Technology Takeovers May Pick Up as IBM, HP Push Into the Cloud
Technology companies that fueled more than $100 billion in acquisitions last year are likely to spend more in 2011 in a race to harness surging demand for cloud computing and security services. Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and International Business Machines Corp. led purchases of more than 2,700 companies and still spent only a fraction of the cash piles they accumulated during the recession. The dollar amount of announced tech deals gained 12 percent, lagging behind a 26 percent jump in worldwide mergers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Buyers aim to capture the $3.4 trillion in information- technology spending projected by researcher Gartner Inc. for 2011, a 3.5 percent increase from 2010.
Cadence Pharmaceuticals Supports Product Launch With StayinFront CRM Software
StayinFront, Inc., a global provider of Life Sciences CRM and decision support solutions, announced today that Cadence Pharmaceuticals will begin deploying StayinFront EdgeRx, StayinFront's on-demand CRM solution. StayinFront EdgeRx delivers fully featured on-demand CRM and integrated analytics capabilities, while offering the flexibility to access the system online or offline. StayinFront EdgeRx includes everything an organization needs to optimize sales efforts and give management critical insight into all the processes needed to achieve the best sales results.
Social Media Company, Sentiment360, Acquires Advanced Conversation Mining Technology from Enkia Corporation
Sentiment360, Inc. a social media monitoring and analytics company announced that it has completed the acquisition of artificial intelligence text mining technology from Enkia Corporation. The new Sentiment360 technology will allow for the most accurate monitoring of all new media, from social media through to traditional websites. Users will no longer have to enter keywords but will be able to rely on Sentiment360's offering to find and report on all aspects of online conversations. In addition, the technology will allow users to predict positive and negative conversation trends. The affordable Sentiment360 dashboard solution can be adapted for internal enterprise use as well.
Assistly raises $3M to manage customer complaints on Social Media Channels
Assistly, a customer relationship management (CRM) software provider that specializes in social media, announced that it has raised $3 million in its second round of funding. Assistly's brand of CRM software crushes together pretty much every avenue of communication into a single web interface. It includes traditional communication methods like email and phone calls. It then uses application programming interfaces (APIs) from social media services like Twitter and Facebook to directly feed that information into its website and combines it all into a single interface.
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| 2010 Year in Review Offers Online Employment Trends and Glimpses at Future of WorkElance, a platform for online employment, released its 2010 Year in Review, which revealed record growth in online hiring, showcased the top skill trends in 2010 and previewed work trends to expect in 2011. The Elance 2010 Year in Review showed that a growing segment of the labor market looked beyond traditional onsite jobs and traded stressful commutes and office politics for home offices and online employment.
In a year when the economy has been described as something between stagnant and rock bottom, several key categories in online work proved to be recession-proof. Hot skills in technology and marketing are fueling the demand for online workers as employers turn to the human cloud to make key investments in the best talent to keep their business competitive. Here is a look back at the skills that made a big impact in 2010:
- Desktop Ditched for Mobile. Back in the day, the first step was to build a website, then build a mobile app afterwards. However, consumers and businesses in 2010 have made it clear: With a 98% increase for mobile development jobs posted on Elance in 2010, touchscreen tablets and smartphones like iPhone and Android are clearly the number one priority. In 2011, it will be absolutely key for businesses, startups and entrepreneurs looking to construct new websites or revamp existing ones to design with mobile in mind. Expect to see simpler, cleaner, more straightforward web designs and a shift in design philosophy that puts mobile first and desktop second.
- Only the Highest Quality Content Will Win. Keyword-rich content for search engine optimization was king in 2010, but that simply won't cut it next year and beyond. Search engines like Google are beginning to find new ways to differentiate quality original content by tracking social media buzz through sites like Twitter and Facebook and its very own Google Buzz. Businesses won't be hiring content creators for quantity anymore -- it's all about quality in 2011.
