Latest CRM Software Industry News

Lake Region Manufacturing optimizes customer relationships and streamlines quotation and contract management
VANCOUVER, BC, September 20, 2006— Pivotal Corporation, a leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution provider and the CRM division of CDC Software, the enterprise software company of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), today announced that medical device manufacturer Lake Region Manufacturing is using Pivotal CRM to help deliver superior customer service and drive significant cost-savings throughout their business. Optimizing customer relationships and streamlining the company’s quotation and contract management processes, Pivotal CRM provides Lake Region with greater visibility into its business, resulting in significant improvements in operational efficiencies.

Doctors and medical professionals across the globe rely heavily on Lake Region’s specialty diagnostic and surgical devices – every two seconds, one of the company’s products is used somewhere in the world to help heal or save a life. With a diverse customer base and facilities in both the United States and Ireland, Lake Region provides their devices on a contract and an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) basis. Realizing it needed a more flexible and powerful system to manage and consolidate disparate customer information and make the information accessible across the organization, Lake Region selected Pivotal CRM from CDC Software.

Pivotal CRM has provided Lake Region with a cost-effective and flexible system, enabling Lake Region to create a tailored solution that meets its specific business practices. Moving beyond traditional CRM functions, Lake Region has adapted the Pivotal system for a variety of purposes, including quotation and contract management. In contrast to the original manual process employed prior to installing Pivotal CRM, Lake Region’s quotes and contracts are now completely automated, saving the company time and money while enabling it to meet customer demand more effectively with more accurate job quotes.

“Prior to implementing Pivotal CRM, one of our greatest challenges was to quickly provide price quotations to customers – it often took a day or more to develop and send a quote, even for a standard product order,” said Dave Bierman, project manager for Lake Region. “Today, we can obtain price quotes in less than five minutes and even our custom manufacturing orders are processed through Pivotal CRM. From start to finish, the quotation and contract process is completely automated, captured and communicated between all Lake Region departments. Quotation errors and delays that can negatively impact the customer experience have been virtually eliminated.”

Lake Region uses Pivotal CRM to track detailed product information more closely and generate targeted campaigns based on specific parameters. Running dozens of reports from data stored in Pivotal CRM each week, it also powers Lake Region’s reporting and marketing processes, which enables the company to track weekly sales activity to see trends and results. Since all of these functions were paper-based and handled manually prior to Pivotal CRM, the system has significantly improved productivity across departments.

“Designed to meet the complex needs of manufacturers, Pivotal CRM enables companies like Lake Region to produce significant increases in revenues and customer loyalty by improving operational efficiencies,” said Len Zapalowski, senior vice president product strategy for CDC Software. “We are excited to partner with Lake Region to help the company deliver superior customer experiences while meeting its core business objectives now and into the future.”

TowerGroup Research Director Gavin Little-Gill featured as guest speaker in live web event hosted by Pivotal Corporation
VANCOUVER, BC, September 08, 2006— WHAT:
Pivotal Corporation, a leading provider of customer relationship management applications for investment banking, institutional asset management, commercial banking, retail brokerage and other financial services industries, will host a live web event on “Hunting & Farming: The New Financial Services Relationship Paradigm.” The secret of success lies in understanding two key facets of client-facing activity, hunting and farming. “Hunting” consists of developing new opportunities for the firm. “Farming” consists of nurturing and cultivating relationships with existing clients. Together, these two approaches constitute two discrete lines of revenue that can help drive higher profits from better client relationships, satisfying clients and CFOs alike. Experts will discuss how these systematic approaches to client relationship management can help companies develop a competitive advantage and how this concept can be applied across diverse lines of business, including institutional asset management, retail brokerage and capital markets. This event is co-sponsored by Microsoft Corporation. Registration is free of charge.

WHO:
TowerGroup Research Director Gavin Little-Gill and Pivotal Corporation ’s General Manager of Financial Services, Jason Rushforth , will explore the hunting-farming relationship dynamic and the unique value that can be derived from better client relationship management.

