Rapid growth is changing the professional service sector (PS) with increased emphasis on vertical industry knowledge, business process change, and quality execution against a backdrop of skilled workforce shortages. Read about the challenges PS executives face as they continue on their path toward expansion, higher revenue, and profit, and the cloud-based business applications they rely on to transform their operations.
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This document describes the current state of the service enterprise, and reveals the goals and investments prioritized by service leaders (over 200 polled in a recent survey) for 2012. It also reveals the performance benchmarks of leading service organizations, and divulges the strategic elements that contribute to best-in-class performance.
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Companies realize that innovation can mean the difference between effectively growing or transforming their business and falling behind. But for a company to thrive in today’s environment, innovation has to be seen as more than a clichéd talking point. It has to be a key part of the company’s core business processes. Download this interview with Eric Verniaut, SAP’s head of North America services, to find out how innovation has helped services delivery models to evolve.
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This study assesses key technology vendors participating in the IT education market as a line of business (LOB) to support the sale of their technologies. Based on IDC's research, observations, and interviews with many of the key participants in the market, this document provides several dozen practices or approaches to successfully building, maintaining, and growing a training business. Know the key research findings.
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Organizations seeking the services of a value-added reseller (VAR), channel partner, implementer, vendor, or consultant require an evaluation of what this service provider has to offer. This report will assist organizations looking to determine the best-fit service provider for their implementation needs. Based on information provided to TEC by Cre8tive Technology and Design and its clients, this report focuses on real-life implementation projects delivered by the service provider to three of its existing clients.
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Organizations seeking the services of a value-added reseller (VAR), channel partner, implementer, vendor, or consultant require an evaluation of what this service provider has to offer. This report will assist organizations looking to determine the best-fit service provider for their implementation needs. Based on information provided to TEC by itelligence and its clients, this report focuses on real-life implementation projects delivered by the service provider to three of its existing clients.
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The proliferation of process automation, sensor networks, user-generated content, machine-to-machine connections, and mobile computing is driving the far-reaching trend referred to as “big data.” It takes new tools and techniques to collect, process, and distribute this enormous amount of information. Download this white paper and know how to overcome six of the challenges you’ll face as you strive to capitalize on big data.
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The common agile processes such as Scrum require some customization to function in a service business, where real-time estimates, hard due dates, and hourly billing are the norm. This case study examines how Vanteon customized its agile process to fit its business model while maintaining the flexibility and transparency normally associated with agile development.
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What has made Rimini Street a leader in the third-party enterprise software service and maintenance (S&M) cottage industry? TEC principal analyst P.J. Jakovljevic offers up some reasons and speaks with Rimini Street’s senior VP Dave Rowe on the company’s winning product and service line capabilities and future moves, and gets Dave’s interesting perspective on the need for and explosive growth of third-party support.
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For many organizations, IT is split between two groups. The data center facility is provided and managed by facilities management, while the IT equipment within the facility is provisioned and managed by the IT department. This can lead to problems—and an outsourced solution can allow a business to concentrate on its strategy, rather than on “keeping the lights on.” This white paper discusses the importance of a holistic approach between a data center facility and the equipment within it.
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Many organizations are turning to managed print services (MPS) and benefitting from greater expertise, lower costs, and reduced IT burden. However, some MPS engagements are falling short in delivering the expected service quality. This white paper shows how by ensuring governance is an essential part of any MPS contract, both parties can better set appropriate expectations and increase their chances of creating an effective and successful MPS relationship.
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Not only do today’s stakeholders expect little or no downtime, but they also value user experience as it contributes to their day-to-day activities. Technology teams must take end-to-end responsibility for service execution and operation so that users can focus on their core business and not worry about the engine running behind their organization. This paper provides insight into managed service projects and suggests some project management practices for improved service.
