Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. 5 Facets of the Highly Effective Marketing Organization By: Lou Guercia (@louguercia) Scribe CEO Lou Guercia reviews five critical components of effective marketing organizations. These include breaking down data siloes, taking action instead of assigning blame, mastering smart customer data insights, embracing best-of-breed technology solutions and aligning marketing and sales departments to drive revenue. And while this advice may seem obvious, it’s steeped in data – Marketo found organizations with... Continue reading

Guest post by Bill Rourke, President, Salentica Customer data integration is no longer just an IT issue; it has become an essential business requirement – especially in the wealth management arena. Clients expect their financial advisors to instantly dissect and deliver relevant information concerning their investments to keep up with the rapid speed of business and economic changes. And they want a personal connection. But delivering exceptional client experiences can be a complex challenge that draws resources away from business development activities. Firms of all sizes need a hub of customer information to enhance the client experience and fully understand... Continue reading

For all you technical folks out there, if you're interested in learning how to use Scribe Online IS to create Orders in your accounting application from CRM, take a look at this blog from Nate. It describes how to do so with SQL Server as a backend from Opportunities in your CRM application. http://blog.scribesoft.com/2013/05/how-to-call-a-stored-procedure-in-scribe-online-is.html Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Scribe Software Marks another Milestone Quarter By: Heather Clancy (HeathClancy) ZDNet’s Heather Clancy provides an overview of Scribe Software’s continued Q1 momentum, with over 23 new enterprise accounts and a growth rate of more than 150 percent. Scribe’s strong partnerships with SaaS providers like Marketo, Silverpop, FinancialForce and more also underscore the company’s momentum. And for good reason, as Senior Vice President Gary Peterson of Hitachi Solutions described our innovative... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Rank Denis Pombriant (@DenisPombriant) Denis delves into the high-level takeaways from the recent Gartner CRM market size report. Along with listing the top five CRM vendors, which include, from top to bottom, Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and IBM, Denis takes a step back to think about the greater meaning – or lack thereof – of the report. Questions and considerations to ponder range from how these companies measure their CRM... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. New Salesforce.com Features Meld Social Media, Marketing and CRM By: Jordan Novet (@gigajordan) Big news for Salesforce.com users – the company just announced it will integrate its lead-tracking system with social-listening and social-media marketing tools to enable more targeted and tailored social marketing initiatives. Through combing Salesforce’s CRM and Social.com solutions, customers will be able to enjoy the best of both worlds, showcasing a prime example of integrated systems improving... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Microsoft and Salesforce are Over 60% of all Gartner CRM Inquiries By: Louis Columbus (@LouisColumbus) As a major provider of market research and analyst insights, Gartner receives an average of 100,000 inquiries each year from end-user clients across the spectrum of IT topics. Their most recent statistics, released in March, show Microsoft and Salesforce as the undisputed kings of CRM inquiries, matching the generally dominant position both players hold in... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. How to Keep (Happy) Feet on the Ground with Cloud Integration: Four Key Considerations By: Betsy Bilhorn Integrating data in the cloud presents represents a pivotal aspect of enabling better business decisions through access to customer data, but also serves as a challenge for many companies who lack extensive experience in the space. Scribe VP of Product Management Betsy Bilhorn walks us through important considerations when integrating data. These considerations... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Evolving Social CRM to Become CRM—Again By: Esteban Kolsky (@ekolsky) With the constant conversations about Social CRM, Esteban points out a key understanding that’s finally sinking in – Social CRM is just regular CRM now. In adapting to the new abilities the “social” aspect of CRM provides, Esteban recommends four critical steps for effective CRM implementation. These include using each channel for its respective purpose, rethinking your strategy within the... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. 13 Tips to Get Business Teams to Use Your CRM System By: Jennifer Lonoff Schiff (@JenniferLSchiff) Regardless of a CRM system’s potential to improve your sales and marketing teams’ productivity, the reality can’t be realized unless the teams actually use that CRM system. Jennifer pulled together a list of tips from dozens of CRM experts and selected the top 13. Some of my personal picks include involving those who will... Continue reading

Microsoft Converge 2013 was a great show indeed. Touted as “the largest and most globally attended" of its kind by Redmondmag.com, with more than 11,500 attendees, Convergence brought together some of brightest minds in the industry. What was drastically different this year from all years before was the focus on customer stories and the value of Microsoft Dynamics as a complete business applications platform. Features took a back seat – it was all about business outcomes and a compelling end-to-end IT story, combining front and back office technology to equip marketers and businesses to compete in the new world of... Continue reading

Best of CRM: March 22nd Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Microsoft’s Cloud Computing Strategy and Roadmap Evident at Convergence 2013 By: Louis Columbus (@LouisColumbus) This Convergence piece covers two important aspects of Microsoft’s strategy moving forward – the shift towards humanizing their marketing efforts, and their focus on cloud products and services. Microsoft has started placing the customer story at the forefront of their messaging, and this story takes place within their cloud. However, Louis... Continue reading

