December 2, 2004

NEWS NetSuite is ushering in the holiday season with the launch of NetSuite Holiday Mall, a showcase of leading e-tailers that use NetSuite to automate their e-commerce operations. Thirty-seven NetSuite online retailers joined the Mall, highlighting products in such categories as accessories/clothing, children's products and electronics, and sports. Participating vendors include All4DVD.com, OrielWines.com, PianoLogic.com, ShopNewEngland.com, SportStation.com, and WholePetFoods.com. As a special limited-time offer, online shoppers who buy merchandise from any of the participating NetSuite merchants will receive a 10 percent discount on their total order. According to NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson, the on-demand applications provider makes it just as easy to sell on the Web as it is in person or via the phone: "The NetSuite Holiday Mall really demonstrates how easy it is to deliver an Amazon.com-like shopping experience." Sales Performance International (SPI) has launched a new consulting practice that will focus on sales and marketing effectiveness. Roberto Sanchez, formerly an associate partner with IBM's Business Consulting Services and Accenture, who spent 12 years in the manufacturing industry in several engineering and management positions, will become SPI's managing partner and CEO for the new consulting practice. Verint Systems has reported third-quarter fiscal 2004 sales of $63.9 million, a 31 percent increase compared to its third-quarter fiscal 2003 showing of $49.01 million. Sales increased approximately 6 percent sequentially compared to $60.17 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2004. The company also reports a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) earnings per diluted share of 16 cents compared to 17 cents per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2004 and 15 cents per diluted share for fiscal 2003's third quarter. CUSTOMER WINS Avaya has announced that Multi Channel Communications Inc. (MCCI), a Canadian customer-service provider for North American telecommunications and financial services businesses, has selected Avaya MultiVantage Communications Applications, including Avaya Communication Manager IP Telephony software and the Avaya Customer Interaction Suite for contact centers. The solutions will provide multichannel communications options such as voice, email, Web chat, and self-service to their clients using either IP telephony or traditional networking. MCCI will also use Avaya's sophisticated call routing and reporting to deliver first-rate customer service. RightNow Technologies has announced that Uniden America Corporation, a consumer electronics company, was able to bring its customer service initiative in-house with RightNow's on-demand technology. As a result of its in-house efforts the company is enjoying an estimated $234 million in annual savings due to increased efficiency and productivity, and has reduced average call time by 30 seconds while improving the quality of its customer service. Additionally, the company's sales, marketing, and manufacturing departments are now using the data captured by Uniden's revamped contact center. Ascential Software has announced that H.B. Fuller Company, a specialty chemical products manufacturer, is using Ascential DataStage to access, transform, and load data from disparate inventory and customer information sources into its enterprise data warehouse. The solution will provide H.B. Fuller with a single view of its business and enhance supply chain visibility. NEW PRODUCTS FrontRange Solutions has announced the availability of its IP Contact Center 3.7 software suite, which is designed to aid SMBs and distributed enterprises by helping to decrease telephony costs and enhance agent productivity. Key features include a single point of administration, ability to work with SIP VoIP gateways, real-time and historical reporting, an agent dashboard, advanced skills-based routing, a virtual agent, a Web-based application builder, and HEAT and GoldMine integration. Convergys has announced Convergys Sales Readiness Solution, a customized learning program that combines e-learning, classroom, and Webinar courses to teach salespeople about their products and customer relationships. The learning services suite also allows them to test their new knowledge and skills in a simulation. The solution is designed to improve key sales-force metrics like revenue-per-customer and revenue ramp rate, and could allow organizations to more effectively execute sales initiatives, including introducing new products and product updates, and responding to changing market conditions and competitive threats. UniPress Software has announced an enhanced version of FootPrints Asset Management, a Web-based asset discovery and tracking system that automatically takes snapshots of users' desktops or laptop configuration, and captures such information as the type of operating system and other hardware or software that is installed on the computer. Related article: NetSuite Retools With Analytics and a Recommendation Engine