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Inside this Issue:
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Business
News via the Value Framework™ Lenses
Management Perspective
by
Mitchell Levy, Author of the book E-Volve-or-Die.com, Creator of the
Value Framework™
Executive
Producer, VMS3.info
VMS3.info News
Workforce Management: CRM's Next Killer App?
While
highly complex CRM software seems to have lost favor with enterprise executives,
nuts-and-bolts CRM applications like workforce management are building steam.
"All CTOs in the e-commerce space face the same challenge these days,"
Priceline.com technology chief Ron Rose said, "and that's how to improve
service levels while decreasing costs..." BLOGS Refine
Enterprise Focus
BUILDING ON THE success of Weblogs for personal Web publishing,
enterprises are starting to tap into blogs to streamline specific business processes
such as intelligence gathering or to augment traditional content-and knowledge-management
technologies. Free or low-cost personal tools from pioneering software companies
such as UserLand Software, Pyra Labs, Moveable Type, and others have fueled the
thriving Weblog personal publishing movement since its emergence in the late 1990s.
Business Process
Management: The Next 50 Years
For the past 50 years, computers have been
seen as "data machines." This Darwinmag.com excerpt from "The Third
Wave" by Howard Smith and Peter Fingar tells how the demands of the new business
process management are taking IT in another direction. Business
Apps Get Bad Marks in Usability
ERP apps hard to use, says Forrester Marketing
Messages Missing Mark
74% of survey respondents said the top problem is
that ads contain so much information that the message is lost
2002 E-Commerce Spending Skyrocketed
Driven by convenience and
efficiency, e-commerce spending most likely topped $74 billion in 2002, a 39 percent
jump from 2001, according to Web traffic measurement firm comScore Media Metrix...
IBM, J.P. Morgan in $5 Billion Tech
Deal
IBM has signed its biggest technology deal in two years, gaining
an early lead in what could be the next big wave in computing. The computer giant
and investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase inked a $5 billion contract that will transfer
the bank's computing tasks, along with 4,000 employees, to IBM...
For Palm, a Successful Parting
Sometimes
divorce is a very good idea, at least in the business world. Palm is a case in
point. Ever since it started licensing its software to other companies in the
late 1990s, the hardware and software sides of the company have lived in the uncomfortable
tension of conflicting goals and strategies...
A New Starring Role for E-Commerce
The U.S. economy was
not kind to offline retailers during the 2002 holiday season: They saw the smallest
revenue gains in more than 30 years. But e-commerce showed considerable strength
in this otherwise dismal period. Is online selling in the midst of a renaissance,
and will it emerge with a new starring role as the economy recovers?...
MODEL: PARTICIPANTS The
Supply Chain Gets Sex Appeal
Viewed from a growth perspective, supply
chain software has demonstrated as much traction as the recent darling of the
enterprise software world, CRM, says Gartner analyst Charles Eschinger. In fact,
the supply chain market has outpaced CRM by about 8 percent over the past year,
causing many analysts to point to it as the new hot thing...
Analyze Your Spending Analytics
Bayer CropScience
AG gets a handle on procurement spending Seizing the Online Opportunity
While retailers'
sales were down overall this holiday season, e-commerce sales shot up 25 percent
from last year. Yet, some companies are still not doing enough -- or they are
doing the wrong things -- in their attempts to seize the online sales opportunity,
says Aberdeen Group research director Kent Allen.
Collaboration: Suspicious Minds
Collaboration
among trading partners can unlock great value. Mistrust is the barrier. Here are
six ways to build confidence. MODEL:
INFLUENCES Report: Online Consumer Trust Building
In the wake of the holiday shopping crush, The Conference Board has released
some significant findings for online retailers. U.S. consumers are more trusting
when conducting online transactions than they were a year ago, according to the
Board's Consumer Internet Barometer...
E-Commerce's 1.3 Percent Problem
E-commerce
has hit the mainstream. The U.S. Census Bureau says spending increased by more
than 34 percent from Q3 2001 to Q3 2002. But the Census Bureau also places total
e-commerce revenues at just 1.3 percent of all retail sales. If e-commerce has
arrived, why does it claim such a small slice of the retail pie?...
AT&T, WorldCom Could Lose Access to Networks
It has been a tough week for AT&T so far. The company has announced plans
to slash 3,500 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce, and take a $1.5 billion charge.
Meanwhile, the FCC's expected plan to stop making local phone companies rent their
networks to rivals could be a major setback for the company... Metrics: Clouds in
the Forecast
According to the latest ITAA survey, layoffs and dismissals
in the IT industry have slowed. However, don't expect much - if any - growth in
2003. Goldman Sachs:
Fear the Penguin
Linux will emerge as the dominant operating system in
corporate data centers, according to a new study by Goldman Sachs. IT buyers will
use Linux to take advantage of lower-cost, higher-performance Intel-based servers
-- and to avoid "premium-priced proprietary systems," such as those
based on Unix and RISC processors.
CIOs on the Brink:
Holdout Time Is Up
Today's CIOs are performing a balancing act -- ready
to help their companies hold the line if the economy stays flat, or to seize the
moment if indicators improve. That requires finding ways to serve multiple, seemingly
incompatible goals at the same time...
Onyx 2003 Strategy: Expanding Hosted Services
The year 2002 was about solidification of market gains for CRM vendors that
were lucky, and just plain survival for those that were not. It was especially
rough financially for mid-size CRM vendors, but Onyx CEO Brent Frei sees the past
year as a glass half full...
