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10/30/06 - Vendor Viability and Source Code
One strategy for protecting yourself from a vendor going out of business is source code escrow. Basically, it requires the vendor to place a copy of the source code with a third party that can be delivered to the software user in case the vendor goes out of business. It is a very common practice.
While the practice is quite common, I often wonder if it is really an effective strategy. Consider this: most companies buy software because they do not have the resources to create it or support it themselves. Many vendors I talk to doubt much good could really be done should an event occur to trigger the release of source code.
It's like a dog chasing the car but never knowing what to do should he catch the car. If you don't have the software experts that created the software in house, do you really think you can make any sense of it? Is there much you could accomplish with a self-support strategy just because you have the source code? If you have had to deal with a source code event, please share your story.
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
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TODAY'S NEWS (more)
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eGain announced a new release of its customer interaction hub (CIH) software suite. eGain Service 7.6 suite includes nine new applications and directly addresses the mindset of today's consumers, who expect choice of communication channels and superior service quality when interacting with their favorite brands.
Cincom and Xtalks announce the Government Contact Centers Web Conference on November 15th from 1:00 - 3:00pm ET. The biggest struggle for public sector contact centers is two-fold - what do they want to offer the public and what is the best way of delivering their services. Whether it be a live voice on a phone, a recorded message, online communication or a walk-in office, each department in each level of government needs to determine what works best for them and how they can most efficiently serve their customers. Click to join the Web Conference.
Graham Technology announced the launch of ciboodle, a customer relationship management software bundle for the multi-channel contact center. Fully integrated with all contact center channels such as telephony, Web, interactive voice response and instant messaging, ciboodle provides a single interface that allows contact center agents to interact with customers.
Infra announced that infraEnterprise Version 8 has been recognized as "Knowledge Centered Support (KCS) Verified" by the Consortium for Service Innovationtm. This follows Infra's verification for infraEnterprise Version 7 in 2005.
Infopia announced its newest release of Marketplace Manager, version 6.4, that provides new capabilities to help online merchants drive more transactions, revenue and profits. The new release is generally available now and is free to all current Infopia Marketplace Manager users.
Pervasive Software announced the release of Pervasive Data Integrator and Pervasive Business Integrator version 8.12 to solidify its leadership in delivery of embeddable data integration.
LiveTime Software announced that LiveTime Help Desk has been selected by UNIONBAY to deliver best practice service and support to its customers.
According to an international survey conducted by MapInfo Corporation and BusinessWeek Research Services, 64 percent of business executives believe that location intelligence can improve business processes, and a third of these already have solutions in the pipeline.
Salesforce.com announced that Phoenix Technologies Ltd. has replaced its RightNow Customer Service application with Salesforce Service & Support to extend the company's CRM success throughout the organization.
Yankee Group announced that the Business Control Layer is a key new technology in driving Service Provider innovation. The Business Control Layer concept, originally conceived by telecom billing and CRM company, FTS, is gaining traction as a variety of industry observers, including Yankee Group promote the importance of this new sector.
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| CRMAdvocate Stock Index |
| CRMSI | 56.34 |  | -1.15% |
| Dow Jones | 12,084.97 | | -0.39% |
| Nasdaq | 2,354.91 | | -0.76% |
| S&P 500 | 1,376.98 | | -0.47% |
| Top Gainers |
| Witness | 17.6 |  | 17.60 |
| ICT Group | 32 | | 1.50 |
| NCR | 41.28 | | 1.18 |
| Top Losers |
| salesforce.com | 39.15 | | -1.28 |
| SPSS | 27.09 | | -0.93 |
| Sykes | 20.47 | | -0.74 |
| Complete Stock Index |
| As of close 10/27/06 | |
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 White Papers (more)
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The Myths and Realities of Marketing Resource Management Systems - CRM systems have traditionally focused on the tracking of leads generated from various marketing programs and tying those leads back to the sales that occur from the marketing efforts. While certainly valuable, this functionality does not address the needs resulting from the level of effort, coordination and communication required up front in order to plan, create and execute those programs.(MarketingCentral)
| | | Customizing Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Complex Field Service and Sales Organizations - Microsoft Dynamics CRM software is the fastest and easiest way to customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities to any organization that uses Microsoft Office programs or the Microsoft outlook messaging and collaboration client. Because it was designed to partner with Outlook, Microsoft CRM delivers lower training cost, broader user adoption, less application-switching, higher productivity and and incredibly rapid impact on investment.(Microsoft)
| | | Seven Actionable Tactics for Critical Contact Center Improvement - In this white paper, Tim Montgomery, founder of The Service Level Group and Certified Associate of the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), shares a career worth of valuable research to help your organization take its contact center to a more customer-centric level.(etalk)
| | | A Strategic Guide to Self-Service for the IT Help Desk - Self-service support can be a make-or-break proposition. A self-service strategy that is properly developed, tested, implemented, and managed over time can add remarkable business value through saved costs and improved employee productivity.(Pete McGarahan)
| | | Contact Center Manager KPI Survival Guide - Contact center managers are confronted with volumes of data and dozens of reports generated by automated and manual systems and processes. They may have a surfeit of metrics, but lack the fundamental information needed to manage their operating environment. Too often contact centers have no way of systematically measuring and communicating how well internal and corporate objectives are being met and identifying where change is required.(DMG Consulting)
| | | Defining CEM - When Joe Wheeler and Shaun Smith wrote "Managing the Customer Experience - turning customers into advocates" in 2001, they did not realize that it would help to stimulate a worldwide interest in CEM that is growing all the time. For example, a 2005 Forrester survey found that 83% of executives considered customer experience to be more important than in the previous year. This year the figure is even higher. The question is why has CEM become such an issue for organizations.(GCCRM)
| | | Marketing Automation: The New Automation Frontier - Marketing, it's show time. Finance was automated in the 1960s, HR in the 1970s, manufacturing in the 1980s, and sales and customer service in the 1990s. This is the decade for marketing automation.(MarketingCentral)
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"OUR TAKE"