There is no doubt that we live in a disruptive world where the promise of technology to make businesses better, faster and more nimble has never been as pronounced as it is today. With the deluge of predictions around the silver lining behind trends such as cloud adoption and big data, technology leaders are looking to software vendors to help them address business imperatives. Deeper and more meaningful customer engagement, which lowers costs and speeds the transition to a connected, integrated social enterprise, often tops the list. In 10 Trends CIOs Should Watch in 2013, Don Reisinger (follow him on... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Scribe – Prettying up Life for the Data Integration Crowd By: Ben Kepes (@benkepes) This article highlights the newest update to the Scribe Online Platform – Integration Services. The simplified visual platform in the update enables access to data sources for individuals outside of IT, a platform that Ben described as a “super easy visual approach to creating custom integrations… (bringing about) a democratization of integration that will only do... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Five tips for picking SaaS CRM ecosystems By: Denis Pombriant (@DenisPombriant) Selecting a SaaS CRM solution often locks businesses into the ecosystem offered by their vendor of choice, making the decision an important one. Things to keep in mind include the size of the ecosystem, how many ecosystem solutions are made to "plug and play" with the primary solution, ease of purchasing CRM ecosystem software, the variety of offerings, and... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Salesforce Back in the Apple with a New Message By: Denis Pombriant (@DenisPombriant) At its annual winter meeting, Salesforce announced new messaging and positioning to move beyond the early-adopters phase of Social CRM and start pursuing the early-majority. With Social CRM success from companies like General Electric, Toyota, and others, Salesforce has proven the potential of Social CRM. Marc Benioff also gave advice on common sense (but often unfollowed) things... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends For 2013 By: Eric Savitz (@savitz) Gartner’s new top 10 list for 2012 technology trends centers largely around mobile, cloud, and data. Of particular importance for the world of CRM is their prediction of the continued shift towards hybrid and cloud computing, which will affect how our CRM systems integrate and function with the rest of business software. 3 Secrets Of Data-Driven CMOs By:... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. CRM Watchlist 2013: Sweetest Suites Part 2 of 3 By: Paul Greenberg (@pgreenbe) Paul Greenberg shares his thoughts on two Sweetest Suites winners, Oracle and SAP. Paul writes about SAP’s downward spiral, and then how they redirected themselves into relevance and competition with their November 2012 announcement of SAP Customer 360 Powered by Hana, and their game plan for social and collaboration in the cloud. Oracle, on the other hand,... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Roundup of Cloud Computing & Enterprise Software Market Estimates and Forecasts, 2013 By: Louis Columbus (@LouisColumbus) As the title suggests, Louis provides an aggregated view of various cloud/enterprise software estimates and forecasts for the current year. With even the traditional manufacturing industry adopting cloud technology, the shift to the cloud continues to gain momentum. Key points to note include continued growth and adoption of ERP systems, and a rapid increase... Continue reading

We at Scribe are excited to share the findings of our latest industry report - SMB CRM Integration, IT Pain Points and Investments in 2013. As we enter 2013, the small- and medium-sized business sector shows no signs of slowing. We’re seeing SMBs investing, looking to increase marketing prowess, and reaping the benefits of an accelerated business pace. For me, the results are very encouraging. It’s clear that the idea that SMBs use less technology or are less sophisticated in their use of technology than their enterprise counterparts is just a myth. And it’s one we can finally put to... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Small Businesses Adopting CRM, Struggling with Data Integration By: Nathan Eddy (@dropdeaded209) Nathan covers the latest survey on SMB CRM adoption, as well as primary challenges faced by those businesses. Key findings from the Scribe survey suggest widespread adoption of CRM solutions, but significant challenges in maximizing the benefits of CRM. As more companies shift from on-premise to cloud and hybrid solutions, data integration and data quality pose the largest... Continue reading

At the beginning of each New Year, I always take some time to reflect on what’s to come. One of my sources of 2013 inspiration came from an industry competition – CRM Idol, started by Paul Greenberg in 2011. The focus on the competition is to discover the most promising new technologies that will influence the CRM market and if past finalists were any indication, CRM Idol is indeed becoming not only a place for great industry collaboration but also for discovering the next companies that will be acquired – like Crowd Factory, a 2011 finalist acquired by Marketo in... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. Cloud research exposes gaps between CIOs and business leaders By: Michael Krigsman (@mkrigsman) Michael outlines the vast differences between CIOs and their business counterparts, illustrating the concepts with new survey data. The results are impressive, if not entirely surprising. The biggest takeaways include: the need for education on strategic cloud benefits. Many business people see only the lower cost of the cloud, but not the full breadth of benefits. Michael’s... Continue reading

By: Lou Guercia, CEO of Scribe Software This post originally appeared on MSDynamicsWorld In today’s increasingly competitive world, companies are looking to accelerate their pace of business to stay ahead of the competition and maintain profit margins. More and more often, this requires identifying comprehensive and scalable solutions with cross-functional benefits across sales, marketing and customer service. It’s no longer enough to simply buy and implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM and expect to be off to the races. Critical customer information must be freed from silos, allowing various business owners to have the real-time customer insights they need to make better... Continue reading

Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each. CRM Watchlist 2013: It all starts...now. The Finalists By: Paul Greenberg (@pgreenbe) Paul announces the 49 finalists in the 2013 CRM Watchlist, of which Scribe is proud to be one. The Watchlist honors technology companies predicted to have a significant impact among customers and in their industry in the coming year. We are all anxiously awaiting the winners announcement, scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks. What Salesforce.com Won't Tell... Continue reading