PEOPLE
NetSuite decides to play ball
Moneyball is coming to the high-tech world.
NetSuite, which develops on-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, on Jan. 4 announced that Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland As, is joining its board of directors. Beane manages a low-budget but winning baseball team. Where do the two converge? Around mathematics, according to NetSuite.
“Billys outrageously successful approach in changing the game of baseball by using facts to supplement instinct is very similar to the transformation our customers undergo when they move their business to NetSuite,” said Evan Goldberg, chairman, co-founder and chief technology officer of NetSuite.
Beanes talent as a GM was brought to the fore in the 2003 book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” by Michael Lewis, which highlighted Beanes use of mathematics and gut instinct to turn around the fortunes of the As, a small-market team with one of Major League Baseballs smallest payrolls.
Under his leadership, which began in 1998, the As have qualified for the playoffs in five of the past seven seasons.
WIRELESS
Study: Time is right for mobile marketing
You might not like the idea of being pinged with mobile ads, but youre ready for it.
So says Forrester Research. According to a study released Jan. 4,
even though 79 percent
of consumers dont like the idea of mobile ads, early initiatives by marketers found that consumers are receptive, as long as the information is useful.
Fueling this is the growing number of consumers who are using their mobile phones for more than talking.
The study found that 35 percent of U.S. households that have a mobile phone use it for text messaging, and 11 percent use it to access the Internet, setting up a ripe environment for mobile marketing.
According to Forrester, some companies that have had success with it include McDonalds; radio station WXKS; and Broadway Marketplace, a grocer.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Brazilian court orders YouTube shut down
A Brazilian court wants YouTube shut down until it removes a racy video involving a Brazilian celebrity from its site.
How effective that order will be is up for debate, according to legal experts.
The video shows Daniela Cicarelli, a model and ex-wife of soccer great Ronaldo, and her boyfriend in a tryst on a beach. They sued YouTube after the video, which was widely viewed in Brazil, was posted. The case was in the courts for months before a court issued the order Jan. 3.
Despite the court order, it could be difficult to enforce in the United States, where YouTube—now a business unit of Google—is based, legal experts say.
—Compiled by Jeffrey Burt