WHERE:
Register now at http://go.pivotal.com/hfwebinar

WHEN:
Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006 10:00 a.m. PDT / 1:00 pm EDT

ATLANTA, September 07, 2006— WHAT:
Pivotal Corporation, a provider of relationship management (CRM) solutions to enterprise mid-market and blue chip organisations and a division of CDC Software, a leading global provider of enterprise software applications, will co-present with Mellon Asset Management, the global investment management company, at the Gartner Financial Services Summit at the Hilton Metropole, London at 3:50 pm on Monday 25th September.

Stephen Johns, head of eBusiness at Mellon Asset Management, will describe how and why Mellon implemented a single, integrated global contact management system, supporting its institutional and retail business worldwide. He will share the challenges that drove the decision to implement Pivotal CRM, the implementation process and the impact this has had on the business, both operationally and strategically. Jason Rushforth, General Manager, Pivotal Financial Services worldwide, will introduce Stephen Johns and provide a brief introductory overview of Pivotal CRM for Financial Services. Both speakers will be available for discussion before and after the session on Monday.

WHERE:
Gartner Financial Services Summit, Hilton Metropole, London, UK

www.europe.gartner.com/fs

WHEN:
Mellon Asset Management Presentation: Monday 25th September 2006 15:50-16:20 GMT

Mark Carlile, vice president, CDC Software, EMEA, comments: “This Gartner Summit is one of the key events in the European financial services calendar. We are delighted to be able to contribute as a Platinum sponsor. As competitive and margin pressures
increase the need to harness effective client management and unlock value, one of the challenges facing financial services organisations is how to do this quickly and effectively and on a regional or global scale.

“Financial Services is a key industry-focus for Pivotal worldwide. Our industry knowledge and expertise has enabled us to work with leading blue chip financial clients including Mellon Asset Management, to address these and other challenges and deliver real business value.”

The two day event, on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th September, will be attended by over 350 senior European Financial Services executives to discuss trends and issues currently facing the financial services sector.

NORTHAMPTON, UK, August 24, 2006— 62 percent of customer relationship management (CRM) users surveyed in the UK think that the financial services sector, compared to any other, is leading best practice when it comes to client management. That is according to a survey of CRM users commissioned by CDC Software, a leading global provider of enterprise software applications.

According to those surveyed, the financial services sector is a clear leader in the implementation and utilisation of CRM within their business. This is followed by the legal sector with 32 percent and the hi-tech sector with 6 percent of the vote.

Mark Carlile, managing director of CDC Software, EMEA, comments: “The results really don’t come as a surprise to us as it is often our financial services customers who are the first to implement new CRM technologies and systems. Due to the very competitive nature of the financial services sector, financial services companies know how important it is to fully harness the power of effective client management; to build client loyalty, provide more effective and targeted services and ultimately ensure they maximise the profitability and longer term value to the business of their clients.”

“Other industry sectors in the UK should look to the example set by the UK’s financial services sector and the real business benefits that can be realised from the adoption of best practice methods delivered by effective CRM systems and technology. Benefits such as increased visibility of operational performance, streamlined process across the value chain, and the provision of vital business information in real time that enables organisations to react quickly to cross and up-sell opportunities and respond to the changing needs of their customers,” said Mr. Carlile.

CDC Software is a global provider of relationship management solutions to a range of vertical markets, including financial service companies and has helped many blue chip organisations worldwide capitalise on market opportunity, manage growth and improve margins.

NORTHAMPTON, UK, August 08, 2006— CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of enterprise software applications, today announced that it has partnered with Dashboard Enterprises to extend its reach and depth of experience in the UK mortgage sector. London-based Dashboard Enterprises is a leading consultancy and provider of IT solutions to mid sized mortgage intermediaries in the UK. As part of the partnership, Dashboard Enterprises will sell, support and develop CDC Software’s Pivotal CRM Suite, a modular suite of business applications for automating and integrating the business processes of sales, marketing, service, partner relationship management and interactive selling. This deal reaffirms CDC Software’s commitment to its partners following the launch of its Global Franchise Partner Programme earlier this year.

