CRM Daily

Secure PowerPoint Presentations Against Theft

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:18:45 -0500

LockLizard is pleased to announce a new approach to PowerPoint security: delivering high level copy protection for PowerPoint presentations enhanced by converting to Flash (SWF) format.

New PowerPoint protection features include encryption and DRM controls that prevent PowerPoint presentations from unauthorized copying, modifying, sharing, screen grabbing, printing, saving and unauthorized distribution, all without the use of passwords. Publishers can also expire and revoke presentations at any time.

"Existing password based protection systems are known to be flawed, and have had their day," says Charles Richmond, Flashguard's product manager. "There are hundreds of password crackers on the Internet (many free of charge) that will break the password protection on many formats, PowerPoint being just one, in seconds. PowerPoint password security only provides a mere fig leaf of protection and should not be used for any commercial purposes.

Also, by converting PowerPoint to Flash you also get the advantages of adding both MP3 audio and MP4 video (PowerPoint only allows you to embed a link to an external MP3/MP4 file), and SWF files (PowerPoint forces you to enable insecure ActiveX), to your PowerPoint presentations all within a single file. Thus you can get much more functionality and security by this approach."

LockLizard Flashguard has significant appeal to training course providers, who can now take realistic steps to protect what is very expensive development work for them before distributing it electronically. So trainers can afford to develop, or transfer many more courses that achieve the potential for user interaction than was possible with the more static approaches in both PowerPoint and PDF presentations. And without giving them away.

Using Flashguard, publishers can now achieve realistic control over who views their secure PowerPoint presentations, how long they can be viewed (for a certain number of days, a number of views, a...

Hacker Wreaks Wireless Havoc on Vehicles

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:45:10 -0500

A man fired from a Texas auto dealership used an Internet service to remotely disable ignitions and set off car horns of more than 100 vehicles sold at his old workplace, police said Wednesday.

Austin police arrested Omar Ramos-Lopez, 20, on Wednesday, charging him with felony breach of computer security.

Ramos-Lopez used a former colleague's password to deactivate starters and set off car horns, police said. Several car owners said they had to call tow trucks and were left stranded at work or home.

"He caused these customers, now victims, to miss work," Austin police spokeswoman Veneza Aguinaga said. "They didn't get paid. They had to get tow trucks. They didn't know what was going on with their vehicles."

Ramos-Lopez was in the Travis County Jail on Wednesday with bond set at $3,000. The Associated Press could not find a working phone number for his family.

The Texas Auto Center dealership in Austin installs GPS devices that can prevent cars from starting. The system is used to repossess cars when buyers are overdue on payments, said Jeremy Norton, a controller at the dealership where Ramos-Lopez worked. Car horns can be activated when repo agents go to collect vehicles and believe the owners are hiding them.

"We are taking extra measures to make sure this never happens again," Norton said.

Starting in mid-February, dealership employees noticed unusual changes to their business records. Someone was going into the system and changing customers' names, such as having dead rapper Tupac Shakur buying a 2009 vehicle, Norton said.

Soon, customers began calling saying their cars wouldn't start, or that their horns were going off incessantly, forcing them to disengage the battery. Norton said the dealership originally thought the cars had mechanical problems.

Then employees noticed someone had ordered $130,000 in parts and equipment from the company that makes the GPS devices.

Police said they...

Global Outsourcing Markets Enjoy Resurgence

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:50:48 -0500

(March 17, 2010) -- Horses for Sources, the leading research advisory organization focused on global outsourcing strategies, today launched its first major research report that analyzes the adoption intentions and experiences of 1,055 senior executives involved in the buying and selling of both IT and business process outsourcing services. Key highlights discussed in the report, which is titled "Straight from the Horse's Mouth: The IT Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing Industry Landscape in 2010" are centered on the following:

� The key areas of increased outsourcing scope are expected to be in areas with heavy low-cost labor arbitrage support (nearshore and offshore) � software applications, call center, engineering management, finance & accounting, analytics and human resources. In some cases, half companies interviewed will be increasing outsourcing scope.

� The middle-market ($750m-$3000m annual revenues) is poised to be the most active.