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If you want to maximize project and company profitability, you need to examine your current resource utilization processes to identify profitability “leakage” in your labor utilization management. Review the Labor Utilization Scorecard to determine where you currently experience gaps and see how a business automation system can help you close those gaps and maximize project and company resource and services profitability.
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By 2016, smartphones and tablets will put power in the pockets of a billion global consumers. Mobile is not simply another device for IT to support with a shrunken Web site. Rather, mobile is the manifestation of a much broader shift to new systems of engagement. Download this paper and know how such systems of engagement will help firms empower their customers, partners, and employees with context-aware apps and smart products.
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In many organizations, it is workers bringing their own devices into the workplace who are forcing the hand of IT policy makers. But as new devices are coming to market faster than corporate IT can formulate policies about them, application management is quickly becoming a fundamental mobility management challenge. Those companies with the best mobility implementations will win in a world of real-time business engagement. See how!
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A disciplined and comprehensive acquisition process is essential for utilities to get the most out of their Smart Grid investments. Know the practical and flexible methodology proven in industries such as telecommunications, high tech, and financial services that can assist utilities in the selection and acquisition of solutions that address current and future operating states to deliver immediate and long-term benefits.
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Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are critical to efficient operations, quality control, and regulatory compliance. Yet many recent FDA violations have focused on firms’ failure to properly use SOPs. This paper reviews best practices for the life science industry for training on SOPs. Specifically, how the latest learning management technology has the potential to improve learner retention through automated assessments.
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JurInnov’s director of information systems and security provides a detailed analysis of why development of a security-oriented corporate culture is imperative for companies wishing to keep their electronically stored information secure.
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This report looks at traditional and contemporary IT outsourcing practices, reflects on the changing dynamics of the customer/supplier relationship, and identifies priorities for evolving the role of procurement in IT outsourcing.
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This paper highlights the environmental impact of printing and discusses how a managed print service can support an organization's sustainability goals, while also lowering costs and driving business efficiency.
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The "model and execute" approach to app development means that IT efforts are focused on meeting business needs instead of infrastructure issues. IT can work directly with users on designing the data structure, customizing the interface, and defining process tasks, ultimately ensuring rapid implementation, alignment with business needs, lower maintenance costs, increased adoption, and scalability. Download this white paper to learn how.
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Cloud services will be a leading driver of productivity for manufacturers over the next decade. Businesses focused on reducing costs and improving the quality of manufacturing solutions will increasingly turn to the cloud for SaaS solutions. Read this white paper by president and CEO of inKumo, Inc., and find out how this new era of technology will dramatically improve productivity and cost savings in the industry.
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This white paper analyzes several deployment methods of Cisco Extension Mobility within Enterprise Cisco telephony environments and how to streamline commissioning. It presents how automatic configuration of auto-registered phones and end user sync to Microsoft Active Directory can be used by the Uplinx Auto Provisioning system to provide an automated process with a clear workflow that minimizes operational costs, reduces configuration errors, accelerates service requests, and improves the end user service experience.
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In late 2011, SNK Canada was engaged to help a sports management client select operations, accounting, and IT management software to replace a legacy system. The client was suffering productivity losses, and the cost of the legacy software was a growing concern. Learn how Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) helped SNK Manage the complexities of the project, so SNK could quickly identify the right system for the client.
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The widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets, the growth of cloud computing, and the increased need for convenience printing means that organizations must provide employees with a secure and simple managed approach to mobile printing. Read this report and learn about the market drivers for mobile printing in the business environment and some of the best practices for building a mobile print strategy.
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Semiconductor manufacturers can work more closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and expand into new markets by using Web 2.0 technologies. Infosys' experts reveal "white spaces" in semiconductor marketing strategies that can be addressed by digital and mobile capabilities. They demonstrate how best practices in information and customer experience embedded in Infosys' Semiconductor Digital Engagement Maturity Model can deliver a competitive advantage.
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This white paper will give you ideas and procedures for monitoring your savings when you invest in outsourcing projects.
