new news Sap Business2012

The conventional wisdom is that SAP has been particularly successful selling into heavy industries. After all, it got its start in the 1971s developing accounting and production management applications for the likes of Dow Chemical, Michael  and other stalwarts in oil and gas and industrial equipment.

Things have changed considerably through the years. At a show of its ability and unique value proposition in serving services industries along with its formidable presence in chemicals, manufacturing and other asset-intensive verticals SAP is taking the conventional wisdom to task.

By aligning its newly developed and acquired technologies with the needs of different industries, SAP is seeking to change public perceptions while reaffirming its commitment to creating highly differentiated solutions for their specific functions.

At a recent full-day analyst briefing, SAP detailed its latest industry strategy and future roadmap covering dozens of upcoming products including real-time risk reporting for banks, electronic medical record systems accessible from mobile devices for health practitioners, and demand planning and warehouse analytics for retailers. The event underscored SAP’s unwavering support for industry specific solutions that harness new and existing technologies results in a fairly unconventional manner.

Challenging the widely-held assumptions that its implementations are long and costly, SAP is instituting rapid deployment options that result in fixed price and fixed scope projects due for  completion in a matter of weeks. Since September 2011, SAP has built 50 of these Rapid Deployment Solutions with signing of more than 300 contracts including many that are based on industry-specific requirements such as manufacturing integration and intelligence for batch manufacturing.

M-Commerce

Considering all the advantages that E-COMMERCE has shown
have, a question arises, why do you need to be tied to the screen
a computer at a desk to enjoy the services and
benefits of E-COMMERCE? The answer lies in the M-COMMERCE, the
which offers the added value of mobility and frees us from the connections
fixed. The M-COMMERCE is the use of mobile devices (Mobile
phones, Personal Digital Assistants - PDAs, Palms, laptops, etc..) and
public or private wireless networks to access information and conduct transactions that result in the transfer of value by sharing
information, goods or services.
The strong development of the GSM standard in Europe, the SMS system, especially the WAP, facilitated and interactive mobile access to data, opening
new possibilities for trade. But those opportunities are few
difficulties such as limited bandwidth transmissions still complicated, and the user interface of mobile devices is limited in size.
In addition, access costs are high, and the computing power of these
devices is much smaller than the PC
The M-Commerce involves three basic aspects:
• Offer businesses and services in an area surrounding the user.
• Timely georeferenced while the user is moving.
• Ability to complete the transaction immediately.

Therefore the user must provide the following benefits:
• Negotiation and immediate delivery.
• Methods of micro and macro payments.
• Ease of Use in the mobile context.

Technology market experts say that opportunities in mobile CRM.

Technology market experts say that opportunities in mobile CRM, small business social CRM and the big data infrastructure that supports CRM deployments will boom in 2012. Here's a look at the billions of dollars in opportunity.


As organizations deal with new rules of customer engagement and an explosion in ways to parse and deliver customer data, the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) market is undeniably hot. Figures out just before the holidays show a healthy growth in the market and as we move into 2012 experts believe that opportunities in mobile CRM, small business social CRM and all of the big data infrastructure that supports CRM deployments are going to flourish in the coming year.

According to IDC's tracking of nearly 200 CRM global vendors, 2011 saw the market reach $18.2 billion in 2011, up 11 percent from 2010. IDC reported that Oracle kept its position as king of the hill, experiencing better-than-market growth of 13.2 percent. Salesforce, meanwhile, jumped to number two, nearly doubling Oracle's growth with a 22.6 percent pop and leading over other top 10 market leaders like SAP and NICE Systems.

IDC reported that three of the four functional markets in CRM--marketing, sales and customer service--hit double-digit growth. The only sub-market to see a hit was contact center, which dropped by 3.6 percent.

According to IDC analyst Mary Wardley, the growth in the market is obviously influenced by social media and mobile trends, as well as a general drive to revamp systems for new market conditions.

"Movements such as social and mobile are bringing consumer-like experience requirements to all aspects of end customer engagement with the companies with whom they conduct business," says Wardley, program vice president of CRM Applications for the analyst firm. "As a result, we will see requirements for a modernization of customer-facing processes, which will precipitate increased investment in supporting systems such as CRM applications."

