CRM Daily

HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:50:23 -0500

Project Kraken is a joint initiative by Hewlett-Packard and SAP to help enterprises improve their business processes through super high-speed reporting and data analytics. A prototype for the new system, which uses HP hardware and SAP software technology, was demonstrated Thursday at the Sapphire Now conference in Orlando, Fla. The initiative is based on HP server technology innovations and optimized with the in-memory SAP HANA database for the SAP Business Suite.

HANA sounds like an acronym, but is actually a name coined by SAP AG for its database technology. In basic terms, the benefit of HANA database technology is the unusual speed and power it provides by keeping all data in-memory at all times.

Using that method, processes like data analysis and reporting can work much faster than if the system had to move data between the database and outside applications. The time savings can be critical for big-data environments that require massive processing power and immediate system response times.

More Data, Less Time

With Project Kraken, HP and SAP say they are on a mission to give customers more choice in scalability for large, online transaction-processing applications that require real-time analytical data insights. If the technology performs as marketed, it will give retailers, financial institutions, utilities, governments, and others a new alternative to detect patterns, analyze massive data volumes on the fly, and perform their operations quickly.

"With Project Kraken, HP and SAP are illustrating how customers can achieve a step-jump in performance, while adding simplicity in the management of the environment," said Vishal Sikka, a member of SAP's Technology and Innovation executive board. "It shows how large enterprises can confidently run their enterprise applications, including SAP Business Suite, with growing quantities of data in shorter windows of time."

Data-Intensive Capabilities

Sikka said the offering will "fundamentally and forever change the database market."

So what's under the...

Square Stand Turns iPad into Digital Cash Register

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:46:40 -0500

Mobile-payments start-up Square has designs on reinventing the cash register. On Tuesday, it unfurled Square Stand, a special piece of hardware that transforms an iPad tablet into a digital point-of-sale system that would replace traditional cash registers.

"Hardware makes software better," Square co-founder Jack Dorsey said at a press conference at a Blue Bottle Coffee near Square's original headquarters here.

"Customers of merchants (using Stand) never have to think about payments," he said.

Square Stand works with Square Register, the mobile app that turns an Apple iOS or Google Android device into a mobile payment system when paired with a credit card reader.

The Square Stand features a built-in card reader, and connects to accessories such as receipt printers or bar-code scanners. The hardware will work on second- and third-generation iPads, with a version for fourth-generation tablets arriving later this year.

The swiveling stand will sell for $299, and became available Tuesday at Square's Web site. Best Buy and other retailers will carry the 9-inch, 5-pound Stand in July.

Stand is likely to first pop up in coffee shops, where Square Readers have a strong presence and are most often used.

The pivot stand could end up at a local Starbucks as part of Square's expansive deal with the coffee giant. In October, the companies announced a technology-sharing agreement at the chain's 7,000 stores nationwide.

Square says it processes more than $15 billion in mobile payments through its service each year, and iPad usage is growing. Nearly half of processed payments come from iPad users.

The Stand arrives as more businesses are starting to use mobile-payment services such as Square and competing products from PayPal and Intuit. According to a forecast from research firm Forrester, mobile payments in the U.S. are expected to hit $90 billion by 2017.

Cash registers are "not the sexiest thing" in the world, Dorsey says....

GM Reinvents the Data Center for Safety, Service

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:37:53 -0500

General Motors Co. says a new supercomputing data center and a fledgling shift to bring software development in-house should help it limit the size of future safety recalls.

The Detroit automaker, which formally opened the giant data storage center in suburban Warren, Michigan, on Monday, said the changes are examples of how it is moving faster to cut costs and serve its customers better by bringing more computer technology inside the company.

In the past, GM's regional operations tracked problems by themselves, sometimes without communicating with other regions, even though many of its cars are now sold worldwide. Engineers in one region would check a problem part, but it wasn't studied worldwide, at least not at the early stages.

