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The AMR research piece entitled “SOA May be an Early Hit in the Midmarket” cited small- and mid-sized market enterprise software producer SYSPRO as at the “forefront” of SOA technology and distributed computing. SYSPRO was noted by researcher Dennis Gaughan for its excellence. “SOA might level the playing field,” Gaughan speculated, “making it quicker and less expensive for small- and mid-sized businesses to assemble and maintain innovative software that provides competitive advantage.”

Along with the trumpeting to press regarding the AMR findings, SYSPRO PR happily pointed out other kudos given the company recently. In SYSPRO on SOA: A Guide to Service Oriented Architecture, writer Sean Wheller expends much ink describing SOA and its importance as a competitive tool. Naturally, SYSPRO is encouraging purchase of the tome. SYSPRO USA president Joey Benadretti said that the book “presents the complex subject of SOA in ‘layman’s’ terms, providing numerous case studies of how the functionality incorporated within SYSPRO is enabling customers to leverage SOA to better compete in their respective markets.”

A leading wireless carrier has called upon Intervoice, Inc. services to enhance its customer service. The Intervoice Voice Interaction Platform will be used to replace telephone keypad option input with voice command input for telephone inquiries.

Intervoice, said company representatives, was chosen due to its unique capacity to support the carrier’s “virtual agent” customer self-service system. The unnamed company processes 120 million customer service-related calls per year. Further, Intervoice can meet the very specific requirements for developing a “virtual agent” to represent the company’s brand, image, style and customer expectations.

The “virtual agent” was created via Intervoice’s flexible Voice User Interface. “Intervoice has a proven track record of helping many of the world’s leading wireless carriers answer this growing trend by providing the best possible customer self-service experience to their subscribers,” stated Intervoice president / CEO Bob Ritchey.

Business intelligence software provider MicroStrategy has announced that Micro Center selected MicroStrategy to be its strategic enterprise reporting and analysis standard. Micro Center is a subdivision of computer retailing giant Micro Electronics, Inc.

MicroStrategy will support multiple business intelligence applications for Micro Center, with applications to include analysis, marketing and category management functions. “The MicroStrategy platform has the flexibility and scalability we need to support our multiple business intelligence applications,” said Micro Center IT director Misty Kuamoo.

MicroStrategy CEO Sanju Bansal stated in press material that “Our ability to provide insightful reports on critical data – drilled down to the customer-transactional level – has proved to be invaluable to our retail clients.”

Since migrating its key applications to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform, UTI Bank is reporting uptime of 99.9 percent for its call center. UTI now employs the Red Hat Cluster Suite, featuring Red Hat Enterprise Linux and handles more than 7,000 calls daily.

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has announced an investment of $16.3 million for “what is believed to be the country’s largest call center owned by a local financial provider,” according to press material. Of chief importance in the investment is the deployment of such technologies as interactive voice response facility and customer relationship management software that are still relatively new in the area.

Maybank has amassed an impressive total of seven million customers and Maybank heads decided to adapt to modern customer service needs. The Maybank contact center boasts some 300 employees.

The open source ERP / CRM solution Opentaps is set for official unveiling at the MySQL Users Conference in Santa Clara, Calif., later this month. Opentaps is a fully integrated ERP / CRM suite that works with open source databases to offer scalable solutions for accounting, customer service, inventory, manufacturing, warehouses and such. The software may best be described as a Java-developed combination of Open For Business applications, OFB CRM and modules from Open Source Strategies, Inc.

The Opentaps ERP+CRM suite, as is typical, supports operations with a centralized database, allowing several users access simultaneously and the opportunity for real-time decision making. What is unique about opentaps is its status as a freely usable and modifiable open source solution. Opentaps also features potential deployment in an open source stack. Opentaps project manager Si Chen states that “Access to the source code gives users unprecedented flexibility to create a solution that suits their needs, while open source databases such as MySQL can deliver the lowest ultimate cost of ownership.”

