supply chain communication is rife with challenges as companies begin automating their trading partner communities. Trading partner automation is a critical step for reducing complexity in B2B communication, yet the difficulties and pitfalls of disparate systems, unique business requirements and overlapping business methodology make this goal time-consuming and cumbersome to achieve. Streamlining trading partner automation by using proven processes that account for business differences and technology variations can considerably reduce ramp-up time.

For example, a multimedia company we worked with reduced the time it took to onboard partners from 5 days to 15 minutes. Following a repeatable process ensures that the planning, implementation and testing stages of an automation initiative are encompassed in the strategy from the beginning. This eliminates downtime caused by unforeseen complications and results in smoother, faster deployments.

Automate Your Trading Community

The Business Community Management platform is designed around a community where all partners are automated. Complete automation facilitates faster and easier communication which creates new synergies and opportunities to collaborate earlier in the lifecycle of a product.

Trading partners come in all shapes and sizes and have varying levels of technology capabilities. To facilitate strong community enrollment, your partners need flexibility and options to participate at a level that works within their business framework. Utilizing a modular set of applications enables partners to leverage the technology they need and quickly begin realizing the value automation delivers. Flexible access fosters higher participation and faster adoption of the BCM solution throughout your community.

The Business Community Management solution provides the foundation for increased collaboration that deepens trading community partnerships. By removing the complexities and costs associated with a traditional B2B solution, BCM drives greater product innovation, increased speed-to-market and greater levels of customer satisfaction and retention.
Inovis: Your Partner in Comprehensive Business Community Management

The Business Community Management solution builds a framework around the complexity that exists in B2B communication to create true end-to-end supply chain visibility. Business Community Management represents the revolutionary change that companies can embrace to optimize their supply chain and realize sustainable value. Inovis has created a suite of modular applications to enable your company to efficiently and cost-effectively leverage comprehensive Business Community Management across your operations.

Inovis offers three distinct, yet integrated, service areas built on the foundation of secure, reliable communication backed by a Tier Four Data Center. Together, the service areas of Communication Networking, Automation and Visibility and Governance deliver all of the applications to support business community processes and collaboration.

Inovis delivers economies of scale that help your business quickly access new solutions while driving automation across your entire trading partner community. With Inovis as your partner, your business can move beyond the challenges of B2B and begin leveraging the supply chain communication solutions delivered by the BCM solution.
About Inovis

Inovis is a leading provider of on-demand Business Community Management solutions that empower companies to transact, collaborate and optimize communications with their entire trading community. By standardizing and automating mission-critical business interactions, companies can dramatically reduce the complexity and cost of supply chain communication. This foundation of high-quality, reliable and secure connectivity provides real-time visibility across the order-to-payment lifecycle. The resulting actionable intelligence enables users to proactively address supply chain issues before they impact profitability, shortening cycle times, improving productivity and increasing customer satisfaction.

With more than 20 years of expertise, Inovis delivers its products and services to more than 20,000 companies over a wide range of industries and markets across the globe.

Compaq and IBM Alliance for Storage

2010-09-29T23:50:00.003-07:00

In July, Compaq Computer Corporation and IBM announced a strategic agreement to accelerate customer acceptance of open storage networking solutions. Both companies are committed to interoperability of each company's storage hardware and software, and will also sell significant products from each other's storage portfolios. The total of investments currently planned by the companies could exceed $1 billion.

Compaq and IBM will cooperate to help ensure their storage products work seamlessly together. Further, the companies will share their knowledge with the industry to help create standards for open storage networking solutions such as Storage Area Networks (SANs), making storage networks more flexible and easier to deploy and manage.

"With the explosion of e-business and consumer demand for anytime-anywhere products and services, storage plays an increasingly vital role in our customers' Internet infrastructure," said Howard Elias, vice president and general manager of Compaq's Storage Global Business Unit. "This agreement assures both companies' customers a complete portfolio of critical storage technologies that will work seamlessly with future Compaq and IBM products."

Both companies commit to driving interoperability with their respective software and hardware. Under terms of the deal, Compaq will augment its portfolio with IBM's "Shark" Enterprise Storage Servers and select Tivoli systems management software. IBM will augment its portfolio with Compaq StorageWorks Modular Array storage systems and software, which will include IBM 10,000 RPM hard disk drives. IBM will support Compaq's VersaStor technology for storage SAN-wide virtualization.

Each company plans to provide equipment, software, and staffing to support each other's open storage networking/SAN customer centers. At these centers, customers can see for themselves the interoperability of both companies' technologies and products where real-world testing demonstrates the value of open storage networking solutions.

Market Impact

As with most agreements of this nature, this has many areas for discussion: Which of these companies is the "winner"? We believe Compaq comes out slightly ahead. We believe there is a bigger sales potential for Compaq's storage sold through IBM, than for the converse. (Compaq is providing the higher-volume components.) In addition, they have access to Shark, thus rounding out their very-high-end offerings.

Will customers benefit? Yes, by eliminating (or at least reducing) the need to choose between IBM and Compaq for their storage needs. (This does not obviate the choice between EMC and IBM/CPQ, however.) Both companies have strong product offerings, one-stop shopping for both is a consumer plus.

How will the companies benefit? Relatively easy access to products they might not otherwise have, thus reducing development costs - although a $1 Billion investment is certainly not "chump change".

Should EMC and Sun be concerned? Not really from a product standpoint. Sure, any combination of two large, strong competitors is not good news for the others. However, EMC need not panic - at least not until they start losing bids to the IBM/CPQ duo. The greater potential problem for EMC is IBM and Compaq creating a de facto SAN (or SAN-like) standard. If the "standard" doesn't quite line up with EMC's wishes/strengths, but the market accepts it as a standard, then EMC could come out the loser.

Does this mean IBM and Compaq think they can't beat EMC by themselves? We think that's more likely than not. Alliances like this don't normally spring up because Company A really really really wants to work with Company B.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/compaq-and-ibm-alliance-for-storage-16004/

Just One Hop Away From San Jose

2010-09-29T23:50:00.001-07:00

Chelmsford, MA-Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has reached an agreement to purchase the vacant Compaq/Digital Systems facility in Salem, NH. This facility consists of 110 acres and a manufacturing/office facility of 674,000 square feet.

This New England Manufacturing Center ties in with Cisco Systems plans to develop a strong presence inside New England. Earlier this year Cisco announced plans to open a facility called the New England Development Center in Massachusetts.

The New England Manufacturing Center is going to be utilized for the enormous growth in Optical Networking. The next generation of networking equipment is only part of the plan for this facility. This facility will also produce traditional high-speed switching and routing equipment.

Market Impact

The New England Manufacturing Center is looking to leverage the tremendous talent pool inside New England to further the development of Optical Networks. Optical based networks are being driven by the growing demand for bandwidth and high volumes of data required for true voice over IP, video and data applications.

With the growing demands on corporate network infrastructure and Internet based applications this facility plays a major role towards developing the next generation of Optical Networking for Cisco. Cisco's intent to use this facility to both design and test the next generation of network hardware shows Cisco's commitment to its user community.

Cisco plans on having 500 employees producing Optical-networking equipment by years end in its new Salem Facility. Cisco anticipates this facility to employ 2,500 people within the next 3 to 5 years.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/just-one-hop-away-from-san-jose-15807/

Social Networks That Boost Your Business

2010-09-29T23:49:00.001-07:00

Most people are familiar with the term “Web 2.0,” which refers to a second generation of Web development and design that focuses on fostering social networking via the Web. Innovative companies are beginning to embrace Web 2.0 technology as a way to enhance communication, information sharing, and collaboration, thereby allowing them to work smarter rather than harder.

The use of Web 2.0 in business represents a new trend called “Business 2.0.” Aside from being the name of a defunct magazine, Business 2.0 is about using new Web-based social networking applications (many of which were originally created for personal use) in a way that fosters teamwork, customer touches, and internal and external collaboration in a low-cost seamless way.

Unfortunately, many businesses feel that Web 2.0 and social networking are for the younger generation and a waste of time when used by employees. However, once you understand the power of these applications and how to use them in your company, you’ll quickly find that they can be invaluable tools to boost your bottom line.

Following is an overview of the best Business 2.0 tools.

Personal Tools with Business Applicability

Facebook
Personal Use: Facebook enables you to connect and share with the people in your life. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with others. People can add friends, send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.

Business 2.0 Use: Large organizations can connect all of their employees, or members, with Facebook. Some are finding an added advantage of using an internal, secure version of Facebook. This has helped organizations to dramatically increase their internal networking and collaboration.

Ask Yourself: Could we use Facebook, or our own internal version to get people to collaborate at a higher level?

Twitter
Personal Use: Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of short, quick answers using no more than 140 characters per message. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or co-workers. Users can receive updates via the Twitter Web site or other social networking sights such as Facebook. Young people use Twitter for answering the question: What are you doing?

Business 2.0 Use: Business users could change this question to: What problem are you trying to solve? Several companies have used this as a fast way to solve problems. Hotels, airlines, and airports are using Twitter to pitch services, travel updates, and respond to travelers needs.

Ask Yourself: Could we use Twitter to solve problems faster with our organization or our customers?

Wikipedia
Personal Use: Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can use to find information on virtually any topic. Anyone can edit the content as well.

Business 2.0 Use: A large manufacturing company with engineers in locations around the world increased problem solving and collaboration by creating an internal, secure version of Wikipedia for sharing information on parts and service offerings as well as repair and maintenance instructions. Retailers and suppliers could create a version of Wikipedia to foster education and training as well as enhanced information sharing.

Ask Yourself: Could we create an internal version of Wikipedia to foster better information and knowledge sharing?

YouTube
Personal Use: YouTube is a video sharing Web site where users can upload, view, and share video clips. YouTube displays a wide variety of user-generated video content as well as movie clips, product demonstrations, and commercials. Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users can upload an unlimited number of videos.

Business 2.0 Use: Businesses are posting humorous commercial videos to generate interest in their products with great success. The more entertaining it is, the more people watch it. Business partners could create a YouTube like channel for the purpose of educating and training.

Ask Yourself: Could we enhance our marketing efforts as well as general communication by using YouTube?

Digg
Personal Use: Digg is a social news Web site made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting and accessing links and stories. Voting stories thumbs up or thumbs down is the site's cornerstone function, respectively called digging and burying.

Business 2.0 Use: Many organizations have found this to be a good way to track the most interesting advances in technology or the most useful business news. Large organizations can create their own internal version for sharing what employees consider to be the most useful information.

Ask Yourself: Could we use Digg, or our own internal version, to get people to share their most interesting and valuable Web-based information with each other?

Delicious
Personal Use: Delicious is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. It uses a non-hierarchical classification system in which users can tag each of their bookmarks with freely chosen index terms.

Business 2.0 Use: Business users can share their most useful Web sites with co-workers or business partners. If a customer purchases a product, sellers could share relevant bookmarks that keep the customer coming back for more information and hopefully more products.

Ask Yourself: Could we use Delicious to share important new Web sites faster within our organization or with our customers?

Visual Communications
Personal Use: Visual Communications, unlike traditional video conferencing, uses your desktop, laptop, and soon your smart phone to hold a quick, anytime, anywhere videoconference with one or more other people. Travelers who must be away from home are using their laptops in hotel rooms with broadband access and free software such as Skype and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) to communicate with family and friends to enhance their personal connection.

Business 2.0 Use: Businesses are discovering the power of Visual Communications to enhance the connection with their sales force, business partners, and customers.

Ask Yourself: Could we use Visual Communications to enhance communications internally and externally?

Purely Business 2.0 Tools
Wiki
A Wiki is a collaborative Web page or collection of web pages designed to enable anyone to create a quick web page that allows visitors to search the Wiki’s content and edit the content in real time, as well as view updates since their last visit. Wikis are often used to create collaborative Web sites and to power community Web sites. On a moderated Wiki, Wiki owners review comments before additions to the main body of the topic. Additional features include calendar sharing, live AV conferencing, RSS feeds, and more.

Ask Yourself: Could we use Wikis to enhance internal and external collaboration?

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a business-oriented professional networking website for exchanging information, ideas, and opportunities. There are over 35 million registered users spanning 170 industries actively networking with each other. For example, large insurance companies use LinkedIn to foster networking with their independent sales representatives. Human resources (HR) professionals from all over the world could use LinkedIn to share best practices.

Ask Yourself: Could we use LinkedIn to expand our organizational network for enhanced knowledge sharing?

Cloud Computing and Software-as-a-Service (Saas)
In cloud computing, some or all of the storage, software, IT processes, and data center facilities you use can exist on your provider’s server, which is maintained and cared for by your provider, giving you 24/7 access from any device anywhere. The cost of upgrading hardware and software, maintenance, and associated IT labor costs can be dramatically reduced or eliminated. Currently, the ideal organization would be any size company that’s facing big investments in computing and communications infrastructure. For example, Amazon.com can give you an entire e-commerce back end. SaaS such as SalesForce.com has a customer relationship management (CRM) package, SciQuest has a spend management package, and Google, Microsoft and others have a suite of offerings.

Ask Yourself: Could we use cloud computing and SaaS to streamline our IT needs?

Gain a New Competitive Advantage
By reframing the use of social networking technology, companies can increase communication, collaboration, problem solving, and competitive advantage with little cost. Remember, many of these tools are free or nearly free, making them accessible to even the smallest of businesses. Therefore, the sooner you embrace Business 2.0 and put it to work for you, the faster you can penetrate new markets and win the lion’s share of business.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/social-networks-that-boost-your-business-20803/

Microsoft Windows Me -- The Millennium DOES Begin in 2001

2010-09-29T23:48:00.002-07:00

Windows Me, the operating system formerly known as Millennium Edition (TOSFKAME), will eliminate support for many networks. And it's running late. La plus a change

[CNet] March 15, 2000 - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has dropped support for some networking technology from its upcoming Windows Me consumer operating system in a move analysts say is intended to nudge customers to the company's more lucrative Windows 2000 software.

Windows Me, formerly known by its code-name, Millennium, will not include technology that allows users to connect directly to corporate local area networks (LANs) running Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) or Banyan (NASDAQ: BNYN) systems software, the company confirmed.

Unlike previous Microsoft operating systems, Windows Me, expected to debut this fall, is positioned solely for home users, who would be unlikely to connect their PCs to corporate networks. Microsoft argues that the networking technology being dropped from Windows Me is more of a hassle for consumers, not a convenience.

Banyan and Novell both say the decision will not have much of an effect on their customers, who generally use Windows NT or Windows 2000.

Windows Me is Microsoft's first purely consumer-focused version of Windows. In designing the upgrade, Microsoft originally sought to bolster the way the operating system hosted digital media entertainment, gaming, home networking, and shared networking. The company also wanted to make it easier to use than its predecessor.

In addition, the product is scheduled to include Internet Explorer 5.5, the latest version of Microsoft's browser, also currently in beta testing.

Market Impact

Can you imagine how nasty things would get if the business and consumer sides of Microsoft were split up after the antitrust decision? Windows Me doesn't just eliminate Novell & Banyan support - it also leaves out full Active Directory functionality. Active Directory is one of the principal new features in Microsoft Windows 2000, released on 17 February 2000. Many of the most desirable features of Windows 2000 networks, such as IPSec, Intellimirror, file replication, and encryption, require Active Directory.

Just say cha-ching. Microsoft is clearly pushing the business PC buyer to stay away from Windows Me and Windows 98 (upgrade street price $97) in favor of Windows 2000 (upgrade street price $189). There's still a lot of Windows 95 and Windows 98 in the corporate world, and this will spur further upgrades to Windows 2000.

When Windows 2000 was released in February 2000, there were few Windows 2000-specific applications. This announcement may help fix that. There's a clear message for business-oriented independent software vendors (ISV's). Rather than write once for two platforms - 9X/Me and NT/2000, Microsoft is strongly suggesting you write once for one platform - Windows 2000 - and forget about Windows Me.

This also makes life harder for Novell. Novell already makes its own client software, but a majority of business users just use the Microsoft-provided Novell client. This makes it incrementally harder to continue supporting NetWare servers. Windows 95 & Windows 98 were both positioned as consumer products - and they included the LAN support.

At the same time, ship dates for Windows Me vary. Estimated ship dates have varied in the press, and beta testers have doubted that Microsoft will make a ship date in 3Q 2000. Microsoft is still publicly committed to shipping Windows Me in 2000, although a fourth quarter shipping date would be too late for many holiday PC sales.

Right now, Microsoft has tied the release of Internet Explorer 5.5 to Windows Me. If Windows Me hits further delays (40% likelihood), Microsoft is likely to release IE 5.5 independently of Windows Me.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/microsoft-windows-me----the-millennium-does-begin-in-2001-15612/

Customer Relationship Management and Social Networks—They're Related How, Again?

2010-09-29T23:48:00.001-07:00

Many of you may know that both SAP and salesforce.com use blogs, podcasts, and user communities to communicate with their customers and their employees. But neither SAP nor salesforce.com nor, in fact, any of the vendors involved with customer relationship management (CRM) as we know it, integrates social networking tools with their CRM and enterprise platforms yet.

"But why not," you ask?

Well, why should they? They don't really understand the value of social networking. Nor do I imagine do you for the most part.

So, let's answer the question so that both the CRM vendors and integrators—and you—will get it and be comfortable with the idea that it's time to move ahead with the new business models that this portends.

The Question

What the heck is social networking, besides being a giant online gathering place for teens or college students (or, if of age, a virtual bar), or a monster repository for sharing videos and photos that has no particular monetary value that anyone can see within a (metaphorical) thousand miles of it.

In fact, using social networks is a major business initiative, and it is becoming a huge factor in how successful (or not) businesses will be with their customers in this part of the twenty-first century.

Let's take a look at the premise behind social networking and how it relates to CRM—especially the next incarnation of CRM, currently being called CRM 2.0.

Starting at the Root

Human beings are inherently social. Human beings also tend to organize socially into hierarchies. Level playing fields are pretty much only the product of a zamboni between periods at a hockey game—not a product of human evolution.

What makes the growth of these social hierarchies interesting (and not at all the same as those found in traditional corporate bureaucracies) is that the "top of the heap" tends to be naturally evolved and organic as opposed to the leaders in the bureaucracies that we know and love. Leaders in corporations are more often than not appointed based on their titles, not on their actual leadership skills. Equally intriguing is that these social hierarchies can be nested within a company as well as the personal side of human life.

Now you may be asking, "What does this have to do with CRM?"

Be patient; you'll see very soon.

Don't think that social leaders come organically? Think again. Do you know someone at work that you go to who provides you with down-home advice on what to do about that terrible day you're having? Or someone who isn't associated with information technology (IT), but who helps you with your computer problems? Or someone who will cheerfully edit something you're writing for work because you're nervous about what you're saying or how you're saying it, and you trust that person's judgment on these things?

These people are the departmental "mommies" or "daddies." You and I both know that they not only exist, but that they are necessary parts of the social structure of a company.

Outside the company, is there someone who organizes your neighborhood block parties, even if you don't have an association around to do it? Or someone whom others trust to take care of "x, y, or z" when "x, y, or z" has to be taken care of?

These are the leaders of your social networks—organic networks that grow out of moral authority and a variety of other factors that are too numerous to consider in such a short article.

Suffice to say that Kurt Lewin, often referred to as the father of organizational change, did experiments in the 1940s on identifying the natural growth of leadership in these organic hierarchies. The validation of these hierarchies has existed since then, if you need something other than me saying it to believe it. Google him and you'll find his experiments at the University of Iowa.

"Okay," you might be saying, "but how does this apply to CRM, again?"

Don't worry, we're getting closer to the answer.

Now We're Getting There

Chris Carfi, in his work Social Networking for Executives and Associations, sees online social networks as the migration of what humans do:

In both professional and personal life, human beings naturally form groups based on affinities and expertise. We gravitate to others with whom we share interests.

Most of you are familiar with the many (popular) social networks such as MySpace for the younger crowd, Facebook for the college crew, and LinkedIn for us older types. But these networks are much richer and more important as a trend that can dramatically impact business. If recognized for their worth, they can become part of the business environment and be immensely profitable and beneficial to the businesses that are savvy about using them.

For example, Procter and Gamble (P&G), one of the most customer-centric and foresighted companies on the planet, understands the value of the social network. They have formed a group called Vocalpoint, which consists of 600,000 moms. That's a formidable number, n'est ce pas? But it becomes much more formidable when you find that the most important criterion for "membership" in Vocalpoint is that each member has to have a social network of at least twenty-five other moms associated with her.

Do the math. That amounts to a minimum reach of fifteen-million people who are interacting with the power of the group and its leader—meaning with moral authority. That's a minimum.

What do they do? The 600,000 moms are given product samples for distribution among their social networks. The lead moms then give the samples out in their informal environment to the identified groupings. They are responsible for gathering feedback on the good and the bad about those products and getting that feedback to P&G. The best of them are called into meetings with P&G to discuss how to modify, add, subtract, etc. from the product that they distributed.

So what does the mom get from this? Prestige and products. Prestige because they are the ones that P&G is trusting to receive and distribute the products—chief in hierarchy. They get the products to use—before others do. Plus, they have the knowledge that they collaborated with P&G to make those products better, or to reduce the price, or something else with emotional value.

What does P&G get? Incredible levels of feedback and marketing buzz from a trusted social network that was in place around each mom prior to P&G coming into the picture. So, P&G products are trusted because they are distributed to and tested by the natural leader within the social network.

Do you see the power of this? A trusted network, established for reasons unrelated to the company, that is involved in collaborating with the company on products that the company is selling to them, and that they as members of the social network are likely to use. The data captured through this network's feedback and the marketing buzz around the product are invaluable.

Thing is, the twenty-first century customer is just doing what humans always do—attempting to participate in the decisions, large and small, that affect their lives at all levels. When a business is able to engage these networks, or in other words, make them involved and collaborating customers, we all win. And we all know that we all love to win, don't we?

