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25 Jan 2012 Customer service is from Venus, data quality is from Mars (Voices of CRM)
How can the two talk to one another? Forrester has a few ideas and some advice to get customer service on board with data quality and vice versa.
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24 Jan 2012 Is the content industry focusing on the customer?
A blog post has columnist Denis Pombriant pondering the future of the content industry and whether it is focusing too much on products.
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23 Jan 2012 Speech analytics is worth the pain
Expert Donna Fluss discusses the benefits of using speech analytics in the contact center and other areas of business.
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16 Jan 2012 Sales software report: SFA, analytics on the rise, Excel use falls
Sales organizations are decreasing their use of Microsoft Excel, while adding sales force automation tools and strongly considering analytics, according to a new benchmarking report.
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10 Jan 2012 Measurement, monitoring essential to customer experience management
Learn how Coca-Cola and ING Direct expanded their customer experience management in social media approaches by measuring goals and monitoring customer feedback.
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05 Jan 2012 Employee focus transforms customer experience management strategies
CEM initiatives suffer when employees can’t provide their perspectives on customer concerns.
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03 Jan 2012 Planning and allocating resources for customer experience management
Customer experience management (CEM) crosses multiple departments and IT systems. How should organizations tackle the enormous task of mapping out a CEM transformation?
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29 Dec 2011 'Avengers' and 'Spider-Man' top list of geek movies to watch in 2012 (SearchDataManagement.com)
The golden age of geek movies will continue in 2012 with films like "The Avengers," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Men in Black III."
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28 Dec 2011 Analysts predict social, mobile CRM as main trends for 2012
Find out why CRM analysts say social media data integration and mobile CRM are two key areas to watch in 2012.
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27 Dec 2011 Customer experience management must be built on trust, SAP exec says (SearchSAP.com)
Today’s companies have a range of tools and technology they can use to create a sense of trust with their customers, according to a new book on customer experience management (CEM).
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23 Dec 2011 Was 2011 the year of ‘peak software’?
Two recent headlines have columnist Denis Pombriant pondering the future of licensed software and the future of interactions both person-to-person and business-to-business.
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22 Dec 2011 Social, acquisitions, CEM topped CRM news in 2011
In 2011, CRM professionals were faced with acquisitive vendors, a social tidal wave, a push for mobile computing and the never-ending demands for better, faster customer management systems.
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21 Dec 2011 Group pushes for social media measurement standards
Consultant and author Katie Paine has formed a social media standards group to create definitions and best practices for defining customer relationships, influence and engagement.
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19 Dec 2011 Gartner Magic Quadrant finds confusion in the customer MDM market (SearchDataManagement.com)
Acquisitions and product additions by the top vendors are making customer master data management software choices harder for users, Gartner says.
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16 Dec 2011 Salesforce, SAP, Oracle get ready for HR software battle
With the planned acquisition of Rypple, cloud giant Salesforce.com intends to target SAP and Oracle in the human resources software market.
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14 Dec 2011 More disruption predicted for CRM software market
Columnist Denis Pombriant examines this year’s CRM highlights and says tools focused on engagement, collaboration and gamification will disrupt and redefine the market going forward.
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12 Dec 2011 Salesforce.com cloud CRM apps demanding IT skills for customization
Salesforce.com users are adopting traditional IT practices of software development and project management to tailor this cloud CRM software to meet their business requirements.
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08 Dec 2011 Digital marketing strategies demand deeper understanding of customer behaviors
Companies can cash in on customers’ increasing use of social and mobile channels, as long as they target their messages and don’t overstay their welcome.
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07 Dec 2011 Gartner: Adobe outranks IBM, Microsoft for top Web content management vendors (SearchContentManagement.com)
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Web content management adds Adobe, forecasts an overall growth rate of 14% until the year 2014; almost twice that of the enterprise content management software market.
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06 Dec 2011 Is the ERP software market down to three vendors? (A Business Application Summation)
SAP, Oracle and Salesforce are consolidating the market for SaaS applications and software buyers should be concerned.
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05 Dec 2011 Social channels changing contact center certification
Contact centers will see overhauled programs for certifications next year that address the full range of channels, with emphasis on social media technology.
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30 Nov 2011 Salesforce unveils Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud
Salesforce.com is continuing to deliver its social enterprise message with the unveiling of the Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud, a social marketing service that lets enterprises interact with...
