Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Small Firms Take on Big SaaS Integration Woes | The Intelligent Enterprise Blog

Small Firms Take on Big SaaS Integration Woes | The Intelligent Enterprise Blog

Small Firms Take on Big SaaS Integration Woes


Posted by David Linthicum
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
10:47 AM


As highlighted in this article by Computer Weekly, SMBs using SaaS face a complex integration challenge.

"According to research firm Saugatuck Technology, as more companies use SaaS, the need to integrate those applications with the rest of a company's systems grows. In fact, 17 percent of SMBs are using more than one application delivered via SaaS, according to the Westport, Conn.-based firm's findings."

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

InterRed eröffnet mit integriertem Online-CRM 1:1 Marketing in einer neuen Dimension

InterRed eröffnet mit integriertem Online-CRM 1:1 Marketing in einer neuen Dimension

Auch dieses Jahr war die InterRed GmbH auf den vom InterRed Kunden IM-Marketing Forum veranstalteten Mailingtagen in Nürnberg vertreten. Die im Rahmen des Messefokus präsentierten InterRed Online Spezialitäten wie Communityfunktionen und Online-CRM sowie die Weiterentwicklungen in der Katalogproduktion fesselten die
Interessierten an den Stand.

Katalogproduktion, die keine Wünsche offen lässt

Die an crossmedialer Katalogproduktion interessierten Messebesucher waren besonders von der Fähigkeit InterReds angetan, dass das auch professionellen Verlagsanforderungen genügende, sehr ausgefeilte Workflowmanagement dennoch komfortabel und Komplexität reduzierend auf alle Bedürfnisse der automatisierten Katalogproduktion anzupassen ist. Dass dieselben medienneutral gehaltenen Daten auch für andere
Ausgabekanäle wie Online oder CD/DVD-Produktion zur Verfügung stehen, ist mittlerweile als InterRed-Standard bekannt.

1:1 Marketing mit InterRed

Erstmalig auf den Mailingtagen wurden den Interessenten zudem Einblicke in die neuen, zusätzlichen Marketing-Möglichkeiten des
InterRed Online Systems ermöglicht. Teilweise mit Verblüffung
reagierten die Standbesucher bei der Aussicht, die für eine Community notwendige Nutzerprofilierung für gezielte bzw. äußerst gezielte Werbeplatzierungen nutzbar zu machen. Das Ziel, dieses Potential den relevanten Entscheidern bekannt zu machen, war ein zentrales Anliegen der InterRed GmbH.

Fazit: Erfolgreicher Messeauftritt auf den 8. Nürnberger
Mailingtagen

Die InterRed GmbH kann zufrieden auf fruchtbare und zielführende Gespräche sowie eine rundum gelungene Veranstaltung zurückblicken. So bleibt nur, den aktuellen und zukünftigen Ausrichtern viel Erfolg bei der Organisation und Gestaltung der nächsten Messe zu wünschen.

20.06.2007, Bertram Wagner

SaaS integration tasks SMBs - 20/Jun/2007 - ComputerWeekly.com

SaaS integration tasks SMBs - 20/Jun/2007 - ComputerWeekly.com

Monday, June 18, 2007

e-Spirit-Forum informiert zum Thema SAP Portal und CMS

e-Spirit-Forum informiert zum Thema SAP Portal und CMS

In Fachvorträgen und Anwendererfahrungen können Interessenten sich über den Einsatz des Content-Management- Systems FIRSTspirit im SAP NetWeaver Portal informieren

Die e-Spirit GmbH, Hersteller des Content-Management- Systems FIRSTspirit, veranstaltet am 24. Juli 2007 im Mercedes-Benz Center in München ein Forum zum Thema SAP und CMS. "FIRSTspirit im SAP NetWeaver Portal" bietet Fachvorträge und Erfahrungsberichte von Vertretern der SAP Deutschland GmbH, der EADS Group und der Knorr-Bremse AG sowie eine FIRSTspirit Live-Demonstration.

Die halbtägige Veranstaltung gliedert sich in drei Teile: Am Vormittag berichten Vertreter der EADS Group und der Knorr-Bremse AG von ihren Praxiserfahrungen bei der Integration des CMS FIRSTspirit in das SAP NetWeaver Portal in ihrem jeweiligen Unternehmen. Ab Mittag folgen Fachvorträge des SAP-Produktmanagements zu den Grundfunktionalitäten der SAP-Lösung Web-Page Composer (WPC) sowie eines SAP-Beraters zu strategischen Lösungsansätzen.

Im Anschluss bekommen die Teilnehmer bei einer Live-Demonstration durch einen Vertreter der e-Spirit GmbH Einblicke in die praktische Umsetzung.

