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Representatives of APAC Customer Services, Inc. were proud to announce today that Technology Marketing Corporation’s Customer Interaction Solutions magazine bestowed a seventh consecutive CRM excellence award on the firm for its atHOME service solution. Customer Interaction Solutions magazine implemented the CRM Excellence Awards in 1999 to “commend the companies that have proven to be true CRM partners to their customers and clients.” APAC Customer Services’ atHOME focuses on to the virtual work concept. APAC Customer Services, Inc. is a customer care services and solutions provider in the healthcare, financial services, business services, publishing, communications, travel and entertainment industries.

Customer Interaction Solutions has been the flagship publication of the Technology Marketing Corporation print house since 1982, and focuses on the customer relationship management, call center and teleservices industries. TMC publications include print magazines Customer Interaction Solutions, Internet Telephony, SIP Magazine and IMS Magazine, and digital publications Speech-World, WiFi Telephony Magazine, VoIP Developer, IPTV Magazine and WiMA.

Ipedo XIP is an enterprise information integration software platform that seeks to integrate information from across the enterprise into Salesforce. Composite views of data can be done in Oracle, SAP and Siebel in addition to Salesforce. Ipedo XIP is also offered for test drives. Ipedo XIP is designed to allow aggregation and presentation of information from disparate sources such as SAP, Siebel, Oracle, web services, relational databases, and Excel.

The program is now one of more than 250 applications created by salesforce.com available on AppExchange. Ipedo is a provider of enterprise information integration software that provides on-demand intelligence to users; at base is the Ipedo XIP platform combining SQL and XQuery processing. Ipedo has clientele in financial services, government, life sciences, manufacturing, and high tech. Salesforce.com is currently the market and technology leader in on-demand business services.

Salesforce.com’s on-demand platform AppExchange allows the building of powerful new applications, customization and integration of the Salesforce suite. Salesforce.com today manages customer information for approximately 22,700 customers and approximately 444,000 paying subscribers including Advanced Micro Devices, America Online, Cendant Rental Car Group, Dow Jones Newswires, Nokia, Polycom and SunTrust.

Bluespring Software announced today that the firm had been named a finalist in the Microsoft “Technology Innovation Partner of the Year” in the ISV/Software Solutions category. The awards recognize Microsoft registered, certified and gold-certified partners that have developed “exemplary” solutions. In the case of Bluespring, it was the Bluespring BPM Suite that received singling out.

Microsoft Corporation US ISV strategy general manager Pradeep Rathinam was particularly enthusiastic about Bluespring’s function and performance: “Bluespring’s innovation is simplifying powerful technology traditionally thought to be too complex for business people. That’s a pretty compelling corner office story for any enterprise.”

Winners of the innovation awards will be honored at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2006 in Boston on July 11-14. Bluespring Software and its partner network seek to extend the value of enterprise applications like CRM, ERP and SCM software. By “business process optimization,” Bluespring material refers to effective management of critical operational processes such as case management, IT asset management, deal management and demand planning, yielding desired results.

Some pursuers are persistent indeed. With a tenacity that would inspire a cross-dressing Shakespeare heroine, CDC Software continues to win Onyx Software Corporation. In a conference call to investors, CDC Software executive vice president of strategy pleaded his case to investors, running with the party line that the third and latest buyout offer is a superior deal to both previous CDC offers and the current offer from Made2Manage Software Inc.

Musser emphatically stated that his firm’s US $4.85 per share in cash or US $5 per share in cash and stock from CDC Corporation “trumps” Made2Manage Holdings’ US $4.80 per share offer. With more statistics and flipcharts than H. Ross Perot, Musser demonstrated that the third CDC proposal represents a premium of 4.2 percent over the competing offer, and that the Made2Manage proposal was just under 1 percent better than the first CDC offer. Musser even implied a sword of Damacles over the heads of Onyx, namely the US $4.5 million in break fees and expenses that Onyx will pay when the Made2Manage deal breaks down.

Clearly, Musser’s numbers are correct, but this is not under debate. Clearly, Onyx representatives do not appreciate the approach of unsolicited offers. In March of this year, CDC’s second offer raised the bid to $4.57 a share, or about $80 million, in cash. The response from Onyx was to take on investment banker Piper Jaffray to help evaluate its strategic options. Jaffray spent little time considering the options before realizing that CDC would stop at nothing to get Onyx. The banker’s forecast was simply that selling to M2M was simply the only way to avoid the hostile takeover by CDC. “By accepting the Made2Manage offer,” Musser said, Onyx management “gave up an opportunity to get CDC’s best and final offer.”

We’ll see about that. Musser went on the say that the Onyx board hadn’t shown interest in a bidding war, the natural order of things as Musser sees it. Musser complained that the CDC offer had been rejected out of hand (it was also first submitted unasked for as well…) and that this “raises concerns about the Onyx management team’s objectives.” Apparently playing a bit of tit for tat, Musser stated that “Onyx’ inconsistent public statements reflect a clear desire of Onyx management to mislead the market.”

