Transactions: Customer Wins for November 2, 2004

Oracle announced that the U.S. Marine Corps has selected the Oracle E-Business Suite. Oracle's software will support the Marine Corps' supply and maintenance system, supplying Marine units in the field with supporting units to more effectively track, transport, and deliver supplies and support. The Marine Corps will deploy the new GCSS-MC/LCM software to more than 7,500 Marine Corps users, eventually supporting the entire Marine Corps, worldwide. "Our operating forces are dependant upon the efficiencies this type of system can provide to them in tracking the stuff bound for their destination," Marine Corps Systems Command's Major Robert Crum says. "Marines can fight because of food, bombs, bullets, gasoline, and bandages, so anything that can improve the efficiency of that supply chain is good for us." The Oracle E-Business Suite will provide a single view of supply, maintenance, and distribution, allowing commanders to have real-time access to what supplies they ordered and where they are in the supply chain. In the recent past the Marine Corps' operational doctrine has evolved to operational-maneuver warfare, moving and striking rapidly. However, its supply chain processes and supporting technology had remained tied to legacy systems that hinder flexibility. The Corps will replace several legacy systems with Oracle's applications to connect Marines who need support with those who provide it. Convergys has signed a multiyear contract to provide professional services and customer care to Wachovia. Convergys will provide these services through its open-hosting environment, Convergys SpeechPort. This will allow Wachovia to create or modify its interactive voice response (IVR) applications from remote locations. Wachovia anticipates no problems in integrating SpeechPoint with its current IVR and speech recognition applications. Salesforce.com announced several recent customer wins. Vocus, a global provider of on-demand software for public and government relations, will use Salesforce.com across its North American, European, and Asian offices to automate its international sales and marketing processes. Integriti Systems, a provider of automated vital signs monitoring, has begun using Salesforce.com to improve lead flow from its partners and gain better insight into its business. NewScale, a provider of service delivery management software, plans to use Salesforce.com to improve visibility into leads and inquiries. Quaero, a provider of marketing performance services, has announced Charles Schwab, CUNU Mutual Group, Rewards NetworkSM, and the United States Tennis Association as new clients. StayinFront, a provider of CRM applications, decisions support tools, and e-business systems, announced that AstraZeneca has selected StayinFront Visual Elk and Pocket Elk for its Philippines sales force. AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company, has already implemented a multicountry CRM solution from StayinFront in Southeast Asia and New Zealand. Fuze Digital Solutions, a provider of eService software, will provide new customer AAA with its Fuze Q&A Suite. AAA will deploy the Fuze Q&A solution on its internal and external Web sites to provide faster service to its AAA member clubs, staff, and Web visitors. The Fuze Q&A Suite has already been deployed on AAA Arizona's web site for three months for testing and integration. Point of Reference, a provider of online customer reference programs, announced that Aruba Wireless Networks has selected its customer reference management service. Aruba will use online audio clips and real-time access to its enterprise wireless LAN users to improve its sales and service efforts. Point of Reference will conduct interviews and digitally records the audio content on the Internet. Aruba will then be able to invite prospects, via email, to listen to the interviews online. Talisma announced that ShareBuilder has selected its suite to provide customer integration and management of customer communication channels. Initially, ShareBuilder will use Talisma for managing and tracking phone and email communications to customers. Ultimately, will ShareBuilder use the suite for reporting on customer interactions to enhance its products to better meet customer needs. Related article: Is Government CRM the Next Big Boom?