So, in a nutshell, here is the answer to your question on what social networks have to do with CRM. The customer collaborates with the company to improve the product and spread the word—advocate, in other words, through the engagement of the leaders of the social groupings most likely to use the products, services, and tools of the business.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/customer-relationship-management-and-social-networks-they-re-related-how-again-19001/

Ramco Systems - Diversity Marshaled Through Flexibility

2010-09-29T23:47:00.000-07:00

On October 29, Ramco Systems, an Indian provider of enterprise business applications and accompanied services, announced that its ASEAN and European operations have continued to drive revenues during the second quarter of FY 2001-02. Building on their strong performances in the previous quarter, Q2 revenues in ASEAN and Europe grew by 37% and 24% respectively over the corresponding period last year. However, the company cites the general US slowdown and the tragic events of September 11 had an impact on its US revenues, which witnessed a drop of 30% over the corresponding period last year.

For the first half of FY 2001-02, the company has posted global revenues of $22.05 million and a loss of $4.82 million, which compares to $24.34 million (a 9% drop) and $2.76 million respectively. This was mainly attributed to investments in product development and to efforts to build long-term strategic partnerships with large global corporations. The company has reportedly invested about 50% of its manpower on development of the next-generation ERP suite of products that are expected to be ready in early FY 2002-03. During the second quarter, ERP solutions have reportedly registered a 20% growth in revenues compared to the corresponding period last year. This would be a much-needed revival in demand for ERP solutions worldwide and should augur well for the next-generation ERP suite of products currently under development.

This, Part One of a three-part Event Note, covers recent announcements by Ramco Systems. Part Two will cover the Market Impact of the announcements, and Part Three will discuss the Challenges faced by Ramco Systems and make User Recommendations.

Joint Ventures and Partnerships

During the quarter, the company's Swiss subsidiary entered into a joint venture with Triamun AG of Switzerland, a provider of integrated solutions for the health care sector. The two companies are jointly developing advanced solutions for the health care sector. These solutions, which are specially tailored to the needs of medical practices, pharmacies, laboratories, health insurance companies and hospitals, will be marketed and implemented by both companies.

Ramco Systems also recently announced that partnerships signed during the last several months and the ones to be signed in the future would be the growth driver for the company in the coming times.

The company has recently signed partnerships with a few major global corporations. As an example, on October 15, Enterasys Networks, a leader in the Enterprise Networking Solution, announced a partnership with Ramco Systems. According to this agreement Ramco will offer Enterasys' Networking products as part of its Enterprise solutions to its customers. Enterasys offers data networking solutions to the enterprise customers in association with technology partners like Nokia, F5 and Siemens. The Enterasys flagship products include Matrix and Vertical Horizon Switches, XPEDITION Switch Routers, NetSight Manager, Aurorean VPN products, Roam About wireless LAN, Dragon Intrusion Detection products. In addition, Firewalls from Nokia, Load Balancers from F5 and Convergence Gateways from Siemens form the complete solution for the enterprise.

System Integration Services

The Enterprise Networking division of Ramco Systems with expertise in designing and implementing networks will offer System Integration services to enterprise customers. The Enterprise Networking Solutions division of Ramco Systems provides Network and System Integration solutions and Information security solutions. The networking services offered by Ramco include Network Consultancy Services, Network Design & Implementation, Network Management Services, Facilities Management Services and Educational Services.

Further, on August 30, Ramco announced a strategic partnership with webMethods Inc., one of the leading providers of integration software. The two companies are partnering to meet the growing demand among companies for enterprise application integration (EAI) services. Combining Ramco's applications development and implementation expertise with webMethods integration platform could give customers integrated solutions that meet organizational needs and drive business efficiencies. Globally, Ramco has enabled companies in the aerospace, chemical, building products, utility, food and other industries to operate more efficiently with Ramco solutions.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/ramco-systems---diversity-marshaled-through-flexibility-16540/

Top 5 Trends in HR Technology

2010-09-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

Over the last decade, the face of human resources (HR) has changed dramatically. What was once a seemingly low-priority department has now become an integral part the organization—and its bottom line. Today, HR is all about the understanding that maintaining a positive and productive work environment is good for business.

Accomplishing this more-than-ideal scenario can seem difficult because many organizations don't understand what is required. So, how can today's businesses manage this change? Simple: by adopting HR best practices and leveraging HR technology.

Recession or not, innovation in HR technology continues to grow and to alter the way in which people work. This technology impacts all of us—in both our personal lives and in the workplace. It's important that we continue to embrace technology in order to have the tools that will help create better communication and collaboration within our grasp. Technology (e.g., social networking, mobile phones, etc.) helps people connect within their work environments and fuels the potential for increased productivity and creativity.

But no matter what the current trends are, the most important point remains: organizations need to keep both their current and future workforce requirements in mind before turning to a new solution.

As we approach a new decade, here are five of the top trends that I believe are making the biggest impact in the HR arena.

* talent management
* social networking
* outsourcing
* software as a service (SaaS)
* mergers and acquisitions (M&As)

1. Talent Management
Talent management adds to the core HR mix, providing a combination of recruitment, performance and compensation management, succession planning, and more. As such, the enterprise software industry has seen a drastic increase in vendor offerings—as well as the types of vendors who are selling them.

This year's 12th Annual HR Technology Conference & Exposition in Chicago, Illinois (US) was proof that talent management is alive and well, and making an impact on the way organizations do business. Today, both talent management and employee development are critical in determining an organization's performance potential. But it's the ability to manage performance that often sets organizations apart—and the primary differentiator between an organization that produces so-so results and one that exceeds their expectations.

Talent management is a strategy that combines core HR functions such as, personnel administration, payroll, and benefits with acquisition, development, and performance. These solutions provide a comprehensive suite of tools that helps organizations take a more strategic approach to the way they select, manage, and retain their employees.

The vendors that offer talent management solutions today are an extremely diverse bunch. This can make it difficult for HR decision makers to determine which solutions can truly satisfy all their needs. The decision makers need to decide which solution is better for their organization by determining whether or not to purchase an out-of-the-box HR solution, an learning management system LMS solution that fits nicely with their current core HR system, or an enterprise resource planning ERP system that can replace many of its separate solutions. The combination of systems available is endless.

The five main types of talent management offerings include

* traditional HR vendors that have added talent management functionality to their core HR applications;
* ERP vendors that have developed talent management add-ons to their core product(s);
* LMS vendors that blend learning with talent management;
* niche players that focus on one particular area of the talent management spectrum (e.g., applicant tracking, recruitment, workforce management, performance management, etc.); and
* talent management software vendors that focus solely on the four pillars of talent management (recruiting, performance management, learning management, and compensation management).

Here are some key vendors in the talent management space.
VENDOR SOLUTION FOCUS
Lawson Software Lawson S3 Human Capital Management human capital management
SABA Saba Talent Suite human capital management
Cornerstone OnDemand Talent Management Suite learning and talent management
Halogen Talent Management Suite learning, performance, and talent management
Taleo Taleo Edge; Taleo Enterprise Edition performance and compensation management
icims Talent Platform applicant tracking, onboarding, performance management, and succession planning
Salary.com TalentManager Suite performance, compensation, incentive management, and succession planning
Bond International Software Bond Talent; Bond Adapt; Bond Spirit onboarding, recruiting, human resources, and payroll
SumTotal Talent Development Suite learning, performance and compensation management, and content creation

Figure 1. Talent Management Vendors.

2. Social Networking
Over the last five years, social networking—in the form of intranets, wikis, messaging centers, blogs, and more—has changed the way many organizations handle their corporate training and talent management. Today's social networking sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter) are also adding to the ever-changing HR landscape. This is happening so often that many talent management and HR vendors have now begun offering enterprise social networking as part of their employee profile functionality. Conversely, many employees have come to expect a work environment that is supported by these available collaborative resources.

But social networking is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. Knowledge sharing and collaboration have been around for years in the world of learning management. Long before LinkedIn and Twitter hit the scene, LMS vendors were bringing people and knowledge together through the use of discussion boards, live chats, etc.

Today's collaboration networks help provide HR departments with instant and continuous feedback from employees (whether they are in management or not) in the areas that are important to the employee personally as well as to the organization. While these sites are useful for sourcing job applicants, reaching out to potential customers, and fostering a feeling of community within the company, they can also decrease productivity and increase security risks. As such, there has been an increased need for companies to create or "beef up" their internal HR policies.

Here is a list of social networking providers/channels—many of which are free—that are using social networking to help organizations leverage their user knowledge and collaboration.

Most Common:

* Twitter
* Facebook
* MySpace
* LinkedIn Ltd.

3. Outsourcing
Whatever your organization's HR requirements are, there's a human resources outsourcing (HRO) firm out there that can meet those needs. While some HRO firms are generalists that offer a wide variety of services, others are considered HR specialists that focus on very specific areas within the HR spectrum (e.g., business processes, recruiting, or payroll). Depending on the type of business you run, its size, and how much control you want to maintain over HR functions, there are generally two outsourcing options available. You can choose to

* outsource all of your HR tasks; or
* contract out those areas that require improvements that cannot be handled by internal staff.

Between keeping up with the latest governance requirements, trends, and best practices, today's HR executives already have enough on their plates. Outsourcing traditional (and sometimes non-traditional) HR functions provides a way for these executives to free up time for more strategic efforts. Outsourcing HR transactions is a proven way to control and reduce costs—while getting a greater level of service.

Some of the basic services offered by HRO firms include

* overseeing organizational structure and staffing requirements;
* providing unified HR, time, payroll, and expense tracking;
* offering recruiting, training, and development services; and
* tracking department objectives, goals, and strategies.

Organizations outsource their HR services in order to

* allow HR departments to focus on strategic efforts;
* gain specialized expertise in a variety of areas;
* access innovative technologies which ensures technology is continually upgraded;
* reduce costs through automation and process improvement; and
* minimize or transfer legal risk to the outsourcer for regulatory compliance issues.

OUTSOURCER

AREAS OF EXPERTISE IN HRO

Accenture HR

talent acquisition and management, and employee productivity

Automatic Data Procession (ADP)

payroll, human resources, and benefits

Ceridian

HR administration, payroll, and benefits

Convergys

payroll, benefits, recruiting, compensation, learning, and performance

ExcellerateHRO

workforce administration, payroll, benefits, and leave administration

Mercer

Employee engagement, absence management, health and benefits administration

TriNet

benefits, payroll and human resources

Watson Wyatt

benefit, talent management and compensation

Figure 2. HRO Vendors.

Here are a few links that companies looking for HRO experts might find interesting:

* International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) Global Outsourcing 100 List
* HROWorld Summit 2009

4. Software as a Service (SaaS)
When SaaS—often referred to as software on demand—comes to mind for most IT decision makers, the first thing they think of is: "What about security?" This holds especially true for those in charge of acquiring an HR system for their organizations—for which keeping employee records under lock and key is crucial. Maybe five years ago security was an issue, but today the SaaS model is gaining ground, and more and more businesses—both big and small—are giving in to the trend. Some of the main reasons for this trend are directly related to the benefits that SaaS provides. These include

* continuous access;
* rapid deployment;
* high levels of security;
* cost savings; and
* time efficiency.

Rather than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on software licenses and hardware, companies can choose to go with an on-demand HR solution for which they are billed on a monthly basis—and only for the modules they use. Additionally, there's no need for complex upgrade cycles, since the on-demand applications are automatically updated and routinely delivered to customers.

The bottom line: SaaS can deliver the same HR functionality as its on-premise counterpart. The following is a list of enterprise software vendors that offer SaaS—among other options.

VENDOR

SOLUTIONS

Workday

Workday Human Capital Management™, Workday Payroll™, Workday Worker Spend Management™, and more…

Ultimate Sofware

UltiPro® Enterprise and UltiPro Workplace

Softscape Inc.

Softscape HR Management, Softscape Workforce Performance, Softscape Learning Management, and more…

Accero

Accero On-Demand, Accero On-Demand PLUS™, Accero Cyborg

SuccessFactors

SuccessFactors; SuccessPractices

LaserBeam Software

LaserComp

Figure 3. SaaS HR Vendors.

5. Mergers and Acquisitions: Technology Times Two
The recent recession has proven to be difficult for many businesses—software vendors included. In 2009, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become a common phenomenon. This past year, we've seen some of the smaller players get scooped up by the giants, while others were working on negotiations to improve on what both parties do best—merging two entities together to become one bigger and better organization. However, that's not always the case.

According to HR.com, "the reality is that as many as two thirds of all mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve the anticipated benefits." The uncertainty brought out by poorly managed HR issues in M&As has often been the major reason for these failures.

M&As also prove to be quite traumatic for the employees of the firms involved and the reaction can range from stress, to anger, to depression, etc. Often the impact of these M&As is high turnover, and decreased morale and motivation—not to mention waning productivity.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/top-5-trends-in-hr-technology-20469/

Top 5 Trends in HR Technology

2010-09-15T21:44:00.001-07:00

Over the last decade, the face of human resources (HR) has changed dramatically. What was once a seemingly low-priority department has now become an integral part the organization—and its bottom line. Today, HR is all about the understanding that maintaining a positive and productive work environment is good for business.

Accomplishing this more-than-ideal scenario can seem difficult because many organizations don't understand what is required. So, how can today's businesses manage this change? Simple: by adopting HR best practices and leveraging HR technology.

Recession or not, innovation in HR technology continues to grow and to alter the way in which people work. This technology impacts all of us—in both our personal lives and in the workplace. It's important that we continue to embrace technology in order to have the tools that will help create better communication and collaboration within our grasp. Technology (e.g., social networking, mobile phones, etc.) helps people connect within their work environments and fuels the potential for increased productivity and creativity.

But no matter what the current trends are, the most important point remains: organizations need to keep both their current and future workforce requirements in mind before turning to a new solution.

As we approach a new decade, here are five of the top trends that I believe are making the biggest impact in the HR arena.

* talent management
* social networking
* outsourcing
* software as a service (SaaS)
* mergers and acquisitions (M&As)

1. Talent Management
Talent management adds to the core HR mix, providing a combination of recruitment, performance and compensation management, succession planning, and more. As such, the enterprise software industry has seen a drastic increase in vendor offerings—as well as the types of vendors who are selling them.

This year's 12th Annual HR Technology Conference & Exposition in Chicago, Illinois (US) was proof that talent management is alive and well, and making an impact on the way organizations do business. Today, both talent management and employee development are critical in determining an organization's performance potential. But it's the ability to manage performance that often sets organizations apart—and the primary differentiator between an organization that produces so-so results and one that exceeds their expectations.

Talent management is a strategy that combines core HR functions such as, personnel administration, payroll, and benefits with acquisition, development, and performance. These solutions provide a comprehensive suite of tools that helps organizations take a more strategic approach to the way they select, manage, and retain their employees.

The vendors that offer talent management solutions today are an extremely diverse bunch. This can make it difficult for HR decision makers to determine which solutions can truly satisfy all their needs. The decision makers need to decide which solution is better for their organization by determining whether or not to purchase an out-of-the-box HR solution, an learning management system LMS solution that fits nicely with their current core HR system, or an enterprise resource planning ERP system that can replace many of its separate solutions. The combination of systems available is endless.

The five main types of talent management offerings include

* traditional HR vendors that have added talent management functionality to their core HR applications;
* ERP vendors that have developed talent management add-ons to their core product(s);
* LMS vendors that blend learning with talent management;
* niche players that focus on one particular area of the talent management spectrum (e.g., applicant tracking, recruitment, workforce management, performance management, etc.); and
* talent management software vendors that focus solely on the four pillars of talent management (recruiting, performance management, learning management, and compensation management).

Here are some key vendors in the talent management space.
VENDOR SOLUTION FOCUS
Lawson Software Lawson S3 Human Capital Management human capital management
SABA Saba Talent Suite human capital management
Cornerstone OnDemand Talent Management Suite learning and talent management
Halogen Talent Management Suite learning, performance, and talent management
Taleo Taleo Edge; Taleo Enterprise Edition performance and compensation management
icims Talent Platform applicant tracking, onboarding, performance management, and succession planning
Salary.com TalentManager Suite performance, compensation, incentive management, and succession planning
Bond International Software Bond Talent; Bond Adapt; Bond Spirit onboarding, recruiting, human resources, and payroll
SumTotal Talent Development Suite learning, performance and compensation management, and content creation

Figure 1. Talent Management Vendors.

2. Social Networking
Over the last five years, social networking—in the form of intranets, wikis, messaging centers, blogs, and more—has changed the way many organizations handle their corporate training and talent management. Today's social networking sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter) are also adding to the ever-changing HR landscape. This is happening so often that many talent management and HR vendors have now begun offering enterprise social networking as part of their employee profile functionality. Conversely, many employees have come to expect a work environment that is supported by these available collaborative resources.

But social networking is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. Knowledge sharing and collaboration have been around for years in the world of learning management. Long before LinkedIn and Twitter hit the scene, LMS vendors were bringing people and knowledge together through the use of discussion boards, live chats, etc.

Today's collaboration networks help provide HR departments with instant and continuous feedback from employees (whether they are in management or not) in the areas that are important to the employee personally as well as to the organization. While these sites are useful for sourcing job applicants, reaching out to potential customers, and fostering a feeling of community within the company, they can also decrease productivity and increase security risks. As such, there has been an increased need for companies to create or "beef up" their internal HR policies.

Here is a list of social networking providers/channels—many of which are free—that are using social networking to help organizations leverage their user knowledge and collaboration.

Most Common:

* Twitter
* Facebook
* MySpace
* LinkedIn Ltd.

3. Outsourcing
Whatever your organization's HR requirements are, there's a human resources outsourcing (HRO) firm out there that can meet those needs. While some HRO firms are generalists that offer a wide variety of services, others are considered HR specialists that focus on very specific areas within the HR spectrum (e.g., business processes, recruiting, or payroll). Depending on the type of business you run, its size, and how much control you want to maintain over HR functions, there are generally two outsourcing options available. You can choose to

* outsource all of your HR tasks; or
* contract out those areas that require improvements that cannot be handled by internal staff.

Between keeping up with the latest governance requirements, trends, and best practices, today's HR executives already have enough on their plates. Outsourcing traditional (and sometimes non-traditional) HR functions provides a way for these executives to free up time for more strategic efforts. Outsourcing HR transactions is a proven way to control and reduce costs—while getting a greater level of service.

Some of the basic services offered by HRO firms include

* overseeing organizational structure and staffing requirements;
* providing unified HR, time, payroll, and expense tracking;
* offering recruiting, training, and development services; and
* tracking department objectives, goals, and strategies.

Organizations outsource their HR services in order to

* allow HR departments to focus on strategic efforts;
* gain specialized expertise in a variety of areas;
* access innovative technologies which ensures technology is continually upgraded;
* reduce costs through automation and process improvement; and
* minimize or transfer legal risk to the outsourcer for regulatory compliance issues.

OUTSOURCER

AREAS OF EXPERTISE IN HRO

Accenture HR

talent acquisition and management, and employee productivity

Automatic Data Procession (ADP)

payroll, human resources, and benefits

Ceridian

HR administration, payroll, and benefits

Convergys

payroll, benefits, recruiting, compensation, learning, and performance

ExcellerateHRO

workforce administration, payroll, benefits, and leave administration

Mercer

Employee engagement, absence management, health and benefits administration

TriNet

benefits, payroll and human resources

Watson Wyatt

benefit, talent management and compensation

Figure 2. HRO Vendors.

Here are a few links that companies looking for HRO experts might find interesting:

* International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) Global Outsourcing 100 List
* HROWorld Summit 2009

4. Software as a Service (SaaS)
When SaaS—often referred to as software on demand—comes to mind for most IT decision makers, the first thing they think of is: "What about security?" This holds especially true for those in charge of acquiring an HR system for their organizations—for which keeping employee records under lock and key is crucial. Maybe five years ago security was an issue, but today the SaaS model is gaining ground, and more and more businesses—both big and small—are giving in to the trend. Some of the main reasons for this trend are directly related to the benefits that SaaS provides. These include

* continuous access;
* rapid deployment;
* high levels of security;
* cost savings; and
* time efficiency.

Rather than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on software licenses and hardware, companies can choose to go with an on-demand HR solution for which they are billed on a monthly basis—and only for the modules they use. Additionally, there's no need for complex upgrade cycles, since the on-demand applications are automatically updated and routinely delivered to customers.

The bottom line: SaaS can deliver the same HR functionality as its on-premise counterpart. The following is a list of enterprise software vendors that offer SaaS—among other options.

VENDOR

SOLUTIONS

Workday

Workday Human Capital Management™, Workday Payroll™, Workday Worker Spend Management™, and more…

Ultimate Sofware

UltiPro® Enterprise and UltiPro Workplace

Softscape Inc.

Softscape HR Management, Softscape Workforce Performance, Softscape Learning Management, and more…

Accero

Accero On-Demand, Accero On-Demand PLUS™, Accero Cyborg

SuccessFactors

SuccessFactors; SuccessPractices

LaserBeam Software

LaserComp

Figure 3. SaaS HR Vendors.

5. Mergers and Acquisitions: Technology Times Two
The recent recession has proven to be difficult for many businesses—software vendors included. In 2009, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become a common phenomenon. This past year, we've seen some of the smaller players get scooped up by the giants, while others were working on negotiations to improve on what both parties do best—merging two entities together to become one bigger and better organization. However, that's not always the case.

According to HR.com, "the reality is that as many as two thirds of all mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve the anticipated benefits." The uncertainty brought out by poorly managed HR issues in M&As has often been the major reason for these failures.

M&As also prove to be quite traumatic for the employees of the firms involved and the reaction can range from stress, to anger, to depression, etc. Often the impact of these M&As is high turnover, and decreased morale and motivation—not to mention waning productivity.

But not all M&As have fail. There are some that have proven to be quite fruitful. Some notable M&As in the HR space over the last year are listed in the table below:

VENDOR

HIGHLIGHTS

Spectrum HR and Deltek, Inc.

Merger

Spectrum Human Resource Systems Corporation and Deltek, Inc. collaborated to interface their industry-leading enterprise application and human resources information systems (HRIS) software to bring the project-based industry an ideal HR solution.

