A lot of my time here at SugarCRM is spent explaining just exactly what the “Commercial” part of commercial open source means, and how SugarCRM runs as a corporate, project-driven entity. While open source has penetrated all areas of the IT stack, there is still some misunderstandings and I get the usual “Well if it’s … Continue reading »
Posted in October 2008 …
The Definition of Cloud Computing is Still in the Clouds
I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about what defines cloud computing. This recent report by Gartner that I came across this morning is just one example. I often hear cloud computing getting thrown into the same bucket as grid computing, and while many cloud computing environments leverage grids, cloud computing is the next … Continue reading »
The US Contact Center – Poised for Growth in 2009?
Economic twists and turns have interesting ripple effects on the technology world. The good thing is, that sometimes bad economic events translate into net positives for the tech industry. And no, this is not going to be a diatribe about the value of open source in a recession. Well, not altogether. I just read an … Continue reading »
Recession Bound, Retailers Could Learn A Lesson Or Two From CRM
Some of the big news in the business press this morning circled around retailers reporting weak September sales as consumers tighten up their wallets amid worries about the security of their financial future. Recession, positive cash flow and CRM aren’t terms that have traditionally mixed well. CRM and customer-focused market strategies are typically the last … Continue reading »
The Enterprise 2.0 Concept Starting to Take Off?
We have seen a lot of press releases, keynote speeches and all around marketing noise around everything “2.0″ for the past 2.0 years it seems. But…it looks like more and more businesses are starting to realize the value of concepts like user-generated content, social media, etc. I just saw that Jigsaw, which is a web … Continue reading »
Breezing Through the Windy City…
While I was only in Chicago for a little over 24 hours, it was a blast. Mainly because the CRM Acceleration Chicago event was AWESOME. Seriously, last year we had a great turnout and a very vocal crowd, which I love. This yar topped the great interactions we had last year. A lot of great … Continue reading »
Open Source in the Face of Recession
I’ve been reading a lot of posts lately concerning the recession and the outcome on the tech industry, and open source specifically; such as recent posts by Matt Asay, among others. Recessions for the tech industry are scary…they always are. But what has always been a catalyst for businesses to cut spending and cash-strap their … Continue reading »
The Paradox of Loyalty Programs
I came across (all be it belated) this September 22nd article by the Wall Street Journal entitled Making the Most of Customer Complaints, which highlights the importance of loyalty programs and a concept that they call the “recovery paradox.” Simply said, the idea is that customers are more satisfied when they know a problem or … Continue reading »
Entellium: Another History Lesson Waiting to Be Learned
I wanted to add a comment to the stellar ones that Martin made in his previous post about Entellium’s recent financial woes, and one that I see underlined by our customer base time and time again. News such as this underlines a predicament that CRM customers have been dealing with for decades now, and highlights … Continue reading »
SaaS and Risk Mitigation: A Real Life Example
A co-worker notified me that SaaS CRM provider Entellium has potentially gone under due to its funding drying up. In this economic climate, relying on a recurring revenue model and VC cash as a proprietary start up (for lack of a better label for Entellium) can be tricky. I expect this downturn to have a … Continue reading »
