Want Your Garbage Picked Up? There’s a Robot for That [WSJ]
via blogs.wsj.com
"healthy cloud-computing job market"
Boto creator Mitch Garnaat, noted last week that there were 181 jobs listed for Amazon Web Services in the U.S. alone. Rob La Gesse countered that the second largest infrastructure as a service provider, Rackspace, had 175 jobs available in the States. Conversations with sources at Terremark, IBM, and others indicate that they are quickly expandng their cloud teams in response to increasing market demand.
via news.cnet.com
Six Benchmarks To Scope Your CRM Project [Forrester]
Customer service is the top priority.The most commonly used functionalities in CRM suites are customer service (67%) and sales force automation (66%) modules. Half of the companies are currently using marketing (56%) and customer data management (53%) modules; 35% are using customer analytics.
Flexibility, business fit, and process workflow are critical. More than half of (53%) include the “flexibility and adaptability” of the application as one of the top three criteria in choosing a CRM solution. Forty-eight percent include "fit with business requirements" in their top three purchase criteria. Also important are: architecture alignment (31%), business process workflow (29%), fast deployment (26%), and scalability of application (26%).
CRM solution costs are not trivial.Thirty-six percent reported that they spent less than $250,000 on CRM software licenses, but 23% said they spent more than $1 million.
Quick implementations are common.Eighteen percent reported they took more than one year to implement their CRM solution. However, 36% of the companies reported that they implemented the CRM solution in 12 weeks or less. This give credence to vendor claims that CRM solutions can, indeed, be implemented in a timely fashion.
When it comes to service from vendors, mixed feelings prevail.Forty-six percent of organizations fully agreed that the "product functionality matched what was promised in the sales cycle." But only 28% of companies fully agreed that the vendor's "help desk and support organization delivers good customer service." In addition, only 32% fully agreed their solution was easy to use and intuitive.
CRM projects are delivering business value. Well under half (41%) of companies surveyed “fully agreed” that the "business results anticipated from their implementation were met or exceeded." But, a similar proportion (41%) "somewhat agreed" that anticipated business results were met. This indicates that, on balance, the companies surveyed were generally satisfied with the value they were getting from CRM solutions.
Mathematicians Keep Tabs on Traffic [WSJ]
Increasing traffic congestion in the U.S. has a number of detrimental effects, said Naveen Lamba, global lead for intelligent transportation for IBM, which surveyed drivers world-wide about congestion earlier this year. “It’s a pretty serious problem,” Lamba said. “It’s starting to affect people’s health, and the economic competitiveness of regions. Companies are choosing to locate or not to locate in certain areas. Something has to be done
via blogs.wsj.com
Where The White Space Is In Cleantech Innovation
The top five innovation areas having the greatest potential white space according to this indicator are photovoltaic solar cell construction and materials, control systems for hybrid vehicles, operational control of wind turbine generators, drive train or power transmission in a hybrid vehicle, and automated meter reading and/or load control systems, devices and/or components.
Emerging Technology Fund Accepting Apps Until Oct.5th
After a brief money scare last month, the Texas Emerging Technology Fund has reopened its application process.
The fund is taking submissions from startups seeking funding until Oct. 5, according to a Tuesday newsletter from the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
via bizjournals.com
[nice] City of Austin installs 500 solar-powered parking meters
The city of Austin this week is installing 500 solar-powered parking meters.
The project is part of the transportation department's comprehensive parking technology upgrade that commenced last August.
via bizjournals.com
George Dearing
Founder @ Dearing Group LLC.
George can be reached via email at george@dearinggroup.com or on Twitter, and Facebook Subscribe to this site via RSS here.
My Other Sites