This tracks with what many CRM experts are seeing from the market. In the immediate term, channel partners should expect the most tangible opportunities in 2012 to revolve around mobile and social CRM for SMBs, says Paul Greenberg, president of The 56 Group, an enterprise consulting services firm focused on CRM.

" As in 2011, the creative development of mobile CRM will be driven by the tablet market and by the ability to analyze large amounts of data quickly that will show up on the tablets," he says. "The success of Hubspot in 2011 and the emergence of a myriad of other technology platforms and companies who are small business focused is an indicator of the interest that small business has when it comes to doing business using social channels."

In the longer term, many of the trends driving CRM purchase patterns could be cause for channel partners to start thinking about selling to stakeholders outside the traditional CIO's office. One of Gartner's annual predictions this year was that by 2015, 35 percent of enterprise IT dollars will be spent outside the IT department. According to Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer, the greater trend at large has marketing and customer-facing functions driving IT to the point where "CMOs may end up having larger IT budgets than CIOs."

ITC Technology, LLC

Advanced Business Phone Systems Nationwide
The VoIP / SIP industry is rapidly growing, but an ongoing challenge has been properly training dealers, installers, and end-user system administrators. Our vision is to create a standardized and industry accredited VoIP training and certification and training program to provide better education to all parties, allow better use of the technology and raise the overall bar within the VoIP industry. The end goal is to raise the bar of our industry, make installations go more smooth, cut down on post-sale support/troubleshooting (and its associated cost/churn), and provide an overall better experience for everyone involved (providers, carriers, dealers and customers).

Our concept is for a 2-3 day event held on a monthly basis at a central US location. The first day is completely platform neutral and really focuses on "Telecom 101" (morning) and "VoIP 101" (afternoon), but day 2 and 3 are platform (provider) specific. Students will receive their "VoIP Certified Specialist" (VCS) designation for attendance and passing the relatively simple exam. Classes will be taught from a practical application perspective, rather than a highly technical or engineering standpoint.

VoIP penetration among US businesses will increase rapidly over the next few years, reaching 79% by 2013, compared to 42% at the end of 2009

Even Skype's new business channel program for SIP is raising the bar on required dealer training and certification: "To sell Skype for SIP, VARs will need to  pass an online certification exam"

Introduction - what is ICT?

You see the letters ICT everywhere - particularly in education. But what does it mean? Read our brief introduction to this important and fast-changing subject.

ICT is an acronym that stands for Information Communications Tecnology

However, apart from explaining an acronym, there is not a universally accepted defininition of ICT? Why? Because the concepts, methods and applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis. Its difficult to keep up with the changes - they happen so fast.

Lets focus on the three words behind ICT:

- INFORMATION
- COMMUNICATIONS
- TECHNOLOGY

A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology that already exist to help individuals, businesses and organisations use information.

ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. For example, personal computers, digital television, email, robots.

So ICT is concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital data. Importantly, it is also concerned with the way these different uses can work with each other.

In business, ICT is often categorised into two broad types of product: -

(1) The traditional computer-based technologies (things you can typically do on a personal computer or using computers at home or at work); and

(2) The more recent, and fast-growing range of digital communication technologies (which allow people and organisations to communicate and share information digitally)

Let's take a brief look at these two categories to demonstrate the kinds of products and ideas that are covered by ICT:

Traditional Computer Based Technologies

These types of ICT include:

Application Use
Standard Office Applications - Main Examples
Word processing E.g. Microsoft Word: Write letters, reports etc
Spreadsheets E.g. Microsoft Excel; Analyse financial information; calculations; create forecasting models etc
Database software E.g. Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Access; Managing data in many forms, from basic lists (e.g. customer contacts through to complex material (e.g. catalogue)
Presentation software E.g. Microsoft PowerPoint; make presentations, either directly using a computer screen or data projector. Publish in digital format via email or over the Internet
Desktop publishing E.g. Adobe Indesign, Quark Express, Microsoft Publisher; produce newsletters, magazines and other complex documents.
Graphics software E.g Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator; Macromedia Freehand and Fireworks; create and edit images such as logos, drawings or pictures for use in DTP, web sites or other publications
Specialist Applications - Examples (there are many!)
Accounting package E.g. Sage, Oracle; Manage an organisation's accounts including revenues/sales, purchases, bank accounts etc. A wide range of systems is available ranging from basic packages suitable for small businesses through to sophisticated ones aimed at multinational companies.
Computer Aided Design  Computer Aided Design (CAD) is the use of computers to assist the design process. Specialised CAD programs exist for many types of design: architectural, engineering, electronics, roadways
Customer Relations Management (CRM)  Software that allows businesses to better understand their customers by collecting and analysing data on them such as their product preferences, buying habits etc. Often linked to software applications that run call centres and loyalty cards for example.