Now, with new software developed by GM's so-called innovation centers and the data storage, problems are spotted quickly when they crop up across the globe, and they're assigned to the right engineer who can work with parts makers to fix the problem faster, said Randy Mott, the company's chief information officer.

"You'd hope that if there is a problem with a set of components, that you understand which components were potentially susceptible and you would expect your recalls to be smaller," Mott said. "You identify it earlier and you certainly limit it to only the ones affected by whatever the problem was."

GM, which typically sells more than 9 million vehicles worldwide each year, makes cars and trucks in 30 different countries. Many of its parts are common worldwide, so if there is a recall, it can be large and costly. When problems are spotted and fixed early, the size and cost can be held down, Mott said.

GM also said Monday that during the next two years, the company will close 23 data centers worldwide and consolidate them into its two new Michigan facilities. GM says...

HP Automates IT Above and Beyond for Data Centers

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:01:27 -0500

Hewlett Packard today unveiled the next generation of its software for data center automation and cloud management. The mantra with the latest release: IT can deliver services on a massive scale, faster than ever before.

Primarily known as a hardware vendor, HP is now aiming to provide a broader range of software and management solutions, as the role of IT managers evolves from simply providing network infrastructure support to driving business growth.

Indeed, today's enterprise IT managers find themselves in the throes of an evolution as social networking, mobility, big data, and cloud services are changing the way we do business. More than ever, C-level execs are relying on their IT teams to turn raw data into actionable information that can make or break their business.

HP says it wants to help companies deliver services and application releases faster by streamlining the management of complex distributed systems and heterogeneous environments.

Putting Out Fires

Commenting on the benefits of HP's new IT automation solutions, Andy Smith, VP of Application Hosting Services at McKesson, explains: "Our IT employees were bogged down being enterprise 'fire fighters' instead of proactive business partners.

McKesson is America's oldest and largest healthcare services company, providing pharmaceuticals and medical supplies as well as information technologies to customers in every segment of the healthcare industry.

Smith says HP's cloud and automation software has enabled his company to improve its IT operations by automating routine, repetitive tasks that are prone to human error. Now, instead of being bogged down with rote IT tasks, employees can focus more developing and providing innovative IT services.

The result: McKesson can now deliver both Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) in under an hour. The firm also reports it has reduced IT service outages by 78 percent and reduced the occurrence of critical IT incidents...

Cybercrime Experts Impressed with Bloodless Bank Heist

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:59:20 -0500

A bloodless bank heist that netted more than $45 million has left even cybercrime experts impressed by the technical sophistication, if not the virtue, of the con artists who pulled off a remarkable internationally organized attack.

"It was pretty ingenious," Pace University computer science professor Darren Hayes said Friday.

On the creative side of the heist, a small team of highly skilled hackers penetrated bank systems, erased withdrawal limits on prepaid debit cards and stole account numbers. On the crude end, criminals used handheld devices to change the information on the magnetic strips of old hotel key cards, used credit cards and depleted debit cards.

Seven people were arrested in the U.S., accused of operating the New York cell of what prosecutors said was a network that carried out thefts at ATMs in 27 countries from Canada to Russia. Law enforcement agencies from more than a dozen nations were involved in the investigation, which was being led by the Secret Service.

Here's how it worked:

First, the hackers, quite possibly insiders, broke into computer records at a few credit card processing companies, first in India and then the U.S. This has happened before but here's what was new: They didn't just take information. They actually raised the limit on prepaid debit cards kept in reserves at two large banks.

"It's pretty scary if you think about it. They changed the account balances. That's like the holy grail for a thief," said Chris Wysopal, co-founder of security company Veracode.

The next step was technically simpler, almost an arts-and-crafts activity.

Crime ring members in 27 countries ran used plastic cards, just about anything with a standard magnetic strip, through handheld magnetic stripe encoders, widely available online for less than $300. Those devices allow users to change information on magnetic stripes or to write new cards with a simple swipe.

In...