Gee, just about a week ago Onyx released their stinging retort to the latest CDC offer of June 20. CDC first announced the bid, then gave it up presumably when CDC officials feared that Onyx might actually take it seriously. “Only two days later,” an Onyx spokesperson said, “CDC has abandoned its all cash offer and now purports to offer Onyx shareholders only a combination of cash and stock, demonstrating CDC’s inconsistent statements and unpredictable behavior.” One day later, Onyx continued to show that it was not amused. “[C]oming in the final weeks of a fiscal quarter, combined with CDC’s previous behavior, suggests the possibility that CDC’s announcement is disingenuous and that its true intention is to harm Onyx’s business and enhance CDC’s competitive position in the sales process, rather than engage in serious negotiations…”

Like a spurned wooer with little left to lose, Musser stated that CDC’s third and current offer is superior in value and choice. “We ask Onyx to reconsider its rejection of our proposal and to move quickly to assess alternatives,” stated Musser, making this the first occasion on which some opinion is being asked directly of the Onyx brain trust. Musser stated that CDC is considering a proxy fight for Onyx, which in theory would lend arbitration of final decision to investors. Onyx representatives have since offered a few statistics of their own.

Onyx claims that, under terms of the third CDC agreement, the actual price paid to Onyx shareholders under the deal could be as low as US $4.50 per share and that those returns “would likely take several months longer to complete than the proposed transaction with [M2M] due to the need to file a registration statement with the SEC.” Onyx also claimed the deal shaky because the future of CDC fiscal solvency is “uncertain” Musser today said CDC will continue to go after Onyx “in spite of concerns” because “I have to agree that this has been a very unusual process, but some things are consistent — we continue to have a strong belief in the business combination and a desire in realizing its value,” he said. “We are continuing to simplify the offer and make it more attractive to Onyx shareholders.” CDC Software is a provider of enterprise software applications designed to assist organizations in delivering a superior customer experience.

The CDC Software product suite includes Pivotal CRM, c360 CRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform development tools, Ross enterprise resource planning, Ross supply chain management, IMI warehouse management, order management, Platinum China human resource solutions, and business analytics. CDC Software now boasts more than 5,000 customers worldwide in the manufacturing, financial services, health care, home building, real estate, and wholesale and retail distribution industries. Onyx serves more than 1300 customers in a variety of industries in financial services, health care, contact center, high tech and local government markets.

Amdocs, a provider of software and services to enable integrated customer management, and Canadian communications and media company Rogers Communications today announced that Rogers will implement Amdocs CRM across cable, wireless and telecom lines of business. This implementation is part of Rogers’ integrated customer management strategy rollout which involves upgrading its entire telecom system currently boasting ten million customers.

Communications services offered by Rogers include cable TV, high-speed internet, wireline and wireless. Rogers strives to ensure a consistent customer experience across all those services. Providing a single view of the customer is part of ICM strategy providing a framework to organize a company’s infrastructure and resources around customer needs and the customer experience.

Rogers is currently using Amdocs billing software to support its various lines of business. Rogers Communications Inc. is a diversified Canadian communications and media company engaged in three primary lines of business: Rogers Wireless, the largest wireless voice and data communications services provider in Canada and Canada’s only carrier operating on the GSM technology platform; Rogers Cable and Telecom, Canada’s largest cable television provider; and Rogers Business Solutions, a national provider of voice communications services, data networking and broadband Internet connectivity.

Amdocs is a software and services provider that seeks to accelerate implementation of integrated customer management by the world’s leading service providers. Amdocs boasted revenue of more than US $2 billion in fiscal 2005 and has 13,000 employees in fifty-one countries around the world.

Arvato Services, a provider of CRM services through IT systems applications, has selected communication solutions from Avaya Inc. to connect its call and contact centers via VoIP technology. Arvato Services specifically required an intelligent communications solution to connect its contact centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Kitchener, Canada. Avaya installed Avaya Communication Manager 3.0 on S8700 servers and Avaya G650 Media Gateways.

Using Avaya Automatic Call Distribution physically located in Canada and Argentina, the solution links company telecommunications, allowing the Buenos Aires call center to receive calls when the Canadian call center overflows. Avaya call management system applications were also installed. At the Argentine location, Arvato Services employs 350 people offering specialized solutions, covering customer relations management facets such direct marketing campaigns; data treatment and modeling; integral development of business intelligence applications; global CRM services; and print services.

This year, Arvato Services Argentina plans to add 150 jobs and is currently implementing the new Avaya Smart Call Agent solution. And the Arvato heads have hinted at the possibility of expansion into Latin America. Founded in 1835, Arvato AG is the media service provider of European media giant Bertelsmann AG. Headquartered in Gutersloh, Germany, the Arvato Services Group provides international outsourcing solutions. Annual sales totaled US $3.9 billion dollars in 2004, and the company employs 15,000 in twenty-six countries.