Automatic Data Procession (ADP)

Acquisition

ADP acquired a majority stake in Shanghai-based human resources outsourcing service provider ChinaLink Professional Services.

Arbita and JobMachine

Merger

Arbita merged with JobMachine to further empower its customers to hire more and better people faster. The merger gives customers access to an integrated line of services, combining job ad distribution and recruitment solutions with alternative methods for candidate sourcing.

Sage Software

Acquisition

Sage acquired the payroll and human resource management system (HRMS) aspects as well as all customer contracts from Crystal Info Solutions of Chennai (India).

Salary.com

Acquisition

Salary.com signed a definitive agreement to acquire Genesys Software Systems, Inc.—a leading provider of on-demand HRMSs, benefits, and payroll services.

Convergys

Acquisition

Convergys recently acquired Intervoice—a provider of personalized, multichannel automated information solutions, allowing it to enhance and accelerate relationship management solutions for its global clients.

Talent Alliance, Inc. and Soar Consulting, Inc.

Merger

Talent Alliance, Inc. a global provider of talent acquisition and talent management solutions, has completed a merger with Soar Consulting, Inc., a leading provider of military transition recruiting.

Exact Software

Acquisition

Exact Software acquired the InterConnect solution from Interactive Technology, which allows organizations to have a single interface for critical operations.

Figure 4. Human Resource Vendors: Mergers and Acquisitions.

While there are many cool new tools and solutions available on the market—as I discovered at the HR Technology Conference in Chicago—in this article, I aimed to cover just a few technologies that I believe we'll be seeing a lot more of in the years to come. While nothing is particularly new about these trends in and of themselves, they are nevertheless making their way into the HR arena.

No matter what state the economy is in or what the current HR technology trends are, it's important that organizations keep in mind both their current and future workforce requirements and define their short- and long-term HR strategies—before turning to a new solution.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/top-5-trends-in-hr-technology-20469/

How 3Com, Became 1Com

2010-09-15T21:43:00.002-07:00

[20 March 2000 - CNet] Struggling network equipment maker 3Com (NASDAQ:COMS) today announced a broad restructuring plan to resuscitate a networking business that's been plagued by more than a year of stagnant revenue growth.

3Com said it will exit the slow-growing portions of its networking business and focus on emerging technologies, such as wireless networking, Internet telephony, and high-speed Internet access through cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) modems, as previously reported.

In a concession to its bigger rivals Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT), among others, 3Com will bow out of the high-end networking business. The beleaguered networking firm will sell some high-end equipment to Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and kill off its family of CoreBuilder high-end switching products, turning to former competitor Extreme Networks (NASDAQ:EXTR) for that type of technology, as previously reported.

3Com also plans to shed its slow-growing analog modem business. The company will create a joint venture with networking firm Accton Technology and manufacturing company NatSteel Electronics, which will build and sell analog modems that use the U.S. Robotics name. 3Com will own a minority share of the joint venture, company executives said.

The firm will retain its networking gear to consumers and small and medium-sized businesses, as well as much of its Internet-based networking equipment and software aimed at Internet service providers (ISP) and telecommunications carriers.

In after-hours trading, 3Com's shares inched up $1.38 to $69.94. However, investors drove 3Com's share price down to $62.50 by 0945 EST in early trading on 21 March.

Market Impact

First 3Com spun off Palm, Inc. Now it's walking away from 45% of its revenue stream and 23% of its workforce. What will be left?

Cash. 3Com CEO Eric Benhamou noted that 3Com's cash account exceeded US$3 Billion during the analyst briefing on 20 March. It's going to use that to fund its restructuring.

3Com will be left with investments in high-potential sectors such DSL, a still-profitable SOHO (small office home office) and midrange networking business, and relatively high brand awareness. Core competencies - NICs, hubs - remain at the forefront of their business. It can afford to await a payoff from its new technology investments. But as football great Bill Parcells once noted, high potential means you haven't done anything yet.

3Com lacked focus after its 1997 acquisition of U.S. Robotics. That risk continues. After this "restructuring", 3Com will also be involved in:

* Unified messaging, thanks to its US$ 90 Million acquisition of Call Technologies

* High speed Internet service for the hospitality industry (CAIS Internet)

* Internet appliances integrating technologies from SonicWall (NASDAQ:SNWL), Inktomi (NASDAQ:INKT), and F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV)

* A DSL/Software partnership with Copper Mountain Networks (NASDAQ:CMTN)

* A partnership in the once and future U.S. Robotics modem company

* A new startup, Atrica, focused on metropolitan area networks

The potential for corporate distraction remains high.

3Com's COO Bruce Claflin spent some time reviewing the results of 39 focus groups. Consumers believe that 3Com does a good job at shielding them from network complexity, and helping them get connected. How about purchasing? 3Com should use its capital base to enhance and extend its direct sales channels, and look for some preferred placement on collaborative direct sales PC sites, such as Dell. (At press time, Dell was featuring networking products from Intel, Proxim, D-Link, and Netgear. Where was 3Com?)

Who wins? In a word, Cisco. 3Com is ceding the high-end networking business and shedding businesses (Palm, U.S. Robotics) that hold little appeal to Cisco Systems. We continue to project a 40% likelihood that 3Com and Cisco consummate some sort of joint venture or other collaboration.

The upside is also huge for L3 switch vendor Extreme Networks, which has already had sales growth of 230% in the last year. (Incidentally, even Palm's growth was "only" 116% for the last quarter.)

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/how-3com-became-1com-15637/

Ramco Systems - Diversity Marshaled Through Flexibility

2010-09-15T21:43:00.001-07:00

Social Networks That Boost Your Business

2010-09-15T21:42:00.002-07:00

Microsoft Windows Me -- The Millennium DOES Begin in 2001

2010-09-15T21:42:00.001-07:00

Customer Relationship Management and Social Networks—They're Related

2010-09-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

Many of you may know that both SAP and salesforce.com use blogs, podcasts, and user communities to communicate with their customers and their employees. But neither SAP nor salesforce.com nor, in fact, any of the vendors involved with customer relationship management (CRM) as we know it, integrates social networking tools with their CRM and enterprise platforms yet.

"But why not," you ask?

Well, why should they? They don't really understand the value of social networking. Nor do I imagine do you for the most part.

So, let's answer the question so that both the CRM vendors and integrators—and you—will get it and be comfortable with the idea that it's time to move ahead with the new business models that this portends.

The Question

What the heck is social networking, besides being a giant online gathering place for teens or college students (or, if of age, a virtual bar), or a monster repository for sharing videos and photos that has no particular monetary value that anyone can see within a (metaphorical) thousand miles of it.

In fact, using social networks is a major business initiative, and it is becoming a huge factor in how successful (or not) businesses will be with their customers in this part of the twenty-first century.

Let's take a look at the premise behind social networking and how it relates to CRM—especially the next incarnation of CRM, currently being called CRM 2.0.

Starting at the Root

Human beings are inherently social. Human beings also tend to organize socially into hierarchies. Level playing fields are pretty much only the product of a zamboni between periods at a hockey game—not a product of human evolution.

What makes the growth of these social hierarchies interesting (and not at all the same as those found in traditional corporate bureaucracies) is that the "top of the heap" tends to be naturally evolved and organic as opposed to the leaders in the bureaucracies that we know and love. Leaders in corporations are more often than not appointed based on their titles, not on their actual leadership skills. Equally intriguing is that these social hierarchies can be nested within a company as well as the personal side of human life.

Now you may be asking, "What does this have to do with CRM?"

Be patient; you'll see very soon.

Don't think that social leaders come organically? Think again. Do you know someone at work that you go to who provides you with down-home advice on what to do about that terrible day you're having? Or someone who isn't associated with information technology (IT), but who helps you with your computer problems? Or someone who will cheerfully edit something you're writing for work because you're nervous about what you're saying or how you're saying it, and you trust that person's judgment on these things?

These people are the departmental "mommies" or "daddies." You and I both know that they not only exist, but that they are necessary parts of the social structure of a company.

Outside the company, is there someone who organizes your neighborhood block parties, even if you don't have an association around to do it? Or someone whom others trust to take care of "x, y, or z" when "x, y, or z" has to be taken care of?

These are the leaders of your social networks—organic networks that grow out of moral authority and a variety of other factors that are too numerous to consider in such a short article.

Suffice to say that Kurt Lewin, often referred to as the father of organizational change, did experiments in the 1940s on identifying the natural growth of leadership in these organic hierarchies. The validation of these hierarchies has existed since then, if you need something other than me saying it to believe it. Google him and you'll find his experiments at the University of Iowa.

"Okay," you might be saying, "but how does this apply to CRM, again?"

Don't worry, we're getting closer to the answer.

Now We're Getting There

Chris Carfi, in his work Social Networking for Executives and Associations, sees online social networks as the migration of what humans do:

In both professional and personal life, human beings naturally form groups based on affinities and expertise. We gravitate to others with whom we share interests.

Most of you are familiar with the many (popular) social networks such as MySpace for the younger crowd, Facebook for the college crew, and LinkedIn for us older types. But these networks are much richer and more important as a trend that can dramatically impact business. If recognized for their worth, they can become part of the business environment and be immensely profitable and beneficial to the businesses that are savvy about using them.

For example, Procter and Gamble (P&G), one of the most customer-centric and foresighted companies on the planet, understands the value of the social network. They have formed a group called Vocalpoint, which consists of 600,000 moms. That's a formidable number, n'est ce pas? But it becomes much more formidable when you find that the most important criterion for "membership" in Vocalpoint is that each member has to have a social network of at least twenty-five other moms associated with her.

Do the math. That amounts to a minimum reach of fifteen-million people who are interacting with the power of the group and its leader—meaning with moral authority. That's a minimum.

What do they do? The 600,000 moms are given product samples for distribution among their social networks. The lead moms then give the samples out in their informal environment to the identified groupings. They are responsible for gathering feedback on the good and the bad about those products and getting that feedback to P&G. The best of them are called into meetings with P&G to discuss how to modify, add, subtract, etc. from the product that they distributed.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/customer-relationship-management-and-social-networks-they-re-related-how-again-19001/

Palm IPO

2010-09-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

(Thursday, March 2, 2000 - Reuters) Shares of Palm Inc. skyrocketed the day after its highly anticipated initial public offering, giving Palm a stock market value of US$53.4B.

The stock soared from its IPO price of $38 to open at $150 and trade as high as $165 on Nasdaq. The stock ended up 57-1/16 at 95-1/16, making it the third-biggest percentage gainer and the fourth most active issue on the Nasdaq.

Late Wednesday, 3Com, which makes products and software for data networking, sold 23 million shares, or 4 percent, of its Palm unit at $38 each - well above the expected range of $30 to $32. Initially, the stock was expected to be priced at $14 to $16 a share.

At the stock's closing price, Palm had a market capitalization that was larger than that of its parent company, 3Com.

Market Impact

3Com's most recent SEC filing says it all. From Q2 1999 to Q2 2000:

* Sales of network systems products (switches, hubs, routers, etc.) decreased 12%

* Sales personal connectivity products (NICs, modems, etc.) decreased 14%

* Sales of handheld computing products (Palm) increased 77%

Clearly, Palm has been pumping up 3Com revenues.

3Com is more than aware of the trends - its stated plans are to focus on the following growth markets as it completes its Palm spin-off: voice over IP (VoIP), LAN telephony, broadband access, wireless access, and home networking.

3Com's largest rivals are not standing still. Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) has also announced plans to spin-off its' own, more mature PBX and LAN networking businesses. Lucent will concentrate on high growth areas, including optical networking, Internet infrastructure, wireless, semiconductors, and consulting services, according to Lucent Technologies Chairman and CEO Richard McGinn.

Canadian telecom giant Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT) is moving in similar directions. Nortel recently announced plans to spend $260 million and add 3,400 people to its burgeoning fiber optic networking business. Nortel is also active in CRM (Customer Relation Management) and call center software, with its plan to acquire San Jose-based front office software maker Clarify Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFY).

Finally Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) dominates the market for network hardware such as routers and switches. It's also moving aggressively toward the LAN hub and switch (hello, 3Com!) market, and home users. Furthermore, Cisco has over US$10B cash to help finance any potential acquisitions.

3Com, with a market cap of "only" US$28B is dwarfed by the market capitalizations of Lucent (US$229B), Cisco (US$454B), and Nortel (US$161B). It can't afford to buy any of them at present. As 3Com heads for newer markets, it's going to find two extremely deep pockets - Lucent and Nortel - headed there as well. At the same time, Lucent is clearly eschewing 3Com's traditional networking market, while Cisco is targeting LAN's and homes.

3Com's stock will churn as the market digests its distribution of its 94% share of Palm stock. Obviously, it will add greatly to its own US$950M cash reserves, but 3Com's rivals dwarf even Palm's US$54B market cap. Hmm. Well, Cisco's San Jose headquarters are only about five miles away from Santa Clara. And Cisco has the reputation for being extremely good at mergers.

We expect a 70% likelihood that 3Com and Cisco enter into merger or acquisition discussions during the next twelve months, and at least a 40% likelihood that they establish a joint venture, minority purchase, or merger.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/palm-ipo-3com-s-morning-after-or-do-you-know-the-way-to-san-jose-15582/

Social Networks That Boost Your Business

2010-08-24T07:28:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Windows Me -- The Millennium DOES Begin in 2001

2010-08-24T07:27:00.004-07:00

Customer Relationship Management and Social Networks—They're Related How, Again?

2010-08-24T07:27:00.003-07:00

Customer Relationship Management and Social Networks—They're Related How, Again?
Featured Author -
Originally published - February 7, 2007

By now, there isn't a soul reading this who hasn't heard of SAP.

By now, there isn't a soul reading this who hasn't heard of salesforce.com.

By now, there isn't a soul reading this who hasn't heard of MySpace.

Or YouTube, or LinkedIn, or Friendster, or

Many of you may know that both SAP and salesforce.com use blogs, podcasts, and user communities to communicate with their customers and their employees. But neither SAP nor salesforce.com nor, in fact, any of the vendors involved with customer relationship management (CRM) as we know it, integrates social networking tools with their CRM and enterprise platforms yet.

"But why not," you ask?

Well, why should they? They don't really understand the value of social networking. Nor do I imagine do you for the most part.

So, let's answer the question so that both the CRM vendors and integrators—and you—will get it and be comfortable with the idea that it's time to move ahead with the new business models that this portends.

The Question

What the heck is social networking, besides being a giant online gathering place for teens or college students (or, if of age, a virtual bar), or a monster repository for sharing videos and photos that has no particular monetary value that anyone can see within a (metaphorical) thousand miles of it.

In fact, using social networks is a major business initiative, and it is becoming a huge factor in how successful (or not) businesses will be with their customers in this part of the twenty-first century.

Let's take a look at the premise behind social networking and how it relates to CRM—especially the next incarnation of CRM, currently being called CRM 2.0.

Starting at the Root

Human beings are inherently social. Human beings also tend to organize socially into hierarchies. Level playing fields are pretty much only the product of a zamboni between periods at a hockey game—not a product of human evolution.

What makes the growth of these social hierarchies interesting (and not at all the same as those found in traditional corporate bureaucracies) is that the "top of the heap" tends to be naturally evolved and organic as opposed to the leaders in the bureaucracies that we know and love. Leaders in corporations are more often than not appointed based on their titles, not on their actual leadership skills. Equally intriguing is that these social hierarchies can be nested within a company as well as the personal side of human life.

Now you may be asking, "What does this have to do with CRM?"

Be patient; you'll see very soon.

Don't think that social leaders come organically? Think again. Do you know someone at work that you go to who provides you with down-home advice on what to do about that terrible day you're having? Or someone who isn't associated with information technology (IT), but who helps you with your computer problems? Or someone who will cheerfully edit something you're writing for work because you're nervous about what you're saying or how you're saying it, and you trust that person's judgment on these things?

These people are the departmental "mommies" or "daddies." You and I both know that they not only exist, but that they are necessary parts of the social structure of a company.

Outside the company, is there someone who organizes your neighborhood block parties, even if you don't have an association around to do it? Or someone whom others trust to take care of "x, y, or z" when "x, y, or z" has to be taken care of?

These are the leaders of your social networks—organic networks that grow out of moral authority and a variety of other factors that are too numerous to consider in such a short article.

Suffice to say that Kurt Lewin, often referred to as the father of organizational change, did experiments in the 1940s on identifying the natural growth of leadership in these organic hierarchies. The validation of these hierarchies has existed since then, if you need something other than me saying it to believe it. Google him and you'll find his experiments at the University of Iowa.

"Okay," you might be saying, "but how does this apply to CRM, again?"

Don't worry, we're getting closer to the answer.

Now We're Getting There

Chris Carfi, in his work Social Networking for Executives and Associations, sees online social networks as the migration of what humans do:

In both professional and personal life, human beings naturally form groups based on affinities and expertise. We gravitate to others with whom we share interests.

Most of you are familiar with the many (popular) social networks such as MySpace for the younger crowd, Facebook for the college crew, and LinkedIn for us older types. But these networks are much richer and more important as a trend that can dramatically impact business. If recognized for their worth, they can become part of the business environment and be immensely profitable and beneficial to the businesses that are savvy about using them.

For example, Procter and Gamble (P&G), one of the most customer-centric and foresighted companies on the planet, understands the value of the social network. They have formed a group called Vocalpoint, which consists of 600,000 moms. That's a formidable number, n'est ce pas? But it becomes much more formidable when you find that the most important criterion for "membership" in Vocalpoint is that each member has to have a social network of at least twenty-five other moms associated with her.

Do the math. That amounts to a minimum reach of fifteen-million people who are interacting with the power of the group and its leader—meaning with moral authority. That's a minimum.

What do they do? The 600,000 moms are given product samples for distribution among their social networks. The lead moms then give the samples out in their informal environment to the identified groupings. They are responsible for gathering feedback on the good and the bad about those products and getting that feedback to P&G. The best of them are called into meetings with P&G to discuss how to modify, add, subtract, etc. from the product that they distributed.

So what does the mom get from this? Prestige and products. Prestige because they are the ones that P&G is trusting to receive and distribute the products—chief in hierarchy. They get the products to use—before others do. Plus, they have the knowledge that they collaborated with P&G to make those products better, or to reduce the price, or something else with emotional value.

What does P&G get? Incredible levels of feedback and marketing buzz from a trusted social network that was in place around each mom prior to P&G coming into the picture. So, P&G products are trusted because they are distributed to and tested by the natural leader within the social network.

Do you see the power of this? A trusted network, established for reasons unrelated to the company, that is involved in collaborating with the company on products that the company is selling to them, and that they as members of the social network are likely to use. The data captured through this network's feedback and the marketing buzz around the product are invaluable.

Thing is, the twenty-first century customer is just doing what humans always do—attempting to participate in the decisions, large and small, that affect their lives at all levels. When a business is able to engage these networks, or in other words, make them involved and collaborating customers, we all win. And we all know that we all love to win, don't we?

So, in a nutshell, here is the answer to your question on what social networks have to do with CRM. The customer collaborates with the company to improve the product and spread the word—advocate, in other words, through the engagement of the leaders of the social groupings most likely to use the products, services, and tools of the business.

SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/customer-relationship-management-and-social-networks-they-re-related-how-again-19001/

Palm IPO: 3Com’s morning after, or “Do you know the way to San Jose?”

2010-08-24T07:27:00.001-07:00

Ramco Systems - Diversity Marshaled Through Flexibility

2010-08-24T07:26:00.001-07:00

Top 5 Trends in HR Technology

2010-08-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

Social Network Technology in the Classroom

2010-07-04T00:35:00.001-07:00

Considering that today's students were born wired, and live and play in the world of the Web, the challenge for many teachers and administrators is meeting students on their own turf and adapting to the students' medium of choice. Specifically, the emergence of social networks has created a technical gap between teachers, students, and parents unlike any that has previously existed. The need to use technology in the classroom is becoming more important every day. Clearly, social networking will be at the core of any technology that is to succeed in the classroom.

Although some teachers are hesitant to use social networking (also referred to as Web 2.0) - considering privacy issues and a potentially steep learning curve - it's important that they learn to understand and use these tools that are becoming increasingly embedded in the lives of their students.

However, social networks such as MySpace and Facebook are the students' domain, and teachers and parents may not always be welcome. To many of today's students, a teacher socializing on Facebook is the equivalent of having that teacher show up at a weekend party, or at a regular student hangout.

Today's educators need an intuitive, safe, online environment that connects students, teachers, parents, and administrators in a responsible way. One that is geared toward education and one that, while driven by teachers, is open to students, parents, and administrators.

Simply put, they need a social network for the classroom.

In a true Web 2.0 environment, students, parents, and administrators can participate in the teaching process by showing mastery of a specific topic or concept. All parties can interact to ask questions, share knowledge, and relay experiences. The proliferation of ideas never needs to be stagnant. This concept applies not only within a specific classroom, but across all classrooms that can now share a common learning environment - a common social network. To take it a step further, the concept not only applies to all classrooms sharing that same learning environment, but to all classrooms across time.

Consider, as an example, a lesson that was taught in the classroom just ten years ago: The lesson was introduced, a discussion followed, and the lesson ended.

Now, consider that same lesson as it is taught in a Web 2.0 embraced environment: The lesson is introduced, and an online discussion follows. But this discussion includes the viewpoints and experiences of students, teachers, administrators, and parents from around the globe. It will include comments and span new ideas and conversations. It will be supported by images and videos which will also spawn new ideas and conversations.

In addition, this same lesson, when taught the following year, already has the foundation of the previous year's information. The next year builds upon the previous two years, and so on. In the end, we have an ever-growing historical account of the ideas brought about by the lesson - a clearly superior situation to the way it had been taught ten years earlier.

Considering the speed at which technology is evolving, teachers should be encouraged to find and use a social network. One that can be used responsibly and that is geared toward the proliferation of ideas that start in the classroom.