Bloomberg Apologizes for Terminal Snooping

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:54:36 -0500

The editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News apologized Monday for the financial news service's practice of accessing private data on clients through the company's ubiquitous information service for stock and bond traders.

As reported Friday, journalists at Bloomberg News could see when clients last accessed their Bloomberg information terminals and what broad categories of functions they used. Goldman Sachs had complained that a Bloomberg reporter was using the information to investigate if a Goldman employee had departed.

"Our client is right," editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler said in an online posting Monday. "Our reporters should not have access to any data considered proprietary. I am sorry they did. The error is inexcusable."

The Federal Reserve is looking into whether Bloomberg journalists tracked data about terminal usage by top Fed officials. In a brief statement Monday, the European Central Bank said it "takes the protection of confidentiality very seriously and our experts are in close contact with Bloomberg."

Bloomberg journalists are renowned for aggressive techniques in a competitive field. Bloomberg News is owned by Bloomberg LP, a private company controlled by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg LP's main business is selling terminals to clients in the financial industry, and it employs more than 2,400 journalists.

Bloomberg News reporters had been able to see when any of the company's 315,000 paying subscribers, mostly stock and bond traders, had last logged into the service. They could also view the types of "functions" individual subscribers had accessed.

For instance, reporters could see if subscribers had been looking at top news stories, or if they had been gathering data on stocks or bonds, but not which stories or bonds and stocks they had looked up, according to Bloomberg LP spokesman Ty Trippet. He said reporters could also see if subscribers were using "message" or "chat" functions to send messages to each other over the...

Involuntary IT Managers Cost Small Businesses Billions

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:49:20 -0500

When nontechnical employees -- also known as "involuntary IT managers" (IITMs) -- are charged with managing their company's IT solutions, it leads to losses. Big losses.

In fact, those losses add up to more than $24 billion in productivity each year in small businesses in five countries including the U.S., according to an AMI-Partners small-business study commissioned by Microsoft Corp. This loss is a direct result of IITMs taking time away from primary business activities.

The Involuntary IT Manager study examines the prevalence of the IITM role in nine countries in North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. The study specifically focuses on the adverse business productivity impact of IITMs in small business in five countries: Australia, Brazil, Chile, India and the United States.

In a survey of 538 small businesses, IITMs lost, on average, about six hours per week -- that's about 300 hours per year --- of business productivity while managing IT, according to AMI-Partners. While some involuntary IT managers are confident in their technical skills, most find their general work productivity suffers when their work time is diverted to managing IT issues.

The survey also found that small businesses' involuntary IT managers believe cloud-based solutions could help alleviate some of the burden of managing IT.

Of the five countries examined, the study estimated that about 3.8 million small businesses --100 employees or fewer -- managed internal IT by IITMs. Although such small businesses spent $83 billion on IT and communications, they lost $24 billion in productivity trying to manage their internal IT.

Smallest Companies Lose Even More

Other key study findings reveal: 30 percent of all surveyed involuntary IT managers believe IT management is a nuisance; 26 percent indicate they do not feel qualified to manage IT; and 60 percent of IITMs want to simplify their company's technology solutions...

Revlon Saving Millions with Microsoft Dynamics

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:37:50 -0500

Revlon CIO David Giambruno recently shared his story about how the global cosmetics maker has been using Microsoft Dynamics, and as a result, realizing millions of dollars in savings by consolidating its worldwide enterprise resource planning.

Giambruno said Microsoft Dynamics ERP is giving Revlon deeper insight so the company can operate with agility, exceed consumer expectations, and build loyalty. Giambruno appreciates the deeper insight because, as the CIO, he is charged with empowering Revlon's COO, CFO, CEO, and chief scientist with the information they need in the context that they need to make good decisions to grow Revlon.

"My first big job is to turn data into information that's actionable by the business teams," he said. "The second big idea is for all Revlon employees to make the systems work for them and not have them work for the systems."

