More news from Seattle this week. Microsoft has annouced that they will offer their third hosted service in the next year. Seems to me that Microsoft has found their way back in certain parts of their business, their hosted services is one of them. The writing has been on the wall for a number of years with Microsoft acquiring Remote Desktop software from companies like Citrix. Now that they have abundant experience it appears that they are going to release all of their current product offerings on a hosted basis. It will be interesting to see how they are received.

Microsoft Corp.’s Dynamics CRM product will become the company’s third Live hosted service next year, following in the footsteps of its Windows Live and Office Live software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings. Microsoft plans to introduce CRM Live in the second quarter of 2007, initially only in North America, said Brad Wilson, general manager for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The company won’t limit the number of users CRM Live can support, although at first it will be aimed at small businesses — typically those with eight to 10 seats. The service initially will be operated and managed from within Microsoft’s own data centers. Going forward, customers will have three deployment options: They can choose CRM Live hosted by Microsoft, CRM hosted by Microsoft partners, or run the software themselves in their own premises. All three versions of CRM will have the same code base, so customers will be able to switch between different deployment models depending on their needs, Wilson said. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, was expected to highlight Dynamics CRM Live in a speech at the start of the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Boston, which runs through Thursday. “There is still a fairly large, untapped - more available

Microsoft, Hosted+Software, CRM, CRM+Live

tags: crm, crm+live, hosted+software, microsoft

Microsoft and Cisco have updated their joint CRM software recently and that is great news for large companies that are using their CRM Connector and Microsoft Dynamics CRM products.

Cisco’s Unified CRM Connector works with Microsoft Dynamics CRM to streamline contact-center functions for users making and receiving calls. The software creates automatic screen pop ups with caller information, provides click-to-dial capability, captures call information and creates customer records. It delivers these features on a PC through integration with Cisco IP (Internet Protocol) phones. The latest version, Unified CRM Connector 3.0, is integrated with the recently announced Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. In addition to taking advantage of improvements in Microsoft’s software, the new CRM Connector can deliver to any Cisco IP phone a subset of the information it currently puts up on a PC screen. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are interested in IP telephony but want to see more capabilities than they have with conventional phones, according to Yankee Group SME analyst Gary Chen. “Integration with CRM is one of the killer apps with VoIP,” because customer information is so closely involved with phone calls, Chen said. Many SMEs use CRM software, and Microsoft’s product has done well among them, he added. The prospect of using CRM Connector persuaded GreenStone Farm Credit Services, in East Lansing, Mich., to adopt IP telephony.

Microsoft, Cisco, Help+Desk, CRM, Customer+Service, Help+Desk+Software

tags: cisco, crm, customer+service, help+desk, help+desk+software, microsoft

[IMAGE1]IT outsourcing grows 15% in China
It is pretty amazing there is all of this talk about legalizing 11million people who are not citizens without batting an eyelash. This on the heels of daily news reporting massive job outsourcing to countries like China and India, with more every day. I don’t buy the line of, “these are jobs Americans don’t want” anymore. How does anyone claim to know that is the case anyway? I guess it will take a company like Yahoo or Google to send thousands of jobs overseas before it becomes cool to talk about it.

According to the research report “China IT Outsourcing Market Report 2005-2006″ recently released by Analysys International, in China’s IT outsourcing market, the IT operations and maintenance market reached 2.63 billion yuan, accounting for 84 percent of the total market. The IT application and management market size reached 380 million yuan, accounting for 12 percent; and the Help Desk market size reached 120 million yuan, accounting for 4 percent.

Yahoo, Help+Desk, CRM, Customer+Service, Help+Desk+Software

tags: crm, customer+service, help+desk, help+desk+software, yahoo

An interesting read on the current state of affairs in the software industry as well as on the internet. It seems that the two are finally showing signs of integration on a grand scale.

Ringing in Gates’ ears must have been the roar of Google — and the Web 2.0 hordes, whose XML-based mash-ups of sites are transforming the Web experience. As Gates observed in that same message, however, SaaS (software as a service) isn’t new. Nor is it restricted to the consumers, developers, and very small businesses that Microsoft is targeting with its customizable Windows Live page and Office Live free Web site and collaboration service. Salesforce.com, founded in 1999 and still the standard bearer of SaaS business applications, is enjoying dramatic growth, reaching 399,000 subscribers at the end of its most recent fiscal quarter. Employease, which launched in 1996, now delivers HR management through the browser to more than 1,000 customers managing more than 700,000 employee records. And among the major software vendors, Microsoft is hardly the only one exploring SaaS. “All the big players are now in the water,” says Rick McGee, vice president of SaaS strategy for IBM Global Services, noting that Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP are staking their claims. McGee should know. IBM provides the platform for SAP’s new entry into hosted CRM.

Help+Desk, CRM, Customer+Service, Help+Desk+Software

tags: crm, customer+service, help+desk, help+desk+software