The Week in Review: October 3, 2003

In the news... Salesnet has developed a new Business Partner Program, one of the first to allow channel partners to develop and sell a hosted CRM solution. Salesnet says the program is designed specifically for vertical market solution providers, CRM consultants, sales methodology consultants and trainers, and system integrators. SmartPath, a provider of marketing resource-management software applications, has also launched a Worldwide Channel Partner Program. SmartPath Channel Partners' areas of focus include CRM, DAM, ERP, financial systems, and additional areas that address the efficiency and effectiveness of global marketing operations. The Channel Partner Program is designed to support partners globally, with initial focus in North America and Europe. Lending even more credence to the spike in outsourced and hosted CRM, Surebridge has announced that it has hit the milestone of $100 million in booked online CRM and ERP business this quarter for its outsourced and hosted solutions. As technology spending budgets remain tight, multifunction networking and security solutions, which combine previously separate systems into a single solution, are increasingly meeting the needs of IT buyers who must weigh operational costs against the need to improve IT services, according to a new report by Aberdeen Group. Some advantages offered by integrated solutions are performance improvements, security enhancements, new problem-solving capabilities, simplified deployment and management, as well as economies of scale in the procurement process, according to the report. Cincom Systems has acquired CRM software provider Synchrony Communications, for an undisclosed amount. "Adding Synchrony to our other successful software solutions will provide our customers the ability to integrate multichannel communications and achieve faster ROI," Cincom President Tom Nies said in a statement. Deals of the week... E.piphany announced that Dutch airline KLM has selected the E.piphany Marketing and Interaction Advisor software solutions to support its customer loyalty and targeted communications programs. Business Objects Thursday announced that Norwood Promotional Products has selected BusinessObjects Enterprise 6 for the company's analytics and integrations needs. Executive changes... FieldCentrix has named Richard Roll, formerly president and COO of Epicor, as its new CEO. Roll succeeds Tracy Price, who will remain chairman of the company. Extended Systems, a provider of mobile information management solutions for the enterprise, today announced the appointment to its board of directors of Bob Frankenberg, chairman of Kinzan Inc.; Ralph Godfrey, retired senior vice president and a member of the executive committee of 3Com Corporation; and Admiral Archie Clemins, owner and president of Caribou Technologies. Contact Network Corporation, a provider of enterprise contact collaboration solutions, has announced the appointment of Cesar A. Brea as the company's new CEO. Brea previously served as senior vive president of sales and marketing at IT consulting firm Razorfish.