With Microsoft Dynamics, Revlon has been able to collapse 21 enterprise resource planning systems into one. That means Revlon employees all over the world are working off one core ERP system. Giambruno called it a whole new dimension for Revlon. Through Revlon's internal cloud, the company can make information available anywhere in the world, on any device.

Profitability Rises

In addition to Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Revlon is using Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Business Intelligence. SharePoint serves as the company's reporting platform. With this system in place, users can self-define their own reporting and they can publish their own reports with key performance indicators to the mobile device of their choice.

"The real benefit was the ability for all our business teams around the world to have the same set of information to collaborate on and communicate about," Giambruno said.

"I would ask you to look at Revlon's financials. The past two years have been the best years Revlon has ever had. I think...

Chanimal Debuts Certified Channel Manager Program

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:42:29 -0500

Chanimal.com, a well-known industry resource with over 17 years of software, hardware, and SaaS channel marketing content, has introduced the first Certified Channel Manager program specific to high-tech channel managers.

"And why not," says Ted Finch, CEO of Chanimal.com, "It seems like every other discipline, from IT, engineering, accounting, sales and product management can get trained, tested and certified on industry best practices--but channel management has been completely neglected."

One of the reasons is that there is no central channel management association for high-tech. Different consultants, publications and technology counsels have provided news and help with execution over the years, but nobody has compiled the industry best practices into one place, and then shown Channel Managers how to use it, or tested their competency.

As a result, it's difficult to hire a channel manager, since they are inconsistent and their skills are all over the map--some know retail, others SaaS, some know enterprise sales, but many don't know how to recruit, most have never setup a reseller program, some don't even know the channel terms: MDF, Co-op, Deal Registration, or the difference between points and margin, NFR, or critical elements in a reseller agreement. Others have never sold anything or managed anyone--let alone 1,000 reseller partners.

The Certified Channel Manager program from Chanimal covers the channel program (MDF, Deal Reg, NFR, agreements, policies and setup), recruiting a channel (what works best), enablement (orientation, market and product knowledge), ongoing channel management (motivation, field and model calls), optimizing your channel (partner councils, plan of actions, short and long-term loyalty), channel operations (budgets, PRMs, CRMs, ratios, resources), plus channels sales (prospecting, persuasive demos & presentation skills, objections, closing techniques and sales management). Complete details of the program are at http://www.certified.chanimal.com.

The first live Channel Workshop that...

Hospitals Lose $8.3 Billion Using Old Technology

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:53:36 -0500

U.S. physicians and hospitals are in the digital dark ages when it comes to using the latest mobile devices and Internet services to deliver patient care.

As a result, U.S. hospitals are absorbing an estimated $8.3 billion annual hit in lost productivity and increased patient discharge times, according to a Ponemon Institute survey of 577 health care professionals, released Tuesday to USA TODAY.

Hospitals continue to struggle with security and privacy concerns arising from the mainstreaming of social media at a time when federal rules carry the threat of steep fines for violating patient privacy.

The study, sponsored by tech security firm Imprivata, shows that clinicians waste an average of 46 minutes per day waiting for patient information. The main reasons: reliance on inefficient pagers, lack of Wi-Fi access, deficient e-mail and bans on use of personally owned devices.

That adds up to a productivity loss of $900,000 per year for the typical hospital -- or more than $5.1 billion annually across the health care industry.

"The only industry that uses pagers pervasively is health care," Imprivata CEO Omar Hussain says. "Everyone else has moved to forms of communications that are faster and quicker."

Hospitals fritter away an additional $3.2 billion by continuing to rely on clunky communications systems as part of the patient discharge process. An estimated 37 minutes of the average discharge time of 102 minutes is due to waiting for hospital staff to respond with information necessary for the patient's release.

This lengthy discharge process costs the U.S. hospital industry $3.2 billion annually in lost revenue, the study found.

"If the technology was a little better and less restrictive, that's where the value add would occur," says Larry Ponemon, of the Ponemon Institute. "The goal is to maximize face time with patients. I think that could be achieved by having better technology."

Beaufort Memorial Hospital, a...