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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
Catalog Customer Service Reigns Supreme
In
study after study, call centers run by companies with large catalog operations
prove to be the champions. Recent data from the Purdue Center for Customer Driven
Quality (CCDQ), for example, ranks catalog call centers at the top of the heap
when it comes to effectiveness and near the top in efficiency. How do they do
it?...
Note to CIOs: Keep the Mainframe Legacy App
Enterprises with large, mainframe-based legacy applications that provide CRM and
ERP functionality may want to consider keeping them and upgrading them exactly
where they live -- on the big box...
CRM
Versus the Value Chain
Some say that CRM as a concept -- that is, a stand-alone
discrete application –- is losing its appeal among corporate IT buyers. As
far as SAP's newly appointed vice president of global CRM initiative is concerned,
this is a good thing...
STUDY: FORTUNE 100 LACKS RESPECT FOR ONLINE CONSUMERS
CONSUMERS SENDING QUERIES to some Fortune 100 companies' sites could probably
get a more rapid response by driving to the airport, booking a flight to the company's
headquarters and talking to a customer representative there, a new study reveals.
In its study of online "consumer respect," Web-focused research firm
ConsumerRespect.com, a division of International Ventures Research, found that
not only do many Fortune 100 companies lag in responding to general online inquiries,
37 percent do not reply at all.
M-Commerce: What's in It for Business?
M-commerce has flopped in
the consumer arena -- or at least has failed to live up to the hype. There may
be compelling reasons for business users to adopt transaction-based services offered
on wireless devices, though -- but the mobile commerce tools used by enterprises
are nothing like the services pitched to consumers... Who Will Rule Cell Phone Sales in 2003?
The coming
year could see some big changes in the way cell phones look and function, and
much of the jockeying among handset makers in 2003 could revolve around young
users. Analysts also point to the rising popularity of games and photo-sending
services in Asian and European markets, which has cut across all age groups...
Study: Consumers warm up to e-billing
Online bill viewing
and payment will be among the fastest growing consumer applications over the next
several years, according to a study released Monday.
Jupiter Research noted
that in 2001, American consumers viewed 643 million bills online, which represents
6 percent of all U.S. consumer bills. That number is forecast to jump to 3.5 billion
in 2006, or 32 percent of all such bills.
MODEL: PARTICIPANTS Supermarkets
Continue To Build Customer, Brand Loyalty
These days, everyone is clamoring
for loyal customers -- vying for shoppers in stores, at home and online. But supermarkets
may be leading the way in building loyalty on several fronts. In addition to working
to increase customer and return-visit numbers, grocers are partnering more often
with manufacturers who wish to increase brand loyalty...
The Incredibly Quiet B2B Resurgence
There
is life after the bubble for technology and portal providers that serve the B2B
sector of e-commerce. But vendors must adjust to a new landscape in which spending
and cost-cutting priorities have shifted dramatically in response to tough economic
times...
MODEL:
INFLUENCES Is HTML on Its Way Out?
A
mere eight years ago, the "HT" in HTML stood as much for "hot"
as it did for "hypertext." This language of the Internet was on everyone's
lips, from bedroom coders to boardroom capitalists. Now, though, XML, XHTML and
other Internet languages are nimbly supplementing -- and in some cases supplanting
-- their older and stodgier cousin.
Straight talk on Web services
When it comes to Web services,
Rajiv Gupta intimately knows the meaning of first-mover disadvantage. The co-creator
of Hewlett Packard's ill-fated E-speak, one of the earliest versions of what would
become known as Web services, Gupta lived through the frustration of being early
to market with a new--even grandiose--computing vision. With the passage of time,
information technology shops have come to have a far clearer idea about what Web
services are. But when it comes to convincing corporate chief information officers
what it can do for their businesses, Gupta, now CEO of Web services start-up Confluent,
believes technologists continue to commit a cardinal mistake. The
Next Web
One bubble and a few thousand failed businesses aside, the Web
really has changed commerce. Yet finding the needle we need in the haystack of
the Web isn't getting easier. How Much Is Your
Company Worth?
During these tumultuous economic times, even valuable
companies show such weak revenues that the entire concept of valuing a company
based on multiples of earnings may be fundamentally flawed. But it is still possible
for a potential buyer or seller to place a price tag on a tech-sector company.
It just takes a little work and a shrewd eye...
EBay Launches Sports Site Amid AOL Incursion
Rumors
EBay has launched a sports-themed section on its auction site,
combining several existing categories, including memorabilia, ticketing, sporting
goods and licensed merchandise, into a single section that it says will generate
$1 billion in sales this year...
Is Sun's Vision Clear?
Sun Microsystems made news in
August with its introduction of a general-purpose Linux server and its announcement
of an upcoming Linux desktop "purple box," both built on Intel platforms.
Those moves raised the question of whether Sun was abandoning its long-held strategy
of tightly integrating its own processors, hardware and software...
Documentum To Acquire ERoom
Combined companies figure
to move to the forefront in providing collaborative content-management applications.
Documentum Inc. provided the most compelling evidence yet of the increasingly
tight relationship between content management and collaboration Thursday when
it said it will acquire collaboration vendor eRoom Technology Inc. in a deal valued
at nearly $120 million. Documentum, whose stock tumbled 10.3% Thursday to $11.35,
before the deal was announced, will issue 9.4 million shares of stock to eRoom
shareholders and pay $12.6 million in cash. Microsoft
Strikes $96M Deal To Buy Mapping Firm
Microsoft has announced it will
pay $96 million in cash to acquire Vicinity, a firm that helps customers find
information about a company's nearest outlet and its hours via the Web, telephone
or wireless devices...
Sprint Launches New Data Service Price Plans
In an effort
to boost subscriptions on its data services network, Sprint PCS has launched new
pricing plans for consumers and business users that it touts as the lowest in
the U.S. However, the new plan comes with a few hitches...
STRATEGY: MANAGED Sizing Up Amazon's
Grand Experiment
Despite Amazon's impressive track record, not everything
the e-tailer touches turns to gold. Along the way, the company has made some missteps,
although it seems to be mastering the art of nurturing new ventures despite early
stumbles...
Interview:
Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos
Does the Amazon CEO give interviews in his sleep?
This guy is everywhere. But, there's a reason. Bezos is not only charming, he's
interesting. For Darwin readers, he shares his secrets to motivation and optimism.
Worthwhile reading. Who Pays for
Tech Innovation?
Determining a company's return on its R&D investment
is not a clear-cut exercise -- and until ROI is achieved, tech companies and their
shareholders pay for their investment in lost profit. Even so, IDC research director
Mark Hall likened a business without R&D spending to a lake stocked with fish
but never replenished.
CRM's .NET Quandary
Many CRM vendors are hedging their bets in the latest application-development
war pitting Microsoft's .NET against Sun Microsystems' J2EE, while others have
firmly planted flags. Either way, customers stand to benefit as component-based
software makes its way toward CRM, and as Web services standards close the gap
between the two technologies... Innovate To Stay Ahead of the Opposition
It goes without
saying that to be a world class company, a business must implement world class
strategies. Your processes have to be right, they need to be streamlined, and
they must be e-enabled. You must endeavour to be as innovative in your customer
relations as you are in your application of technologies and solutions...
About
the Author: Mitchell
Levy, is President and CEO of ECnow.com (http://ecnow.com),
an e-commerce management consulting company helping individuals and 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™
and author of the Value Framework Workbook™
(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),
the on-line learning content production company Transition Learning (http://transitionlearning.com)
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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