Ein gemeinsames Business-Lunch im Anschluss gibt die Gelegenheit, sich über die Inhalte des Forums auszutauschen und die Veranstaltung ausklingen zu lassen.

18.06.2007, Christiane Capps

Thursday, June 14, 2007

e-Spirit expandiert in die Schweiz

e-Spirit expandiert in die Schweiz

Hersteller des CMS FIRSTspirit will aktiv neue Märkte erschließen

Das Dortmunder Softwarehaus e-Spirit hat seit diesem Monat auch einen Standort in der Schweiz. e-Spirit ist der Hersteller von FIRSTspirit, dem Content Management System für internationale Konzerne und den gehobenen Mittelstand.

Um sich mit seinem Produkt dem Schweizer Markt vorzustellen, nutzte das Unternehmen die ITC-Fachmesse Orbit-iEX, die dieses Jahr vom 22.-25. Mai in Zürich stattfand.

Jörn Bodemann, Geschäftsführer von e-Spirit, erklärt die Gründe für den Schritt ins Nachbarland: "Schon in der Vergangenheit konnten wir viele Kunden mit Sitz in der Schweiz gewinnen, darunter Schweizer Industriegesellschaft SIG und Würth Phoenix Schweiz. Jetzt wollen wir den Markt aktiv angehen und unser Kunden-Portfolio gezielt weiter ausbauen."

Verantwortlich vor Ort ist der neue Country Manager Markus Hümbeli. Der Betriebsökonom FH war bisher unter anderem als Key Account Manager für IBM Schweiz und als Regional Sales Manager für die Mercury Schweiz tätig. Er wird nun das FIRSTspirit-Lizenzgeschäft und Professional Services von e-Spirit von den neuen Züricher Geschäftsräumen aus koordinieren.
11.06.2007, Christiane Capps

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

FT.com / Partnership Publishing / Understanding Business Technology

FT.com / Partnership Publishing / Understanding Business Technology

FT.com / Home UK / UK - Understanding Business Technology Introduction

FT.com / Home UK / UK - Introduction

Understanding Business Technology Introduction
By Alan Cane, Senior Technology Correspondent

Published: March 17 2007 07:57 | Last updated: March 17 2007 07:57

There has never been a more important time to understand business technology. Let me re-phrase that somewhat bombastic claim: there has never been a more important time to understand the way technology is reshaping the way business is conducted and the implications for management of the spread of technology throughout a company’s operations.

Nobody is expecting executives to become technicians or to learn computer programming. But technology is changing swiftly and without a sound appreciation of the principles involved, executives will struggle to make the most of its potential and are likely to fall victim to its pitfalls – of which there can be many.

These changes are a consequence of the way the personal computer, broadband internet and the collapse in the real cost of computing have begun to do away with the barriers which once separated the data processing department, essentially an organisation within an organisation, from the rest of the company.

Those barriers often resulted in a schism between information technology and the business, a separation marked by mutual distrust where neither side spoke the same language or espoused the same business objectives. While things are changing rapidly with the growth of high capacity intranets and the internet and high powered small computers, many of these attitudes remain – to the extent that a new kind of executive, the business liaison officer, who is well-versed in both technology and business is emerging in a number of companies to act as interpreter between the two sides.

Conventional data processing will not go away any day soon – too many companies have too much invested in legacy systems responsible for processing orders and keeping track of inventory – but existing technologies and processes are evolving at the same time as new technologies are being developed which present both IT staff and business executives with new challenges. One such challenge is Service Oriented Architecture or SOA which, on the one hand, opens a company to a number of innovative relationships with its customers but on the other allows “outsiders” unprecedented access to its data systems.

It follows that business executives must themselves become au fait with the elements of business technology for a number of reasons. First, because of the need to be a “good customer” when specifying and managing new IT projects. The most common cause of the failure of a computer project to come in on cost and budget and to meet user objectives is a lack of empathy between the commissioner – the business – and the supplier – the IT department. Few large projects are completed without changes along the way and change management is crucial to controlling costs and handling risk. Business executives should have a good working knowledge of what is possible and what is not if disasters are to be avoided.

Second, cost. The data processing department has traditionally been seen as a cost on the business rather than a profit centre. It remains one of the most expensive elements of the average company’s budget even if IT spend is expected to be flat or only slightly positive for the next few years.

What is not immediately obvious, however, is that the lion’s share of that budget – perhaps 60 per cent or more – is swallowed up in simply “keeping the lights on”: running the company’s existing systems and carrying out routine maintenance. This means that comparatively small sums, as little as 20 per cent of the overall budget in many cases, may be left over to finance new work. In the worst cases, only 2 per cent of budget may be available for innovation. Hence, the interest in technologies such as grid computing and virtualisation which are designed to cut costs and allow companies to make better use of their existing equipment.