Novell Networking Technologies Exam

2010-07-04T00:34:00.000-07:00

Novell Networking Technologies exam (050-632) is a part of the Novell CNE (Certified Networking Engineer) certificate for Novell Netware 5. It covers a wide range of topics that are essential for each and every network engineer or perhaps administrator for Novell, as well as non-Novell networks.

This exam is aimed to cover the following topics:

Topic # Topic Description

1 OSI reference model and physical and logical topologies that are used in computer networks.

2 Functions of networking devices, starting from NICs and up to routers and gateways.

3 IEEE 802.x standards with the concentration on 802.3, 802.3u, and 802.5.

4 FDDI and its devices.

5 WAN technologies; SLIP, PPP, X.25, Frame Relay, ISDN and ATM.

6 Hubs, Bridges, spanning tree, source-routing bridge, and token ring switches.

7 Dynamic routing protocols; distance vector and link state, and nonroutable protocols.

8 IP address structure, network classes, how to obtain a registered IP address, and registering a domain name.

9 Assigning addresses to hosts along with the function of host names, host tables, and DNS.

10 Subnets, supernets and subnet mask.

11 TCP/IP protocol suite.

12 IP routing and disadvantages of RIP and distance vector routing.

13 Link state routing with IP.

14 Using of protocol analyzers in managing a TCP/IP network.

15 IPv6.

16 Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) and Sequenced Packet Exchange (SPX).

17 IPX routing protocols RIP and SAP and Link State Routing with IPX NLSP and compare RIP/SAP, NLSP, and OSPF functionality.

18 X.500, and LDAP.

When you go through the list above, the first thing that comes to your mind is Network+. That is right. These topics are very much similar to what Network+ covers. And the fact that Novell would accept Network+ instead of this exam for CNE requirements only assures this idea.

One problem in Novell’s 050-632 [http://www.novell.com/training/testinfo/objectives/565tobj.html] exam is the lack of self-study guides. CramSession offers free exam study guide but its not adequate. It does not cover the whole thing. So, if you are thinking of this exam you might consider taking the course. O perhaps you can read Network+ study-guides and go for Novell’s exam.

You might ask why bother going this road when I can do the Network+ exam which is more popular. I might just have the answer for you. It’s the cost. Novell’s 050-632 exam is about half the price of CompTia’s Network+ !!!

I have always thought of CompTia’s exams as expensive. And I do not believe that making the exams more expensive would increase its value.

Advantages of Leasing Network Technology

2010-07-04T00:33:00.000-07:00

Businesses of all sizes are facing up to new challenges in recent times. Most likely your business is feeling the crunch due to the recent economic slump. Now add to the fact that you need to install, or upgrade existing network equipment and that crunch can be even tighter. Don't worry though; leasing network technology may be the answer to your budget problems.

Information technology companies have long been the lead developers of new network systems, and their support systems. Leasing network technology is an idea that's popping up right across the board. It works just like leasing, or renting a car. We all know that building and maintaining your own networks and subsystems can be quite expensive. This type of program allows you to circumvent those costs, and go with an option that's more affordable for you.

Unlike car rentals however, you will never find gum on the technology you lease, and in the off chance you do you might want to let the company know. When companies lease or rent their networking technologies they make sure the equipment is in top condition. After all this is your backbone for a while. Leasing and renting plans differ from place to place, and on what equipment you need.

Leasing network technology is something that's handled with the greatest of care. Many companies offer monthly and yearly plans, some with upgrade options. Renting is essentially a monthly fee, and when you don't need it anymore you return it. Leasing works just like an automobile, you pay a monthly fee for a set time and then are given the option to buy, or upgrade.

Regardless of which path you choose most companies understand you have a limited budget. After all the biggest of the big started out as a small tiny business in an old building. Regardless of the size of your business it's never a bad idea to think about these programs for your network solutions. Have you actually seen the physical components of your network? Chances are no, you let your tech guys handle that.

Trust me it's not pretty, and in some instances it's quite a mess. Even the smallest of networks can have quite a bit of cable and equipment. When leasing network equipment you don't have to worry about setting all of this up, there are installation plans available as well. If you choose this route all you need to do is maintain everything, but if the hardware fails the company takes care of the replacement.

Don't worry technology for servers and other networking equipment has evolved substantially over the years. If the server goes out in most cases you just pull the data tapes, drives, or boards and then slide them into a replacement. No muss, no fuss, and everything works as it should. Yes some severs still use tapes; it's not a dead technology yet.

In closing, leasing network technology is a solution for your networking needs that you might want to look into. After all this can be cheaper than buying and setting up your own equipment. Plus with the ability to buy later on if you so choose, it can be the perfect plan for your business. Now the only thing left to do is think about the size of your desk.

Supporting Teamwork by Abridging Departmental Silos (and All That in a Cloud)

2010-05-31T23:50:00.001-07:00

According to the adage “When one door closes, another one opens,” there are opportunities and unfulfilled customer needs even in this dour economic environment. Rather than hiding in a cave and waiting for the calamity to pass, some creative business software companies and individuals have been coming up with new value propositions to solve real problems for their customers.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, writing software applications is the easy part, relatively speaking. Making sure that one has a distinct solution to a problem that people are willing to pay for (especially nowadays when cash is scarce) is the hard part.

Generally speaking, the primary difference between good companies and great ones lies in their customer service. Inexpensive and easily deployable software applications that can help companies be more responsive to their customers and provide better service via showing “one face to the customer” (in turn due to much better internal communications) can go a long way even these days. The end result should typically be delighted existing customers, and, especially in this social networking era where news travels fast, happy customers (and their public product reviews and verdicts) should beget more customers.

In fact, some startup companies believe that this is an exciting time to be in the IT business. As established in my recent “SaaSy Discussions” series, software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing are appealing business models for both vendors and customers, and will continue to be disruptive (game-changing) technologies for the foreseeable future.

But again, the delivery model is only part of the equation, whereas astute software applications that solve a specific problem are the key success factor (KSF).

Supporting Diverse Teams in the Cloud

Enter Muroc Systems, Inc., a Dallas, Texas, (US)-based software startup focusing on business applications delivered via the SaaS model. The company’s flagship product is TeamSupport.com, which is an on-demand customer service application that targets software companies.

Robert Johnson, chief executive officer (CEO) of Muroc Systems, previously ran a successful software company that served TV stations and broadcasting industries. He sold that company in 2006, and several people that shared his philosophies about how to run a software company and treat customers followed him to Muroc.

The startup company is self-funded at the moment, and has a focused team of fewer than 10 people. The majority of the team are software developers, with sales and marketing rounding out the rest of the Muroc team.

The idea behind TeamSupport.com came from a problem Johnson faced at his previous software company. Having recognized early on that customer service was crucial to the success and growth of his company, Johnson wanted to have his customer service group and the product development team working on the same software application (and thus constantly be “on the same page”) to track customer issues, software bugs, tasks, and new feature requests.

In his search for available solutions, Johnson found that there were some decent help desk applications for customer service advisors (agents) and bug-tracking applications for product developers, but there were no systems designed for both groups to use. For example, the well-known Bugzilla bug-tracking software is not aware of who the customer is.

After doing a thorough market search, the company was not able to find anything commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), so it ended up developing its own customer service software. After selling that company, Johnson had an epiphany that there was a market for better customer service software targeted towards independent software vendors (ISVs), and founded Muroc Systems to pursue that vision.

Muroc’s mission statement for TeamSupport.com is to create world-class customer service software for ISVs. As mentioned earlier, the entire TeamSupport.com team consists of veterans of other successful software companies, and they all believe that superior customer service is one of the factors that differentiates software companies. They also believe that customer service does not just come from the customer-facing service department, but rather from the entire company.

Computer Data Networks opens branch office in Manama

2010-03-20T05:19:00.003-07:00

Computer Data Networks (CDN ) is pleased to announce the opening of a new branch office in Manama. Computer Data Networks (CDN) Bahrain is an integral part of CDN's growth in the region and will strengthen its position as a premier supplier of Integrated ICT, Smart Building and Security Solutions in Bahrain.
The role of this newly opened branch will be to boost the presence of the company in Bahrain and in the region alike. The Office will strive to support and develop client relations and to promote its various end-to-end ICT & Security Systems solutions to government and corporate clients.

"This new addition to our branches across the region comes just at the right time and the right place. This marks a strategic milestone in CDN's expansion. We consider the opening of our Bahrain office as a step forward in our company's vision to more rapidly and affordably meet the needs of our clientele. We at CDN are confident that our clients will enjoy the quality of the services, products, and solutions we already provide in the other markets across the region,"

Mr. Sadeq Shehab, who is in charge of CDN Bahrain added "With significant experience, resources, and infrastructure, CDN will offer solutions in the key areas of Data Processing, Telecommunications, Networking, and Security. The Manama office will heighten our profile within the Gulf region, where we foresee significant opportunities for further ICT investment and growth."

Primus begins operations in Bahrain

2010-03-20T05:19:00.001-07:00

Primus, a division of Computer Networking Services (CNS), is pleased to announce the opening of its latest regional office and the beginning of its business operations in Bahrain. This endeavour comes as a collaborative Jordanian-Saudi-Bahraini effort, shared with Primus' partners Mr. Abdulaziz Al Turki of Rawabi Holdings and Mr. Nabil Al Zain of Al Zain Jewellery.
Primus has been delivering advanced IT solutions and technology development for businesses and governments, with a specialized focus on software solutions, consultancy and infrastructure services for over a decade. The Company, which will cater to Bahrain's public and private sectors by providing them with the highest quality services, will also actively participate in nation-wide RFPs and provide guarantees for independent, transparent, efficient and qualitative solutions and services.

With its strategic location in the heart of the Arabian Gulf, and increasingly important role in the region for providing a conducive business environment which identifies opportunities and business prosperity, the Kingdom of Bahrain is the ideal location for Primus' latest office in the region. With existing offices in Palestine, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and representative offices in Qatar, Kuwait, and Lebanon, Primus also has notable presence in the United States of America through local partners.

Over the years, Primus has helped clients increase their potential and ultimately, their efficiency through the creation of complete solutions, such as Edara, an educational platform created for the Ministry of Education in Iraq that collects, stores, processes and analyzes data, serving as a tool for enhancing educational systems and policies; Mahakim, a comprehensive web-based platform, which was designed for the automation of law court operations at Qatar Courts; and Mosa'adat, an "easy-to-use" web application that was developed to fully automate the operations of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Iraq.

Headed by its Managing Director, Mr. AbdelKarim Abu Jaber, and Managing Partner, Mr. Amer Nasereddin, the Bahrain office strives to successfully transform the operations of leading entities, both private and public, by understanding the needs and requirements of specific industries. It also seeks to establish and secure successful long-term relationships and commitments with Primus' partners and clients.

"We have made it a priority to recognize and understand the needs and challenges that various industries in the Region are facing nowadays. In order to help clients minimize the business challenges they face while increasing their return on investment, we have decided to expand our presence in the Middle East and be recognized internationally as the Middle East reference of knowledge and experience in effectively designing and implementing appropriate information and communication technology solutions," said Mr. Nasereddin.

"We understand the challenges most industries face, and we will be focusing on the Bahraini market, working closely with clients and helping them to successfully address these challenges by providing easy access to a range of our solutions and services. It is our goal to enable business transformation in Bahrain by arming our clients in different industries with the right accessible information, tools and technologies that will help them grow and succeed," added Mr. Abu Jaber.

The official launch of Primus Bahrain, which is due to take place during the first half of 2010 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Spa in Manama, will be attended by leading officials and members of the public and private sectors.

Primus Bahrain offices are located in Almoayyed Tower, 32nd Floor, Seef Area, Manama, Bahrain.

Samsung Mobile Live connects with youth through revolutionary messaging phones

2010-03-20T05:18:00.001-07:00

Samsung is extending its reach to the youth and young minded consumer through ground-breaking events during 'Samsung Mobile Live' for a chance at a hands-on experience of the latest mobile technologies.

Over 60% of the population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is under 30 years old, this segment embraces technology in ways that require connectivity and other features to be state-of-the-art in daily mobile usage. As a leader in this space, Samsung Mobile has developed open and proprietary technologies that combine usability and price in formidable phones. Of the features most sought after by youth is the ability to text and converse in messaging options and Samsung Mobile is today rolling out a road-show dedicated to stylish text phones, whilst showcasing and demonstrating other phone categories available.

The company is also celebrating the launch of a full range of phones with multiple operating systems (OS), touch and DUOS (Dual SIM Standby). The road show will also showcase, the youth and female-targeted mobile phones are specifically designed to empower consumers with constant connectivity and scaleable platforms.

Mr. Gye Choon Cho, General Manager of Samsung Electronics KSA said,

"Samsung has a global strategy of focusing on the youth market, and for this, Samsung has researched the KSA market and developed Mobiles to enable consumers to connect on the GSM infrastructure to satisfy their specific needs. For allowing these users to connect through Facebook, Twitter and many others, we have introduced smarter solutions for the youth that speak their language."

Mr. Inamullah Butt, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at Samsung Electronics in Saudi Arabia added, "Our sleek and fashionable designs are becoming a must-accessory for the energetic young. Our phones showcased in the Samsung Mobile Live, carry attractive multimedia features with easy text input capabilities and are powerful Internet browsers."

The new Omnia Pro (B7330), Corby Pro (B5310) and the Samsung Chat (B3410) are amongst the youth targeted phones being featured in the Samsung Mobile Live.

Samsung Mobile is focused on delivering the option of choice to its consumers. The phone's configuration, its features and functionality are flexible to suit each user. The Omnia Pro, Corby Pro and the Samsung Chat are the result of research and development at Samsung Mobile and offer seamless connectivity with access to Google, YouTube and popular social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Friendster and many more. With the experience similar to that of using a desktop computer, some of the phones also feature robust navigation options through optimum global positioning systems (GPS) technologies.

Intel case study: In the footsteps of giants

2010-03-20T05:17:00.000-07:00

The University of Zürich is Switzerland's largest, with a 24,000-strong student body and 1,900 graduates every year. Its list of alumni includes 23 Nobel Prize winners, among them Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger (one of the founders of quantum mechanics), and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (the first person to win the Nobel Prize in physics). In keeping with this record of achievement, the University is committed to making use of new technologies to continue driving innovation and discovery across scientific fields ranging from nanotechnology, over life sciences, to cosmology.

PLM Road Map 2009: What to Expect?

2010-03-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

I went through the agenda of the PLM Road Map 2009 (September 22 and 23, in Detroit, Michigan [US]) when I submitted my attendance preferences to conference organizer Collaborative Product Development Associates (CPDA). Looking at the agenda, I’m convinced that the two-day event is well structured to cover critical issues in the product lifecycle management (PLM) field and to apprehend the future of PLM. Below are what look to me like the conference highlights:

The Future of the North American Automotive Industry

There’s no other place better than Detroit for this topic. I can imagine that instead of talking about weather and the like during the conference breaks, attendees may naturally start talking about the automotive industry due to the location, timing, and the sturdy relationship between PLM and the automotive industry. After the recent hardships, it is time for people to hear what Glenn Mercer has to share in his speech Outlook for the North American Automotive Industry at the heart of the automobile capital of the world.

Management of Complex Systems

The world is getting more complex; so are today’s products. Product development management needs to not only facilitate collaboration among different product lifecycle stages but also coordinate between multidisciplinary design and engineering activities. That explains why CPDA has scheduled an entire afternoon on the topic Supporting Effective Collaboration Across Mechanical, Electrical, and Software Development Teams in breakout sessions.

CAD Visibility and Interoperability

Managing and controlling product data is an important aspect of PLM, but it is not enough to lock the information (especially computer-aided design [CAD] data) in a vault. A key value in PLM, however, is the ability to extend this data beyond the desktop to other engineers, other departments, and other stakeholders–primarily customers and suppliers. I’m expecting that Dr. Ken Versprille’s session CAD/Visualization Trends: Dealing with Product Complexity & Variation will navigate attendees through the complicated landscape of today’s CAD/visualization market.

Social Product Development

When PLM systems (as innovation platforms) are strengthened by embracing Web 2.0 capabilities, activities related to sharing and exchanging product knowledge may surge. Following the discussions on the “people dimension” of a PLM system or the concept of “people-centric PLM,” social networking is expected to be more tightly included in the PLM loop. The session Collaborative Product Information Networks: Extending the Use of PLM Data to the Enterprise through Social Networking presented by three software vendors (Microsoft, PTC, and Aras) together will demonstrate what Microsoft SharePoint has to do with PLM.

The above topics are what I feel are going to be the most interesting to me–but there’s a lot more you’ll be uncovering on your own. If you’re planning to attend the conference, see you soon in Detroit!

Enterprise Software Conferences: Why Bother?

2010-03-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

If you did not get the chance to read the article about the 2009 APICS Conference, I thought I should share with you some of the things we (Khudsiya and I) did or learned there.

I thought I would start by imagining a conversation about imaginary analysts, between two imaginary people, in an imaginary kitchen of an imaginary company:

Imaginary man (IM): “Where did G the analyst go? I haven’t seen him around for at least a couple of days!”
Imaginary woman (IW): “Oh, he’s gone to a conference in Toronto. I wonder what they do there.”
IM: “Well, you know, I guess they have fun, eat and drink, maybe attend some seminars, and that’s about it.”
IW: “Yeah—and they also get away from the office—no need to be on time in the morning, the boss is not around…”

Getting back to the real world, let’s analyze the imaginary conversation and see how real the imaginary arguments are:

Fun—My idea of fun is going to a rock concert or to the opera, and—trust me—the APICS Conference was nothing like that. We did have fun, though, because we met some very interesting vendors (IBM was my favorite, because of its “Smart Market” initiative—follow our up-coming blog to learn more) and we attended some very great sessions and workshops. However, it wasn’t much fun when a vendor told us it doesn’t want to fill in a request for information (RFI) because its competitors will steal the information from TEC’s IT Advisor. The plant tour was also fun—we got to see how the kilometers of conveyors in a huge distribution center work, all controlled by a computer. However, it wasn’t so much fun when we got there and no one was expecting us (and the bus left).

Food and drinks—It is true that in Toronto I found the best mousse au chocolat I’ve ever had in Canada, but that was after the conference. During the conference, the food was OK, but since we were networking during our lunch breaks, we did not get the chance to enjoy it. This is how networking at lunch works: first, you ask the guy next to you if his company has an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and if it doesn’t, you recommend our services. If the company does have an ERP system, you ask if the employees are happy with it—and if the answer is “no,” you recommend our services. If the employees are happy with the ERP they’re using… but how often does that ever happen? We did enjoy the “food-for-thought,” though, especially during the learning sessions or the World Café (again, see the article).

Relax and get away—Frankly, I think we spent ten hours a day each day at the conference. But I admit that talking to intelligent people and listening to presenters from Intel, IBM, JDA, and other vendors was relaxing for me. On the other hand, it was quite infuriating to see that in 2009, there were lots of people attending workshops on how to use Excel to improve inventory management. Also, standing in line for Internet access was not very pleasant.

All that being said, I’d like to share with you the most important things we learned from the 2009 APICS Conference:

1. People are the most important asset a company has. They can make things work (or not) and they can make change happen (or resist it).
2. Strategy is important, but it’s worthless without proper execution—and it has to be transparent. Successful companies need well-defined strategies for the future and they should share those with everyone (employees, customers, partners, and even competitors).

And finally, the most beneficial part of the conference was that we met real people, with real problems (users) and answers to those problems (vendors). Working in the office, having online meetings with vendors, and doing research is great, but sometimes the real world is just different and I find it very important for an analyst to get out into it, at least once in a while.

Have you attended any conferences lately? Did you have fun, enjoy the food, or relax? What did you learn? I welcome your comments and thoughts.

APICS 2009 Preview Webinar Series, Session 2: Job Search Strategies for Supply Chain Professionals

2010-01-25T05:34:00.001-08:00

In the webcast, Capone gave a brief glimpse of what he plans to present at the APICS conference, sharing the agenda for the conference with the webcast attendees. The highlights of the agenda are:

* how job seekers find jobs (including the different methods being used by jobs seekers)
* job boards (Monster, jobboom, etc.)
* job aggregators (Web sites that bring all the specific jobs from all the different job boards into one place, such as indeed.com, simply hired, etc.)
* the power of networking (the focus of the webcast)
* job search management tools (tools used to manage the job search and opportunities)
* research tools (different research tools facilitating the job seeker)

Mr. Capone presented some facts (taken from the United States Department of Labor) about the state of the job market: unemployment is at 9.4 percent and there are 15 million individuals unemployed. Along with these figures, there was mention of 800,000 individuals who are frustrated to the point that they have stopped searching for jobs. There is a decrease in the number of jobs due to the economy, but still 140 million individuals have gotten jobs in the past few months. This is not necessarily evident, due to the seasonal increase in demand in specific industries. In my opinion, Mr. Capone hit the nail right on the head by putting the facts in front of the audience in terms of what’s happening and what really needs to happen with respect to people who are looking for jobs in these economic times.

As the culture for hiring has changed, many job seekers need to understand that hiring managers and executives are not just looking for best fit for the organization. In reality, hiring managers are looking for individuals who can deliver bottom line results instantly and contribute to the organization’s growth/ profitability, in both the short- and long-term. During the webcast, Mr. Capone brought up the myth of the hidden job market and how job seekers need to get over this myth–all jobs are posted through some kind of channel, because each organization is looking for the best people for that particular job.

Each month at least 1.8 million new jobs get posted through various Web sites, and to filter through that enormous amount of data is the biggest challenge for the job seeker. Mr. Capone identified several concepts in the webcast—the most relevant one, in my opinion, is about setting up a strategy of filtering through all the jobs posted on the job boards to identify the particular industry you’re interested in and which kind of job you will be passionate about doing. The next step is to document all jobs that you have applied for, and then follow-up on each application or opportunity created through the filtration process.

Mr. Capone discussed the networking methods in detail. In his opinion, most mistakes made during the job search process start with the applicant’s failing to network, being unable to call attention to accomplishments, waiting for potential opportunities (not being proactive in searching for the best opportunity), and—the major one, in Capone’s view—not being able to ask for assistance from people in the job seeker’s network or using sources who can identify gaps in the resume or interview approach. It seems to me that all of these factors play a role when not dealt with it effectively.

