Week in Review: April 18

In the News Microsoft Business Solutions posted year-over-year revenue growth of 96 percent, the company says. Microsoft attributes this growth to the release of MS CRM, among other factors. "We are pleased with the initial customer and partner enthusiasm for Microsoft CRM. At the end of the quarter we already had over 1,000 authorized partners and more than 150 ISVs for Microsoft CRM," Doug Burgum, president of Microsoft Business Solutions, said in a statement. "Microsoft CRM represents a key component in our overall mission to deliver transformational solutions that enable businesses in the midmarket to enhance and deepen the relationships they have with customers." Group 1 Software and Sagent Technology have announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Group 1 will acquire the key assets of Sagent for up to $17 million, payable in cash and debt forgiveness. Group 1 says the Sagent acquisition will add significant enterprise information integration and customer data integration technologies to Group 1's core data quality and data enrichment solutions. In addition, Group 1 will add to its product offerings Sagent's extract, transformation, and load (ETL) technology, which it will market both as a stand-alone offering and integrated with Group 1's data quality solutions. Additionally, Group 1's geospatial analysis capabilities will be enhanced with the technology of Sagent's Centrus division. BearingPoint, a business consulting and systems integration firm, announced the official opening of the company's Global Development Center in Shanghai, China, to provide clients with facilities for cost-effective application development. "The Global Development Center is a key component of BearingPoint's AnyShore global strategy of bringing the best service to clients, no matter where they conduct business," BearingPoint Chairman and CEO Rand Blazer said in a statement. Senatus Consulting this week announced it has acquired controlling interest in Porter Hill, a CRM software and service corporation. Porter Hill will now exist as a privately held, non-wholly subsidiary of Senatus, the firm says. Executive Changes To further its Universal Application Network (UAN) initiative, Siebel Systems recently added Nimish Mehta as group vice president, UAN. SAP AG CEO Bill McDermott has selected Chris Rooney as the new vice president of CRM sales operations to oversee the company's North American CRM sales team and continue building SAP's strong CRM market momentum in the United States, the company says. Rooney joins SAP from McKinsey & Company. Astea International has announced the appointment of Marikit Klein-Smith to vice president of marketing. In her global role she will lead the company's strategic marketing programs, including branding initiatives, product marketing, and marketing communications. CRM provider ICT announced that James Vander Putten has been named senior vice president of ICT Database Marketing Services. Connextions, a business outsourcing company, announced the appointment of Jeff Scheerhorn to the position of vice president, CRM client practice. Quaero, a provider of knowledge driven marketing services, this week announced that Don White has joined the firm as executive vice president and managing director for Quaero SpringBoard.