Arvato has a clientele base of two hundred, who handle over 50 million calls and 10 million e-mails per year, in industries such as tourism, information technology, and financial communication media. Bertelsmann AG is a corporation encompassing over 300 companies in 55 countries, with a posted income of €20 billion in 2005 and 80,000 employees. Dubbing itself a “pioneer” in the CRM niche market, Avaya Inc. is a product and services provider of communication networks for, according to company PR, “more than 1 million companies around the world. Ninety percent of its clients are on the Fortune 500 list.”

Onyx Software Corporation announced today that the company had won the Platinum award as part of the Cognos 2006 Global Partner Awards in recognition of its success with the Cognos solution. Representatives made the announcement at the Cognos Partner Summit 2006 in Las Vegas, always a great place for a summit. Onyx Analytics is designed to allow companies to manage sales, design relevant marketing activities, and customer service. Cognos corporate development senior vice president Neal Hill, said that "Building on our recent innovations such as Cognos 8 BI … our partners have achieved new successes and demonstrated even greater depth of industry expertise. We are proud to honor Onyx for its contributions…."

Onyx Software Corporation is a CRM and customer process software provider for mid- and large-sized enterprises. Among Onyx Software clientele are companies Amway Corporation, Mellon Financial Corporation, The Regence Group and State Street Corporation. Founded in 1969, Cognos now employs over 3,500 people and serves more than 23,000 customers in 136 countries. Cognos is involved in “every industry sector” including automotive, banking and insurance, energy and natural resources, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.

Cognos solutions are available from more than 3,000 worldwide partners and resellers. These solutions are supported by an experienced and award-winning field force of more than 2,000 customer-facing personnel.

International nonprofit humanitarian organization Children International has announced its going live enterprise-wide with Aptify. Aptify is a provider of customer / member relationship management, e-Business, education management and other applications; the firm seeks to enable CI in providing responsive and personalized service for its sponsors, donors, and field offices worldwide.

Under the agreement, Aptify hopes to assist CI in tracking marketing campaigns for sponsorships and donations; robust reporting; and fundraising management of donations and in-kind gifts. Aptify Membership is a suite of business, integrated e-commerce and web-enabled applications. Before signing up with Aptify, CI reportedly underwent extensive software selection process that some of the largest vendors in the CRM and ERP market (read: Oracle). Naturally seeking to streamline, CI was sought a solution to address their unique system requirements for one-to-one child sponsorship.

The Aptify system has some high expectations to live up to. Top CI brass is effusive about CRM in a way few organization heads are: CI IT halfback Barry Sanders states that "Everyone at Children International is extremely excited about Aptify.” Extremely. No kidding; he said that. CI executive VP David B. Houchen stated that "Children International’s mission is to help children in impoverished areas around the world."

How does that relate to CRM exactly? Well, "Once we are live with Aptify, we will be able to broaden our fundraising efforts to new types of campaigns targeted at an expanded set of needs." And Sanders added, “we are energized with the possibilities of what we can achieve through Aptify." Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Aptify has provided business solutions and e-business applications for membership management, subscription fulfillment, publication fulfillment, and exposition and meeting management since 1993. Aptify has offices in Chicago, California and Pennsylvania; the firm also has an active international partner presence in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The Sage Group plc has released its customer relationship management solutions for small- and mid-sized businesses in Asia. Sage will be launching entry level CRM solution ACT! by Sage; SageCRM.com, an on-demand CRM service / on-site deployable and configurable, full suite CRM; and Sage CRM SalesLogix, a customizable CRM suite.

Sage Asia managing director Low Gee Sing boldly stated that "We hope to grow our CRM business by over thirty percent in this region as our Global CRM initiative is in place and our award-winning portfolio of CRM solutions available now," Sage has formed a CRM team in Asia as part of its global CRM strategy, and Low hopes to leverage on (and cozy up to) Sage’s global CRM organization, headed by Sage Global CRM senior vice president / general manager Dave Batt.

Relationship management systems provider Lagan today announced that Bracknell Forest Borough Council members have signed a contract with the firm for their Frontline Customer Relationship Management system. The system is currently being implemented, and seeks to more efficiently allow council customer services to respond to enquiries from more than 110,000 residents plus “handling enquiries from people who work in the area or are simply passing through.”

Implementation of the Frontline CRM system is part of a £750 million regeneration project across Bracknell (itself part of a greater effort in London and Britain to upgrade municipality CRM) which is planned to result in a central point for all enquiries. Council spokesperson Keith Woodman hopes that “This shared service delivery system will … enable Bracknell Forest Borough Council to track enquiries and react proactively to issues which generate a high volume of calls.”

The first phase of the system is slated for a September 2006 release. Ultimately, said Woodman, the goal is to give citizen self-service access to information on a 24 / 7 basis.