Dennis Callaghan

Microsoft corp. has signed a partner to tackle the CRM software market for large financial services companies. Passing up market leader Siebel Systems Inc., which counts financial services as its largest vertical, Microsoft chose Onyx Software Corp. The vendor of customer relationship management software, based in Bellevue, Wash., a few miles from Microsoft, in Redmond, […]

With online advertising revenues under siege as a byproduct of the dot-com shakeout, the next wave of online advertisers, expected to come more from the offline world, is demanding more bang for its bucks. “The industry is learning about what technologies and what sites are most effective,” said Roger Sant, chief strategy officer at Carat […]

Corporate users of CRM software are bracing for another round of customer relationship management acquisitions and consolidations as well as attempts by vendors to differentiate their products. As a result of this activity, users may have fewer vendors to choose from but more complete offerings from those that remain standing. This month two notable acquisitions […]

While traditional retailers begin discounting products to clear inventories in the wake of sluggish holiday sales, online retailers, surprisingly, appear to be meeting their sales expectations. PC Data Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in a joint study released the day after Christmas, showed online retail spending at $8.7 billion from the beginning of November […]

Big brother is proving to be a tough sell. While location-based advertising services for wireless devices have a great deal of potential, the pesky little fact that customers value their privacy could slow adoption of the technology. The Federal Trade Commission last week held a conference here with wireless industry leaders to hash out the […]

Seeking to capitalize on the growing importance of customer dialogue as part of Web sites business strategies, Siebel Systems Inc. this week will roll out a sell-side e-commerce product called Siebel Interactive Selling Suite. The software suite gives Siebel, of San Mateo, Calif., a play in assisted or suggestive selling engines—Web applications that deliver product […]

Two of the leading crm developers, Nortel Networks Corp. and PeopleSoft Inc., this week will announce additions to their respective customer relationship management product suites that will offer more diverse capabilities to enterprises. Nortel, of Brampton, Ontario, is adding an incentive management system that covers all of its customers employees, not just sales personnel, while […]

Although online holiday sales remain a relatively small pie, brick-and-mortar retailers this year aim to get their piece of it. Each of the big-three retailers—Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kmart Corp. and Target Corp.—has full-fledged Web storefronts for the first time this holiday season, and each is banking on banner sales. “People are more comfortable shopping at […]