- Traditional Marketing is Dead. The numbers do not lie. In 2010, businesses have signaled a shift in investments for freelance talent that has gone from traditional marketing techniques like direct mail, telemarketing and other forms of traditional marketing, to cutting edge forms of promotion and customer acquisition, like Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing. Next year, traditional marketing will become even more obsolete as businesses will be drawn towards viral and social marketing methods.
- HTML5 vs. Flash: Flash is Alive and Kicking. One of the biggest tech stories of 2010 was the ongoing war waged between HTML5 and Flash. However, the rumors spun up by technology pundits around the world regarding Adobe Flash's death have been greatly exaggerated, according to businesses working on Elance. While demand for HTML5 programmers continues to grow at an exponential pace, Flash maintains its position as one of the leading platforms for rich media content due to the rising popularity of casual gaming on the web and the loosening of Apple's App Store restrictions.
Predictions for 2011
Here is a sneak peak at Elance's predictions for the year to come:
- Online Work Flourishes, More Businesses Hire in the Cloud. Every year, advancements in technology continue to take communication to unprecedented heights. Businesses both large and small will adopt more robust online tools, like shared digital workrooms, real-time collaboration, telepresence and online employment platforms to hire the people they need to get the job done. Online work won't be just a buzzword in 2011 -- it will be the way to do business, period.
- Digital Profiles Push Resumes to the Brink of Extinction. Simply put, digital portfolios provide businesses and employers far more context and insight into a potential hire than any traditional resume ever could. Case in point: Throughout the course of the past year, records on Elance were continually broken as the number of individual online portfolio assets surpassed 1.2 million and the number of online worker profiles exceeded 300,000. In 2011, expect referencing of verified work history, digital portfolios, online test scores, online reviews, social graph and social media footprint to become the standard for hiring short or long-term employees.
- Business Goes Social. Google's almost-but-wasn't $6+ billion purchase of Groupon is a clear sign that big business is going social. Social buying quickly went from a cool trend to an economic force, while demand for social media skills by businesses has grown significantly throughout the course of 2010. Shopping will not be the only industry to leverage the social graph; in 2011, recruiting and hiring will also undergo a socially inspired transformation.
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Global Survey Reveals Companies Are Addicted to "Big Data"; Executives Report Feeling Overwhelmed by Flood of Business Data but Still Seek More, Faster
Avanade, a business technology services provider, announced the results of its global survey, "The Business Impact of Big Data," which examines executive attitudes about how enterprises are managing the exponential growth of data.
The survey, conducted by Kelton Research, reveals that big data is creating very real business challenges for executives. In fact, more than half -- 56 percent -- of C-level executives, IT decision makers and business unit leaders report they are overwhelmed by the amount of data their company manages. Many also report they are often delayed in making important decisions as a result of too much information. Forty-six percent report they have made an inaccurate business decision as a result of bad or outdated data.
Data Addiction
Despite the challenges created by the proliferation of data, executives report they desire more data and they want it faster. One in three executives believe access to even more sources of data would enable them to do their job better, while 61 percent say they still want faster access to data. According to the survey, this desire for more data and need for speed is driven by the ability to keep up with customer service expectations.
Executives do recognize there is value in the data, from improved business forecasts to reduced uncertainty in decision-making and improved competitive positioning. Sixty-one percent of companies believe the flood of data entering the enterprise fundamentally changes the way their businesses operate.
CRM and Security
When it comes to the most important kinds of data, companies report that customer relationship and sales information are critical to their strategic decision-making process. They recognize the opportunity to grow their top line revenue by harnessing customer information, and this focus is driving additional technology investments in customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Sixty-seven percent of executives have invested or are seriously considering investing in CRM in the next 12 months.
With growing data, there is also a growing requirement for data security. Seventy-eight percent of companies report that they are investing in security solutions or will do so in the next 12 months. In the public sector, pressures are even greater with 74 percent of government organizations investing in CRM and 85 percent investing in security.