“In order to complete our end-to-end solutions offering, we were looking to partner with a best-of-breed industry specialist CRM provider that would meet the needs of our existing customers and the demands of such a niche market. Having examined the current market, Pivotal CRM had the largest presence amongst the top UK mortgage brokers and ultimately it proved to be the application that met the requirements demanded by the industry,” commented David Alymer, Joint Managing Director, Dashboard Enterprises. “We are extremely pleased to work with CDC and Pivotal to bring to the market a proven, affordable product offering to help mortgage brokers realise their business goals to increase productivity and boost profitability.”

“Customer centricity is about more than just selling; it’s about understanding your customers’ lending needs now and anticipating their future requirements. By giving brokers the tools needed to examine their client relations and streamline their business processes, mortgage lenders can help build relationships, trust and ultimately reputation. With these three elements alone, mortgage lenders are able to place customers at the heart of their business and realise the benefits of more effective customer interactions, which will ultimately give them the edge over their competitors,” commented Mark Carlile, UK Managing Director, CDC Software.

The agreement will allow Dashboard Enterprises to develop, implement, customise and support the entire Pivotal CRM suite for its customers including; Pivotal SalesTM, ServiceTM, Partner ManagementTM and MarketingTM. The deal also includes Pivotal MarketFirstTM – a comprehensive marketing automation application designed for the closed loop management of multi-channel campaigns and marketing processes. Pivotal eService and ePartner portals allow its customers to gain access to critical business information online 24/7.

Pivotal Analytics, a complete end-to-end business intelligence solution, will enable Dashboard customers to gain greater insight from their CRM data, giving users the ability to analyse data, identify trends and make better-informed business decisions, faster.

Pacific Life deploys handheld CRM technology; new product provides customers greater flexibility, personalization and ease-of-use
ATLANTA and VANCOUVER, BC, July 19, 2006— Pivotal Corporation, a leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution provider and a division of CDC Software, the enterprise software company of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), today announced the release of its latest Pivotal CRM platform. Pivotal CRM 5.9 provides greater usability for end users to quickly navigate to the information they need, and increased flexibility for tailoring Pivotal CRM to implement complex business practices. Additionally, Pivotal CRM 5.9 includes Pivotal Handheld, a BlackBerry® Wireless Handheld™ mobile application, Pivotal Call Scripting for automating customer interactions, and significant customer-driven enhancements.

Pivotal CRM is a complete front-office solution designed for companies with complex business processes whose market differentiation is impacted by their ability to implement these unique business practices in CRM.

“Pivotal recognizes that successful implementation of CRM is as much about the factors that drive user adoption as it is about functionality,” said Eric Musser, chief technology officer of CDC Software. “We’ve listened to what our customers and partners have told us: we’ve made it easier to tailor and use CRM applications. Pivotal CRM 5.9 is the market’s most flexible CRM solution, enabling companies to cost-effectively model and implement their complex and unique business practices.”

Pivotal Handheld addresses the information needs of sales professionals on the go. It enables sales representatives to access and update critical CRM data via BlackBerry mobile devices—maximizing selling time and ensuring sales representatives are better prepared for each visit.

Pacific Life Insurance Company’s Annuities & Mutual Funds Division is now utilizing Pivotal Handheld for its BlackBerry users. Founded in 1868, Pacific Life provides life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as clients.

“With the need for instantaneous and more comprehensive information from anywhere at anytime, we are committed to continuously offering state-of-the-art options that meet the business needs of our Annuities Wholesalers and the clients they serve,” said Phil Teeter, vice president of technology of Pacific Life’s Annuities & Mutual Funds Division. “Pivotal CRM and BlackBerry provide the ability for our wholesalers to get their jobs done without being tied to their home office. All the information they need is at their fingertips at all times: they can now easily access updated rep information, sales reports, and view dealer, branch, and rep-level data in real time; and, they can now spend more time serving their clients instead of their administrative responsibilities.”

