Keynote speeches at Oracle OpenWorld (which wrapped up yesterday), didn’t necessarily announce radically new concepts, but that certain strategies were promoted at this well-attended event speaks to the certainty of future changes in Oracle’s CRM development. And of course, it will be interesting to see who follows in their footsteps now that this gauntlet has been thrown.

Oracle CFO Safra Catz spoke to some upcoming changes and Oracle’s recent acquisitions. One of her main points was that Oracle was a strong vendor in many industries, but perhaps had not been doing enough to connect their products so that the user wouldn’t have to do this task themselves. The company’s acquisitions are meant to mollify this situation, and make solutions work together. Joel Koppelman, head of project management at 2008 acquisition Primavera, spoke of customers’ demand for integrations to be prepackaged; something Oracle will produce more of in the future.

But it was Anthony Lye, SVP of CRM, who detailed the three strategies that will change the face of Oracle CRM. In a discussion with other executives regarding specific strategies for Oracle Siebel and Oracle CRM On Demand, Lye stated that the fundamentals in the coming year would be: executing the cross-channel customer experience flawlessly, tapping into the power of the social web, and delivering CRM data when, how and where users need it. More specifically, customers start and end in different channels, and are using more mobile data as well, and Lye wants to move toward seamless transitions. This is also important to the third point—supporting the user’s need to access CRM data from pretty much anywhere. And in terms of utilizing social media, Lye thinks it’s especially important that CRM foster customer-to-customer relationships, which is a less-discussed reason for racing to social networking.

Last week, InsideView announced enhancements to its integration of SalesView with both Oracle CRM and Siebel CRM applications. InsideView is a proponent of social media and self-proclaimed leaders of the “Sales 2.0” push, and these latest updates to the SalesView product are a move in support of Oracle’s Social CRM initiative.

SalesView goes beyond the average social enterprise application in that it analyzes information across both traditional sources within a CRM application and emerging social media to present sales opportunities. These prospects are presented within the CRM system, and the latest improvements allow greater coverage for international companies and SMBs.

SalesView is powered by the InsideView Smart Cloud, and is thus the first marketing intelligence solution allowing on-demand addition and validation of content. Naturally, SalesView users enjoy other benefits of cloud computing, like real-time information retrieval from social networking platforms and data resources. SalesView presents these news alerts and relationship analysis natively within the Oracle and Siebel CRM platforms, and content from SalesView can be exported to create or modify account and lead information.

In singing his praise of SalesView, Oracle’s Senior Vice President, Anthony Lye, noted that the integration would result in a combined solution surely invaluable “to even the world’s largest enterprises.” Though InsideView focuses on SMBs, Lye certainly has a point. Though many companies balk at the notion of Enterprise 2.0, it’s unlikely that companies eschewing these principles will flourish, and SalesView’s analytical capacity makes it more than just a social networking tool, and places it head and shoulders above other social media products.

Earlier this fall, CRM Magazine announced SugarCRM received their Top Open Source Technology Market Award for the second consecutive year. Given that the economy has left companies rethinking their CRM investments—thereby pushing more CRM providers toward open source and helping open source find a niche—it is a definite feat that SugarCRM not only swept the category but was deemed “head-and-shoulders above the rest.”

SugarCRM’s cloud-based platform is known for being easy to use, and for its adaptability to unique business requirements. Open source helps with this, as current CEO Larry Augustin notes that developers use the code to ease integrations rather to actually modify it. It also gives people a better understanding of the inner workings of the platform, and this comprehension is at a higher level than if it’s a SaaS-only or proprietary closed-source model.

Another indication of SugarCRM’s superior open source offering is their incorporation into Microsoft’s web platform. Microsoft is another strong platform in the open source community, and their application installer platform allows people running on MS OS to install SugarCRM through the installer for open source.

It is of note that while SugarCRM was far above the competition, CRM Magazine does note that their score from this year had dropped a couple tenths of a point. This isn’t necessarily a testament to any lacking in SugarCRM’s open source technology, but it is an indication that more CRM providers are entering the field and advancing their products.

After an impressive Series C round of funding late last month, Marketo has bolstered its position as a major player in the marketing automation industry. Venture capital firm Mayfield Fund made the significant investment, as they were impressed with Marketo’s recent customer success and revenue growth. Mayfield’s admiration comes as no surprise, as Marketo’s B2B on-demand lead generation application garnered them a 30% growth rate last November, when most companies were hard-pressed to hold on to existing clients.

