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Who's No. 1? Most U.S. companies jump to answer this question by saying their customers take top priority. However, some firms have begun citing a new crown jewel: customer-service employees. On the surface, this trend might seem counterintuitive -- many companies in recent years have chosen to outs...
Every corporate IT department faces its share of security threats from the outside world. But contact centers face double the danger, since potential data thieves likely lurk in their own ranks as well. After all, when you combine low pay and an employment revolving door with easy access to sensitiv...
A $75 box of truffles. A $550 designer handbag. A $10,000 diamond ring. While these may not sound like the kinds of products consumers would rush to buy over the Internet, e-tailers are claiming growing success in selling to the wealthy -- or at least to those with expensive tastes. "During the last...
Microsoft wants everyone to migrate to Office 2003. But at between $239 and $329 per PC, users may wonder whether the step up is worth the cash. In this article, the E-Commerce Times delves into the new Office suite to identify the features users likely will crave -- and those that, while promising,...
With many online behemoths still struggling to turn a profit in the e-commerce sector, small and medium businesses may question whether the online sales model is truly a road to riches or just a pipedream. In the latest trend, many companies are abandoning their aging homegrown systems in favor of p...
B2B online marketplaces, or exchanges, can help companies reach new levels of accuracy, efficiency and profitability. However, although conducting B2B transactions online has become standard operating procedure, the way these exchanges are designed and run is anything but standardized. Companies can...
As BroadVision celebrates its first decade in the e-business arena, the company is breaking the silence it has maintained for the past several quarters, in which it flew under the radar as it reorganized and refocused its business. Now, the firm is fiscally healthier and hungry for new customers -- ...
So you want to be the boss -- the head technology honcho with the CIO title. But when you shake off that daydream, you look around and see the cubicle of a low- to mid-level IT manager. How can a garden-variety IT professional break into the ranks of C-level management? According to executives who w...
Every corporate IT department faces its share of security threats from the outside world. But contact centers face double the danger, since potential data thieves likely lurk in their own ranks as well. After all, when you combine low pay and an employment revolving door with easy access to sensitiv...
They have their networks locked tight, their data hidden behind firewalls and their e-mail scanned by virus protection software. But too many IT managers and security officers overlook a crucial security risk: the telephone system. As voice over IP (VoIP) setups become more common, the risk of compr...
When industry experts gazed into their crystal balls in late 2002, they predicted 2003 would be the year of the CRM mid-market. With more than half the year gone, those optimistic forecasts have not materialized. Instead, rapid consolidation and court fights among industry giants, coupled with Micro...
In the past, the quest for seamless software installations often created an endless cycle of high-paying work for integrators and consulting firms, which spent most of their time trying to make massive enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions work with legacy applications. Now, however, times ar...
Just a few years ago, hundreds of software vendors and thousands of consultants were battling for enterprises' ERP (enterprise resource planning) dollars. Now, a massive industry shakeout has left many small vendors out of luck -- and often out of business. Amid the carnage, the remaining ERP titans...
Web developers differ in their approach to site creation and maintenance. Some rush to adopt software that helps them build graphically intense Web sites with point-and-click ease. Others view such tools skeptically or even scornfully. Web development programs have evolved to reflect this dichotomy:...
When it comes to e-commerce software, IBM's WebSphere still reigns supreme. With market share of about 20 percent, the software giant has successfully fended off competition from feisty software integrators. However, competitive pressure has prompted major changes to the product line. For example, B...
Rarely do dramas of soap-opera quality spring to life in the business world. But as Oracle pursues its hostile takeover bid for PeopleSoft, the companies' machinations and legal wrangling continue to provide all the tension, comic relief and plot twists of a well-performed Shakespeare play. Amid the...
More and more businesses are jumping on the self-service bandwagon. The hardest thing for businesses tempted by this seeming golden opportunity is to remember that self-service is not a cure-all. As they consider investing thousands or even millions of dollars, companies must answer a key question: ...
At the height of the e-commerce craze, when hundreds of new businesses were going online every week, startups typically overbought Web hosting services. As a result, they often found themselves facing hefty bills for unused server space and unneeded features. However, in today's changed e-commerce e...
In the CRM marketplace, speculation is swirling about hostile takeovers and mega mergers. Consolidation seems destined to place almost all of the market's power into the hands of a few well-known players. Consensus about the future of smaller CRM vendors is harder to come by: Will they survive in th...
Even in the ever-changing technology world, companies that hold 80 percent market share typically can breathe easy. However, that is not the case at Citrix Systems. The maker of MetaFrame thin-client software, which lets PC users access applications that run remotely on servers, is seeing its long-s...
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