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Ballmer Gives Shareholders - and Dell - Cause for Optimism November 20, 2009 
The early indicators that Windows 7 is doing well seem to be piling up. CEO Steve Ballmer gave that perception a boost at the company's annual shareholders meeting on Thursday, announcing that Microsoft "has already sold twice as many units of Windows 7 than any other operating system ever launched in a comparable time." Do the early numbers indicate that Windows 7 may be strong enough to cheer the shareholders of other companies -- namely, battered computer OEMs like Dell?
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Health Insurance CRM, Part 2: The BPO Catalyst November 20, 2009 
CRM has lagged in the health insurance industry, but a major transformation is imminent. "There's been a reluctance to make comprehensive investments in technology compared with other sectors," said Gartner analyst Joanne Galimi. "Generally, the firms in the sector have been very tactical, only investing in specific areas -- basically reacting to pain points."
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Breaking Out of the Pink Ghetto November 19, 2009 
The Pink Ghetto is a largely invisible, often unmentioned and unacknowledged place littered with impediments to womens' upward mobility in the workplace. Women in the Pink Ghetto do not get equal pay for equal work, are not offered the same opportunities as their male coworkers, are not promoted as quickly as men -- or promoted at all.
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Health Insurance CRM, Part 1: Shifting Into Catch-Up Mode November 19, 2009 
The health insurance industry, especially in the U.S., has a long way to go before it achieves a high level of performance in the use of customer relationship management tools. However, pressure is coming from market forces -- including new government healthcare reform policies -- that will compel improvements in health insurance CRM, whether insurance companies want it or not.
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CRM for Financial Services, Part 2: Keeping the 'R' in CRM November 13, 2009 
The market for CRM programs will expand in financial services, although the pace of spending will likely slow down in the near term. Still, the rate of CRM spending by financial firms is not the only element that could change in the future. Whether a financial firm already has implemented a program or is about to make an initial investment in CRM, the landscape will be changing.
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Mobilization and the Big Security Opportunity November 10, 2009 
It seems like it was just yesterday that talking on a mobile phone made you cool. You were obviously important, walking around with the confidence that you could be reached at all times. Well, times have certainly changed. Roughly half the planet's population -- over 4.1 billion people -- now pay for what was once limited to a select few, according to a recent United Nations survey.
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Mobile CRM User, Know Thyself November 10, 2009 
With the proliferation of smartphones and similar handheld devices, it only makes sense that data -- especially customer data -- is following these devices into the field. The scenarios in which sales and field service people can use the data collected by CRM are many and, in a lot of cases, obvious. However, there are also many ways for CRM to go into the field.
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Windows 7 Flies Off the Shelves November 06, 2009 
Sales of Microsoft's Windows 7 boxed software over the first three days of its release have vastly surpassed those of its predecessor, Vista, for the same time period, according new figures from the NPD Group. Specifically, NPD's weekly tracking service is reporting that Windows 7 software sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher for those three days, compared with Vista's sales.
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CRM for Financial Services, Part 1: Unmet Potential November 06, 2009 
The chastening effect of the recession has many financial services firms taking a cautious view of future CRM investments. One reason is that these firms are husbanding their resources. Another is a growing awareness that investments in CRM by the financial sector have not been all that successful.
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Social CRM: Size Matters November 03, 2009 
There's no longer any debate about whether social media's going to have a huge impact on CRM. Social media's a little different than the usual emerging business technology, mostly because it didn't begin as a business technology. It started with consumers -- and how they use it varies dramatically.
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Online Ads Getting Back Into High Gear October 24, 2009 
After bogging down in the recession, Internet advertising is regaining the momentum that has made it the decade's most disruptive marketing machine. The signs of an online revival are emerging even while advertising in print and broadcasts remain in a slump that has triggered mass layoffs, pay cuts and other upheaval.
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How Apple Became Red Hot in the Enterprise October 21, 2009 
Almost overnight, it seems that Apple and its products, led by the iPhone, the iPod and the Mac, are everywhere -- including in the corporate enterprise. Apple's presence as a favorite staple in the consumer market segment is accepted, expected and taken for granted. The corporate enterprise is another matter.
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Social Sites New Conduits for Customer Service October 13, 2009 
A Seattle woman tweets from an airport that JetBlue's birthday present to her was forgetting to put her wheelchair on her flight. Seven minutes later, an airline official tweets back that the crew will work quickly to make things right. On a Facebook page used by Delta Air Lines, a traveler suggests Delta wrap its WiFi fee into its ticket price rather than charge separately. The airline doesn't respond.
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Gearing Up for the Project Management Explosion October 12, 2009 
The economic stimulus assistance injected into major industrial countries to counter the effects of a global recession shone a spotlight on the need to rebuild their infrastructures. The need to manage such public works investments efficiently has generated a huge potential market for project management software and related services.
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Google, Microsoft and Twitter's Golden Egg October 09, 2009 
Google and Microsoft are reportedly in separate talks with Twitter with the goal of licensing the microblogging site's rich store of data. The potential deal structures could be anything from up-front payments to revenue-sharing schemes. Whatever form it might take, a deal would represent Twitter's first significant source of revenue since its inception.
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Cloud Computing: Rethinking IT Services October 07, 2009 
The free market is a wonderful thing. With regard to IT, I've always been impressed by the ability of vendors to rapidly identify and respond to market trends and customer demands. Whenever a new concept emerges onto the scene and a glimmer of interest begins to take hold, it's not long before we're inundated with offerings that strive to embrace it.
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