Marketing automation is a fast-growing market, presenting a space that many companies are anxious to fill. As Vasan points out, many organizations use Google Analytics for tracking their site visitors, and use a more traditional CRM provider like Salesforce.com for customer management. Marketo bridges the gap between these two offerings, providing revenue-centered marketing and sales solutions for companies of all sizes, and offering a lead management application, as well as Sales Insight, a product helping sales representatives to prioritize leads and opportunities. Mayfield strongly believes they have the ability to change the market dynamics of the marketing automation.

Mayfield is a top VC firm in the Silicon Valley, managing over $2.8 billion, and they have successfully invested in companies like Atari, Genetech, and security software developer Webroot. A provision of the funding will place Mayfield’s managing director, Robin Vasan, on Marketo’s board of directors.

After vetting over 10 CRM providers for a system, Chicago’s United Center selected a Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution delivered by Sonoma Partners. Sonoma Partners is a leading provider of MS Dynamics CRM within the US, and this latest coup represents the fourth phase of a CRM project for the sports arena that hosts the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks.

The first phase began in 2008, when Sonoma deployed MS Dynamics CRM to the United Center’s Prospecting and Premium Seating departments (where it replaced several Goldmine products). The United Center sought xRM deployments, as they wanted to consolidate their multiple and disparate sales systems. They considered MS Dynamics was the best for the job because it allows users to reuse and update existing components between organizations, and therefore provides a cost-effective and time-efficient procedure. The Bulls and the Blackhawks were both reportedly looking to put forth an aggressive call-center effort—another area in which MS Dynamics came out in front.

Robert Gorman, Director of Information Systems at the United Center, says they chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM for its scalability, as well as its automated workflows and integration with Office, SharePoint 2007, and other vertical market apps. Within the Prospecting and Seating departments, some 30 sales representatives will use the platform to manage customer and prospect lists, track inventory data, manage contracts, and follow up on activities. This CRM system will also be extended to the Corporate Sponsorship and Marketing departments to manage various advertising campaigns, from concourse signs to radio spots.

The next step will be to integrate the Levy dining and catering businesses within the arena, as well as the Community Relations department.

Though NetSuite’s iPhone application was officially announced two weeks ago, it has been available at the iTunes App Store for about a month, and in that time has been downloaded over 1,000 times and received positive reviews.

The application is targeted at salespeople and managers, and has been praised for its user interface—even customizations made to a user’s desktop NetSuite account will translate. Currently, the biggest issue with the app is that it is only for viewing and not for editing—users can accept and decline events, but lead data and other information cannot be added via mobile. To allow editing capabilities, businesses with on-premise ERP and CRM solutions need middleware to synchronize data added by mobile with their backend servers. This synchronization is currently unavailable for the iPhone app. However, it’s worth noting that NetSuite already has mobile applications for the BlackBerry and Google-based smartphones that do have this functionality, so the editing issue will probably be resolved when the next edition is released.

Synchronization headaches aside, the app is fast becoming an asset to NetSuite, and is the first SaaS ERP application for the iPhone. In addition, its release and reception indicate the iPhone is getting more widespread use within the business world.

Social networking have given rise to a new phase in business software, dubbed Enterprise 2.0, and many tech pundits say that with its emergence will come the need for insightful community management. Communities and forums are expanding within enterprise solutions, as they offer key customer insight and accelerate customer service. Enterprise strategists Dion Hinchcliffe and Dennis Howlett are two experts encouraging companies moving into the 2.0 space to pay appropriate attention to community management.

Hinchcliffe argues that community managers must be dedicated to the post—not volunteers within the company who are splitting their time between it and another task—and thinks they must be a jack of all trades, versed in the corporate culture from HR to IT help desk practices. Howlett, on the other hand, does not think community managers need to be so widely versed, but he does acknowledge the asset they are to companies wanting the greatest ROI from implementing forums. Howlett’s argument comes as a slight surprise, as he has written of “Enterprise 2.0” as a space that only deserves a fraction of the consideration it has lately received. Still, the two both agree that community managers are a must.

Both Hinchcliffe and Howlett suggest a few guidelines for selecting a community manager, but perhaps more importantly urge employers to remember that these people will be the public face of their corporate culture. These ambassadors will need to be versed in social networking mediums, and naturally be very good with people. On this note, Howlett rightly points out that employers shouldn’t assume that community management is a simple task just because the tools of Enterprise 2.0 are pervasive and cheap. The extent of the community manager’s role will be better articulated with time, and according to the dictates of a company’s culture. The underlying message is to have one—from the very beginning if possible—to fully exercise what could be an extremely useful tool.