The problem for many companies stems from the fact that IT grows in an unco-ordinated manner. Every time a new project is started, new hardware and software is purchased leading to a surfeit of computers and, more seriously, a surfeit of software licences which have to be renewed annually at a significant cost – a phenomenon known as “overlicencing”.

Grid computing is an approach to cutting costs through which all or many of the company’s computers are linked in a network so that all the available computer power can be utilised by sharing processing between the several machines. Virtualisation allows a single machine to run several operating systems at the same time: the result is less power consumption, more efficiency, a smaller physical “footprint”, flexibility and lower costs.

Storage is another big issue. In the past, companies simply created a hierarchy of storage media, moving information from high speed disks, to lower capacity systems and finally to low-cost tape. But no longer. Changes in the law means that corporate information in many forms including e-mails must be easy to retrieve at all times.

Storage also represents a new and significant risk for companies as the growing capacity of devices such as USB memories, iPods, mobile cameras and digital assistants make it possible for employees to walk out of a company with much of the company’s intellectual assets in their pockets. This is a very real problem which can only be solved by vigilance and by using software which refuses to allow foreign devices access to corporate systems. Furthermore, for most companies the law demands that the security of its information be guaranteed.

The law, in fact, casts a long shadow over IT operations these days. Software piracy is still rife even in developed economies and the threat of jail hangs over managers who knowingly allow pirated or counterfeit software to be used in their companies. So, it’s important to know that your software comes from a reputable source. Surveys in the UK, however, suggest that very little counterfeit software is in circulation. By far the greatest problem is software with a dodgy licence. This could include software imported illegally from abroad, educational licences being used in non-educational establishments and software upgrades purchased without the underlying licence in place. As software typically comprises the second largest component in a company’s IT spend, it is important to have disciplined procurement and management procedures in place. And that is a management responsibility.

Project management, cost, legality: all these stem from ideas of best practice in IT management. The most important reason for executives to understand business technology today, however, is the new options it opens up for business innovation. It is no longer enough, for example, simply to operate a website through which customers can obtain news and information. The latest internet development, “Web 2.0”, essentially describes a range of technologies which allow the customer to interact with the website in a variety of ways. Among the most futuristic is “Second Life”, one of a series of “metaverses” or imaginary universes in cyberspace where business is conducted between “avatars” or electronic representations of real people. It is, however, no more than a somewhat unusual alternative interface to the internet, an all-singing, all-dancing browser.

Second Life is a suitably exotic example with which to conclude this brief introduction to modern business technologies. Over the next few weeks, down-to-earth topics including customer relationship management, human capital management, supply chain management and financial management will be explored and explained,including discussion of how to maximise their business benefits. Don’t forget, however, the potential of SOA and Web 2.0 to transform the mainstream to the leading edge.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Friday, June 08, 2007

Company: webMethods

Company

webMethods provides business process integration to the world's largest corporations and government agencies. webMethods' flagship product suite, webMethods Fabric, is the only integrated platform to deliver both SOA and BPM, delivering rapid ROI to our 1,500 customers around the globe. With webMethods, customers can take a process-centric approach to their business problems, allowing them to leverage their existing IT assets, dramatically improve business process productivity and ROI, and rapidly create competitive advantage by making their business processes work harder for their company.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

FT.com / In depth - Google extends its advertising reach

FT.com / In depth - Google extends its advertising reach

Google extends its advertising reach
By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco

Published: June 2 2007 02:30 | Last updated: June 2 2007 02:30

Google on Friday extended its advertising reach with the acquisition of Feedburner, the news feed service.

The deal, rumoured to be worth $100m, is far smaller than its intended $3.1bn acquisition of DoubleClick, the online advertising company, but it opens up a growing area of advertising for the Silicon Valley company.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Highlights From the TCS Analyst Briefing | AMR Research

Highlights From the TCS Analyst Briefing | AMR Research

A few weeks ago, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) brought nearly all of its executive team to Boston for its annual, two-day analyst briefing. Before the formal session began, we were fortunate to have an hour alone with S. Ramadorai, the company’s CEO and managing director. Under his stewardship, TCS’s revenue has doubled every 2 to 2.5 years. When the company’s fiscal year ended last March 30, TCS was the first Indian services firm to crack the $4B annual revenue mark, closing FY07 at $4.29B. It was also the first to reach $3B, too, reaching that milestone in the same year.

Skills shortages are real: may be short 150,000 people

For the last few months, we have written about the looming skills shortages presented by the continued adoption of SOA and related technologies. For its part, TCS has trained 40,000 of its consultants—about half of its workforce. About 4,000 have engagement experience, with 75% to 80% described as billable. To broaden and complement its internal training, TCS is joining forces with other vendors. For example, the company is an active member of SAP’s Enterprise Services Community and several of SAP’s Industry Value Networks.