� The principal drivers behind outsourcing are cost reduction, desire to globalize business operations and to transform / re-engineer business processes.

� The main Inhibitors are other priorities brought on by the economic crisis and internal politics / resistance to change.

� When evaluating vendors, global scale, financial stability and operational excellence are the table-stakes. Business transformation capabilities are the differentiators.

� Customer-willingness to evaluate cloud-based "business utility" offerings is strong as they increasingly look at hybrid IT/BPO solutions.

� There are strong signs of increased adoption of industry-specific BPO solutions, most notably in the Financial Services and Life Sciences sectors.

Phil Fersht, Founder and CEO of Horses for Sources and author of the report added, "As the recession slowly lifts, many businesses, secure in the knowledge that their financial performance is on safer ground, start to act on their more transformative planning to increase productivity and source new avenues for revenue. This is exactly the state of play...

Commence Offers Enhanced Version of CRM Software

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:34:13 -0500

TINTON FALLS, N.J. (March 17, 2010) -- Commence Corporation, a leading provider of On-Premise and Cloud-based Hosted Customer Relationship Management software has announced a release date for an enhanced version of its popular on-premise CRM solution, Commence RM Version 4.0. Commence RM Version 4.0 will ship by the middle of the second quarter and have a significantly enhanced user interface and integration capabilities.

"Today's customers are seeking enhanced functionality coupled with ease of use," said Todd Pape, chief technology officer at Commence. "RM 4.0 will incorporate several exciting new features that have been designed to be easy to access and easy-to-use."

The new version incorporates the ability to show a dashboard and provides the user with immediate access to information such as e-mail, calendars, tasks and more without having to directly access a specific module. This makes access to specific information very quick and efficient.

RM 4.0 also provides an updated user interface based on the Microsoft Office Ribbon functionality. Because Commence is commonly used and integrated with Microsoft desktop applications such as Outlook for e-mail and calendaring, Microsoft Word for mail merge, and Microsoft Excel for graphing, emulating the look and feel of these applications will make the utilization even more seamless for the user.

Other significant features incorporated in RM 4.0 include integration with Google Applications via the company's new Mobilelink software. This will allow users to extend the functionality of Commence by sharing contacts and calendar items with Google, while offering the ability to access this information anytime and anywhere via a Web browser.

Commence RM 4.0 will also introduce the integration of social networking. Using the new dashboard feature, users can directly access social sites like Twitter and LinkedIn that play an important role in communicating with customers and potential prospects...

Tool Moves Exchange Customers To Google Apps

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:56:56 -0500

Google is making it easier for IT administrators to switch from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The Internet search giant on Wednesday made available a tool to help businesses migrate from Exchange.

The Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange tool will help lure more companies to Google Apps by simplifying the migration of e-mail, contacts and calendars from both cloud-hosted Exchange servers and those hosted at the customer's location. The tool allows businesses to make the move whether they have a handful or thousands of users.

In July, Google made available a similar tool for companies interested in transferring data from IBM's Lotus Notes and Domino to Google Apps.

Making the Switch

The move comes just a week after Google, together with 50 businesses, announced the Google Apps Marketplace, an online store that enables Google Apps administrators to buy third-party cloud applications and include them in their own domains.

Some of the applications integrate with Google Apps using open protocols, according to the company. By integrating the applications, users are able to share data and collaborate while using Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts.

To make the switch, companies must have Google Apps Premier or Education Edition, Microsoft Exchange 2003/2007, or hosted Microsoft Exchange and administrator access to both Google Apps and Microsoft Exchange. For businesses already using Google's Standard Edition, Google made a free trial of the Premier edition available.

Cloud services are quickly becoming a core part of the U.S. economy. Corporate IT spending on cloud computing is expected to reach $42 billion by 2012, according to research firm IDC.

If Microsoft plans to tap into that growth, it must first focus on keeping its enterprise customers from migrating from Exchange. The first step must be to begin offering more than just limited cloud-computing services.

Microsoft offers some cloud-computing services via its Business Productivity Online...

Is Your Boss Spying on You at Work?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:06:28 -0500

Almost every worker has done it: gotten in a little Facebook updating, personal e-mailing, YouTube watching and friend calling while on the clock.

