Good day, good morn and a good eve to one and all, and when's the last time we had two months in a row with a Friday the 13th, huh? To the astrology charts, everyone, and stay off the roads today. Yes, this is Radio CBM 98.6, all Coleman Hawkins all the time, your nose for Nooz.
EGain Communications has introduced a new offering [1] called Solution-as-a-Service (SLaaS), which company officials believe is "a breakthrough" in the delivery of software and related service buzzwords.
"You have guys selling 'solutions' and 'SaaS,' but eGain is the first to market the blended buzzword 'SLaaS,' said a jubilant staffer drenched in champagne at eGain headquarters.
First in line is eGain SelfService, SLaaS Edition. Available immediately in the US and Canada, it gives organizations a "risk-free way" to rapidly deploy the industry’s newest comprehensive Web self-service buzzword.
From the high-tech powerhouse of Dumfries, Virginia, EtherSpeak Communications [2] has announced the availability of the first published customer success stories for its SureTrunk service offering. You will, of course, know of SureTrunk as a native SIP trunking product for the ShoreTel community.
The product was certified by ShoreTel last summer as a Technology Partner Program. There do seem to be more and more folks getting native SIP trunking instead of products requiring additional capital expense, or PRI/BRI or analog circuits.
Clients profiled in the new case studies include Magna International, Canada's largest auto parts maker and Great American Group, which managed Circuit City's going-out-of-business sale.
EtherSpeak officials hastened to add that many – many – of their clients do not, in fact, go out of business.
For those of you keeping score at home, in the past week alone the FBI arrested two men [3] working for and with the office of President Obama's Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra and Obama's choice for "urban policy czar," Bronx Borough President Aldolfo Carrion, was found to have accepted $3,627.50 worth of free work on his house [4] from an architect up for a government contract.
Also H. Rodgin Cohen, the leading candidate for Deputy Treasury Secretary, has withdrawn from consideration [5], Undersecretary for International Affairs candidate Caroline Atkinson had to withdraw after a "tax problem" [6] and the putative chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Chas Freeman, withdrew after ethical issues [7] over his business contacts to China and Saudi Arabia.
President Barack Obama immediately authorized an emergency $22 billion bailout for people who've "made honest mistakes" on their taxes, and announced that Bernie Madoff is his nominee for his administration's Ethics Czar "pending a full and rigorous vetting procedure during prison visiting hours."
Microsoft is saying its CRM online service [8] will get such new features as "usability enhancements designed to improve sales, or smooth the use of new technology such as cloud integration," according to industry observer David Neal, who says additions and improvements in the new Service Update include "a financially backed 99.9 per cent uptime service level agreement and new Internet lead capture tools."
Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, said the company remains focused on delivering the best value in the industry and "beating the crap out of that guy who wears those tacky Hawaiian shirts, Marc Someone."
In sports The Netherlands are the talk of the baseball world [9], having upset the mighty Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. "Dutch" players Sidney Ponson, Randall Simon and Gene Kingsale, among others, were reportedly able to place the Netherlands on a world map after being spotted Belgium, Germany and the North Sea.
Jive Software has announced the launch [10] of its enterprise-class Social Business Software application suite, Jive SBS 3.0, a suite of social business applications aimed at Global 2000 enterprises.
It lets teams from inside and outside of the enterprise "connect, communicate and collaborate" with four application centers – Employee Engagement, Marketing & Sales, Customer Support and Innovation.
"Social Business Software is the new way to get work done," said Dave Hersh, CEO, Jive Software, saying the product lets companies "bridge together departments, partners and customers in a single community" for "a singular conversation among its key constituents."
Hersh conceded that if he'd had "a couple more G&Ts" he would have named the product Jive Talkin'.
And finally, SAP and Sybase have announced a domestic partnership to make SAP Business Suite software available on an iPhone, BlackBerry and "any other mobile device."
Called "Office on the Go [11]," the service will be available by the second half of 2009, and full mobile CRM functionality will be available by 2010. Mobile applications for the rest of the SAP Business Suite, including ERP, SCM, SEM and PLM, will follow.
It's not an exclusive partnership, as Sybase is free to date other partners. Sheryl Kingstone, director at the Boston-based technology research firm Yankee Group, who holds the distinction of being the most ubiquitously-quoted CRM analyst alive, said "I would have been more excited if SAP bought Sybase. They'd have much more control to truly embed it into NetWeaver."
SAP and Sybase officials said irreconcilable issues arising from dowry negotiations were to blame for the lack of a fully-consummated marriage.
That's the show for today, we're off to make sure we're wearing clean underwear [12] the next time we fly.