N. Rowan

If you're a developer, you're probably aware of the schism between developer platforms. European and US-based Typesafe seeks to provide the next generation of developers with the tools to build reactive applications. We spoke with Typesafe CTO and creator of Akka Jonas Bonér to learn how Typesafe sees the future of enterprise development.

Bloomfire knows the value of content. The top community forum software company allows you to build an online community and engage with your colleagues and customers through knowledge sharing. We sat down with Craig Melloy, CEO and co-founder of Bloomfire, to discuss the ins and outs of how companies can get the most out of their content both in-house and externally.

Even CMS provider DotNetNuke admits that “technology is a key enabler of online communities, and yet it cannot alone ensure a successful community.” Online communities can have a high failure rate if they don’t engage anyone, so utilizing this tips and your community forum software to create a valuable, easy to use platform can help ensure a high adoption rate as you build the community you want.

Jitbit is a small company with a big customer base. A Help Desk software provider, Jitbit counts Intel, Chevron, Philips, Siemens, and Vodafone among their 500+ customers. We sat down with founder Alex Yumashev to learn the secret of his success, and to understand how Jitbit can help companies both small and large supercharge their help desk team.

Stride is not your everyday CRM system: rather than doing contact management, the company provides a software solution for deal management, allowing salespeople to more effectively focus on revenue-generating opportunities rather than mindlessly entering contact information. Co-founder Andrew Dumont joined us for a discussion on what sets Stride apart in the increasingly crowded CRM space.

Social ERP - also known as Enterprise 2.0, E2.0, or sERP - has been around for several years, but not widely adopted. There has been talk of social ERP at least since early 2006, when the first industry experts and solution providers started thinking about integrating Twitter, Facebook, and other social platforms with ERP. But is it a good idea to merge the open, unstructured nature of social conversations with a tightly-controlled, structured ERP environment?

Manta is an online network where small businesses connect with other businesses as well as potential customers. More than being a Yelp for small businesses, Manta is trying to positively impact small business revenues by providing a freemium ecosystem where content creation and consumption reinforce each other. We spoke with CEO Pam Springer about how Manta manages to impact these elusive small businesses in a meaningful way.

While marketing spend continues to skyrocket, most software providers focus their efforts on solutions for the B2C space. Bizo, however, focuses on helping B2B marketers be more successful. Founded in '08, the company's products are being used by over 600 name brands including American Express, Microsoft, and Verizon. We sat down with VP of Products Chris Mann to discuss the market opportunity and challenges of online advertising as well as the developments marketers need to know about in the coming years.

Last year, Forrester estimated the affiliate marketing industry to grow to an annual spend of $4.5B by 2016. As marketing departments continue to change dramatically, in part due to the continued rise of mobile and social media, Business-Software.com turned to the experts in the field and asked them: What are the top marketing trends to watch in 2013?

The great strengths of social media - how fast it is, how easy it is to reach a large audience, how it sponsors open discussions - are also its biggest flaws when used improperly. The growing popularity of social media in business has led to an increased number of marketing blunders that viral out before the culprits have even noticed their mistake. Here is a list of the four worst social media disasters of 2012 and what you can learn from them in 2013.

Considering the growing popularity of mobile and the cloud, Causata - a big data analytics provider - is on to something special: their identity graph technology allows companies to connect with their customers in a more personal, targeted manner. Causata's VP of Marketing Brian Stone joined us for a discussion on the challenges of the increasingly web-oriented business workplace and the unique role Causata fulfills in B2C marketing analytics.

FinancialForce develops cloud-based apps to help run your business more smoothly in the areas of financial management and professional services automation. Built on salesforce.com's Force platform, FinancialForce's strength lies in building business logic around existing cloud technology. We sat down with President & CEO Jeremy Roche to talk about the benefits of Force.com, the importance of social, and succeeding in the increasingly complex world of cloud apps.

Sprinklr takes social relationship management seriously. Focused on developing a robust product built to grow as the social marketplace evolves, Sprinklr is in it for the long run. Since its inception in 2008, the company has diligently picked up over 100 Fortune 1000 customers. We spoke with CEO and founder Ragy Thomas about what makes Sprinklr so unique and successful, what challenges companies are facing in the social age, and what the future of social will hold.

Get Satisfaction powers customer engagement through online communities, connecting prospects with customers to create an open two-way dialogue and drive sales. This new generation of social forums allows companies to market directly to their audience and have that audience be brand advocates in return. We spoke with Get Satisfaction's VP Marketing Azita Martin on the opportunities and challenges of the second generation of social and how they will affect the future of community forum platforms.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions is a big data veteran, and their HPCC systems are a direct competitor of Apache Hadoop. We spoke with Flavio Villanustre, Vice President of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, on their strategic advances and what the future of big data will look like.

As mobile devices continue to revolutionize the way we do business and go through our daily lives, software providers are finding new ways to connect businesses with their customers. One such new development are online payment solutions, which are moving beyond the old PayPal model to include mobile access and to be implemented into any electronic transaction. Here are 5 leading innovators worth keeping an eye on.

Software selection is an important, time-consuming task that will have long-term effects for your company. Manufacturing software in particular needs experienced buyers who can accurately assess the needs of the company and compare them against the solution offering in the market. Here are 5 key pitfalls many companies have faced over the years during their manufacturing software selection process.