Such indiscretions often went undetected by company management everywhere but the most secure and highly proprietary companies or governmental agencies. Not anymore.

Firms have become sharp-eyed, keenly eared watchdogs as they try to squeeze every penny's worth of their employees' salaries and to ensure they have the most professional and lawsuit-proof workplaces.

Managers use technological advances to capture workers' computer keystrokes, monitor the Web sites they frequent, even track their whereabouts through GPS-enabled cell phones. Some companies have gone as far as using webcams and minuscule video cameras to secretly record employees' movements.

"There are two trends driving the increase in monitoring," says Lewis Maltby, author of the workplace rights book Can They Do That? "One is financial pressure. Everyone is trying to get leaner and meaner, and monitoring is one way to do it. The other reason is that it's easier than ever. It used to be difficult and expensive to monitor employees, and now, it's easy and cheap."

Employers no longer have to hire a pricey private investigator to install a complicated video system or computer-use tracking devices. Now, they can easily buy machine-monitoring software and tiny worker-tracking cameras at a local electronics store or through Internet retailers.

Monitoring has expanded beyond expected, highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and financial services. Employees at radio stations, ad agencies, media outlets, sports leagues, even thinly staffed mom-and-pop workplaces are tracked.

Smarsh, one of many firms that offers technology to monitor, archive and search employee communications on e-mail, IM, Twitter and text-messaging, services about 10,000 U.S. workplaces.

"Employees should assume that they are going to be watched," says CEO Stephen Marsh.

Keeping an Eye Out

Two-thirds of employers monitor workers' Internet use, according to an American Management...

Pegasystems Acquires Chordiant Software for $161.5M

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:15:17 -0500

In a further consolidation of the customer relationship management (CRM) space, Pegasystems on Tuesday agreed to acquire Chordiant Software for $161.5 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The acquisition looks like a steal for Pegasystems. Chordiant's revenues totaled $76.3 million for the four quarters ended Dec. 31, and it made $52.3 million in cash and investments during the same period.

Chordiant works to optimize the customer experience to help global brands multiply customer lifetime value with its suite of "intelligent conversation management applications." Chordiant's software also helps brands measure the effectiveness of business strategies.

Building a Broader Portfolio

Best known for its Build for Change technology, Pegasystems was well-positioned to make a cash acquisition. The company has posted 10 consecutive quarters of record revenue. With the acquisition, Pegasystems adds Chordiant's predictive decision-management solutions to the mix.

Alan Trefler, founder and CEO of Pegasystems, said the merger "creates a broader portfolio which will offer an expanded client base new capabilities to meet next-generation CRM needs." Combined, the companies serve some of the world's largest companies, including Barclays, HSBC and Orange.

"We expect that our customer base will welcome this news, and can look forward to the increased innovation that Pegasystems is known for, along with the many other benefits resulting from the mutual strengths and combined scale of our companies," said Steven Springsteel, chairman, president and CEO of Chordiant.

As a result of the merger, the companies said, Chordiant clients can incorporate Pegasystems intent-driven process automation to drive a better customer experience, and Pegasystems clients can take advantage of Chordiant's predictive decision-management solutions, CRM assets, and expertise in customer experience. The companies also plan to build an expanded partner network.

The CRM Competition

Chordiant gives Pegasystems more than just new technology -- it gives the company a stronger focus on the financial-services...

Precise Launches Breakthrough TPM for SAP

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:32:46 -0500

Redwood Shores, Calif., March 17, 2010 - Precise today announced Precise 8.7, the industry's first fully automated Transaction Performance Management (TPM) product for SAP�. The new release provides a single pane of glass view for all SAP performance data, via role-specific dashboards and expert screens. The new release spans all of SAP's key modules, technologies and IT infrastructure including SAP NetWeaver� Portal, SAP� Business Information Warehouse, SAP� ECC, J2EE, ABAP�, database and storage. With the new Precise product SAP customers dramatically cut down risk, time and cost of performance slowdowns to their mission critical SAP transactions.

