Congratulations are In Order as We End the Year in CRM on a High Note

I'd like to offer major congratulations and best wishes for the new year to everyone as we end 2007. 2008 looks really good to me but I'll get into that in a future post. I'm going to do 4 posts on the forecast for 2008. First, this one, which will look at the December events that deserve some congratulations (including at least one that's self-congratulatory. I don't mind getting my ego into this to some degree) to the CRM related folks accomplishing them. Then the next post will be a look back at my forecast a year ago, which is the polar opposite of self-congratulations, and is instead self-flagellating. Then a post on what the experts are saying will be the highlights of 2008. Finally a fourth post on my forecast for 2008. Then I'm going to drink an ounce and a half of Macallan 18 Year Old (or two) and then I'm going to curl up in a ball and hide until next December.

So, with that, lets move to the very first of these posts:

Congratulations & Kudos for December 2008

I want to congratulate a number of companies who took the last month of the year and just did some good things as far as I'm concerned. Things that enhance our industry and make my life interesting and hopefully, benefit the companies that did them. Some are surprises, all are welcome events.

Congratulations to:

1. SAP - For their total revamping of SAP CRM 2007 so that it actually reflects what customers in the contemporary world want. It ain't easy for a massive company to make the nimble changes that they did but imagine SAP with a skinnable Google like user interface that's also personalizable and customizable with drag and drop movable screen elements, and some incredibly intelligent functionality such as Real Time Offer Management which does on the spot customer intelligence analysis
2. NetSuite - if an IPO with an opening price of $26 ($10 per share over the suggested Dutch auction price of $16) and a surge through today to $35.50 by closing, ever deserved the goodness that surrounds it, its this one. NetSuite has a genuinely great person as their CEO - Zach Nelson and one of the biggest hearted people in the universe as its SVP of Corporate Communications - Mei Li. I can't say enough personally about them, except that I'm glad to have them as my friends. Plus I really like their product too. Great start for great folks.
3. Oracle - This might be my biggest surprise of 2008. I didn't think they would ever do this but they did and earned some points with me. Oracle announced that they are adding a host of Web 2.0 customer-engagement driven features and functions to Fusion when its released next year. And these aren't of the "cool looking, dude" variety, but both practical and cool.Check out my prior post on this thing. This was a shocker and congratulations worthy fur shure (in deference to the Valley)
4. Microsoft - They announced the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 a.k.a. Titan to manufacturing this week - which is earlier than expected (at least by me, among others). Earlier.....Microsoft. That's usually an oxymoron.
5. Aplicor - Good guy Chuck Schaeffer, CEO of Aplicor's hard work and relentless desire to have an impact showed up strong this week as he made the list of top twenty five influencers released by InsideCRM and the Aplicor Blog made the list of top 20 CRM Blogs by the same. (check out the blog here) This one is well deserved. Not only does Aplicor produce a genuinely good product that wins numerous awards, but their clients tell me that Aplicor goes to incredible lengths to work with them to resolve those pesky issues that always come up in implementations. Now they can add "thought leaders" to their C.V. Plus their on demand services have had 100% uptime so far. Way to go, Chuck.
6. InsideCRM - This relatively young pup a.k.a. upstart CRM site is doing genuinely interesting work and has a site format that most of the other CRM sites should envy if they know whats good for 'em. These guys have the smarts too because they know that people like lists and rankings and they provide them with their year end look at Top Blogs (as you know I won that one), Top Influencers (I came in #8 on the top 25 - #1 of the non-vendors. Marc Benioff won the #1 slot.), and Top Innovations of 2007. I can't say I agree with everything - for example, how Outlook as a CRM interface made top 2007 innovations, given that its been around for years as an interface for CRM, just shows you how hard it is to find innovations in CRM. But, all in all, InsideCRM is providing content too. Plus they provide it in an opinionated and often breezy personal style, which means there is a site with a voice that is actually likable, not stilted. Yes, they truly have OPINIONS. They don't just report, nor do they just bitch which an incredible amount of the CRM industry does with misplaced glee. They have real live grrrr-inducing content. Disclaimer here: My liking of this site is not colored by my very good showings in their "standings." This is colored by their interesting content, their lively writing and their easy to read and navigate layout. They still have a ways to go but I gotta tell you these guys got game and they deserve kudos.

So congrats to all of the above making the last month of 2007 a very very good one for CRM and one that means an extremely hopeful 2008.

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