Mr. Capone also talked in detail about the networking issue. Most individuals don’t understand the concept of networking. He outlined that networking is more than just asking someone for a job, and that it’s not a single-step activity. In reality, networking is relationship-building with your contacts; the best place to network with professionals is Linked In. There are more than 40 million users on LinkedIn, and most of them are either managers or executives with hiring decision authority. With the help of LinkedIn, job seekers can pose a question as a way of making contacts within his/her network about a company’s culture or about a position’s particular challenges with respect to the job seeker’s interests. By presenting these facts, Capone’s thoughts on how the applicants were approaching the job market got me excited about attending his particular topic of discussion at the conference, and to understand in more detail the concept of networking, as we can apply these strategies to our growth of sales channels and contacts with industry professionals.

PLM Road Map 2009: What to Expect

2010-01-25T05:30:00.000-08:00

There’s no other place better than Detroit for this topic. I can imagine that instead of talking about weather and the like during the conference breaks, attendees may naturally start talking about the automotive industry due to the location, timing, and the sturdy relationship between PLM and the automotive industry. After the recent hardships, it is time for people to hear what Glenn Mercer has to share in his speech Outlook for the North American Automotive Industry at the heart of the automobile capital of the world.

Management of Complex Systems

The world is getting more complex; so are today’s products. Product development management needs to not only facilitate collaboration among different product lifecycle stages but also coordinate between multidisciplinary design and engineering activities. That explains why CPDA has scheduled an entire afternoon on the topic Supporting Effective Collaboration Across Mechanical, Electrical, and Software Development Teams in breakout sessions.

CAD Visibility and Interoperability

Managing and controlling product data is an important aspect of PLM, but it is not enough to lock the information (especially computer-aided design [CAD] data) in a vault. A key value in PLM, however, is the ability to extend this data beyond the desktop to other engineers, other departments, and other stakeholders–primarily customers and suppliers. I’m expecting that Dr. Ken Versprille’s session CAD/Visualization Trends: Dealing with Product Complexity & Variation will navigate attendees through the complicated landscape of today’s CAD/visualization market.

Deltek Remains the Master of Its Selected Few Domains Part Five: Deltek's Major Product Lines

2009-12-04T06:39:00.002-08:00

Deltek Systems, Inc. (www.deltek.com ), the leading provider of enterprise software and solutions for project-based businesses and professional services firms, remains committed to a potentially unique, high level of investment in product development as compared to other software companies. According to Kenneth E. deLaski, Deltek President and CEO, the average public software company only invests approximately 14.5 percent of its revenue in product development and, at 24 percent, Deltek customers should take this as a strong sign that the vendor is deeply committed to continued investment and improvement of each of its product suites for project businesses and professional services firms. Deltek also announced that, once again, it achieved strong profitability and cash flow for fiscal 2002, which reportedly marked the 18th consecutive year of profitability for the company. In addition, the company added more than 300 new customers during the year in a variety of industries including aerospace, construction, engineering, IT services, consulting, architecture, and project-based manufacturing.
Within its marketing and proposal automation product, Deltek has an emerging CRM derivative known as client relationship management, which should help firms (such as accounting practices and law offices), other professional service companies; technical services; and, project-based organizations track client relationships in a more sophisticated manner than referrals or word-of-mouth, which were appropriate during the start-up phases of such companies. Subsequently accessing a client's record in Deltek Vision will also list the client's employees and former employers via hyperlink, enabling users to keep tabs on industry movement and turnover.

In a project-based business, there are no dedicated sales teams on the road chasing and securing new business since most senior partners and project managers bring in their own business and look after their own client portfolio. Consequently, traditional sales calls or consumer internet storefront ordering approaches become inappropriate in these situations. Therefore, the critical element of the client relationship process is to secure new business through proposal development. However, trying to recall the details of relevant past jobs and those who worked on them plus gathering the hard copies of such information from different people can be a nightmare. To that end, Deltek proposal management system allows a contractor to organize projects by various categories such as people, projects, designs, and expertise allowing appropriate information (e.g., resumes, document boilerplates, etc.) to become easily retrievable in the preparation of new proposals. Users can then track the progress of a proposal, share the information with other team members, review similar proposals, and analyze awarded jobs through a product that offers both government and customized commercial proposal generators.

WT: I understand that your organization, BPT Partners, is creating its own social media space called myCRMcareer.com. Bruce, perhaps you could tell us

2009-12-02T06:50:00.002-08:00

Bruce Culbert: Sure. myCRMcareer.com is the first Web 2.0-based, industry-specific social network. And it's being brought to market specifically to further the development of the practitioners who are involved in taking care of the customers and organizations. We've talked a little bit about how important the customer strategy is—the most important business strategy. And for those folks involved in sales and marketing, service, general management, and in the IT organization as well, who have customer responsibility, where do they get the training and education and the peer-to-peer networking to help them further their profession? It doesn't exist today. And you can go to some conferences, but they happen once a year. So if you aren't able to go to a conference, you may miss your yearly opportunity to get a refresher within your profession.

[The site] myCRMcareer.com is something that is being put into place so that there is peer-to-peer networking within the industry, so you can reach out to your peers [and] you can find mentors to help you grow in your career. There's expert content from people all around the world—training and education and guidance around methodologies, tools, and techniques so that you can grow in your career profession, [and] opportunities for user-generated content so the industry itself will be helping others in the industry grow by contributing. And then also as a component of myCRMcareer is a job board, addressing the needs of people in their careers at various stages, whether it's for internships, contract work, senior management, [or] entry level people. This becomes a forum or a social network where the CRM professional has the opportunity to grow in their career.

Wayne Thompson: Paul, perhaps you could kick things off by telling us what's happening in CRM.

2009-12-02T06:50:00.001-08:00

Paul Greenberg: Actually, CRM is morphing from what it was when you were actually talking about managing customer relationships, and has changed entirely to a customer engagement model, or is beginning to make that change. And it's a model that is saying, “Not only do you have to get the attention of your customers and engage them, but you have to begin to share the results of those engagements,” meaning the experiences that customers have. What's going on is that you're seeing increasingly intelligent uses of the Web 2.0 technologies, which are these whole sets of communications media and social media that allow the customer to actually do that, and companies are trying to figure out how to provide it. The thing that's so funny is that when you look at social networks, and when you look at blogs and podcasts like this one, and wikis, a lot of them are being done by the so-called customers, but as just social and individual ways of doing it, and the businesses are on the outside looking in at them.

Applying the Power of Social Networks to Customer Relationship Management

2009-12-02T06:49:00.000-08:00

Customer relationship management (CRM) is rapidly morphing from a customer management model to one of customer engagement. Social networks, podcasts, blogs, and wikis are enabling customers to become advocates, and not simply the targets they were in the traditional CRM process. Find out what these sweeping changes mean to businesses and CRM professionals alike in this MP3 podcast.

MP3 Download - Applying the Power of Social Networks to Customer Relationship Management

Free MP3 downloads from Technology Evaluation Centers

2009-12-02T06:48:00.000-08:00

Enterprise Software MP3 Podcast is also known as: business software MP3 podcast, enterprise software MP3 download, business software MP3 download, enterprise software MP3 podcasting, business software MP3 podcasting, enterprise software insider MP3 podcast, business software insider MP3 podcast, enterprise software interview MP3 podcast, business software interview MP3 podcast, tech MP3 podcast, technology MP3 podcast, business MP3 podcast, business podcast, business English podcast, business podcasting.

Load up your MP3 player with TEC’s enterprise software MP3 podcasts and keep abreast of trends and best practices in business intelligence (BI), customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other enterprise software areas. Make the most of a long commute, a free lunch hour, a tedious data-entry session, or some upcoming treadmill time by stacking your MP3 playlist with insights from TEC analysts and other industry experts.

Combined with our evaluation centers and our extensive collection of white papers, articles, and other industry research, TEC’s MP3 library helps you make sense of the enterprise software landscape. It’s the ideal way to prepare for an upcoming software selection. And because all of our free MP3 podcasts are in convenient, portable MP3 format, you can take them with you anywhere. All you need is an MP3 player and some time.

Download any of the MP3 podcasts on this page now, or visit our MP3 site for more. We record new MP3 podcasts regularly, so check back often.
Business Intelligence (BI) MP3 Podcasts
Why Manufacturers Should Cash In on the Promise of Business Intelligence

This MP3 interview with RCG Information Technology’s Robert Abate can help manufacturers gain an understanding of what it takes to add value to their current business intelligence (BI) use, or what they can gain from BI and how to get started.

MP3 Download - Why Manufacturers Should Cash In on the Promise of Business Intelligence
How Can Business Intelligence Benefit Small to Medium Businesses?

Research shows that the number one software solution that small to medium businesses plan to purchase in the coming year is business intelligence (BI). Download this MP3 podcast to find out why BI is so hot right now.

MP3 Download - How Can Business Intelligence Benefit Small to Medium Businesses?
A Project Manager's Guide to Business Performance Management

As business performance management (BPM) has expanded into virtually all areas of business, project managers have been broadening their soft management skills. This MP3 podcast will show you what project managers can borrow from BPM to streamline service delivery, optimize operations, and improve customer satisfaction.

MP3 Download - A Project Manager's Guide to Business Performance Management

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

2009-12-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

Ruckus Wireless has seen significant benefits from its investment in Arena, including:

Quicker ECO cycle times. With automated routings, electronic status notifications and the ability to update all relevant parts with a single change, Ruckus Wireless has been able to reduce ECO cycles by 70 percent or more.

Reduced cost of compliance. Arena compliance management features allow Ruckus Wireless to generate a compliance report with a single click, reducing compliance reporting time by more than 90 percentand eliminating the need to keep filing cabinets full of paper.

Fewer process-related errors and faster time to market. Reducing reliance upon manual processes virtually eliminates potentially costly human errors and helps Ruckus Wireless speed time to market by approximately 10 percent.

Affordable total cost of ownership (TCO). Because Arena is delivered on-demand, Ruckus Wireless did not need any additional IT infrastructure to support its deployment. Over a five-year period, the TCO of Arena is just 30 percent of the cost of traditional client/server software.

Support for company growth. Moving from being a start-up to being a successful, mid-size company required Ruckus to acquire an infrastructure that could effectively accommodate the crush of orders, requests and relationships that ensued as the company took off. Arena provided Ruckus with a low-cost, high-powered, scalable solution that meets its needs.

Greater security. As all of its data is hosted by Arena and protected by financial-grade security, Ruckus Wireless gains peace of mind knowing its data is safer than when it was stored internally and distributed through mail and email, which are neither controllable nor secure.

Case Study: Ruckus Wireless

2009-12-02T06:45:00.001-08:00

It is no surprise that Wi-Fi is quickly becoming the de facto standard for connecting all types of computers and handheld devices. But, as use becomes more pervasive, so does concern with the reliability of Wi-Fi for supporting business-critical applications. At the same time, more sophisticated applications for Wi-Fi are being supported on new-generation handheld devices, such as iPhones, dual-mode handsets and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Wi-Fi is now expected to do more than merely provide casual connectivity to the Internet. It is expected to reliably support voice, video and data over an extended range while delivering predictable performance.

Thus far, this has been impossible.

As a technology that operates in an unlicensed band, Wi-Fi suffers greatly from interference, erratic performance and poor range. In the wireless LAN marketplace, small and medium businesses and hot spot operators struggle with the problem of having no truly viable Wi-Fi choice. The only two choices they have are costly and cumbersome enterprise-class systems or cheap consumer-grade equipment that fails to address the issues of reliability, cost, extended signal range and security.

Wi-Fi technology innovator Ruckus Wireless (www.ruckuswireless.com) is the only Wi-Fi equipment supplier focused on addressing the issue of reliability and predictable Wi-Fi performance and bridging the gap between high-end and consumer-grade equipment. The company is working to make Wi-Fi reliable enough to be used as a utility in homes, offices and hot spots around the world.

Arena is a great application for managing our bill of materials and engineering changes. And were able to customize so many different departments can use the software to meet their needs. For example, we now put all of our industry and country certifications into Arena, so our salespeople have instant access to them. As we use the software, we continue to uncover more and more valuable functionality.
- David Hom
Document Control Manager
Ruckus Wireless
THE Challenge

Formed in 2004, Ruckus Wireless has become a competitor to watch in the explosive wireless LAN market.

In just under four years, the company, designated as a 2007 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and named the 2007 Start-Up of the Year by EE Times, has shipped more than 150,000 Wi-Fi systems to customers around the world and raised approximately $32 million in financing from premier venture capital investors, consumer electronics companies and broadband operators. Its growth has been rapid and demand for its products strong.

Like all other successful, fast-growing companies, Ruckus Wireless needed to continue to innovate quickly, speed products to market, manage costs, maximize efficiency and meet quality and regulatory compliance requirements, while simultaneously ramping up its infrastructure to effectively accommodate the crush of orders, requests and relationships that ensued as the company took off.

This hyper-growth phase had Ruckus Wireless looking for an infrastructure that offered the company a high level of control and helped it avoid potentially costly errors related to manual processes. In addition, Ruckus needed this system to be able to scale as the company grew larger to support new product offerings, expansion into new markets and greater use by more employees and contractors around the world.

As a highly entrepreneurial organization, cross-company communication was a mustmarketing, operations, sales and engineering needed a strong platform on which to collaborate to bring products to market. In addition, because Ruckus outsources manufacturing, the platform had to be able to handle the added complexity of managing those relationships with timely and accurate communications, monitoring each partner and the information distributed to it. Ruckus Wireless realized that to maximize growth, it had to proactively take advantage of a collaborative tool to centralize and control its product information.

Last year, the company did a lot of hiring and decided to put together an infrastructure that could help us move our products from concept to manufacturing more efficiently. We transitioned from managing our processes with Excel spreadsheets, email and phone calls to having one central location for product information that is accessible to our employees and designated suppliers, said David Hom, document control manager of Ruckus Wireless. When Ruckus adopted Arena, it solidified its move from being a start-up to being an established company.

Case Study: Ruckus Wireless

2009-12-02T06:45:00.000-08:00

Vendor Viability (Size) vs. Customer Intimacy

2009-06-25T06:24:00.001-07:00

After almost a decade of following the enterprise applications market via insightful, sometimes exhaustive (and exhausting) free research articles (which will continue to go on in earnest and continue to be rated by our readers), the time has come for me to be in tune with the Web 2.0 and related social networking. In other words, the time has come for my blog at TEC, and the dilemma was then what to start with.

Well, given that facilitating impartial software selections has always been TEC’s “raison d’etre”, then the first topic should logically have something to do with that. To that end, as discussed in our now ancient article “Do You Know How to Evaluate Your Strategic Technology Provider?” , best practices drawn from TEC client organizations that have completed internal technology selections suggest that project teams should examine six key criteria groupings. The first three criteria sets should examine product specific capabilities, while the second three should investigate the software vendor’s overall corporate capabilities.

One of the later three criteria is Vendors’ Corporate Viability, defined in the above article as

a critical yet often overlooked category that should examine the financial and management strength of the vendor. Given the huge dollars spent upon and strategic importance applied to most major IT procurements, the financial stability of the vendor supplying the product cannot be overlooked. The vendor viability evaluation section should combine quantitative Wall Street ratio and metric analysis with qualitative management and corporate evaluations. Only by combining the two components can executives accurately assess the risk and benefit of corporate investment in a specific product and vendor. At a minimum, the corporate viability criterion should evaluate the overall financial viability of the vendor, its macro and micro market viability, its sales and marketing viability, its management viability, and its research and development viability. Relative to the other five evaluation criteria, best practice selections place approximately 20 percent of the overall selection importance on the corporate viability criterion.

In plain English, corporate viability would mean whether the particular vendor and product will be around for some time to come. Indeed, as well captured by the blog “ERP Graveyard“, there has been a real carnage in the market for quite a while. Certainly, not every acquisition has necessarily meant a death of the acquired product (after all, good products with large install bases die hard), but has typically meant customers’ anxiety, some changes in the product direction (i.e., usually increased service & support feels for fewer benefits), and so on. That is usually the case, while at the extremes, a few products have been “stabilized” (or “killed” if you will) on the one hand, while only a few lucky ones have even been reinvigorated by the new owner, on the other extreme.

In any case, as every change is painful, the ideal situation for the user enterprise would be to stick with the same owner (management) as long as possible. The common wisdom is then to go for a large, globally renowned provider, as such a company should remain independent much longer than the little ones. Right? Well, maybe (given that even $1 billion companies have lately been gobbled up), but also, should anything else enter the viability picture? Namely, what I am aiming at here is the customer intimacy — how likely is that any user company amid a few dozen thousand of peers (as some consolidating vendors now brag about) will feel as special to the vendor?

This question popped in my head after attending (possibly reluctantly at first) a client summit event of a little and obscure vendor, Webcom Inc., a provider of on-demand/software as a service (SaaS) B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) e-commerce suite, with a strong product configurator, catalog, workflow and document management capabilities at its core. The two and a half day event in a single conference room of a Las Vegas hotel was miniscule compared to the like events of ERP giants with thousands of attendees. However, what has impressed me most at this event was to see the Webcom’s founder and CEO, Aleks Ivanovic, stand up every day for a few hours and demonstrate to the users every new product feature as well as the 18 months product roadmap and the rationale why something (a customer or partner suggestion) was slated for now vs. pushed out for future developments.

Such hands on involvement of a CEO (also acknowledged by both users and other partners’ staffers in our private conversations) is yet to be seen by any larger software vendor — the best one can hope there would be access to a mid-level product manager, account manager, or so. Further, when not presenting, Aleks would be constantly checking his inbox for any message on a customers’ suspected bug/problem or a request for some customized work as to improve their business (yes, I admit to my bad manners and looking over Aleks’ shoulder, having been seated next to him). And no, Aleks doesn’t strike me as a dictatorial control freak or a micro-manager, but rather as a workaholic and a dedicated young entrepreneur — ironically, despite being a majority owner, Aleks admits being outvoted by other leaders at Webcom, in some instances, about some product or marketing decisions.

Aleks is proud of not having any venture capital (VC) investment (which he refuses to consider time and again) and having a full control of the company/product’s destiny. And yet, the company keeps doubling in size every year (sure, it might be easy to double at such a size, currently with about 40 corporate customers and 40 employees) and remains profitable (whereby most of the profit goes back to the product development). Aleks believes that any vendor is most likely viable if it has the best product. Thus, Webcom offers a no-frills trial for believing that as soon as a prospect sees the product will not likely go for a competitor’s. The strategy is to allow the folks to try it on, and while the “larger and more viable” competitors brag about their products, Webcom prefers that the customers come to their own conclusions.

Another example of a hands-on CEO would be Ned Lilly of xTuple (formerly OpenMFG) [evaluate or see a TEC report], an arguably open-source enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendor. Ned is quick to explain any minute product capability, rationale for having some capability or not, etc. Not to mention that the vendor is quite publicly open about its pricing and any other frequently asked questions (FAQ).

Given that Ned occasionally points out (if not crows over) poor viabilities of his competitor products at his abovementioned ERP Graveyard blog, I then recently challenged him to tell me how he then answers to some folks possibly questioning his company’s viability. After all, xTuple is still a small start-up with about 70 customers (compared to e.g., the size of Microsoft Business Solutions [evaluate or see reports on some of its products] or Infor [evaluate or see some of its products]). While I was not sure about xTuple’s VC investment arrangement, etc., the question is how prospective users can be sure of Ned’s commitment and being around forever (after all everyone can be for sale, for a good price). Also, I saw some recent article talking about Ned’s possible interest in more VC as for the company’s international expansion, which can then dilute his control and decisions. In other words, what is your “defense” there Ned? :-)

“Well, first of all, I won’t do a bad VC deal”, Ned Said. “I don’t have to :-) … and having sat on the other side of that table as a corporate VC myself, I have some idea of what I’m looking at.

But to the larger question of viability, I think we have a pretty good one-two punch answer. First, we’re closely held and profitable, and don’t have to answer to the kind of often-punitive financial forces that can make other software companies behave badly. But even more significantly, I would say that the best hedge any company can have against the future of its ERP vendor is to have an open source strategy. If the commonwealth of Virginia fell into the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow, taking xTuple with it, our customers and partners would have a leg up on customers of other vendors in a similar situation - they would have the source code to their software, and they would be members of a larger community of users who are actively involved in the support, maintenance, and improvement of that software.

That’s the best insurance policy against the ERP Graveyard. After all, how secure were JD Edwards customers - long operating history, $800MM in sales, strong balance sheet. Then they were bought and sold twice in a year. There is no security in working with a big vendor - and in fact, if the vendor’s stock is actively traded, there’s probably less so.

So back to us - in thinking about scaling up the business, we’re only interested in working with investors that share our vision of the marketplace and the larger opportunity. In other words, investors who will give us operational running room, and also add significant value over and above the dollars. If we can attract people like that on good terms, great. If not, that’s fine too - it’s a big market, and we’re pretty comfortable operating under the radar.”

Thus, at the end of the day, a question for the readers, many which might be enterprise applications users, current or potential — is the vendor’s size and brand recognition what makes you most comfortable and sleeping better at night? Or, maybe some other, “softer” issues, like customer intimacy, source code availability, on-line try-it-on, etc. can enter the viability picture?

Web 2.0 — “Wow!” or “So What?!”

2009-06-25T06:23:00.003-07:00

Another buzzword (albeit not another three letter acronym [TLA]) that has slowly (or not) but surely crept into our collective mind is certainly Web 2.0. Although there have been some attempts at defining the term, such as at Wikipedia, ZDNet or TechTarget (and there are also some noble attempts of ZDNet bloggers, such as Richard MacManus or David Berlind), it is most likely that 10 different folks will provide 10 different interpretations (albeit most of these will revolve around mentioning wikis, blogs, AJAX, mashups, JavaScript, podcasts, social networking and so on).