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29 Nov 2011 Customer experience analytics: Separating hype from fact
SearchCRM expert Donna Fluss compares the latest types of customer experience analytics applications.
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22 Nov 2011 Social monitoring tools give GNC marketing muscle
Nutritional products retailer GNC finds customers on social channels and uses targeting marketing tactics to win new business.
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21 Nov 2011 Businesses scramble as users clamor for mobile customer service
As more customers use mobile devices, more companies are trying to deliver customer service to smartphones and tablets.
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18 Nov 2011 Experts divulge the keys to marketing analytics success (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
Henry Stewart Marketing Analytics 2011 conference participants offer tips on how to make a marketing analytics program successful.
Predictive analytics project challenge: Keeping the faith in findings (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
Consultants and analytics pros say targeting clear business needs and demonstrating "small wins" are keys to getting business buy-in for acting on the recommendations of predictive analytics tools.
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16 Nov 2011 Effective social media strategy: A must for success in a social world (SearchContentManagement.com)
Successful organizations develop a formal enterprise social media strategy. According to Altimeter Group, they do this by moving through five stages representing a social business hierarchy of needs.
Talent, culture viewed as absolutes for marketing analytics programs (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
Henry Stewart Marketing Analytics 2011 conference attendees believe a program’s success lies with the right kind of talent, but the appropriate skill set isn’t always easy to find.
Video analytics: Are BOBJ 4.0 customers watching you? (SearchSAP.com)
Some SAP BusinessObjects 4.0 retail customers are experimenting with video analytics, an area that SAP says is ripe with potential for those interested in consumer behavior.
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15 Nov 2011 Salesforce.com aims social collaboration tool at financial firms
With the upcoming release of Chatter auditing capabilities, Salesforce.com hopes to make the social collaboration tool more appealing to financial services firms and boost its overall market lead.
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14 Nov 2011 Blog: Companies not getting social ROI -- yet (Voices of CRM )
Many companies are not yet getting big payback from social CRM because they are spending most of their time monitoring their brand and competitor's activities.
Gartner Magic Quadrant finds growing demand for data integration tools (SearchBusinessIntelligenceIN.com)
The data integration market is growing as users seek to cope with a slew of data management challenges, according to a Gartner Magic Quadrant report.
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10 Nov 2011 Sirius, Match.com, DirecTV share social customer service, mobile plans
Customer service groups push forward with mobile, social plans to meet customers on their platforms of choice.
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08 Nov 2011 CRM Idol: An insider’s look at the judging process
Industry consultant and CRM Idol judge Denis Pombriant shares his thoughts on the evaluation process that picked the top new CRM applications in the market.
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07 Nov 2011 Tread carefully with social media-based customer loyalty programs
Companies can deploy social channels to cultivate customer loyalty programs, but shouldn’t rely on these channels to define these programs.
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04 Nov 2011 A more grown-up CRM for BusinessOne users (SAP Watch)
While Hillel Sackstein won’t upgrade his company to BusinessOne 8.82 for another month or two, he already approves of a number of changes that SAP has made to the application, namely the ability to...
Better together: BPM and CRM (ebizQ)
With more and more of the world's economy becoming service-based, it's no surprise that companies of every size, in just about every industry, are turning to customer service as a competitive...
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03 Nov 2011 Column: RightNow key to Oracle’s customer experience management plans
CRM industry expert Denis Pombriant asserts the Oracle acquisition of RightNow is good news for customers, industry.
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02 Nov 2011 New book explores benefits, perils of data virtualization tools (SearchDataManagement.com)
Composite Software's Robert Eve talks about his new book, which delves into 10 data virtualization software case studies.
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31 Oct 2011 Yahoo, Amex talk up different customer service approaches
American Express and Yahoo tackle customer service with their own twists and both claim they are spending less than they once did.
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26 Oct 2011 IBM to unveil NoSQL technology inside DB2 (SearchDataManagement.com)
IBM intends to offer NoSQL database capabilities inside of DB2 beginning early next year, according to a keynote speaker at IBM Information On Demand 2011.
Oracle-RightNow: Expert reactions and the Cloud Services Agreement (A Business Application Summation)
There's plenty of reaction about Oracle's $1.4 billion acquisition of RightNow, but its impact on licensing might be the most important.
QR codes: Business tool or marketing fad?
While QR codes have potential as a strategic business and marketing tool, their true business value has yet to emerge.