Struggle to Derive Business Value
The survey also reveals a big data disconnect. Despite the increasing volume of data, pressure to keep up with customer expectations and focus on technology investments, today's companies are still struggling to see big data as a driver of real business value. On the one hand, executives surveyed say there is value in the data. On the other hand, less than half of respondents -- 46 percent -- view the available sources of data as a strategic differentiator for their organization. Rather, the majority -- 54 percent -- consider data as a consequence of doing business.
The "Business Impact of Big Data" survey was conducted by Kelton Research, an independent research firm, in August 2010, and surveyed 543 C-level executives, IT decision makers and business unit leaders at top companies located in 17 countries across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
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Use of Smartphones by Bargain-Hunting Consumers is Changing the Customer-Retailer Relationship
A global survey by Accenture on mobile devices and shopping shows that smartphone users would find it useful to download money-off coupons to their phones (79 percent), and receive instant money-off coupons as they pass by an item in a store (73 percent). Conversely, fewer than half (48 percent) of smartphone users have downloaded a coupon from their PCs. The survey results highlight how the growing use of smartphone technology and the economic downturn have encouraged cost-conscious consumers to explore alternative retail channels, such as online and smartphones, to secure bargains.
According to Accenture, the findings of its study of 1,000 consumers in 10 countries suggest that couponing could become a more important part of the retail experience as smartphone technology becomes more widespread, and if retailers are adept at using customer analytics to target messages and deals to consumers. Notably, 48 percent of conventional cell phone users plan to buy a smartphone in the next 12 months.
The results of the survey also indicate that smartphone technology is changing the relationship between customers and retailers. Many smartphone users said that they prefer using their mobile device rather than interacting with a store employee for simple tasks. According to the survey, 73 percent favor using their smartphone to handle simple tasks compared to 15 percent who favor interaction with an employee. Similarly, 71 percent favor using their smartphone to identify a store with a desired item in stock, while 17 percent would prefer to get that information by speaking to an employee.
Privacy, however, remains a key concern of consumers, and could have a negative impact on the growing use of smartphones for shopping. More than half of respondents (54 percent) worry that using smartphones will erode their privacy. Among the other smartphone shopping concerns voiced, 59 percent of respondents fear losing the personal touch from store employees, and 39 percent believe that products would get more expensive.
Among the additional survey findings:
- 69 percent of smartphone users are aware of smartphone applications from large retailers and 48 percent have downloaded at least one application,
- 90 percent of consumers who have downloaded an application from a large retailer found it "very useful" or "useful",
- 56 percent believe smartphones will make the shopping experience more enjoyable.
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| CRM expert predictions for 2011
With 2010 drawing to a close, SearchCRM.com asked some industry experts what they saw in store for 2011. It's clear that CRM practitioners can look forward to a heavy dose of social CRM, mobile requirements and a continued emphasis on the customer experience.
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Be Clear about the Cloud
Companies still face plenty of questions regarding cloud computing. Increasingly, however, the dominant question is not whether to do it, but how intensely. In fact, given the pace at which companies are offloading at least part of their IT infrastructure to public clouds (generally defined as third-party services that host computing workloads in multi-tenant data centers), those that don't move aggressively may risk being left behind. However, for large companies with heavy sunk costs in on-premises equipment -- and the in-house expertise needed to make the most of it -- the savings proposition requires a more careful calculation.
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10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2011
2011 will also be marked by new developments that will shape the very fabric of our behavior, culture and identity. These developments will challenge us to consider important questions about the future of our experience as connected people and consumers. Here are key trends to watch in the coming year.
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Four Steps to Launching a Loyalty Program
Two key ingredients for small business success are encouraging customer loyalty and promoting purchase behavior. One way to accomplish these is by creating a loyalty program -- a tailored marketing plan that rewards customers for their participation.
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Ten Ways Social Media is Changing Sales and CRM
More and more businesses of all sizes are using social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter and Foursquare, as a way to better engage customers and increase sales. However, just having a Facebook page or a Twitter account is no guarantee of success. This article presents how companies can leverage popular social media sites, as well as YouTube and Flickr and blogs, to enhance and improve their customer relationship management (CRM).
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