CEO Survey: Fast-Track Firms Chasing Customers
In
a new Trendsetter report, PricewaterhouseCoopers says that the vast majority of
fast-growth companies -- some 81 percent -- are cultivating their clients by initiating
new programs aimed at customer expansion, retention and profitability...
Solo Sales
Scott Rosen fired his entire sales force
in an effort to save his company. Was it a smart move? Here Inc 500 CEOs and sales
experts share their thoughts on his strategy. Vive
la Difference: Using Hyper-Differentiation Strategies to Build Value and Boost
Profits
When some small beer makers in the U.S. brought their drinks to
market, they deliberately chose to make their taste as different as possible from
the leading brands. This approach helped them build small but profitable niches
for their products. Companies in other industries could benefit from pursuing
similar strategies, say Wharton professor Eric K. Clemons and colleagues in a
new research paper. Microsoft
To Acquire Mountain View-based PlaceWare
Microsoft announced on Tuesday
that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Mountain View-based PlaceWare
Inc., a privately-held provider of web conferencing services. The financial details
of the deal were not released. PlaceWare's services allow businesses to conduct
real-time, interactive presentations and meetings over the Internet. "By
combining key assets and working in tandem, the two companies aim to provide customers
with innovative and easy-to-use online conferencing solutions that will help connect
more people seamlessly in a real-time conferencing environment," the companies
said in a statement. Buy - or We Die!
Usually, when small companies get into
deep trouble, they cut costs to the bone and plead with bankers for help. But
Linux seller MandrakeSoft is no typical startup. Just before Christmas, MandrakeSoft
posted a plea for help on its Web site. CEO Francois Bancilhon says his appeal
yielded hundreds of thousands of dollars -- but it was not enough...
STRATEGY: MANAGED Executive
Guide: Website Traffic Analysis
Need to figure out what went wrong -
or what went right - with your site's traffic this past holiday season? Look no
further. Top CIO Issues
Business/IT alignment and leadership remain number one and three respectively
as top CIO issues, while value management has replaced human capital management
in second place. Although the three leading issues are largely the same globally,
significant variances exist across geographies for issues four through six. To
learn more, listen to this audio briefing by META Group analysts Jonathan Poe
and Dale Kutnick and view the accompanying slides. Included is a listing of essential
basic, intermediate and advanced best practices for business/IT alignment. Kmart
Corp. announced plans to shed 30,000 to 35,000 jobs
Kmart Corp. announced
plans to shed 30,000 to 35,000 jobs as it closes 326 stores. Chief Executive James
Adamson said the company plans to emerge from bankruptcy by April 30, after a
year under Chapter 11 protection.
Amazon Posts
Profit, Makes Free Shipping Permanent
Bellwether e-tailer Amazon.com
booked its second-ever profit in the fourth quarter as shoppers flocked to the
site for holiday purchases, helping push revenues to record levels that surpassed
analysts' expectations. Amazon said it took in $1.43 billion in the fourth quarter.
Net income was $3 million, down from $5 million last year...
Building a CRM Strategy: Start
Here
A few years ago, when the economy was jumping and firms had money
to burn, CRM emerged as a must-have technology. A lot of companies rolled out
CRM projects as fast as possible to keep up with the soaring market and stave
off the threat of zealous competitors. But the projects usually failed spectacularly...
Gillette To Test MIT 'Smart Tags'
Gillette
announced it will move forward with tests of MIT-developed "smart tag"
technology aimed at letting the razor maker track products from the manufacturing
line to store shelves. Under a deal with smart-tag maker Alien Technology, Gillette
plans to embed tiny microchips in individual product packages in a field test...
HP to Offer AOL Instant Messaging
Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard
said on Wednesday that it has struck a deal to integrate the business-class instant
messaging service of America Online into its own messaging software. Financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal is expected to lead to the increased
use of AOL's AIM service within large corporations -- clients
that AOL has
been targeting for several months. The business-class version of the service gives
companies a greater level of control and security than previous versions. Under
the deal, HP can embed the software, known as Enterprise AIM, into its new and
existing products. EBay
Launches B2B Marketplace in Challenging Climate
In a foray into the small
and mid-size business arena, eBay has formally launched a new section called eBay
Business. Among other offerings, the site features several vertical marketplaces
for specific industries. But Morningstar.com analyst David Kathman said eBay likely
will have a hard time breaking into specialty B2B sales categories...
About
the Author: Mitchell
Levy, is President and CEO of ECnow.com (http://ecnow.com),
an e-commerce management consulting company helping corporations transition from
the industrial age to the Internet age through strategy, marketing, and off-the-shelf
and customized on-line and on-ground training. He is the author of the book E-Volve-or-Die.com
(http://e-volve-or-die.com), creator of
the Value Framework™
(http://ecnow.com/value/),
Executive Producer of VMS3.info (http://VMS3.info),
the Founder and Program Consultant of the premier San Jose State E-Commerce Management
Certificate Program (http://ecmtraining.com/sjsu),
former Chair of comdex.biz at Comdex Fall, and Chairman of the Pay-per-Performance
PR Agency Media Attention Now TM (http://ecnow.com/mediaattention),
and the CEO Networking organization CEOnetworking (http://ceonetworking.com).
Mitchell was at Sun Microsystems for 9 years, the last 4 of which he managed the
e-commerce component of Sun's $3.5 billion supply chain. Mitchell is a popular
speaker, lecturing on ECM issues throughout the U.S. and around the world.
Read more about Mr. Levy: http://ecnow.com/ml_bio.htm
Public speaking appearances I've given: http://ecnow.com/speaking.htm
Read about ECnow.com's media coverage: http://ecnow.com/media
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