All Pivotal customers can immediately take advantage of the user productivity enhancements delivered in Pivotal CRM 5.9 because Pivotal’s flexible platform is designed to enable simple upgrades. Existing customer implementations, including all configuration, customization, and integration performed on the Pivotal platform are compatible with the new platform. IT gets what it wants – the latest technology, while the business users get what they want – fit to business requirements and seamless upgrades. In the same manner, the new capabilities of Pivotal CRM 5.9 are also immediately applicable to Pivotal’s vertical CRM applications for financial services, homebuilding and real estate, legal services, manufacturing and others. These applications are now established as leading solutions for their respective industries and planned enhancements, enabled by Pivotal CRM 5.9, will further cement those leadership positions.

Investments in Latin American distributor to fund market expansion and sales programs for CRM product lines
ATLANTA, July 06, 2006— CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of enterprise software applications, today announced that CMT Latin America has joined the company’s Franchise Partner Program. The program, which includes $20 million designated for investment in channel partners, was recently launched by CDC Software to establish strategic relationships with franchise partners in selected geographies to accelerate mutual business expansion.

CMT Latin America has been a successful partner, representing CDC Software for eight years. As a distributor of the Pivotal CRM product line, CMT has signed on new customers in seven countries, including Monsanto Argentina, Corpbanca Chile, Canon Brazil and Prochemex of Mexico, as well as Syngenta and Telefonica Empresas, each operating throughout Latin America. CMT has more than 40 certified professionals operating from its regional development center in Rosario, Argentina, as well as its other offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and DF Mexico. CMT is a Gold Certified Partner of Microsoft Corporation.

Through the Franchise Partner Program, CDC Software is working with selected partners in high-growth geographies, including Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, India, China and Asia/Pacific. Providing direct cash investments, equity investments, lines of credit and combinations of these, CDC Software is investing up to $20 million in selected distribution partners.

In the case of CMT Latin America, CDC Software will acquire a 10 percent equity stake in the company, with an option to acquire an additional 9.9 percent. CMT will also receive funding in an undisclosed amount to support its expanded marketing and sales activities in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Mexico. In addition to selling the Pivotal CRM products in Latin America, CMT will begin selling CDC Software’s recently acquired c360 add-on products for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

“Selling and supporting the Pivotal CRM applications, we have established a very strong partnership with CDC Software,” said Daniel Altomonte, president of CMT Latin America. “We are very proud to have earned this position in the Franchise Partner Program. Through our expertise and focus in CRM applications, the expanded solution set including Pivotal CRM and c360, and the substantial financial backing of CDC Software, we will move quickly to grow our business and leadership position in Latin America.”

“By putting our significant cash reserves to work, we are rapidly strengthening our presence in key geographies targeted for growth,” said Oscar Pierre, senior vice president of Latin America for CDC Software. “Many enterprise software companies struggle to truly capture mindshare and commitments as they leverage third-party resellers and distributors to expand globally. We believe our unique approach, based on mutual commitment, will ensure success for CDC Software and our franchise partners in our strategic geographies.”

CDC Software continues to seek, and is in negotiation with, additional resellers and distributors for its Franchise Partner Program around the world.

Top provider of financial services for not-for-profits chooses Pivotal to support investment banking, wealth management and asset management business units
ATLANTA, June 14, 2006— Pivotal Corporation, a leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution provider and the CRM division of CDC Software, the enterprise software company of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), today announced that The Ziegler Companies, Inc., a Wisconsin-based boutique investment banking and investment services firm, has selected Pivotal Private Banking, Pivotal Capital Markets and Pivotal Asset Management to enhance interdepartmental collaboration, promote maximum cross and up-selling and support first-rate service across its investment banking, wealth management and asset management business units.

With a guiding vision for becoming the primary provider of financial services in its chosen markets, Ziegler focused on the need to provide its business units with a single, easy-to-use system for managing all interactions with clients. To achieve these goals, the firm required a flexible, highly secure product that worked just as well on a laptop in the field as it did in the office. After a review of leading systems from Galeforce Solutions, Salesforce.com, Sage and Siebel Systems, Ziegler selected Pivotal for its ease of use, and highly tailored functionality for investment banking, wealth management and asset management.