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Outsourcing of developmental activities is not new. However, the outsourcing of research activities remains relatively unexplored. Recent trends indicate greater research and development (R&D) outsourcing, with customers open to handing over complete product lifecycle responsibilities to vendors. The chief reason for this change is that companies are realizing that the benefits of R&D outsourcing extend beyond cost arbitration. Rather, it facilitates the creation of global collaborative development skills of both the provider’s and buyer’s employees through exposure to new research tools, methodologies and best practices. Learn more now.
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Sage 300 ERP (formerly Sage ERP Accpac) 6.0 is TEC Certified for online evaluation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions for services in the ERP Evaluation Center. The certification seal is a valuable indicator for organizations relying on the integrity of TEC research for assistance with their software selection projects. Download this report for product highlights, competitive analysis, product analysis, and in-depth analyst commentary.
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Maintenance Connection Onsite/Online (v. 5.0) is TEC Certified for online evaluation of computerized maintenance management system (CMMS)–enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions in the Asset Management Evaluation Center. The certification seal is a valuable indicator for organizations relying on the integrity of TEC research for assistance with their software selection projects. Download this report for product highlights, competitive analysis, product analysis, and in-depth analyst commentary.
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Enterprise configuration management (ECM) is a process to capture data and dependencies about an information technology (IT) infrastructure and to create an audit trail of changes against that infrastructure. The ECM process manages the revision and status of all the digital assets in an IT infrastructure. This white paper by Chris Kincaid from Configuration Management, Inc. discusses the benefits of ECM for risk mitigation.
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For more than a decade, offshoring and outsourcing enjoyed an unchallenged monopoly in terms of adding value to global organizations. Since the economic downturn of 2008, however, there has been a shift in the perspective of IT expenditure. An increased demand for direct linking of IT to business outcomes and variablization of IT cost has made IT services in the cloud an attractive business idea. Find out why.
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Tenrox Project Workforce Management is TEC Certified for online evaluation of project portfolio management for professional services automation (PPM for PSA) solutions in the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) Evaluation Center. The certification seal is a valuable indicator for organizations relying on the integrity of TEC research for assistance with their software selection projects. Download this report for product highlights, competitive analysis, product analysis, and in-depth analyst commentary.
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In this white paper, the author discusses the real-life challenges faced by field technicians and how those technicians can be empowered with mobility solutions to improve field productivity, increase the accuracy of diagnostics, reduce warranty and invoicing cycle times, increase service revenues, and most importantly, improve the customer experience.
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Traditional methods for capturing billable time on projects can cost your company money. Relying on paper forms, e-mail, and spreadsheets prolongs the data gathering process, introduces errors, and can lead to missed hours and employee expenses. A new breed of project time-tracking software can help. This buyer’s guide shows you what to look for as you evaluate project time-tracking software to improve your client billing.
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As a company in the financial sector, you place extremely high demands on your call center. The complicated and sensitive nature of the calls requires an agent who is highly trained and experienced. This leads to a high cost per call. At the same time, sacrificing caller satisfaction is not an option. This creates a tough challenge: How do you decrease the cost per call, while improving the customer experience? Download this white paper to find out.
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Printers can place a huge administrative burden on small to medium businesses (SMBs), which diverts them from their core activities. The solution is to use a managed print service (MPS), combining hardware, service, and supplies into a service based on cost-per-page. This paper discusses the printing challenges faced by SMBs and how a simple and flexible MPS can help save time and money while improving staff productivity.
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Many innovative enterprises are turning to cloud storage to meet their data protection demands. This white paper by Taneja Group explores the factors that are driving the move to cloud storage and then introduces a solution from Riverbed and EMC that enables organizations to perform cloud backup and replication at LAN-like performance that is as reliable and secure as local disk or tape at a lower cost. Read further.
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Riverbed Whitewater leverages WAN optimization technology to provide a complete data protection service to the cloud. The appliance-based solution is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing backup technologies and cloud storage provider APIs. Read this ESG Lab report on hands-on testing of the Riverbed Whitewater appliance for ease of use, cost-effective recoverability, data assurance, and performance and scalability.