Generally, I would venture to say any website that uses a little more interactive and dynamic technology (i.e. not just publishing “flat” HyperText Markup Language [HTML] pages) and supports some kind of online commerce, community, or other value-added activity that is enabled by the network would have Web 2.0 traits. But, is it still more buzzword than anything else, and is it being used to put “lipstick on a lot of pigs” even now?

Or, is Web 2.0 a genuine set of technologies that can even provide the “richness” of traditional desktop applications (read Microsoft Office) to the Web-based applications, without all the price and/or performance pitfalls/traps that are often associated with Office Business Applications (OBA)? At least we need to keep a close eye on how the next generation of office workers are using social networking sites/communities like Tagging, Facebook, Twitter, Instant Messenger (IM), etc., as they can give us a clue how effective collaboration should be driven into next generation of enterprise applications (of course, provided the security and privacy standards have been met).

The bloggers and market observers have certainly been buzzing about the advent of Web 2.0 for some time now, with recent discussions going in the direction of whether it is really a big deal after all (i.e., whether it should rather be called Web 1.1 or it has already earned the 3.0 designation) and whether the venture capitalists (VC’s) are slowly reaching the disenchantment stage (possibly similar to the dot.com era at the turn of the century).

In any case, while there is no debate that Web 2.0 has penetrated even the corporate world to a degree (as seen with wikis), and especially in some consumer-oriented front-office applications, my interest here is rather the importance of Web 2.0 deployment within the traditional enterprise applications.

Namely, when a leading enterprise applications planning (ERP) vendor announces that its product suite is Web 2.0-enabled (or compliant), as in recent cases of press releases (PR’s) from Oracle (evaluate its flagship product) and SAP (evaluate its flagship product), how should users react? Should they swoon in excitement or largely yawn and remain indifferent? In other words, during selection questionnaire/request for information (RFI) documents’ creation, should these capabilities be rated as “must have”, “nice to have” or something else?

Another phenomenon I’ve long noticed regarding the enterprise application space is the seemingly large disconnect between vendors’ (and analysts’) hype for cutting-edge applications/product modules — and the general market’s preparedness to embrace the new technology. It seems like there’s a several year lag before customers are ready to evaluate new products’ capabilities. Is there even a benefit to being a “laggard” vendor in each new application area/technology whiz-bangs (e.g., product lifecycle management [PLM], business intelligence (BI)/analytics, Software as a Service [SaaS], Web 2.0, service oriented architectures [SOA], etc.) to avoid some of the learning curve, and better address real needs of the market, when the time is ripe?

Well, the fact is that traditional (pre-Web and Web 1.0) enterprise applications were limited in a couple of ways. For one, any kind of processing that had to be run on the server side (e.g., a user enters data as to apply for a loan from the bank) required the user to input data, which would then be sent to the server to process it, and only then to return a new generated page to the user with the results. Also, the user interface (UI) elements were of quite limited interactive capabilities and user friendliness. Such limitations could in the past be overcome in various ways (workarounds):

1. Some innovative vendors have solved the problem of server processing by dividing the screen into sections, so that only one section would send all the data to the server. Thus, this was the only section to be reloaded, while the other sections would obtain the data from this one. These vendors were real pioneers by inventing solutions that Asynchronous Java and XML (AJAX) has subsequently addressed, albeit a few years later;
2. Also, if the data from server were not needed to process certain information, then the processing could be done on the client side via JavaScript programs; and
3. JavaScript was also used for more interactive UI applications.

The advent of Web 2.0 has largely solved the above shortcomings in two ways:

1. AJAX allows the capability to send only a part of the data from the web page to the server for processing without the user having to leave the page. This ability has enabled web applications to function like desktop applications; and
2. Many companies, groups and/or associations have written libraries of java scripts (e.g., the Dojo framework) and since JavaScript and web browsers have meanwhile become much more powerful, such a combination has brought out a powerful “rich” UI, which has also converged the functionalities of web and desktop applications. The best example of this is when, e.g., in Google Search a user starts to write a sentence, the engine captures keystroke events, and after every keyed letter, it sends to the server what has been typed so far. Then, the server sends back the most popular phrases (and links) so far that start with such a combination of letters (the “courtesy” of AJAX), while, underneath the search field the UI shows those phrases (the “courtesy” of advanced JavaScript) so that the user can at any time select (the most suitable) one.

The nifty “mouseover” functionality is enabled by HTML and JavaScript, whereas AJAX enables that the data within the mouseover window can be sent to the server, which then processes it and refreshes the mouseover window. Certainly, there are a number of “richer” and more powerful client plug-in’s, such as Lazlo, Curl or Adobe Flex, but these are not “pure HTML” or “zero client” like AJAX (which can be some developers’ preference).

The bottom line: if a vendor cites that its applications are Web 2.0-enabled, it is most likely that the software is harnessing new capabilities of the Web. For users, it should mean that they should be able to better and faster (more efficiently) conduct business within the application. For instance: a user (purchase clerk or manager) is placing a purchase order and has to select a supplier. In old Web applications, he/she would have to click on the lookup field/icon (in case of the company having hundreds or thousands of suppliers) and to then type some criterion. After clicking the submit button, the new page would show the possible results, so that the user can select a certain supplier, and then continue to input all other necessary data for the order. Conversely, Web 2.0 should allow the user to type the partial supplier’s name (a la Google Search) to immediately receive the potential matches, select the correct one and continue accordingly.

Further, Given that Web 2.0 is first and foremost an application interface question, there is certainly an opportunity for value added resellers (VARs), and some vendors have thus far acquired a number of partners who have spun up slick web interfaces into their ERP backends. We expect to see more of that in the future - and encourage it, especially if most of the business logic is in the database (since it is then a fairly simple thing to do). At least in manufacturing, before we see much of business-to-consumer (B2C) stuff like mass market social computing, we’ll likely see more business-to-business (B2B) industry oriented stuff like MFG.com or other online marketplaces.

In any case, this is an area where we might have even expanded partner opportunities thanks to the open source or SaaS play — people can work through an integration with, e.g., the xTuple PostBooks accounting product or Salesforce.com (evaluate the product) customer relationship management (CRM) product suite (within the Salesforce.com Apex platform), and do all the experimenting before they even contact the vendor. While only time will tell how deep and successful these integrations (or partnership deals) will be - but certainly a big part of the open source and/or SaaS value-add is to have a greater ability to make these kind of connections oneself, and we expect to see more of that in the future.

Witty and viral marketing of enterprise applications?

2009-06-25T06:23:00.001-07:00

Reading in-flight magazines and running through airports today, we can see advertising for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, but it is always a serious stuff (albeit well done and to the point), such as “Best run businesses run on SAP” (or so). Nowadays, however, if we go to the virtual online, social-networking world (with viral marketing and advertising at its core), we can even find attempts at humor in marketing ERP. To see what I mean, please go to YouTube and see a humorous take on ERP systems and ERP vendors.

With the “cat in the tree” theme, Lawson Software (evaluate some of its products) is attempting to use viral marketing, with cartoonish humor, to gain a small corner in the otherwise big budget advertising fight between SAP and Oracle (if not Microsoft and IBM too). Lawson is a relatively large vendor, with revenues nearing the US$1 billion mark, but is quite far from the financial muscle of SAP (evaluate some of its products) and Oracle (evaluate some of its products). Therefore, can creativity and viral marketing make a dent in this big budget world or is this just “budget envy” on the part of Lawson?

I would be interested in whether you found the piece amusing and conveying the right message. In other words, I’d be interested in your feedback. For example, did Lawson capture SAP (SEPP in the video) and Oracle (L. Carole in the video) the way the market sees them? Rumor has it that more of this is coming. So, will this kind of messaging work for Lawson and its smaller peers? Or, is this dirty pool that can boomerang on the advertiser?

Namely, will the market buy the portrayal of intended stereotypes of the biggest ERP vendors being overkills, while the smaller ones are exactly what the doctor ordered? In the video, both ERP giants tried to save the cat with complex and somewhat destructive (ouch!) approaches (in a “shooting birds with a cannon” approach). Is the message of SAP being “like pouring concrete over users’ ankles” getting a bit tired? After all, SAP and Oracle now have simpler products, such as SAP Business One (evaluate this product) or Oracle JD Edwards (evaluate this product), for simpler environments. On the other hand, Lawson S3 (evaluate this product) and Lawson M3 (formerly Intentia Movex, evaluate this product) are not exactly simple products either (i.e., implementing them is not exactly as simple as downloading the Internet Explorer), although, in some vertical markets, the products can fit like a glove.

To play devil’s advocate (and be literal), Lawson might have underestimated how complex it can be to get a rogue cat out of a tree…and the cat is still alive at the end of the day (even if badly banged up). Further, did Lawson really intend to compare its product to a stinky dead fish? Someone might thus have found this cartoon pedantic and not very clever, like a bad comedian trying hard to make people laugh?

At the end of the day, do you think Lawson managed to convey the right message, or was it a waste of time and money (even if less than via traditional pricey marketing channels)? Also, do you still select mission-critical ERP vendors and solutions via their brand names and recognition (perceptions) or via an evaluation process with due diligence?

Top 6 Enterprise Software Trends to Watch for in 2008—And What It all Means for You

2009-06-25T06:18:00.001-07:00

You may still be feeling a little woozy from showing 2007 out the door. Make sure you’re not caught off-guard by 2008, with the top 6 trends you should watch for in the year ahead.

1. ERP—The Technology Matures
Granted, ERP vendors have been defining the technology as “mature” for quite a while now, but with limited room for ERP feature and function innovation (from a transactional point of view), they can no longer count on sparkle and flash as a key differentiator.

That’s why vendors will seek new ways to show how their ERP solutions can be used in conjunction with other offerings, in order to leverage the fullest capacity of ERP.

While SOA was the big vendor trend a few years ago, the new road map for product evolution will involve new “horizontal” offerings (such as business process management or business intelligence systems) sitting on top of the ERP application. Vendors will also be more eager to demonstrate flexible mapping to your existing business processes.

In a mature applications market, software vendors cannot force-feed you their technologies. You do not need to compromise your business processes if you feel it’s not to your advantage.

2. “Web 2.0”
Buzzwords aside (See P.J. Jakovljevic’s blog post Web 2.0—“Wow!” or “So What?!”), social networking is one of the primary drivers in today’s business landscape.

Vendors need to keep their ears close to the ground, as consumer trends evolve towards features being “pulled” by users rather than “pushed” by developers.

Another characteristic of 2.0 is the concept of content “mashups,” where multiple sources are used to provide real-time information (as in the case of transportation management and tracking systems. This is not a new concept developmentally, but the fact that it’s entering the collective consumer conscience raises the bar for enterprise systems.

With the Web gaining mass acceptance as a business platform, vendors are also introducing “search” concepts that incorporate unstructured data—and allow employees to search enterprise knowledge in the same way consumers search the Web.

3. Acquisitions
The big players will seek to diversify their expertise, rather than aiming towards consolidation (see Trend #1). This applies in terms of both horizontal functionality (e.g., with business intelligence layers sitting on top of ERP applications) and vertical focus.

The era of acquisitions is not dead. More on out why you should care.

4. SMBs Come Out Ahead—Finally
The software vendor giants are moving down-market. Why? Because the big enterprise market is done.

What does this mean for you? Options, options, options. Use them as leverage during the negotiation stage of your software selection project.

5. Going Global
The seeming fragility of the US economy means that vendors will seek to go global in an effort to insulate themselves from US market shockwaves.

What this means for you: if you’re selecting an enterprise software application, you should focus on vendor viability. Specifically, if a shortlisted vendor is weak on localization in your target markets, you should find out whether this is an indication of short-sightedness.

6. Global Warming—Coming Soon to a Desktop Near You
Green is now on the agenda of corporations and governments worldwide. And there will be repercussions for SMBs. After all, if you’re not on the front lines of ecological awareness, your competitors will be. You can’t afford to ignore what will be a key differentiator in the minds of consumers everywhere.

Evaluate software packages carefully for scope for compliance, including regulatory compliance, industry-specific guidelines, and customer mandates

Security for Small and Medium Businesses

2009-06-25T06:17:00.002-07:00

We all know what security means when we think of our home. Did we lock the door when we left for the day? Is the stove turned off? Computer security for the small to medium business (SMB) must address similar concerns. Can a hacker gain access to its servers? How can a business protect its data?
Entry Points

A personal computer virus is a hidden software program that spreads from personal computer to computer. Infection comes from reading an e-mail that has a virus program as an attachment, or from visiting a web site that has been compromised. By visiting such a web site, the virus can be unknowingly downloaded onto the personal computer.

Another scenario is when criminal hacker viruses attack the servers that house business systems, including e-mail servers, while others attach to the computer networking infrastructure.

One of the most common types of viruses uses a business’s system to send out spam (the business’s system becomes the surrogate sender of e-mails, which typically include advertising e-mails pertaining to medications, sex, and the like). Another common type of virus is oriented toward gaining confidential data.

Legal Responsibilities

Virus protection is a legal responsibility. A business that allows viruses to emanate from its site or from the laptops supplied to its employees may be sued for consequential damage. Insurance companies offer some protection to an organization that implements a full security program.

What To Do

Install the appropriate antivirus software. The software works by recognizing the code in the virus’s program that is to be executed, and stops it dead. Two well-known antivirus software products for the desktop and the enterprise are Symantec (http://www.symantec.com) and McAfee (http://mcafee.com). Both offer excellent products and services that address a business’s network, the server, and the desktop.

Usually the purpose of a virus attack to a business system is to obtain confidential data, such as customer and credit card information. Recently, two businesses of note were hacked into even though due diligence was practiced: TJMax and Hannaford Brothers, each having 4 million credit cardholders.

What must an SMB do to protect itself and its clients? Here are a few pointers:

* Personal laptops must have an antivirus installed on them, which is kept current through regular updates.

* A business’s servers must be protected from server-based viruses:
o Database systems must have access control mechanisms in place.
o Confidential data must be stored encrypted.
o Web servers must be protected.

* Firewalls must be installed on network servers, and servers must be configured to block open, unprotected ports. (A port is similar to an apartment doorway in an apartment building.)

* Surveillance by network administrators must be performed. Detected viruses should be met with immediate remedial action, and a log should be kept of such occurrences.

* Match the rules imposed by financial institutions. Use public key encryption to transfer files to and from business partners.

Network servers are an area usually overlooked and left unguarded by the small business, although these servers are relatively easy to protect. Again, companies like Symantec (http://www.symantec.com), Juniper Networks (http://www.juniper.net), and Cisco (http://www.cisco.com) provide the protection software products and services to keep the front door locked.

Project Management Strategies for a Challenged Economy

2009-06-25T06:17:00.001-07:00

As recent media reports suggest, the dreaded “R” word—recession—is looming large across the horizon of most western and global economies. Many organizations have had to scale back their spending and reduce costs. Due to the cyclical nature of our economy, certain industries will fare better than others.

As a result of the savings generated by the cost reduction efforts, decisions on where to invest may determine which organizations emerge unscathed from a recession, and which organizations fall victim to it and implode. In a recent Business Week article, Bruce Nusbaum, assistant managing editor in charge of the magazine’s innovation and design coverage says, “Winners always emerge out of recessions, and they almost always beat their competition on the basis of something new.” Nusbaum cited Apple as a powerful example. During the last recession, Apple worked on its iTunes and iPod. When the recession was over, retail stores immediately did gangbuster business with these products, and the company’s stock soared. Apple’s competition is still singing the blues.

The Pro-active Project Manager

The need for a project manager (PM) to be” business savvy”, especially during a recession, is critical. The PM will have to become a crusader, a salesperson, and an influencer to fight for projects that enhance productivity and quality, or that shorten cycle times, or that have a shorter project life cycle to generate return on investment (ROI). When the economic cycle turns upward again—as it inevitably does—having invested in the improvement of quality and cycle time, within both manufacturing and product distribution, may result in a higher market share for a product. Once management has examined business processes as a way to bring about improvements, other areas of an organization’s infrastructure can be open for examination as well. The methodology that supports project management can be used in areas such as product design, by examining all aspects of a product’s features and benefits. This may result in improvements to product features unlike any of the competition’s product offerings, thus generating higher revenues for the organization.

Lean Strategies to Weather the Storm
1. Innovate to promote knowledge exchange by encouraging team-building and collaborative efforts through relationships with coworkers and vendors.
2. Generate competition among internal teams working toward to continous improvements.
3. Don’t cut back on meetings. Meetings for brainstorming and to fire up team members’ creativity are more important than ever when companies downsize.
4. Build new teams. Business pullbacks are excellent times to pursue new ideas and projects and to get them on the drawing board.?
5. Don’t insulate team members by cutting travel. Get them out in the world and exposed to new thinking. Send teams to trade shows and webinars, and encourage networking through associations, all to review costs with an eye toward eliminating unnecessary expenditures.
6. Introduce new technologies, such as business intelligence (BI) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), which will generate savings and add analytical visibility. For information on BI and ERP vendor solutions, consult TEC’s vendor showcase.

Talent (Human Capital) Management and Sports? Sign Me Up, Please! – Part 2

2009-06-25T06:16:00.002-07:00

Part 1 of this blog post introduced some mixed feelings and doubts that we might still have about the noble concepts of talent management and human capital management (HCM). This skepticism lingers in spite of the many indicators of the usefulness of these concepts in mitigating some imminent global workforce challenges, which were outlined in Part 1.

Accommodating “Generation Y”

Let us not forget about the looming demographic shifts, given that the baby boomers are on their way out. One group that has been receiving a lot of attention is the so-called Generation Y: the group mostly in their 20s that has recently entered or is about to enter the workforce. These dudes and dudettes haven’t just adopted the use of the Internet – they have grown up with it, and they rely (live and breathe) on it.

A key characteristic of basically all Gen Y candidates today (which might belong to earlier generations, like the Gen X) is that they are keen consumers of Internet technology. They are accustomed to using websites such as Amazon.com, Google, Facebook, Ask, LinkedIn, Twitter, Travelocity, and eBay (to name but a few), often on a daily basis, to buy what they want, go where they want, stay in touch with their friends and family, get their work done, and do it all and more with ease.

So, when it comes to looking for a job, they transfer their job-seeking experience to the corporate brand, and they draw on their consumer web experiences to set their expectations for their online job seeking experience. There are a number of characteristics associated with a technologically savvy generation of job seekers. These characteristics include:

* The ability to do job hunting, in a 24×7x365 manner;
* Expectations of instantaneous responses coupled with a short attention span (”That was so yesterday!”);
* Desire for immediate feedback and rapid results (“Dude, where is my offer/promotion?”);
* Demands for flexibility (often to be able to work in pajamas and sleepers, or at least to bring their pet iguanas to work);
* Assumed free exchange of information/access to more information for decisions (e.g., “A mate just sent another job opportunity via Facebook to my iPhone.”);
* Tendency to migrate towards better opportunity and growth (vs. loyalty); and
* The attitude to move back with parents and volunteer for a “higher cause” than to work for a jerk.

It is thus small wonder that recruiters are increasingly use LinkedIn and Facebook in their efforts, while talent management software providers begin to offer the integration to these social networking sites as a matter of course.

Talent Management and HCM Defined (Sort of)

The phenomena and factors outlined both here and in Part 1, coupled with every company’s need to align people directly with corporate goals, are forcing human resource (HR) departments to evolve from policy creation, cost reduction, process efficiency, and risk management (i.e., all those “paper and pencil pushing”) tasks to driving a new talent growing mindset in the organization. One important distinction is the evolution of the difference between tactical and administrative HR and strategic talent and human capital management.

In a nutshell, transactional HR activities are administrative overhead, whereas talent management is a continuous process that should deliver the optimal workforce for the company’s business. In this new model, instead of being the owners of mundane processes, forms, and compliance, the HR staff should transform into the strategic enablers of talent management processes that empower managers and employees while creating business value.

First of all, there is confusion about whether HCM and talent management are the same thing, or perhaps one area is bigger and broader than the other. I, for one, personally tend to believe that HCM is the broader concept that includes both the administrative HR & payroll functions and talent management as the strategic component. However, as it typically happens in this industry, the talent management’s scope of applications (that are needed to support HCM processes designed to manage a company’s greatest asset, i.e., people) is defined differently by industry analysts and consultants.

Still, most define talent management to include the following: recruitment, performance management, competency management, succession management, career development, and incentive and compensation management (ICM). Other talent management modules can include: workforce planning, learning management systems(LMS), as well as workforce analytics, portals, and dashboards.

Talent Management Software Examples

As an illustrative example, Taleo’s on-demand talent management applications suite currently comprises solutions for companies to assess (including workforce planning and analytics), acquire (i.e., source, select, and onboard), develop (i.e., manage performance, manage career, and plan succession), and align their workforce for improved business performance (via goals management, internal mobility, and reporting).

As another example, the Authoria Talent Management suite is also an integrated, on-demand solution that addresses the strategic talent management lifecycle, from hiring through compensation, performance, benefits communication, and succession planning. Also, by delivering role-based dashboards with analytics and workflow tools, the vendor aims to help managers improve business performance through better people performance. Authoria’s “plan-attract-review-reward-develop wheel” of applications involves the following modules:

* Authoria Recruiting drives the hiring of top talent;
* Authoria Performance aligns employee actions to company goals and captures performance against competencies. Managers are given coaching in-context to ensure standardized, best practice performance appraisals. Besides coaching, the competency support enriches the entire talent management lifecycle;
* Authoria Compensation comprises Authoria Incentive, which automates incentive compensation, and Authoria Salary, which improves accuracy, auditability and cycle times of compensation management; and
* Authoria Development & Succession leverages performance data to identify and develop top talent.