“Our services are designed for those clients who want guidance from skilled financial professionals empowered to understand and respond to specific, individual client needs,” said Mike Talbot, senior vice president, project officer, The Ziegler Companies, Inc. “Pivotal is helping us deliver on that promise by providing us with the tools we need to personalize every interaction with a client – across all of our departments. No other vendor offered us a product that could provide enterprise-wide access to client information combined with very specific tools to support day-to-day business in each department.”

Pivotal’s CRM products for financial services provide Ziegler with an easy-to-use system to help deliver personalized, responsive service and better understand clients’ needs. The system immediately provides the company’s investment banking, wealth management and asset management employees secure, role-specific access to appropriate client information – giving them flexibility to work with experts in other departments to manage client relationships from within a single, intuitive interface. With Pivotal’s flexible relationship model, Ziegler is much better positioned to understand how a client’s interactions with different departments and other firm clients present opportunities for cross selling and up-selling – maximizing the firm’s share of wallet.

According to Jason Rushforth, managing director of financial services for Pivotal, “Ziegler is a highly respected leader in the markets it has chosen to address with its deep expertise and industry-specific financial services. The firm’s focus on empowering its advisors with a mandate for developing enduring relationships with each client identifies the firm as an industry leader with a clearly articulated strategy for client relationship management. Ziegler’s strong CRM strategy combined with the tools provided by Pivotal’s closely tailored CRM products for financial services, position the company for continued success and highly satisfied clients.”

At the SIA Technology Management Conference in New York, June 20-22, 2006, Pivotal and Ziegler representatives will be available at booth #1812 to further discuss how the Pivotal CRM has helped Ziegler manage all interactions with its clients by deploying the Pivotal CRM application.

Leading International Property Services Group to Discuss How it Sustains Profitable Customer Relationships by Maximizing its Infrastructure and Pivotal CRM Technology
ATLANTA, June 12, 2006—

WHAT:
At the 2006 Customer Strategy and Management event, June 21 and 22 in Birmingham, UK, Savills, a Pivotal CRM customer, and CDC Software, the enterprise software company of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), will present a session entitled, “Single View of the Customer: Prerequisite or Panacea.” The presentation will analyze the factors that create a genuine single view of the customer.

During the session, Richard Coleman, information technology director for Savills, and Ian Evans, business development director for Pivotal will focus on how to maximize a company’s infrastructure and sustain profitable customer relationships.

To arrange interviews, please contact Jonathan Lloyd at Citigate Dewe Rogerson on + 44 (0)1604 232 223 or via jonathan.lloyd@citigatedr.co.uk.

WHERE:
2006 Customer Strategy and Management
National Exhibition Center (NEC), Birmingham, UK
http://www.customer-event.co.uk

WHEN:
Thursday, June 22 2006
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. GMT

Pivotal’s CRM Provides Comprehensive Information Data Repository
VANCOUVER, BC, May 30, 2006— Pivotal Corporation, a leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution provider and the CRM division of CDC Software, the enterprise software company of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), today announced that Julius Baer Investment Management LLC, a US- registered investment advisor wholly owned by the Julius Baer Group, has selected Pivotal CRM software to better manage relationships with clients and third-party contacts with a single centralized corporate data repository for information. The company is using the CRM solution within its Institutional Asset Management Group to ensure consistent client service.

“Given the scope of our institutional business, utilizing a centralized CRM system is essential,” said Tony Williams, chief executive officer for Julius Baer Investment Management LLC. “The Pivotal system provides flexibility, which is important given the dynamic nature of our business.”

Pivotal’s CRM for financial services is designed to meet the needs of institutional asset management firms that need one corporate repository for information and cannot rely upon disparate systems in order to meet regulatory requirements. The system includes features to effectively manage deals, forecasts and request for proposals. Additionally, Pivotal CRM provides better visibility into market information, which results in improved planning and business performance.

“Julius Baer is an industry leader when it comes to its commitment to client service and providing valued-added asset management services,” said Jason Rushforth, managing director of financial services for Pivotal. “Pivotal is excited to be working with them to implement a long-term strategy for proactively managing information.”