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The Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina, is the first hotel in the US to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at the platinum level from the U.S. Green Building Council. Combining luxury with energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, the hotel places the highest priority on guest comfort. The owner's goal is a sustainable, energy-efficient hotel that never compromises guest comfort. Learn more now.
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This IDC Buyer Case Study examines BT's successful project to reduce costs and raise efficiency and quality in its release-service introduction, testing, and deployment activities, using offshore-based partner Wipro. It looks at the challenges, risks, and outcomes of the project, and draws some lessons for organizations considering similar challenges.
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Credit Suisse, a global banking and financial services company, embarked on a global HR transformation program in early 2008 to create a number of shared service centers primarily focused on back-office HR operations. After evaluating a number of vendors for delivery capabilities, cost effectiveness, and a host of other factors, Wipro was awarded the contract. This case study by Everest Group provides a 360-degree view of this engagement.
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Security Information and Event Manager (SIEM) users face the pressure of high costs related to the selection of a SIEM product, its deployment, integration and day-to-day use. Such cost pressure stems from substantial initial cost of the product, additional expenses for specific hardware and third-party product licenses, etc. In the end, what was initially considered as an affordable price for the chosen SIEM solution may turn out to be a large hole in the budget with an enormous total cost of ownership. Download this white paper to learn different approaches for resolving them successfully.
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India-based design service firms enjoy a substantial share of the global design services business. However, they continue to rely on large client firms to achieve scale. This paper examines semiconductor design outsourcing in diverse client environments, from reputable firms in western countries to established firms in Asia, to startups—and then suggests a unique model for Indian firms to scale up the value chain.
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The paper explores how best practices from agile software development methodologies can be applied in large organizational environments, in the public and private sectors.
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This report discusses the policy and business drivers of "clean tech," and the development of the clean tech sector in terms of business models, globalization, technological diffusion, and growth. The emphasis on clean tech has increased in recent years due to international concerns about the economic impact of climate change caused by GHG (largely CO2) emissions from energy production and consumption. This report examines government policies in different economies, and focuses on clean tech opportunities for software services such as measurement and monitoring, platform efficiency software, mitigation software, system integration, and managed services consulting.
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This case study showcases the University of Canberra’s (UC) successful outsourcing story amidst an increasingly competitive education industry in Australia. A broad coverage and decentralized approach to administrative support, coupled with lowering student demand and increasing budget deficit contributed to UC’s diminishing performance and margins. In order to rebuild its competitiveness, increase profitability and refocus on their core functions, UC decided to outsource its key functions to Wipro while still retaining some in-house, high-level technical or managerial role. Find out more now.
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The world is out of IPv4 addresses and the time of IPv6 is at hand. This paper explores existing file transfer technology used for bulk data exchange under the lens of IPv6 and highlights issues to consider during strategic or tactical planning. Summary results from a series of IPv6 interoperability tests involving 5 clients, 3 browsers, and 6 servers illuminate the findings and recommendations.
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Many innovative enterprises are turning to cloud storage to meet their data protection demands. This paper by Taneja Group explores the factors that are driving the move to cloud storage and then introduces a solution from Riverbed and EMC that enables organizations to perform cloud backup and replication at LAN-like performance that is as reliable and secure as local disk or tape at a lower cost. See how this solution can help you.
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Riverbed Whitewater leverages WAN optimization technology to provide a complete data protection service to the cloud. The appliance-based solution is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing backup technologies and cloud storage provider APIs to provide rapid data retrieval, and replicate data to the cloud to provide an off-site storage location for disaster recovery. Read the ESG Lab report of the appliance's features.
