Recently, global IT consultancy Avanade commissioned Kelton Research for a global study about cloud computing and the adoption of SaaS, and the findings were pretty remarkable. The prominent thread in the study was that SaaS is catching on, and at an unprecedented rate, but it is carving a niche more as a hybrid platform—usage with a legacy system—than as a freestanding one.

Not only are more companies adopting SaaS, more are considering adoption than they were even earlier this year. A similar study was conducted in January, and at the time 54% of participants said they would not consider cloud computing solutions; the more recent survey shows a decrease to 37%. The previous poll also showed 61% of companies were using only internal IT systems, and today that number is down to 41%. Avanade’s study found that 68% of respondents were using SaaS at some level, but still about 30% of those said service outages were an issue.

Whatever security and reliability problems respondents had, 62% said they plan to expand their SaaS usage. However, the study had no real conclusion about whether this uptick in hybrid SaaS usage would lead those companies to move entirely to the cloud. The study did conclude that cloud computing will continue making inroads, but that some applications should remain on-premise. Avanade surmised that the gap between companies planning to adopt SaaS and those that aren’t will close in either 2011 or 2012. It will be interesting to see what ratio of cloud to on-premise usage this hybrid moves to in the future, and how controllable security and dependability can become.

The outpouring of Oracle OpenWorld news continues: Samsung SDS and Oracle have co-developed a native mobile CRM application. Last week, demonstrations of the new application were held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, but the week prior the product had a “soft debut” in San Diego that was met with positive reviews.

The application is for Samsung smartphones and is based on Oracle Siebel CRM, and will run on the Samsung Mobile Cloud Center (SMCC). The first release is for pharmaceutical companies, but Samsung SDS plans to develop similar CRM applications for other verticals. Oracle already offers mobile version of its CRM system, but it is a basic rendering in comparison to the new Samsung collaboration, which has more features. Some of the advancements include a hub-and-spoke graphic to show users their customers’ connections—as opposed to Oracle’s original spreadsheet for displaying such associations—communication records built into customer profiles, and complex graphs.

At OpenWorld, Oracle’s Anthony Lye spoke to the importance to moving toward mobile in the future, so it is no surprise that this CRM offering is only the first of Samsung’s projected efforts to target the enterprise market. In this regard, Samsung will concentrate on its Windows Mobile phones in 2010, and plans to continue to focus on applications as well as devices by maintaining partnership with Oracle.

Did you know that at www.vendordemo.com, you can watch hundreds of business software webinars and demos for free? You’ll also find documents at the site, including case studies, whitepapers, and brochures from industry leaders.  At VendorDemo, you can browse, share, and rate those videos and documents that help you most.  We’ve dedicated this issue of ERP Buzz to highlighting some of most popular content from the site.  Don’t miss these hot webinars!

Read more »

Today, the role of the contact center extends beyond simply answering questions and providing information.  With increasing call volumes; expanding agent responsibilities; and rising demands to deliver rapid, high-quality service, businesses can find it hard to keep up.  That’s where today’s advanced call center software solutions come in.

Designed to simplify service-related interactions by coordinating and automating agent tasks, call center software systems give agents all the tools they need to help customers, while giving managers complete visibility into department activities, agent performance, and service quality.

If your company is looking to purchase a call center package, a new resource is available to you: to help you find the software that is right for your company, the editors at Business-Software.com have compiled a list of the best vendors in the industry.  The comprehensive Top 10 Call Center Vendors whitepaper is designed to help you build your “short list” and make an informed purchasing decision. Read more »

The Business Software Advisor
You ask the questions, and our resident software guru shares her wisdom.

This week’s question:  I’m thinking of transitioning my customer service into a virtual call center.  If I go virtual, how can I best manage the performance of my remote agents?  

A:  Agent management is a challenging function, especially within virtual contact center environments. Supervisors often find it difficult to evaluate the performance of customer service representatives who don’t reside in the same physical location, or to provide them with the kind of constructive feedback they need to do their jobs effectively. In some cases, remote agents may also lack access to the information they require to properly answer questions and address issues.

Today’s call center software solutions are designed to address these issues.  The features of these software packages enable managers to accomplish better agent management in virtual contact centers.  Read more »

Global Shop Solutions, the nation’s largest privately-held ERP software system provider for the manufacturing industry, recently introduced its Global Application Builder (GAB), an affordable programming tool which allows users to customize Global Shop’s ERP system to fit their needs. 

According to Global Shop’s press release, “GAB is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) language built from the ground-up to integrate with Global Shop Solutions’ One-System ERP Solutions.

