J.D. Edwards Trims Roster
ERP software developer J.D. Edwards earlier this month announced plans to eliminate some senior management positions in what it calls a response to market conditions.
Hank Bonde, J.D. Edwards chief operating officer, has been eliminated from the employee roster under a plan to more closely align the companys sales and development operations.
The companys C-level executives; U.S. and international sales managers; vice president of customer relations; and heads of human resources, marketing and product management will report directly to Chairman and CEO Bob Dutkowsky, who said the plans are not driven by financial results.
“We want to make sure our organizational structure is as nimble as we could possibly make it,” Dutkowsky said.
SAS Acquires Analysis Tools
SAS Institute expanded its analytical CRM offerings last week with the acquisition of certain assets of Verbind, a SAS partner that develops behavioral analysis and event-triggering software.
SAS got Verbinds LifeTime software, which will add individualized behavior tracking over time to SAS Interaction Management suite, company officials said. The capabilities will let users determine in real time which changes in customer behavior are significant and to see, across multiple channels, when those changes will occur, officials said.
SAS Interaction Management product, with the Verbind technology, will be able to evaluate every customer interaction in its own context rather than rely on business rules engines.
Jim Goodnight, SAS president and CEO, said in a statement that SAS is taking analytical CRM to a “new level of sophistication” with the acquisition.
IBM Offers Tech Services
IBM is so serious about its On Demand concept that it is even making some of its researchers available on demand.
Last week, it introduced On Demand Innovation Services, a program to hire out some 200 technologists from IBM Research to work at customer locations to build supply chains, integrate applications and make better use of assets, officials said.