SAS ups ‘big data’ ante with high-performance computing platform (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
SAS has partnered with Teradata and EMC Greenplum to release a high-performance analytics computing platform to handle 'big data.'
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25 Oct 2011 Data quality still a major hurdle for analytics programs (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
Attendees at SAS’ Analytics 2011 Conference Series said data quality is still creating some major headaches for analysts.
RightNow customers concerned, curious about future with Oracle
Oracle's planned acquisition of RightNow for $1.5 billion has attendees of the RightNow customer summit wondering what the future will hold.
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17 Oct 2011 IBM gives nod to SugarCRM open source software for SmartCloud
SugarCRM teams up with IBM and is counting on an extended IBM partnership to bring in more mainstream business.
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12 Oct 2011 Social engagement tips from author Qualman
In this interview, Erik Qualman says mistakes will be made, but simple, one-to-one interactions are the key to social media engagement.
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11 Oct 2011 Contact centers improving customer service by expanding agents’ role
Contact centers are giving agents more decision-making power to help improve customer service and boost emotional connections.
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06 Oct 2011 Oracle Fusion Applications now generally available (SearchOracle.com)
Oracle Fusion Applications is now generally available, but expect adoption to be slow, happening module-by-module with some while others wait years before implementing it.
Oracle Fusion CRM early adopters offer their reviews
A handful of members of Oracle's Early Adopter Program for Fusion CRM relayed their experience with the company's new platform.
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04 Oct 2011 Cut support costs by reducing escalations
Contact centers should examine and audit issues that escalate beyond a level 1 to determine how to better manage the outcome and costs of more complex customer issues.
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28 Sep 2011 Experts say CEM technology can build single view of customer
Communicating with customers through multiple channels is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Find out how companies use CEM technology to craft a single view of the customer across channels.
Gartner Magic Quadrant: Oracle and SAP prepare for data quality battle (SearchDataManagement.com)
Oracle is gradually catching up to its chief rival, SAP, in the race for data quality market dominance, according to Gartner.
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27 Sep 2011 Column: Assessing Salesforce.com’s application development platforms
Salesforce.com may have focused on the social enterprise at Dreamforce, but its cloud-based programming tools are grabbing customer’s attention, too.
SAP, Oracle follow in Microsoft, Salesforce.com's footsteps with PaaS (A Business Application Summation)
SAP has revealed its plans for a NetWeaver-based PaaS, now word has it Oracle is readying its own for OpenWorld. Is PaaS reaching maturity?
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26 Sep 2011 Enterprises jump into deep end with cloud data quality, now must learn to swim (SearchDataManagement.com)
Many enterprises deploying cloud-based applications don't appear to have plans in place to address issues such as data quality and data governance, according to a survey by Ventana Research.
Wineries uncork predictive analytics with tools from e-commerce provider (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
Wineries are preparing to tackle customer retention with predictive analytics tools thanks to a new partnership between an e-commerce provider and Information Builders.
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22 Sep 2011 With social contact centers, companies find it’s learn as you go
Without clear best practices for social initiatives, contact centers need to chart their own courses with some basic guidance from industry analysts.
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20 Sep 2011 Salesforce.com ramps up plans for CRM data integration
Salesforce.com has big plans for social customer profiles, but it might take a whiole for this concept of CRM data integration to fully translate into reality.
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15 Sep 2011 Tips for making the business case for CRM analytics – and what can be gained
Using CRM analytics is a popular trend, but it’s important to make a solid business case for bringing it into a CRM environment. Learn what to expect from CRM analytics and how to develop a business...
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13 Sep 2011 Health care supply company prescribes itself mobile BI software (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
Realizing the ubiquity of mobile devices among medical professionals, health care supplies contracting services provider Novation LLC plunged into the mobile business intelligence movement.
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08 Sep 2011 Is benchmarking data the next big step for SaaS? (A Business Application Summation)
SaaS companies collect a wealth of information from their customers. Isn't about time they started sharing it? NetSuite plans to.
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06 Sep 2011 Benioff is a rock star and other notes from Dreamforce (A Business Application Summation)
Emptying out the reporter's notebook from Dreamforce and wondering about VMforce, HR in social media and Benioff's rock star status.
Customer experience management gives Dell, AmEx an edge
See how American Express and Dell turned around their customer satisfaction ratings by applying customer experience management (CEM) principles.