The MySQL Users Conference 2006 takes place in Santa Clara April 24-27, 2006.

Now that SAP is two months into their CRM on-demand market, new moves have been made by the company in order to more profitably exploit the resources at strategic partner IBM. News regarding the future has been emanating from SAP offices throughout April, as have been pledges to deliver quality from amidst a crowded market.

Through the partnership with IBM, SAP’s mySAP CRM software suite will now be hosted by IBM. The industry giant will also provide customization and operational support. This service is aimed at companies of 100 users or more, and currently all efforts are devoted to sales force automation. SAP representatives have promised that 2006 will see much further expansion of their CRM. Both IBM and SAP salespersons will be hawking the product, a quest that has already scored the connection two notable customers: American Standard and DuPont Chemical.

One news source has gone so far as to say that the SAP / IBM alliance and the resultant mySAP CRM suite is responsible for making on-demand business software mainstream. Of course, any IBM team has a major advantage over the competition in any such sphere, thanks to the ubiquitous presence of Windows. And SAP appears poised to take full advantage of the situation they may have created, promising an entire SAP CRM solution soon to be available.

Storage provider firm Quantum Corporation announced the bestowal of two customer service awards today. Quantum scored Omega Management Group Corporation’s NorthFace ScoreBoard Award for customer service and a 2006 Best Practices award from the Service and Support Professionals Association. Quantum was notable in receiving these awards as the only storage-based firm to win either.

The ScoreBoard award was also given to Quantum in 2005. The NorthFace ScoreBoard award was based on customer feedback regarding purchases of tape automation or disk-based backup systems within the previous quarter. Ninety-three percent of these customers said they would recommend Quantum and ninety-two percent claimed it at least likely they’d purchase another Quantum product.

The SSPA STAR award for best practices recognizes outstanding outsourcing service and support practices. Nominations were created through certain satisfaction ratings and arbitered by service industry experts. In presenting the award, SSPA founder / executive director Bill Rose said, “The SSPA STAR Award for Best Practices recognizes Quantum for its exemplary work in developing innovative business processes and delivering solid results in the area of outsourcing,” said Bill Rose, founder and executive director of SSPA. “Quantum should be particularly proud of this distinction as the company was selected for this award by a committee of its peers.”

Customer support operations knowledge management software provider Kaidara Software announced that UK-based Comet plc. has chosen the Kaidara ADVISOR suite to run Comet customer service and support centers. Thanks to a relationship with Comet sister company Darty, Comet representatives were able to witness the effect of the ADVISOR in call centers previously. Darty is a retail business operating in France and joins Comet in the European group KESA Electricals.

At Darty, the Kaidara system allowed simple and accurate means for agents to troubleshoot and diagnose incoming inquiries. The system ultimately demonstrated a reduction in call handling time and an increase in customer service levels. “The results we had seen at [Darty] allowed us to build a strong business case based on tangible and proven results,” said Comet plc head of services Phil Heaton.

“In addition, we had witnessed firsthand that the Kaidara solution was a solid product and that their personnel know the support business and understand what it takes to improve our operations.” Comet is an electrical retailer in the UK of home appliance and electronics, featuring 250 store outlets with 18 service centers and a major call center operation in Hull, East Yorkshire.

Billing, customer service and human resources provider Convergys Corporation yesterday announced its Infinys Rating and Billing and Mediation software fully operational at Sri Lanka Telecom, Sri Lanka’s major telecommunications provider. The Infinys implementation represented the largest IT project ever performed by Sri Lanka.

Over the course of the project, Convergys provided business analysis; implementation and migration to Infinys; integration services; managerial services; revenue assurance services; and employee training. Sri Lanka Telecom CEO Shuhei Anan confidently stated that “we are expecting to recoup our investment in Infinys within the first six months of operation.” Sri Lanka Telecom is Sri Lanka’s no. 1 telecommunication services provider with over one million business and residential subscribers.