"Our customers manage some of the most sophisticated SAP environments where slowdowns can have a major impact on business," said Zohar Gilad, executive vice president for Precise. "With Precise TPM automation, IT teams can quickly identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks to restore service levels and reduce business exposure."

Precise's latest release represents a breakthrough in SAP transaction transparency, providing customers unprecedented management capabilities to not only determine the scope, business impact and costs of a service level violation, but also prevent such incidents in the future and reduce cost of maintenance. The new Precise product includes:

� Automated correlation of complete SAP Business Information Warehouse ETL process chains

� Automated problem root cause finding across SAP and non-SAP applications; including J2EE, .Net, ABAP�, Oracle� applications, custom composite applications, databases and storage

� Business-aware storage tiering for SAP and EMC� environments

� Integration with SAP Solution Manager�

Precise 8.7 is immediately available. For more information, visit www.precise.com or email sales@precise.com.

About Precise

Precise, the global leader in Transaction Performance Management (TPM) solutions, helps customers optimize the performance of their mission critical applications. Precise TPM gives IT a consolidated view of application performance, allowing them to clearly see where critical business transactions spend time and how...

Critical Links Partners with Enflux Technologies

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:11:37 -0500

FAIRFIELD, NJ, March 17, 2010 -� Critical Links, a global provider of unified voice, data, security and IT solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs), today announced a supplier partnership with Enflux Technologies, an SMB-focused, value-added supplier of integrated information and communication technology solutions in Northern Illinois.

Enflux Technologies is the latest addition to Critical Links' impressive supplier network in the U.S. and especially in the Midwest region. Through this agreement, Enflux Technologies' efforts to bring edgeBOX-based solutions to SMBs in this region will be fully backed by Critical Links, including 24/7 support and various SLAs (service level agreements) customized for specific SMB needs.

The edgeBOX unified communications solution for SMBs includes a full-featured IP telephony system, smoothly integrated with email and web services, network access controls, contact database, calendars, security, router, VPN, file sharing, and more. The voice and data services integration improves employee productivity, simplifies installation, maintenance and upgrades, and dramatically reduces equipment, communications, and maintenance costs for SMBs. It is available on a range of scalable platforms for companies with 10 to 300 users. edgeBOX can be fully managed remotely through a web browser, which makes it especially suited for system integrators that provide managed services to their SMB customers.

"More than ever, businesses are demanding outstanding solutions that trim their information technology expenses and take advantage of economies of scale through consolidation of their IT assets. The edgeBOX solution allows our customers to very quickly realize increased efficiencies, reduced complexity, and drastically lowered ongoing service costs," said Mike Hanson, president of Enflux Technologies. "We are excited to work with Critical Links to offer the edgeBOX solution to the under-served small and medium business segment in the Midwest. The edgeBOX platform affords our clients the opportunity to embrace cutting edge capabilities at an affordable price."

"We are very pleased at...

Law Enforcement Fights Crime on Facebook

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:05:33 -0500

The Feds are on Facebook. And MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too. U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information, according to an internal Justice Department document that offers a tantalizing glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime-fighting.

Think you know who's behind that "friend" request? Think again. Your new "friend" just might be the FBI.

The document, obtained in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, makes clear that U.S. agents are already logging on surreptitiously to exchange messages with suspects, identify a target's friends or relatives and browse private information such as postings, personal photographs and video clips.

Among other purposes: Investigators can check suspects' alibis by comparing stories told to police with tweets sent at the same time about their whereabouts. Online photos from a suspicious spending spree -- people posing with jewelry, guns or fancy cars -- can link suspects or their friends to robberies or burglaries.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based civil liberties group, obtained the Justice Department document when it sued the agency and five others in federal court. The 33-page document underscores the importance of social networking sites to U.S. authorities. The foundation said it would publish the document on its Web site on Tuesday.

With agents going undercover, state and local police coordinate their online activities with the Secret Service, FBI and other federal agencies in a strategy known as "deconfliction" to keep out of each other's way.

"You could really mess up someone's investigation because you're investigating the same person and maybe doing things that are counterproductive to what another agency is doing," said Detective Frank Dannahey of the Rocky Hill, Conn., Police Department, a veteran of dozens of undercover cases.

A decade ago, agents...