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The explosive growth of enterprise data poses new storage and data management challenges for enterprises. This white paper details how organizations can leverage cloud-based storage offerings as part of their data protection plans. The paper also takes a closer look at solutions offered by Riverbed that allow organizations to integrate cloud-based storage within solutions that address a growing set of data protection demands.
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An ERP diagnostics assessment is an enterprise system and process review that—if conducted properly—will expose ERP project risks before they jeopardize your company’s future. Download this white paper to learn more about the benefits of an ERP diagnostics assessment, what you should expect from a well-conducted diagnostic, and how you can use it to take control of your ERP selection project.
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TheMIGroup is a provider of relocation and assignment management programs for companies relocating their employees nationally and internationally. While the company had made some standard reports available online, it needed to enable clients to tailor both reporting formats and the information presented to their changing needs. See how the Illumiti-implemented solutions helped TheMIGroup deliver outstanding customer experience.
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This whitepaper delves into the common problem of shifting from one mobile platform to another, in particular, Apple’s iOS to Google’s Android or vice versa. Each platform’s background and features are discussed, along with development considerations, monetization, and deployment. Other aspects included are the differences in hardware and programming languages, multi-platform options, and testing applications.
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Near-field communications (NFC) is the hovering trend in the “mobile tech” world, not only adding convenience to the daily lives of consumers, but opening doors for enterprises to increase revenue, collect useful consumer data, and use that data in targeted marketing efforts. This whitepaper examines the background of NFC and explores the integration of NFC and its various uses. NFC security concerns are also discussed.
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To realize the benefits of their investments in enterprise computing systems, organizations must have a detailed understanding of the quality of their data—how to clean it and how to keep it clean. Those organizations that approach this issue strategically will be successful. But what goes into a data quality strategy? This paper from Business Objects, an SAP company, explores the strategy in the context of data quality.
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Even with the finest marketing organizations, the success of marketing comes down to the data. Ensuring data quality can be a significant challenge, particularly when you have thousands or even millions of prospect records in your CRM system and you are trying to target the right prospect. Data quality, data integration, and other functions of enterprise information management (EIM) are crucial to this endeavor. Read more.
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Enduradata's Content Distribution Software is a cost effective and secure solution that allows businesses and governments to distribute data and applications files from one computer to one or more computers. The file size can vary and no additional hardware or software is required. EDWADDS combines the solution with work flow automation to achieve significant operational efficiencies and low total cost of ownership.
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Universities and other higher education establishments have to address the need for savings across the board. One area is expenses from faculty members and other associated with faculty. The complex mix of expense types needs a flexible yet solid means of managing spend as close as possible to the point of expense that encourages the individual to participate in the process without it being seen as an imposition. Know how.
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The advent of powerful yet inexpensive computers and global connectivity has produced data everywhere. Relevant data needs to be identified and brought into court. E-discovery essentially requires a professional approach to managing a project, with application of general principles to the legal world. Read this paper for a review of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) technology used for litigation and e-discovery.
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This paper reviews some of the key challenges faced by today’s enterprises, e.g., use of too many systems and difficulty in information structuring and standardization, and explores the features and functionalities of SharePoint that makes it a key component of your enterprise architecture. See how how SharePoint as a platform can be used to integrate enterprise business infrastructure and solutions for your organization.
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Mondial Assistance Group relies on efficient sharing of best practices across business units to provide superior customer service to clients worldwide. By choosing Lombardi Blueprint from IBM to execute the 'SOKE' process improvement program, Mondial discovered inefficiencies, managed sharing processes, and improved collaboration across the organization. See how this led to high cost savings and improved client services.
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In the face of increased competition in the market, leading mobile and internet service provider TeliaSonera sought to reduce inefficiencies in sales process and improve customer relations. By enlisting Blueprint Business Process Management (BPM) solutions, TeliaSonera discovered and solved business problems to dramatically improve key sales and service functions, increasing profitability and customer relations. See how.
