SAP Business ByDesign Video – Plain and Simple, Making Fun of …Wow, ERP!
We’re just having an intense internal debate in the Enterprise Irregulars group whether SAP’s Business ByDesign (ByD) is late to the market and what it all means, when hot off the press here’s a promotional video, that’s not so much ByD advertising but a SMB / SME SaaS 101, and a very good one at [...]
NetSuite, Manufacturing, Ecosystems and a Better Way to Compete
We’ve covered NetSuite substentially @ CloudAve – to the point that I’ve run into trouble with my title: I already used NetSuite vs SAP … Round #n. A Game Changer? so what should I call this one? NetSuitevs SAP Round #n+1? All right, let’s get serious: NetSuite launched a Manufacturing Edition today. Dennis Howlett has [...]
And Who Said SaaS Wasn’t Customizable? – NetSuite Rewrites the Rules and Embraces Design Thinking in the process
I spend a lot of time talking to organizations about moving to SaaS an often I hear their concerns around the apparent lack of flexibility that SaaS apps give them. In the broader context this argument speaks to the points raised by Dennis Howlett in his recent post about design thinking as it relates to [...]
The FourSquare Spy Guide – Customer Dashboards for SMB 2.0
I’ve been writing about FourSquare for business recently by promoting the potential benefits to businesses with customer foot traffic. Now with their release of a Customer Dashboard for businesses, they’ve taken the concept of social location-based networking to a whole new level. A level that businesses need to understand as it will significantly impact their [...]
The Skinny on Google's New SMB Application Marketplace
Last week I speculated to some impending announcements from Google about application stores specifically tailored to the small and medium business market. Well, readers didn’t have to wait long, Google has just launched what is essentially an SMB application marketplace – A place where (they hope) customers will discover, purchase and deploy integrated third party [...]
Google Launches Apps Marketplace
I’m at the Google Campfire One event where they’ve just announced the Google Apps Marketplace. The site is live now, feel free to browse. The speculation is now over, this is Google’s answer on whether they will enter the Business Applications market – they just did, with an entire ecosystem of Partners. The new Marketplace [...]
Redux: Will Google Enter the Business Applications Market?
If you think I am here to spill the beans, you’re wrong. On a purely speculative level, if there is some news to come, and if there is an embargo related to it, then here @ CloudAve we respect that. And it’s all a big IF. So no, I am simply dusting off an old [...]
Google, Intuit and App Stores – Tying it Together for the 96%-ers
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m on the advisory board for Glue conference in Denver in May. I’m also moderating one or two sessions. One session in particular has me really excited. My background is small business – as readers will know, I own and run a handful of small businesses in varied industries and so [...]
Company.com – It’s All About Community
I’m an advocate for small and medium businesses (SMBs) – coming from a SMB background I’m all to aware of the difficulties that those at the bottom of the foodchain experience. I’ve long been involved in business advisory roles and was part of a team that set up a SMB online community a couple of [...]
Intacct Winter 2010 – More Strings to the Bow
Last week I had a briefing from Dan Druker, SVP Marketing from Intacct (more here) on their forthcoming winter release and a review of their 2009 performance. First a recap of the past year: 80% quarter to quarter growth in Q4 Over 3300 customers with over 30000 users Massive uptake from accounting firms with their [...]
Intuit and Microsoft Sign Deal to Serve SMBs
Huge breaking news this morning is that Microsoft and Intuit (see disclosure here) have agreed to work together on the Intuit Partner Platform to bring a host of products and services to a greatly expanded customer base. This really is massive news for anyone involved in small or medium business – be it as a [...]
Why SMBs Need Social Software – Dunbar’s Number Limits Metcalfe’s Law
A general observation of collaborative work is this: The larger and more diverse are your personal network of contacts, the higher the quality of your ideas and project work. In the enterprise market, the opportunity being seized by companies is to better connect employees. The sheer size of these firms makes it obvious that they [...]
Will Zoho Conquer the SMB 2.0 Market?
(See the Editor’s note at the bottom)Online presentations, spreadsheets, word processing, CRM, project management, recruiting, invoicing, human resource tools — WOW! Zoho has it all. Naturally then I wanted to discuss the future of Zoho with Raju Vegesna (Chief Evangelist) as it relates to Enterprise 2.0. It turns out not much – but not for [...]
It’s About Focus – SMBs, SaaS, Knitting and Dogfood
Awhile ago I posted a bit of a rant about an experience one of my businesses was having with a particular ISP who didn’t seem to understand the concept of customer service. Briefly I told the sorry tale of woe that we experienced with our site hosted on a traditional ISPs VPS offering. I got [...]
Foursquare + Square = Killer Small Business Social CRM
Parker Smith wrote a piece that got me thinking. In Foursquare: Democratizing the Loyalty Program, he posits that Foursquare could be the loyalty program provider to small businesses. I think he’s right. Then I noticed these identical product benefits touted by the companies themselves, Foursquare and Jack Dorsey’s Square: For example, foursquare can tell you [...]