Unlike other customization tools in the industry, GAB allows both front-end and business logic customizations without impact to the core system. System integrity and upgrade migration are not compromised, and users are able to make functionality changes without waiting for a customized option to be built or for a system update.” Read more »

The old adage of “the customer is always right”, coined in 1909 by Harry Gordon Selfridge, is becoming less realistic for businesses today.  The customer cannot always be “king”, even when a business fails to live up to its part of a buyer-seller relationship and when a customer suffers for no fault of his.  Abrasive customers, particularly those who are eventually allowed to benefit from their antics, often get better treatment than customers who are willing to put up with some valid discomfort. This can cause resentment amongst employees. In fact, companies are now discovering that putting their employees first often results in an increase in customer service standards. Read more »

Learn more about humanizing your approach to marketing automation in these informative videos from VendorDemo.

 
“How To Drive New Revenue with Marketing Automation”
Webinar provided by: Consona

Marketing organizations are facing new challenges to get their message out and produce a better return on their efforts. This netcast will provide you with a preview of Million Handshakes, a world-class dialogue marketing application which can work with your CRM solution to easily overcome the marketplace challenges via its simple, yet powerful, interface to create intelligent, personalized marketing campaigns.

“Infor CRM Outbound Marketing”
Webinar provided by: Infor

Infor CRM Outbound Marketing enables you to plan, execute, and monitor anticipated, personal, and relevant marketing campaigns across all touch points and achieve a rapid return on your investment.

“Humanized Communications” 
Webinar provided by: SoftVu

Watch this demonstration of how SoftVu’s on-demand Marketing Automation Platform humanizes communications to provide personalized, relevant, and timely communications.

Visit VendorDemo.com and watch hundreds of business software webinars and demos – for FREE. Build your short list of software vendors, share your favorite videos, and access white papers to learn more about technology solutions.

It’s Personal
In this Web 2.0 era, audience focus is more important than ever.  Many companies spend an enormous sum of money on collecting information about their customers’ key attributes, but  few companies– studies show –take full advantage of that valuable information.  The truth is, procuring customer data doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and if you already have a CRM system in place, you have the necessary repository for it. 

The value of having personal customer data is not to be underestimated: It enables companies to transcend the environment of automation and impersonal cold calls and to connect with the customer on a one-to-one level.  In a recent blog article, Tony Compton, CMO at Infor, was quoted saying, “A whole new breed of customers will be magnetically drawn to companies that allow them to customize their experience and reflect who they are…They want to manage their persona, and that persona may change.” Read more »

The Need to Balance Business and Product Development
Software companies must be built with a healthy balance between business and product development. One side of the business cannot overtake the other without drastic consequences. Hard economic times test the fortitude of software companies of all sizes; customers and prospects need to watch how companies behave in these times of stress.

On the business side, a company must continue to give exceptional customer service in order to retain current customers and attract new ones. Current customers will need flexibility when possible, great customer service, and continued innovation so they do not fall behind the technological bandwagon as the economy recovers. They will need solutions that help them decrease their costs.

New customers are out there who are still in the market for what is being sold.  Business can still grow at times like these, especially those with products designed to lower costs and increase efficiency. New customers can take the place of any lost through economic attrition and create a broader base for the eventual upturn.

On the development side, a company must continue to refine its products and develop new ones, even though times are hard. If development is shut down to save costs, the company may find itself hopelessly behind the curve as the financial world rights itself and customers go to another vendor that has kept their product line fresh and relevant.

How to Determine a Company’s Stability
To determine the stability of a provider of any kind, a prospect should find out how long the company has been in business, and whether their long term customers are staying with them. Also, prospects should research the company online to determine any issues and contact those who use the products if possible.  orums, blogs, and other forms of online communication  may be available with information and opinions about  a company’s performance.

The Small Company Advantage
There are advantages to using a small company in any economic climate, but in particular, in times when flexibility is needed there is bigger advantage than using a large company.

A large company may not be able to respond quickly or allow flexible terms, solutions packages, or payment options. A smaller company has an agility and a flatter hierarchy ; decisions are made much more quickly. Larger companies also may more often decide to cut costs by cutting customer service than a small company would. The larger company may feel it has the resources to last until the economy recovers and then they can think about customer service again. Until then, their customers will be poorly served. A small company knows it must maintain service to retain customers and attract new ones to stay in business. Both the company and the customer benefit.

Contributed by: Hoyt Mann, President, PhaseWare, Inc.