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Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is a framework that supports collaboration and fosters proactive decision making for efficient management of scarce water resources. GoldSim is a software tool for conducting simulations of complex systems to support management and decision making in engineering, science, and business. This paper provides a brief overview of GoldSim, with special emphasis on IWRM applications.
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Small to medium businesses (SMBs) are becoming increasingly mobile organizations. This paper discusses the growing concerns these organizations face with an increasingly distributed and mobile workforce, their specific information security needs, and protective measures they can take to meet these needs. It also reveals how software-as-a-service (SaaS) security services can help SMBs deliver protective measures.
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Mobile data security is most effective when implemented in layers: installing smart firewalls, deploying antivirus software, and using encrypted connections. True mobile security relies just as much on the actions of end users. This means companies must instill a culture of security within their organizations. Learn how well–considered policies and procedures encourage and enforce smart and safe business practices.
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E-mail and the Internet are critical resources for most organizations, but the attributes that make them so essential can generate significant legal risks for employers. E-mail and Internet misuse continues unabated. This paper considers some of the risks of employee use of e-mail and the Internet and suggests solutions such as setting up effective usage policies to help reduce risk.
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Security technology has evolved from static firewalls and antivirus products to suites of tools that are effective in protecting against modern threats. But without a solid process backing up the technology, organizations will still be susceptible to emerging threats. Learn more about aligning security processes with the latest security technologies to create a barrier against today’s most insidious threats.
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When switching to a new payroll solution, companies need to choose between commercial software and outsourced software. Commercial software typically offers more flexibility for midsized companies. Not only is it more cost-effective, it allows you to protect wage and salary information and maintain control over payroll processing. Discover the right questions to ask when choosing a commercial payroll software solution.
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Service-oriented organizations often find it difficult to balance infrastructure costs with software systems that enable frequent modifications. TEC examines UNIT4’s Vita Cloud Angel approach to this challenge—and lets you know whether it’s a viable option for you. Get the TEC analyst perspective in this special report on Vita Cloud Angel.
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If product ideas in the past emerged from the mind of a single inventor, they are now harvested everywhere—from customers, prospects, engineers, support staff, business analysts, bloggers, executives and marketing professionals. Succeeding with good ideas in that environment, and abandoning unworkable ones early on, requires a complete end-to-end product innovation management platform. Find out more.
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Product managers have seen their workloads rise exponentially. Their core assignment—setting out clear specifications for product revisions and innovations—has grown chaotic. What’s missing is a comprehensive repository of requirements, assignments, analyses, and project status that enables coordinated execution by all of the players involved. Find out how to bring that kind of transparency to your development processes.
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Agile software development is swiftly gaining acceptance. But, for the process to succeed, it must be driven by business value at the core. If not, the speed and fluidity agile introduces can actually increase the risk of creating products that miss customer needs and threaten revenue goals. Discover the five high-impact failure areas that emerge as companies implement agile in complex, distributed team environments.
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If your firm is anticipating a steady stream of localization (“l10n”) projects in the near future, you’ve inevitably confronted the question of how to streamline and reduce the cost of such efforts. For technology firms with significant software components, the answer is often internationalization. Learn how to decide whether to farm out internationalization tasks to expert service providers or to keep the job in-house.
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In the ever-changing economy, organizations looking to cut costs and drive innovation are turning to co-sourcing as a cost-effective and less risky alternative to outsourcing or offshoring. This white paper explores the primary business benefits of the co-sourcing model and provides key information for evaluation.
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To analyze enterprise application usage throughout the company, Qualcomm’s product development services team required a solution that was more rapid and analytically driven than the company’s other business intelligence (BI) systems. Learn how the team found a solution that helped speed up product testing, enable real-time access to testing data, and reduce the time required to fulfill new BI application requests.
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Midsize businesses are learning the hard way that most enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications are not truly on-demand, but instead require consulting and specialized customer support services. Learn about the critical consulting and support services required to select, deploy, and fully utilize SaaS solutions to achieve your business objectives and safeguard your mission-critical applications and data.