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04 Sep 2011 CEO Benioff outlines priorities for Salesforce.com
Marc Benioff, chairman of Salesforce.com, met with dozens of reporters and analysts at the company’s annual Dreamforce conference this week and fielded a wide range of questions, from clarifying...
Social marketing demands connections not just content (Voices of CRM)
Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Crush It and The Thank You Economy, was a featured speaker at Dreamforce, the Salesforce.com annual user conference. He asserts that social media tools should be used to...
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01 Sep 2011 Salesforce Sandbox outage raises concerns about SLAs and SaaS testing
Salesforce.com's sandbox environment went down for six days last week. Does that impact your company's SLA with the company? Many are unsure.
Salesforce beefs up database, Heroku, mobile offerings
Salesforce aims to broaden customer base by adding new functions to the core of its product line.
Salesforce's DRO: First step to a private option? (A Business Application Summation)
In this video, Jeff Kaplan discusses Salesforce.com's new Database Rights Option (DRO) and what it means for the SaaS market including a possible private cloud.
Salesforce.com reveals a Chatter-based social CRM plan
Salesforce.com gave Chatter the official nod by creating a social enterprise strategy with this collaboration tool as its centerpiece.
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31 Aug 2011 Experts reveal the top 5 data integration best practices (SearchDataManagement.com)
Gartner analyst Bill Gassman and Queplix CTO Steve Yaskin explain key best practices that can help ensure successful data integration projects.
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30 Aug 2011 Forrester offers five steps to curb mobile CRM chaos
Forrester Research has released a best practices plan for companies trying to get control over their mobile CRM deployments.
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26 Aug 2011 Dreamforce '11 Special Report
Check out coverage of the Dreamforce ‘11 cloud computing conference with info on using Salesforce.com’s sales and service clouds, Chatter, Jigsaw, the Force.com and Database.com.
New Gartner Magic Quadrant sizes up data quality tools vendors (SearchDataManagement.com)
Gartner added three vendors to its data quality Magic Quadrant and pointed to increased market volatility from acquisitions and new deployment models.
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23 Aug 2011 CRM buyers say goodbye to cloud CRM/on-premises debate
The cloud CRM vs. on-premises CRM platform debate, once forefront for many buyers, is taking a back seat to more pressing business drivers as users chart their own courses.
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22 Aug 2011 NPR experiments with new Web-based data service offering (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)
National Public Radio is using SaaS corporate performance management technology to track market trends and uncover financial red flags its analysts might have missed before.
Panasas chooses Dell Boomi data integration tools over Cast Iron (SearchDataManagement.com)
The right cloud data integration tools helped high performance storage vendor Panasas complete a very successful IT overhaul.
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17 Aug 2011 Oracle-InQuira deal raises concerns about the future of KM
Columnist John Ragsdale discusses the KM-related ramifications of Oracle's InQuira acquisition and the growing importance of enterprise search.
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16 Aug 2011 Companies need to nail down chief customer officer role
Companies must precisely define role for chief customer officers to ensure success.
SharePoint 2010 adoption: If you deploy it, will your users come? (SearchContentManagement.com)
Making sure SharePoint 2010 is adopted throughout the enterprise to its best advantage takes a clear strategic plan and an awareness of the pitfalls. Part of the trick is a setup for viral adoption.
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10 Aug 2011 SearchCRM Cloud Guide
More companies are considering SaaS CRM instead of on-premises systems. In this guide, find out how to incorporate cloud computing into CRM.
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09 Aug 2011 Nicor manages customer experience from the inside out
Nicor National believes that managing the customer experience starts with improving the customer service representatives’ environment.
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08 Aug 2011 Forrester: Customer experience management sets WCM tools apart (SearchContentManagement.com)
Forrester cites customer experience management (CEM) capabilities as the set of differentiators among a growing and fragmented Web content management product market.
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03 Aug 2011 Outsourcing analytics has pros, cons for customers
Nearly buried in customer data, many companies are hard-pressed to get a good fix on their social analytics. Some companies find that they need to give the job to someone else.
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01 Aug 2011 Adobe's Watson: Context is king in enterprise social collaboration (SearchContentManagement.com)
Adobe's Ben Watson says good enterprise social collaboration makes employee and customer interaction transparent and gets customer experience management right, leading to loyal customers and success.
Gartner Magic Quadrant reveals fragmented social CRM market
Gartner recommends companies focus on business priorities and true engagement to make social CRM projects a success.