The information and communication technologies

(ICT) sector has seen a revolution since the last ICT
sector strategy of the World Bank Group (WBG) was
prepared in 2000. The number of mobile phone
subscriptions in developing countries has increased
from 200 million in 2000 to 3.7 billion in 2010, and
the number of Internet users has grown more than
tenfold. The progress in the ICT Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) indicators has been
remarkable: In 2010, the proportion of the
population in developing countries with access to
fixed or mobile telephone has reached 70 percent;
and more than 20 percent of the populations of
developing countries are Internet users. ICT is thus
no longer a luxury good but an essential utility for
the poor including those in low-income countries.
As a result, its vital role in advancing economic
development and reducing poverty has been
expanded and increasingly recognized.
Technological progress has lifted more than 10
percent of the world’s population out of poverty
since 1990, making it the biggest driving force
behind economic growth1.Development of ICT
infrastructure in particular has attracted
considerable amounts of investment, and
generated significant fiscal revenues and
employment opportunities in developing countries.
2 More recently, the information technology (IT)
service industry has become another engine of job
creation in developing countries -- especially for
youth and women -- and it has promoted trade and
competitiveness through exports.


In addition, by providing access to information,
making markets more efficient, fostering social
inclusion, and equalizing opportunities in rural
areas, ICT offers an innovative and unprecedented
tool to directly reduce poverty3. The wireless
communications networks, with more than 5 billion
subscriptions globally, are now the world’s largest
platform to deliver useful information as well as a
wide range of public and social services, including
to those in rural and poor areas. Examples of such
services emerge continuously. Farmers in remote
villages of Kenya are using mobile phones to access
the most current crop prices. Rural fishermen in Sri
Lanka know where to fish based on satellite
mapping of fish colonies. Migrant workers in Sierra
Leone have cut out intermediaries and can now
transfer money almost instantly through mobile
banking to relatives in remote villages. Land
registration, education programs, health care, and
voting are other examples of services that are often
difficult to access by poor people in remote areas
but are now being extended to these communities
in a timely, cost effective manner.
ICT also has strong spillover effects on long-run
productive activities in other sectors. In the last 10
years, high-speed communications networks and
the innovative applications they carry have made
the impact of ICT as an enabler significantly more
powerful. It is not just a technological phenomenon;
ICT promotes innovation and can trigger
fundamental economic transformation. Individuals,
by accessing global knowledge, are unleashing the
potential of their human capital.

IFC Support to a Mobile Phone Operator Adopting a Mass Market Strategy

An IFC supported mobile operator was the first to adapt a mass market, low-tariff strategy to connect poorer segments of the population, which made it the market leader in its country. The project aimed to expand phone access to districts not yet covered by the network and to provide women an opportunity to earn income. As an innovative feature, it established a Village Phone Program, which permitted rural women to use microcredit to buy specially designed cell phone kits and airtime at wholesale prices. Using the kits, these village phone operators (VPOs) then set up shop in the rural villages where they live, charging a small commission for people to make calls. The program provided access to phone services to millions of people in poor, rural areas who would otherwise not have had access.

The company has performed successfully, increasing the number of subscribers from 1.1 million in 2003 to 23 million in 2009, while prices for three-minute local calls fell from $0.08 to $0.01. Mobile subscription in the country—not attributable to the company alone—increased from 0.2 percent to 28 percent (2008). The pioneer Village Phone Program is estimated to have covered 55,000 villages and provided opportunities to 416,000 people.