Let me for example flesh out the succession planning and employee-development module capabilities that allow line-of-business (LoB) managers and human resource (HR) professionals to assess bench strength, and fill critical roles with high-potential, top-performing employees. This latest functionality, which Authoria showcasing at the recent HR Technology Conference & Exposition, empowers LoB managers and HR professionals with:

* Talent Pools – Whereby employees with high-leadership potential can be identified for critical roles, since managers and HR professionals have access to performance, education, work history, and other relevant information on potential successors;
* Succession Slates – Can be developed and maintained to readily identify high-potential employees to fill key roles;
* Succession Organization Chart – The availability and readiness of successors to key positions can be viewed directly from actionable org charts; and
* Bench Strength, Bench Health, Diversity, and Utilization Analytics – So that managers and HR professionals can view the slate of potential successors, and evaluate the readiness and flight risk of those people.

As the underlying technologies, Authoria’s role-based dashboards allow managers and employees to access reports and track workflow. The dashboards serve as a common starting point for a consistent and integrated approach to all aspects of talent management. Finally, Authoria Communications, the company’s original product, provides personalized benefits and policy communications to employees, with the idea of reducing costs and improving value.

Similar definitions and portfolios of talent management applications would come from Halogen Software, Kenexa, Lawson Software, SucessFactors, Oracle PeopleSoft HCM, Ramco Systems, Softscape, Workscape, Kronos, and so on. In the recently unveiled “Integrated Talent Management Practices Study” by IBM Global Services and the Human Capital Institute (HCI), the survey was based on the following six talent management dimensions:

1. Develop Strategy — Establishing the optimal long-term strategy for attracting, developing, connecting and deploying the workforce;
2. Attract and Retain — Sourcing, recruiting and holding onto the appropriate skills and capabilities according to business needs;
3. Motivate and Develop — Ensuring that people’s capabilities are understood and developed to match business requirements, while also meeting people’s needs for motivation, development and job satisfaction;
4. Deploy and Manage — Providing effective resource deployment, scheduling and work management that matches skills and experience with organizational needs;
5. Connect and Enable — Identifying individuals with relevant skills, collaborating and sharing knowledge, and working effectively in virtual setting; and
6. Transform and Sustain — Achieving clear, measurable and sustainable change within the organization, while maintaining the day-to-day continuity of operations.

Finally, there are the HCM and talent management definitions from Wikipedia.

Part 3 of this blog post will analyze how integrated talent management suite can help HR departments that are currently in distress, and finally explain my buying into the talent management concept via some major league sports examples. In the meantime, please feel free send me your comments, opinions, etc. I would certainly be interested in your personal work experiences as an employee or employers, as well as with leveraging this emerging software category per se.

CRM Buzzwords and Trends for 2009

2009-06-25T06:16:00.001-07:00

Customer relationship management (CRM) is more than a technology. It’s a business strategy that aims at identifying customers and their needs and then creating sales and service strategies that are unique to them.

Here is a quick look at CRM—from buzzwords to trends, to some recommended solutions.

CRM Buzzwords

* CRM ecosystem - the changing landscape of customer relationship management
* Customer experience – a purchasing experience provided to a consumer by a retailer aimed at retaining customer loyalty
* Mobile CRM – a solution that provides remote access to the sales force in the field to important customer data, such as quotes, contracts, etc.
* CRM 2.0 – like Web 2.0, CRM 2.0 allows users to communicate through various platforms and forums on a variety of customer-related topics (such as products, purchasing, service, etc.)

Hot and Trendy in CRM
To be successful, there are certain things your business can’t—or shouldn’t—be without. One of those things is CRM. Why wait until one of your competitors gets the latest and greatest in CRM technology—leaving your business in the dust? Do your CRM shopping today by finding out what’s new, hot, and trendy in CRM for 2009. At the same time you’ll learn about the different ways your organization can retain customers in these hard economic times.

#1- Going Mobile
Many organizations have already adopted mobile CRM to help improve productivity and enhance the customer experience. In the service sector, mobile CRM has become a big priority, as it provides the ability for sales people in the field to access and update CRM information anywhere they can use a mobile device (PDA, Blackberry, etc.)

With instant access to customer information, sales reps can easily update records, respond to leads, as well as customer’s requests. Mobile CRM helps businesses and their sales force improve its customer service; it provides greater visibility to real-time data, and helps to shorten the sales cycle.

#2 - Analytics and Forecasting
Today, more and more companies are investing in understanding customer value and modeling customer behavior. As such, through the use of analytics, businesses now have a comprehensive way of capturing data and learning more about the customer, their spending habits, and much more. Here are some examples of what analytics can provide.

Sales

* customer sales analysis
* sales analysis by salesperson
* sales analysis by sales region
* sales analysis by product group
* statistics of all customer visits
* creation of sales forecasts

Marketing and Service

* reports on how well your marketing programs are doing
* multichannel campaign tracking
* statistics of all telephone calls made
* customer service response times

#3 - Social Networking/Social Computing
Everywhere you go these days, people are connected in one way or another. I don’t mean in the “six degrees of separation” kind of way, but literally connected—through their computers, laptops, pagers, cells phones, SmartPhones, iPhones, or Blackberries. And through forums like MSN Messenger, wikis, podcasts, Facebook, LinkedIn, Classmates, MySpace, Reunion.com, personal blogs—just to name a few. The list is endless. This is what is known as social networking, social computing, or Web 2.0 (in this case CRM 2.0).

While social networking is certainly not a new technology, it seems to be gaining momentum. For the über-shopper, new technologies like StoreXperience now allows consumers to communicate with stores through a simple application download to their cell phone through text message. Not only can consumers check prices by scanning the price tags with the phone’s camera while shopping, they can also receive detailed product information instantly on their phone from the retailer.

In addition to communicating through many different forums, users can communicate about many different topics—including what products they’ve purchased and how they rate them. You might be thinking that for manufacturers and retailers this might be a bad thing. On the contrary, these organizations are welcoming Web 2.0 as a means of helping them to improve their product and ultimately their brand. By using social networking tools, companies can test new ideas with the consumer and get their feedback.

CRM and the Economy
With the economy in a downturn, 2009 is expected to be a very tough year for businesses. Even though consumers will likely be tightening their pocketbooks in the coming year, companies still need to ensure that the customer’s they do have are well taken care of. By leveraging new technologies that can help improve performance, you can turn your call center from a cost center to a profit center.

CRM Offerings at a Glance

* CDC Software - The Pivotal CRM platform and the applications built upon it are highly flexible, enabling customers to mold the software to fit the way they do business. Extreme architectural flexibility cuts down on the time and cost of customizing Pivotal CRM solutions and allows businesses to create the internal processes and external customer experience that fit their strategy and vision.
* Exact Software – e-Synergy is a web-based collaborative platform that includes CRM and human resources (HR) functionality, including real-time financials, multisite reporting, and relationship and knowledge management capabilities. The solution allows organizations to access all customer contacts, correspondence, transactions, and activities in a single central database, securely from anywhere via the Internet or intranet.
* Microsoft – Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a fully integrated CRM solution comprised of a robust suite of sales, marketing, and customer service capabilities. The product offers businesses of all sizes a fast, flexible, and affordable solution for finding, winning, and growing profitable customer relationships. Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides enterprise scalability, performance, and flexibility with a choice of on-premise and on-demand deployments.
* Maximizer Software – Maximizer CRM is a CRM application that brings together sales, marketing, and customer service and support in one suite that is accessible from the office, remotely via the Web, or through mobile devices (including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Palm). The solution helps enterprises track and measure individual and team performance; generate accurate forecasts, and preserve each customer’s life cycle.
* Syspro – Syspro CRM was developed around a process automation methodology in which key functions of the CRM solution are defined specific to the end users’ needs allowing for improved efficiency in regards to customer and vendor management. With strong marketing, campaign, and service management, the Syspro CRM solution was designed to dynamically handle the constantly changing requirements of today’s business.

If you’d like to take a closer look at the above vendor’s CRM offerings, or if you’d like do a comparison analysis, visit TEC’s Software Evaluation Centers for the latest in CRM enterprise software solutions.

How Can IT Help Competitiveness These Bleak Days? – Part 1

2009-06-25T06:15:00.002-07:00

A week before this past Thanksgiving holiday (US), I was invited by a long-term analyst relationship contact at SAP to listen to (via multimedia streaming) a panel discussion on a late Friday afternoon. The expert panel explored reasons for companies to maintain IT investment even (if not especially) during difficult economic times.

Bruce Richardson, the Chief Research Officer of AMR Research, moderated the event. The star-studded and well-rounded panel also included:

* Leo Apotheker, co-chief executive officer (CEO) of SAP;
* A secretary of administration for a large public sector SAP customer;
* A chief information officer (CIO) of a healthcare SAP customer representing the small-to-medium business (SMB) market; and
* Andrew McAfee, the Harvard Business School (HBS) professor who reportedly coined the moniker “Enterprise 2.0″ and who has been a proponent of good use of IT for boosting competitive position.

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) article by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson entitled “Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference” was the main supplement and starting point of the discussion. In a nutshell, the panel logically (and not surprisingly) argued that enterprises should use IT solutions to innovate and create differentiation, especially during a difficult economy.

Moreover, the aforementioned SAP contact privately solicited my opinion on the extent to which these esteemed academics understand our industry. According to the “you asked for it” motto, here are my thoughts (albeit parlayed into a blog post to be shared with our readers too).

We Learn New Things Every Day

Well, for one, as an ordinary mortal, I certainly have insufficient hubris to put down a well-researched-for article by such a prestigious publication and authors. The article certainly reveals many valuable stats and figures that I might have intuitively expected but was unsure of the hard facts. For example, I did not know the exact numbers like those below:

“Corporate investments in IT surged during this time—from about $3,500 spent per worker in 1994 to about $8,000 in 2005, according the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)… At the same time, annual productivity growth in U.S. companies roughly doubled, after plodding along at about 1.4% for nearly 20 years. Much attention has been paid to the connection between productivity growth and the increase in IT investment. But hardly any has been directed to the nature of the link between IT and competitiveness…”

Also, the case studies of renowned companies like Otis Elevator Company, CVS/pharmacy Drug Stores, Tesco, and Cisco Systems, Inc. were astutely selected to point out the following:

“…many companies the authors have observed gaining a market edge by competing on technology-enabled processes—carefully examining their working methods, revamping them in interesting ways, and using readily available enterprise software and networking technologies to spread these process changes to far-flung locations so they’re executed the same way every time.”

To gain and keep a competitive edge in this environment, the authors recommend a plausible three-step strategy:

1. Deploy — A consistent technology platform to be used throughout your company, rather than stitching together a jumble of legacy systems;
2. Innovate — Design better ways of doing work in your company; and
3. Propagate — Use IT to replicate those process innovations widely throughout your company.

The best candidates for innovation (and differentiation) are processes that:

* Apply across a large swathe of your company (such as all your stores, factories, or delivery teams);
* Produce results as soon as your new IT system goes live;
* Require precise instructions (such as order taking or delivery);
* Can be executed the same way everywhere and every time in your organization; and
* Can be tracked in real time so you can immediately spot and address any backsliding to older versions of the process.

This strategy has since been embraced wholeheartedly by other large platform providers like SAP. Most recently, I saw the attribution to the strategy by Oracle during its National Retail Federation (NRF) 2009 BIG Show Conference & Expo presentation.

In any case, the HBR study highlighted CVS/pharmacy as a great illustration of IT innovations. The report pointed to the CVS deployment of IT to increase customer satisfaction by being able to fulfill prescription orders without delays. The pharmacy retailer did this by performing the insurance verification earlier in the refill process while the customer was still available (on the phone or in the store).

While I sometimes also get my family prescriptions filled by somewhat scandal-tainted Walgreens, a friend of mine that always uses CVS pointed out that perhaps CVS did this to avoid its employees wasting their time and money fulfilling orders for which customers couldn’t pay. If CVS is such a good proponent of IT technology, why does it still require its customers to keep past receipts in order to get future discounts?

Why can’t CVS maintain this electronic receipt information (or a content management system [CMS]) on a database for its local stores instead? We’re all soon going to be like George Costanza in the “Seinfeld” episode with having to carry an exploding (“morbidly obese”) wallet. But I digress…

Besides, the theories and supporting stats about the industry concentration (much larger market share that is held by top 20 largest firms in low-IT vs. high-IT industries), market turbulence (i.e., whereby the top selling company one year might not dominate the next), and the performance spread (i.e., the gross profit margin contrast between winners and losers) made the article worth reading.

Additionally, after repeatedly hearing that companies should change or improve all their business processes first and then automate them with IT, I was at least pleased to see an authority point out that IT often plays an integral role in impacting the needed business process change in the first place. The message one often hears at conferences or in publications is that companies should get all of their business processes right (in a “big bang” manner), before considering IT solutions.

Remember the business process reengineering (BPR) frenzy of the early and mid 1990s? I think this can often be a seriously oversimplified advice, however logical it might be to “put the house in order first.” Ironically or not, we consistently see companies gain a far better understanding of their business processes specifically through the process of introducing specialized IT tools. Technology alone may not solve the problem, but it plays a much more integral and enforcing role than just automating the “best practices” after the fact.

Ifs and Buts

On the down side, however, I was honestly left wanting and expecting a bit more of the things I did not already know about (or at least suspect). Perhaps the panel and the esteemed authors are not to blame for my (overly) inflated and/or misguided expectations, in part due to my SAP contact.

Certainly, I will not sound as harsh as a curmudgeon friend of mine who also covers the space (who holds a doctoral degree from a prestigious university like the authors) and who is known by his regular brash criticism of vendors and their solutions and marketing moves. He simply said:

“Well, I’ve read it, and it’s nonsense, alas, or at least a painfully asinine way of dressing up the completely obvious so that it sounds new.”

At least, for one, the data provided in the article were not more recent than 2005, which might not be that useful during these extraordinarily challenging economic times. I look forward to the authors updating their study past 2005 (and far from better economic times then) and let’s then see what they might find out.

Maybe then the article would mention the following disruptive technologies of today, all of which are of increased interest as a result of the current economic downturn: software as a service (SaaS), cloud computing, virtualization, free & open source software, and social networks (computing)? To be fair, some of these technologies could be implied from within the article (if one can read in-between lines), but more about it later on.

But really, I am not sure how this panel discussion was particularly applicable to SAP and not to other enterprise applications providers (e.g., IFS, Lawson, or Epicor). Maybe the abovementioned large companies that were showcased in the article are SAP’s platform users? Oh, now I get the point, right!

What was in fact interesting to me was how the study implicitly supports the notion that enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other IT investments are becoming increasingly commoditized. Make no mistake, they are still hugely strategic, and the baseline on which companies improve and standardize their processes, but pretty darn horizontal.

It’s like saying your business will run better with fresh air, electricity, and air conditioning. There’s not much of an argument for installing super high-end air purifiers on your heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system that makes the whole factory smell like, say, Christian Dior fragrances. True, most likely this “smelly” investment would not bring any return on investment (ROI) per se, e.g., increased worker and equipment productivity. But the main point here is that all every enterprise needs is air, which is still largely free and not really a differentiating factor.

So in a way, it might even be ironic that SAP was sponsoring the presentation of this research because its findings could even be anathema to SAP’s business model over the past decades. We’ve been saying for some time that once you reach a certain level of feature, functionality, and/or technology ante, most ERP systems are more alike than not, commodities of sort.

That being the case, why pay a premium for one of the over-engineered Tier One packages, whose pricing has more to do with sustaining the legacy business model than a true awareness of market value? Nothing against SAP or the HBR authors, just playing devil’s advocate here.

Lean Deja Vu?

Another industry-savvy friend of mine basically pointed out, and I concur, that: “this piece is a great textbook solution that is best read by 20-something fresh college graduates with the gleam of business desire in their eyes and their idealistic ‘change the world’ mantra fresh on their lips.” In other words, seasoned and jaded IT practitioners and market observers will naturally take a much more cynical and skeptical view.

With all due respect, but these Harvard academics might have hereby reinvented the wheel or repeated a well-worn argument that may be true, but is quite tired and said time and again under a new name every five to 10 years. In my 40-odd years I’ve read this same theme by business theorist William Edwards Deming, who called the combination of technology-enabled business processes total quality management.

Then came the Japanese-inspired Just in Time (JIT) theory and operational practices that have been around since the 1970s, but started getting worldwide PR traction in the late 1980’s and 1990s. Today we might be talking more about Lean Manufacturing (also not a new concept, but it might arguably be the newest of these few related and complementary principles and best practices). All these concepts and practices basically say the same thing:

“Improved Business Process + Supporting Technologies = Competitive Advantage”

Thou Shalt Improve Business Processes

OK, I concede that this message should perhaps never get tired and worn out: even my five-part blog post series on processes and the ability to be responsive talks in that regard. In fact, according to results from the 2009 CIO survey by Gartner Executive Programs (EXP), improving business processes is the top business priority, ahead of cutting enterprise costs.

In addition, British manufacturers that invested in IT and lean manufacturing solutions when times were good are now in better shape as the recession deepens, according to a survey on productivity published recently by Engineering Employers Federation (EEF), the UK manufacturers’ organization, and ERP vendor Infor. Another recent blog post concurs that while the spendthrift ways of the late 1990s are not likely to return anytime soon, leading companies understand that under-investing in technology – particularly during lean times – can erode profits and cost market share.

In a recent TEC blog post, Larry Blitz convincingly opines that in the current economic downturn companies should be exploiting technology not only to drive down costs and increase efficiencies, but to also grab market share and get a leg up on their competitors.

Part 2 of this blog series will continue with the analysis of the article and the related expert panel discussion. Meanwhile, your comments, suggestions, experiences and so on are more than welcome. Do you (and how) plan to use software to leapfrog competitors in the foreseeable future?

The Changing Face of CRM

2009-06-25T06:15:00.001-07:00

The recent economic slowdown has illustrated how interwoven our global economies really are. The demands to increase enterprise performance has accelerated. Whether it’s to find new opportunities to increase or maintain market share, or to generate new revenue opportunities, each of these areas represent additional challenges in fulfilling customer expectations and demands. A greater need now exists on placing the organization’s focus on the requirements of the customer, and many organizations have embraced the “customer centric” business model which was first brought to light in 2003, by Mitchell Tsang and Frank Piller (eds.) in The Customer Centric Enterprise: Advances in Mass Communication and Personalization.
They wrote:

Being customer centric includes a wide range of strategies, approaches and ideas. Agile manufacturing, focused factories, flexible specialization, customer relationship management, and mass customization are strategies that emerged from the literature in the last decades. Despite different backgrounds and focus, the major objective is to improve the ability of enterprises to react swiftly to changing customer needs and to address the heterogeneity of demand more efficiently.

As a result, sales organizations have to optimize their customer relationships by relying heavily on technology. In particular, organizations will have to count on CRM vendors to deliver visibility into streamlined operational and supply chain efficiencies, mainly so organizations can retain existing sales opportunities. Other CRM challenges include the need to measure the impact of sales campaigns “on-the-fly” and to offer greater insight into sales analytics. This document will take a look at how some CRM vendors are working to meet the challenge.

The Challenges Marketing Organizations Face

Marketing and sales driven organizations face a variety of challenges at different levels. At the senior management level, the challenge is to maintain and increase profitability and grow market share. Inherent in these is the need to identify key performance metrics to

• Increase customer penetration
• Conduct sales planning and forecasting to predict future revenue accurately
• Use and leverage sales resources effectively
• Manage all information relevant to a particular sales account
• Implement opportunity management to obtain visibility into the sales pipeline and to qualify, manage, and distribute sales leads to appropriate personnel
• Perform sales performance analyses to monitor results by region and individual territory
• Apply product configurations and estimates to enable the sales staff to provide accurate and timely quotes to their customers, on–the-fly
• Employ collaborative tools to ensure accurate information is delivered to the customer
• Ensure customer retention by providing consistent personalized service across all client interactions

The Evolution of CRM: CRM 2.0

The CRM space has evolved from a one dimensional set of tools which provided limited interaction between back-office functions and client facing functions. Today, it has evolved to become a set of tools that are versatile enough to meet a unique set of capabilities, that are interactive, and that can provide visibility to an organization. The new CRM, “CRM 2.0”, is based on tools and principals from social networking sites, wikis, blogs, community forums, and RSS content syndication. The use of CRM 2.0 requires a paradigm shift away from just implementing a customer centric business model, to engaging the customer. This engagement becomes an integral part to any line of business that can benefit from customer input—whether it be product design, research and development, procurement, etc. Therefore we can describe CRM 2.0 as both a business model and a strategic philosophy used to actively engage customer collaboration, and is supported by a technology platform and business process.

In addition to CRM 2.0, we note below some other CRM applications.

Analytical CRM

Analytical CRM enables an organization to collect data on its customers (data mining) and develop predictive analysis by dividing clients into various segments through the use of rich application online analytical processing (OLAP). Among other things, it can be used to predict the likelihood of a customer purchasing a product or the impact of pricing models.

Mobile CRM

Mobile CRM is one of the fastest growing segments of the CRM marketplace as companies are looking for innovative ways to reach customers. The convergence of fourth generation WIFI networks, and the addition of greater functionality uniquely designed for wireless technologies, has resulted in a fully mobile office environment. The belief is that a dynamic, integrated sales force can increase the number of sales opportunities by giving sales personnel more time to meet with clients, as opposed to engaging in daily and weekly administrative work. This technology provides customers with the opportunity to have information, on-the-fly and reduces order processing time.

Integrated CRM

As many organizations—especially those within the small medium business (SMB) enterprise space—do not regard marketing, service, and sales as separate activities, CRM systems must be able to provide an integrated view of these and other back-office functions. Typically a sales representative or call center may require one view that gives them the ability to look at previous or past sales orders, track the status of a customer order, view any pricing or billing issues, and see information on sales contracts. These integrated functions are designed to optimize service to the customer.

Customizable CRM

Some sales organizations have become frustrated with rigid CRM packages that offer only one type of specific functionality and do not address the unique characteristics of their business. To remedy this, customizable CRM packages offer multiple CRM templates that are easily configurable and can support different enterprise verticals, providing flexibility and performance.