This month, Gartner Research Group held a CRM Summit, and one of the hot topics was e-commerce and its effects on CRM practices. With the proliferation of social networks and smartphone usage, many companies are (or should be) developing mobile-friendly websites and eventually mobile applications. Gartner’s numbers predict that within the next few years, 30% of smartphone users will be shopping on the Internet, 75% of search systems will provide some social search functionality to calculate contemporary relevancy, and about 300 million mobile users will be subscribed to location-based services. Companies need to plan now for the influx of mobile users and e-commerce transactions, and many CRM platforms are introducing mobile counterparts in preparation.

Mobile and social expansion fosters a new community among web users, and one that organizations need to tend. Companies need to focus on an in-depth customer experience—give them options, suggest things they might like, etc.—and acknowledge the importance of user-generated content (UGC). Allowing consumers to review items and services provides helpful troubleshooting information, and it necessary for giving consumers the experience they expect.

Gartner Research VP Gene Alvarez outlined four different types of websites, and indicated at what stage in mobile development each should be.

• Influencers. These are companies like automotive and appliance vendors, and their websites aren’t transaction-oriented, but rather aim to direct customers elsewhere for that exchange. If these companies have mobile apps, they are of similar functionality to their websites, but ultimately they don’t need to rush to the mobile market just yet.
• Informers. These websites disseminate information—like newspapers—and the companies behind them are the ones spearheading the movement for mobile applications.
• Facilitators. These sites belong to service-oriented companies—like banks and airlines—and while they court the mobile market, their customers might be wary of performing these transactions from their smartphone.
• Sellers. These sites sell goods, and as of now the majority of them don’t have applications for mobile transactions. However, Alvarez does note that they should at least be developing some outlet for submitting UGC from a mobile device.

Alvarez termed the effort to cater CRM to e-commerce users as “e-CRM,” and the notion has several aspects to consider. The conference covered the need for companies to consider CRM strategies for mobile users, but there is also the need for CRM companies themselves to put forth similar consideration. Salesforce.com and Oracle have had mobile applications for a while, and NetSuite added an iPhone application to their mobile arsenal this week. Serious players will eventually need serious mobile applications (with good user interfaces and plenty of user options) to stay in the game.

The expansion of cloud computing is unstoppable, and its growth within enterprise software is manifest destiny. Of course, when dealing with cloud storage there are always questions about security. After a recent Unisys survey revealed that more than half of its enterprise participants considered security and privacy their biggest concern with the cloud, eWeek did a little investigation and outlined six tips for security. Details are below, but the main points are to ask questions and don’t assume your storage provider is giving you all the pertinent details, and to be completely familiar—back-of-your-hand familiar—with your company’s security requirements.

• Learn as much as possible about a potential provider’s data management. Whether it’s where data is physically stored or what hiring practices led to the staff responsible for securing your data, make a point to know about it.
• Make sure your provider can show you documentation of encryption used to secure and segregate data between multiple customers.
• Should law enforcement perform an audit, be sure your provider can construct an accurate audit trail. Be particularly wary of providers who can’t give you precise geo-location and compartmentalization of sensitive data.
• Another key to smooth audits: know your company’s compliance requirements inside and out so that these become prerequisites when soliciting a provider. This knowledge could eliminate legal hassles down the road.
• If a provider doesn’t have a trustworthy software security assurance program, find one that does. This means security and privacy will be certain in terms of application development in the cloud.
• Lastly, consider Murphy’s Law. Ask prospective providers how they are prepared to handle a security breach, from damage control to correction.

Salesforce.com has had a pretty strong showing in 2009, due in part to the company’s introduction of Cloud Service (a SaaS application) at the beginning of this year. Early this month, Salesforce announced an upgrade to this application, Service Cloud 2, which consists of three phases to be launched from now until early 2011.

One of the Service Cloud 2’s web-based options is already available to Salesforce.com customers: Salesforce for Twitter. The company integrated Twitter into their platforms in March 2009—and was one of the first enterprise software developers to do so—and now the integration functions within the Service Cloud. This update allows users to track and monitor conversations in Twitter, as well as tweet from the Service Cloud.

Later in 2009, customer service reps will be able to access Salesforce Knowledge, allowing users to quickly access company knowledge bases to provide more efficient customer service. These bases will be like company-specific FAQ pages, and the application will also be integrated with Google search integration.

Salesforce Answers expands customers’ accessibility to company information by allowing platform users to create customizable forums where people can ask and answer questions and rate their peers’ responses. Making this forum feature more modern is the social networking element: Answers also allows companies to set up Salesforce Answers communities on Facebook fan pages, and the information from this integration will be imported into the Service Cloud.

No doubt more enterprise-meets-social-networking features will be added to the Cloud 2 arsenal—at a San Francisco event two weeks ago, Salesforce Founder and CEO Marc Benioff called the company a “cloud computing evangelist” and intimated that real-time search and microblogging give CRM “incredible capabilities.”