Outsourcing CRM

As the current economic slowdown continues, there may be a continued demand for outsourcing CRM—specifically call centers. In the US, there are increased compliance issues that companies need to respect, particularly with regards to the vigilance of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce “do not call” legislation. However, lower forecasted economic activity may cause some US-based organizations to consider outsourcing a portion of their call center operations to stimulate onshore activities. This may potentially create a demand for focused contact center CRM applications

On Demand CRM SaaS

For organizations with a limited budget yet requiring some, but not all, of the feature functionality from major on-premise CRM solutions, on-demand (SaaS) CRM may be an option. It has a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) through its subscription-based pricing model. Additionally, the ease of deployment (as the application is accessed over the Internet) can be an advantage worth looking at if your business model is not complex.

Some Vendors Offerings
The TEC vendor showcase http://www.vendor-showcase.com is an excellent place to review the CRM space and vendor offerings in greater detail. Below are some CRM solutions that I reviewed and found worthy of mention.

Pivotal CRM by CDC Software
Pivotal CRM by CDC software is a flexible and feature-rich product which enables users to define their enterprise requirements through a customizable file template built on the MS .NET technology framework. It provides versatility to clients in the ever-changing financial services industry and to other, heavily compliance-laden industries, such as health care.

Maximizer CRM 10
Maximizer is a leading vendor of highly accessible CRM solutions. It offers an on-premise version, which has over 8,000 corporate clients, ranging in size from large global organizations to individual entrepreneurs. There is also a mobile version available, which allows users to access remote Web-enabled applications through a PDA device. The product builds on the organization’s twenty year legacy of success.

NetSuite CRM+
If your organization is considering an integrated end-to-end solution that delivers a robust CRM tool which includes sales force automation; customer support and service; analytics capabilities; and Web-enabled functionality, then this product provides the full “360 degree” of customer requirements. Through a simple click on a web portal, you can view all financial transactions by your clients. Your sales force will be able to enter orders directly into the system using remote access to engage supporting enterprise systems, like ERP, to review production schedules, thus enabling another level of customer service.

A Final Word

The current CRM space is reminiscent of the Olympic motto “Citius Altius Fortius”— Swifter, Higher, Stronger—in that the elements of the customer centric enterprise are similarly aligned. The features and functions mentioned here are all designed to drive a higher level of performance than what traditional CRM tools offer.

In these lean economic times, there is great competition for your customers’ business. Brand loyalty cannot be counted on to generate revenue. The current global economy and the many sales and marketing delivery systems available to the business place are increasing pressure on enterprise profitability and market share. The current generation Y has driven much of the need for instantaneous results and to meet this need, the enterprise market has adopted the “swifter, higher, stronger” philosophy. In a lean economy, can your organization afford not to provide your customers with the optimum service they expect?

Do Your Customers Really Trust You? Well, That Depends …

2009-06-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

Crises such as the one we’re currently going through seriously damage the trust bestowed by individuals upon corporations. This is more likely to result in the development of new corporate techniques to change these perceptions, which will most probably translate into new pressures from individuals, pressure groups, societies, or governments. Most likely, companies will be requested to strictly adhere to (if not go beyond) strict legal frameworks regulating their overall activities, aiming to protect consumers and other stakeholders.

Many companies have already begun to implement social and environmental initiatives within their business framework. One of the major incentives has been regulatory compliance. These regulations originate mainly from local, regional, or national regulations, aiming at achieving a particular environmental objective.

However, motivations for complying with these regulations vary largely. According to research conducted by AMR (Crossing the Great Divide: Sustainability as Corporate Strategy [registration required]), the major motivations for companies who actually implement green projects are

* business opportunities (30%)
* corporate brand (21%)
* competitive advantage (14%)
* moral imperative (11%)
* compliance (10%)
* strategic risk mitigation (7%)
* product innovation (4%)
* customer request (3%)

There is no doubt that the general trend is to move towards sustainability practices, regardless of whether the motivations are sustainability, savings on materials, or both. Unquestionably, companies adopting reactive strategies (based on compliance) may fall behind on long-term competitiveness. On the other hand, we can expect proactive initiatives, based on long-term sustainability objectives (win–win scenarios) and strategically integrated practices, to allow companies to move beyond compliance and achieve competitive advantage over competitors.

Due to their multidisciplinary nature, environmental issues in organizations can be addressed in many ways, according to the motivations mentioned above, and through a combination of initiatives. As each company has different motivations, environmental strategies are never the same. Nevertheless, there is one thing all companies embarking on these initiatives have in common: responsibility. In essence, companies are challenged to be accountable for the impacts of their actions. This concept is usually known as corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Unfortunately, there is a lack of consensus as to what constitutes CSR. Some companies talk about “corporate governance.” Others talk about “sustainability” or “corporate citizenship.” In fact, some companies’ definitions don’t even mention the environment at all. It is thus important to state the difference between all these concepts and the ones that are truly linked to sustainability.

Corporate Governance
As Sir Adrian Cadbury explained in a 1992 Report on Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance (Global Corporate Governance Forum, International Finance Corporation):

Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled… Boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their companies. The shareholders’ role in governance is to appoint the directors and the auditors and to satisfy themselves that an appropriate governance structure is in place. The responsibilities of the board include setting the company’s strategic aims, providing the leadership to put them into effect, supervising the management of the business and reporting to shareholders on their stewardship. The board’s actions are subject to laws, regulations and the shareholders in general meeting.

Hence, the concept of corporate governance is strictly linked to shareholders and the maximizing of share value in a responsible way.

Corporate Social Responsibility
One of the most common definitions for CSR is the one from the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (Corporate Social Responsibility: Making Good Business Sense): Corporate social responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life.

Furthermore, the UN Global Compact states that definitions of CSR may differ depending on the field where they arise. For example, from an ethics standpoint, companies are expected to practice CSR in order to “do good” to society. From an economic point of view, CSR will only be practiced as long as it’s profitable for companies.

According to the UN Global Compact, CSR has three dimensions: voluntarism, stakeholder management, and networking. Voluntarism is opposed to punishment, and allows companies to find best practices themselves and not through regulations. Stakeholder management incorporates the idea that companies should be held accountable not only to shareholders, but also to stakeholders, as they are directly influenced by the company’s activities. And third, relating to the importance of networking: best practices need to be communicated.

In Concepts and Definitions on CSR and Corporate Sustainability (pp. 107-119), Van Marrewijk concludes that “one solution fits all” approach to CSR and corporate governance should be abandoned, and that you should adopt more specific definitions that match the development, awareness, and ambition levels of your organization.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide a particular nor unified definition of standards or values for CSR. What is important to keep in mind is that CSR initiatives usually arise from a consensus of common values within a given company—a consensus which differs from company to company. It is important to note than these values are extremely subjective and cannot be compared from one organization to another. It is therefore difficult to evaluate or benchmark overall efficiency.

“Act Vertical” vs. “Go Extinct” Retailers – Part 2

2009-06-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of this blog series set the historical background for the supply chain management (SCM) evolution and presented the advantages and shortcomings of vertical vs. horizontal integration. The analysis then moved onto the generally embattled retail sector, where a select group of innovative retailers has found a “happy medium” approach to stay well above the fray. Retailers such as PetSmart Inc., Aéropostale Inc., Coach Inc., Trader Joe’s, Walgreens, and Target have realized the need to become serious product innovators and not just merchants of national product brands or sellers of their own knockoffs.

Kurt Salmon Associated (KSA), the leading global management consulting firm specializing in the retail and consumer goods industries, dubbed this strategy “Act Vertical” in its seminal research study. The firm presented the highlights of the study at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention & EXPO 2009 (also known as the “Retail Big Show“) in January 2009 in New York City. The accompanying slide deck can be downloaded here.

The gist of the matter is that these avant-garde merchants no longer see the division of labor between suppliers and retailers as the customary one of “they invent and make it, and we sell it.” In fact, the retailers control (without owning per se) every piece of the value chain, from creating new product concepts to getting finished goods into the hands of consumers.

The retailer is thus in charge of processes such as “design & develop,” “source,” “plan & manage,” “move,” “sell,” and “buy & flow.” As a result, these companies are able to more quickly discern emerging consumer trends. They are also better at creating products to meet those needs and are critically faster at bringing the resulting “hot” and “cool” products to market.

In contrast to “acting vertical” (i.e., controling the components of the product development and supply chain operations required to create products without necessarily owning them), “being vertical” means owning all the supply chain nodes, a strategy that hardly anyone recommends or pursues today (as mentioned in Part 1). The downside of owning such assets is getting locked into high costs and capital investments, with potentially inflexible capacity. Even many consumer goods manufacturers have been increasingly shedding their plants.

Acting vertical, on the other hand, does not require retailers to own inflexible and costly manufacturing and other supply chain assets
—yet it enables them to operate as though they do. This advantage comes in part from striking strong and mutually beneficial working relationships with approved and certified supplying manufacturers.

In addition to the retailers mentioned earlier, other retailers that act vertical include Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor, H&M, Macy’s, and VF Corporation (a branded lifestyle apparel manufacturer that also turned into a retailer). They have all increased their private-label business significantly, working more closely with manufacturers to create products expressly and exclusively for their supply chains.

The Drivers for “Acting Vertical”

While the practice of “acting vertical” has been in place for many years (e.g., Gap Inc., The Limited [LTD], and Talbots adopted vertical business models 40 years ago, as described in Part 1), it has accelerated over the last decade. Why? From KSA’s consulting experience, the following five factors are the cause:

1) The consolidation of retail brands
— As said in Part 1, over the last 10 years the number of department store chains has shrunken more than threefold. The survivors wield greater clout over suppliers to create distinct products for their stores and expand their private-label business. To try to differentiate their products and customer experiences, many retailers have been selling a larger number of private-label or exclusively distributed items, as well as providing more store and Web site information on what they sell.

Private-label sales in grocery stores in the US are now about 18 percent of total revenue, and growing nearly 10 percent annually, according to the Nielsen Company’s research. Drug stores generate 13 percent of revenue from private labels, and that number is growing 15 percent a year. And although private labels account for only 1.5 percent of convenience-store sales, this business has still been climbing 18 percent annually.

However, these retailers have had mixed success in their private label forays. About one third of retailers KSA surveyed generated the majority of their revenue from products unique to their chains. By 2013, 41 percent plan to generate the majority of revenue from their own products. However, only a minority (43 percent) said they had been highly or very highly effective at getting customers to embrace and purchase products that were unique to their chains.

And less than one third said they were highly or very highly effective at helping store customers secure the right products. Even fewer (20 percent) said their websites were highly effective at this game. An earlier TEC article sheds more light on the promise and complexities of dealing with private labels.

2) The proliferation of product brands
— While the number of retail brands (at least in general merchandise stores) is diminishing, the number of product brands has mushroomed. For example, consider the sevenfold increase in the number of branded jeans over the last 20 years, from 8 to 57 (not including another 940 niche jeans brands).

This is the case in many retail product categories, and as a result consumers have many more choices and much less loyalty to any one of them. They are much less willing to pay more for brand names. In fact, according to the US Department of Labor (DoL) and MBG Information Services, apparel pricing over the last 10 years has declined when adjusted for inflation.

Finally, consumers are much less forgiving of retailers that have popular items that are out of stock. For more information, see TEC’s article entitled “Yes, We Have No Bananas: Consumer Goods Manufacturers Serve Demanding Customers.”

3) The emergence of Internet-based retailing and the channel conflicts it has created
— These online trends have also increased the need for merchants to focus on their own (private-label) products. Many wholesalers are not willing to let retailers sell their products on the retailers’ Web sites because it can create conflicts with competing retailers about who should be allowed to sell the products in a given territory. Avoiding such conflicts encourages retailers to instead create product offerings that no other retailer can sell.

4) The need to accelerate time-to-market of both new and existing products
— Hitting ever-smaller fashion windows has also become critical, since speed is of the essence here (i.e., from the time a consumer need is identified to the time a product hits the stores’ shelves). That, in turn, requires much greater coordination and control over each piece of the product development and supply chain. For more information, see TEC’s article “Zooming into the Clothing Retailer Conundrum.”

5) Finally, investor expectations of publicly held retailers are intense
— There is an enormous pressure from investors and Wall Street for year-over-year improvement of financial results. One of the best ways to boost profitability is through differentiated products: the gross margins from selling a private-label product are reportedly 10 to 15 points higher than they are on a wholesale brand.

Furthermore, Wall Street rewards retailers that balance growth and profitability, and penalizes those that increase the top line at the expense of the bottom line. The Act Vertical business model can help retailers achieve that coveted balance.

How to Act Vertical, then?

The five factors outlined above force retailers to create much stronger product offerings and keep them in stock accordingly. In turn, this capability requires more control over the ideation, design, manufacture, and distribution of those offerings, which is what the “Act Vertical” model is all about.

To put all this into perspective, retailers have traditionally competed either on customer experience or product uniqueness. Strategies have ranged from the extreme of competing on price (or convenience) via ubiquitous products (where the customer experience is a mere transaction) to the other extreme of differentiating on a breakthrough offering that engages customers’ lifestyle experience.

The Act Vertical territory encompasses the ability to compete on both a distinct, compelling offering and on superior customer experience. But acting vertical has to entail the following three capabilities, starting with product conception:

1) Working With Consumers to Co-create Demand

A successful Act Vertical business model begins with creating products that delight consumers. These products are developed by conducting extensive research with consumers. The evidence shows that many retailers suffer from an excess of poor product decisions, and the excessive use of markdowns is one sign.

KSA’s research finds that US apparel retailers alone lose US$64 billion annually on markdowns. Some of them spend half of their planning resources on managing markdowns. Yet, markdowns are not the only sign of poor product decisions. In the apparel industry, retailers shift 5 percent of their excess product to the off-price channel, which has become a $10 billion industry.

Shorter selling seasons and cycle times are making this situation even worse, since retailers have much less time to make good assortment decisions. The Act Vertical model calls for retailers to get consumers more involved in key product decisions (i.e., more extensive testing of new products, colors, and patterns before retailers make commitments to suppliers, as well as more frequent testing of the entire consumer experience).

Getting consumers involved in co-creating demand means collecting data not only beforehand (in the early idea phase), but throughout the entire life of the consumer. This means taking input from every consumer interaction (in the store, online, via the catalog, etc.) and analyzing and acting on it. Retailers that do this well gain a deeper understanding of how their products fit within consumers’ lifestyles and belief systems.

Catalog retailers have done this for years, and now more bricks-and-mortar retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters and Payless ShoeSource are doing it too. Yet, in spite of the findings of the previous TEC article entitled “Consumers Shop Everywhere: Understanding Multichannel Sales,” most retailers still have, at best, only one point of contact with consumers during product design and development.

Brick-and-mortar retailers are also accelerating their consumer research and product development processes. Some have drastically reduced their concept-to-market process duration, e.g., from 10 months to 10 weeks. Such product “fast tracking” has become a key advantage, and leading retailers are managing 40 to 60 percent of their assortments with only 10 to 20 weeks allowed for the “from concept to shelf” cycle time.

Still, speed isn’t all that matters in Act Vertical retailing. Without proper research, many retailers simply get more of the wrong products to their stores, albeit faster. Retailers leveraging the Act Vertical model also gather more extensive consumer feedback on their products. Some use their stores as laboratories to test products.

They often bring merchandising and product design personnel in to hear consumers’ input directly. These retailers limit merchandising managers from relying on personal preferences and historical data. They let the science of retail count as much as the art. In other words, they do not let merchants “fall in love” with products or base their decisions on a hunch (i.e., what they thought looked great and what they needed to fill the slots in their catalog).

With more consumer input to use in product buying decisions, “vertically acting” retailers can begin to see easy-to-overlook nuances of different consumer segments. This is critical because most consumer segmentations use broad demographic and psychographic categories.

Leading retailers use focus groups, web-based consumer panels, product surveys, social networking Web sites such as MySpace or Facebook, and other means to ferret out fine-grained differences in consumer attitudes, emotions, lifestyles, behaviors, aspirations, and self-perceptions. As an idea, see TEC’s earlier article/podcast entitled “Social Networks: How They’re Turning CRM Upside Down.”

The above initiatives enable retailers to create finer-grained “micro segments” of consumers (e.g., “affluent moms in their 30s in Boston” rather than “affluent women from 20 to 35 nation-wide”). With much smaller and sharper focused consumer segments, these retailers can create much more appropriate products, assortments, and marketing campaigns.

Because consumer tastes change quickly today, Act Vertical retailers conduct consumer research and segmentation more frequently as well. While most retailers do such research and segmentation every two to three years, Act Vertical retailers do it every season. This frequency is part of their product development and merchandising processes.

In addition, these retailers ensure that their employees have the same mental image of their chain’s target consumer. In these companies, the merchant’s role shifts from picking products to managing projects (i.e., executing the plans that define how the retailer will meet the needs of each major consumer segment). With shortened cycle times, many assortment planning processes must be executed in parallel and much closer to the selling season (to meet the latest consumer needs).

Leading retailers now make assortment decisions 20 weeks out from in-store delivery (rather than 30 weeks in the past), and with much greater amounts of consumer information. They rank styles and items based on consumer-generated “confidence levels,” with the result being major increases in comp-store sales and margins.

Personal Example

I, personally, can go on and on (as an unpaid passionate advocate) about my experiences in the local Trader Joe’s grocery store. Namely, I have caught myself finding excuses to go to the store many times a week, in anticipation of the food and wine testing and cooking suggestions (combination of the in-store items) I might experience that day. Often I end up buying many items I had no intention of buying before I entered the store.

The company’s offering is indeed unique, not exactly pretentiously overpriced organic stuff (a la Whole Foods Market) but with many organic or close-to-organic (e.g., natural) products. The store’s choice of reasonably priced private label items (in addition to the “three buck Chuck” wines from the Charles Shaw brand) in the frozen food or dairy sections cannot really be found elsewhere.

The same goes for many domestic and imported beers or seasonal items like pumpkin butter. Not to mention the imported cheeses from Europe, lamb from New Zealand, and so on. The store staff is receptive to any suggestions, flexible in reacting to relieving long lines at cashiers (on demand), and on several occasions I did not need a receipt to either replace a defective item or to be reimbursed on the spot.

2) Delivering a Consistent and Immersive Consumer Experience

With more appropriate products to offer, Act Vertical retailers are far more likely to dazzle consumers who visit their stores. Still, great products isn’t the only thing that differentiates these retailers. Their store experience is also superior, and this immersive experience (not only in the store, but also online and via other channels) means how well consumers can test products before purchase, maximize their use after purchase, and fulfill other needs directly and indirectly related to the products.

PetSmart, for example, has opened up hotels for pets and runs dog obedience classes in its stores. Both value-add services create tighter bonds with the consumers that typically come to shop for their pets’ food. The regional grocery supermarket store chain Wegmans lavishes attention and services on its consumers, providing everything from recipes to catering services.

Since 2006, Best Buy has been offering customized “store-within-a-store” experiences and services at selected locations for small business owners and home theater enthusiasts. At these Best Buy For Business locations, trained specialists provide business solutions and services to businesses with up to 20 employees. To meet the expectations of convenient, personal service from specialized advisors, and technical support whenever and wherever they need it, Best Buy For Business offers a broader selection of technology products, such as servers and professional notebooks, professional advice and 24/7 IT support via the Geek Squad service.

These services generate much higher product sales because they help customers satisfy their larger emotional needs, lifestyle demands and aspirations. Such services also enable a retailer to gain a much richer understanding of its customers’ needs–insights it can use to continually create new and compelling products and services.

These retailers ensure that consumers can go to the store for everything they will need to use the product (i.e., one-stop shopping). Apple’s stores are great at this. At the Genius Bar in-store spot, a team of specialists instructs consumers on a variety of topics without pressuring them to buy.

Consumers who need one-on-one advice on how to operate Apple’s devices can pay $99 a year for appointment-based training (under the “No pain, all gain” slogan), from basic advice on how to set up a Mac personal computer (PC) or iPhone to editing digital videos and running graphic design software. Again on the personal note, my 20-month-old daughter, whose attention span can be measured in milliseconds, spends umpteen minutes (punching the keyboard and chasing the mouse) at the local Apple store’s video games spot for children.

Such services have helped make Apple a huge retailing success. Apple’s retail revenue has nearly doubled in the last two years. With about 200 stores to date, Apple generates an average $23 million a store, according to the company’s 2007 annual report. Revenue per square foot (about $2,500) was two-and-one-half times greater than Best Buy’s, according to a New York Times article in 2006.

These retailers also make sure that their store employees are as passionate about the company’s products as their consumers are–not just more knowledgeable. For example, outdoor gear retailer Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) hires associates who love the outdoors. When the consumer looks for the right sleeping bag or tent at REI, store employees can speak from personal experience about what he/she will need.

By hiring employees who share consumers’ product passions, retailers that act vertical use their stores to create strong relationships. They ensure their salespeople are part of the consumer’s “community” of others with similar interests. Apple uses its retail stores to encourage consumers to bond with other consumers by hosting social events like the “Midnight Mix” concerts, where the hottest local DJ’s play songs from midnight to 2 a.m. As another example, Best Buy For Business encourages networking among local small business professionals in exclusive events with business leaders, local professional organizations, and the US Small Business Administration (SBA).

By providing compelling products and services through engaging customer experiences, the best act vertical retailers create a virtuous circle that continually strengthens their bonds with their customers. They have converted their casual customers into passionate advocates–people who not only like shopping at those retailers but also enjoy congregating with one another in and outside the stores. In this way, these savvy retailers have created a “tribe” of people with common passions, values, and aspirations.

3) Tailoring Supply Chains

After improving the way they interact with consumers both before and during their store visits, act vertical retailers have quite different ways of interacting on the back end of their business as well. They might even create more than one supply chain to accommodate different types of products. In other words, they tailor and fine tune their supply chains as required.

The final part of this blog series will conclude with how these retailers handle (with care) their “act vertical” supply chains. To my mind, this flexibility and agility of supply chains and using different supply approaches to meet the distinct needs of different products is where the “Act Vertical rubber hits the road.”

Till then, what are your thoughts and comments in this regard? What are your experiences in dealing with the abovementioned retailers? What software applications do you think can help these companies in their “Act Vertical” efforts?