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Organizations seeking to align the software delivery process with business strategy and goals are beginning to adopt a collaborative software delivery life cycle. While not always an easy change to make, moving to a collaborative approach has clear benefits for companies and their customers. Learn how three companies improved software quality by following a collaborative approach throughout the software delivery lifecycle.
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Product engineering outsourcing (PEO) has evolved over the years. The process, from initiation to the closing phase, vary depending on the product and on the provider. Still, practically every phase in product engineering is outsourceable—from ideas, design, and analysis, to simulation, conversion, and documentation; to prototyping, testing, production, and knowledge-based engineering. Find out more.
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Realizing that they need to serve external audiences, an increasing number of companies are interested in using learning to drive revenue and help customers and partners understand their learning options and find what they want. Discover technologies that can help you deliver training, certification programs, and knowledge assets to your company’s networks of partners, suppliers, resellers, distributors, and customers.
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When the top management at Hamworthy Gas Systems realized that the company needed to prepare for considerable organic growth, and gain better control of its core and support business processes, they began upgrading the company’s IT systems. Learn how a new solution, encompassing project and contract management, engineering, procurement and material management, and more, helped Hamworthy gain new perspective on its future.
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Hybrid human resources (HR) is all about combining every available delivery option—HR outsourcing being one of them—to provide HR services in as cost-effective and as standardized a way as possible. Companies can choose between an on-premise, on-demand, or a business process outsourcing (BPO) solution—or they can choose and combine the best of all worlds in order to match their business needs. Find out how.
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Outsourcing is a marriage of two companies. Like marriage, both parties have differences that will affect the growth of the relationship—in this case, the development of the project. A good foundation will spell the difference between the success and failure of the partnership. Learn how differences in the viewpoint of outsourcing clients and the vendors can lead to project failures, and what your company can do about it.
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Managed print services (MPSs) offer organizations the opportunity to control costs, reduce the complexity of managing a heterogeneous infrastructure, and improve business processes. With many organizations striving to do more with less, MPS can cut expenses by passing control of complex printing infrastructure to the experts, and leaving the organization to focus on its core business competencies. Find out more.
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This paper focuses on identifying the similarities and differences between Oracle Financial Analyzer (OFA) and Hyperion Planning (HP). For users who are migrating, or thinking of migrating, to Hyperion Planning, strategies will be discussed to ensure their existing functionality can be replicated in HP. The paper is aimed at users who are familiar with OFA or similar multidimensional database applications.
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For managed services providers (MSPs) aiming to serve small and medium-sized businesses, the ability to capture and retain lasting customer relationships is a determining factor for long-term profitability. Only by clearly and consistently communicating your value to your customer can you hope to attain the role of trusted advisor—a position that will help protect you from losing business to lower-priced competitors. Learn how an integrated, offline reporting solution can help ensure that your customers perceive your value in the ways that matter most to all managers within the customer organization.
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A business' success delivering managed services depends on its ability to improve the delivery of effective and efficient services to its customer base. Learn about ways that managed services providers (MSPs) can develop a higher-value business by improving their ability to attract and retain high-quality customers and provide IT services in an effective manner.
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Service companies that want to thrive need to find a better way to deliver services and run their business. Automating IT services is the answer, and it should be the immediate goal of any company that aims to stay in business as market pressures increase. Looking beyond basic automation, becoming a managed services provider (MSP) should be the long-term goal. Discover ways to ensure your service company's survival in today’s competitive IT services market.
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Margins on profitable products and services erode as they become commoditized. And now, the same process is starting to happen to the IT services market. To avoid the commoditization trap and distinguish their services from their competitors, managed services providers (MSPs) need to develop a two-pronged strategy that involves delivering higher-value services that yield greater profit margins, and driving down service delivery costs so they can effectively deliver responsive, tools-based services to compete efficiently in a commoditized market. Find out how.
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Most IT service providers have always and continue to operate in a break/fix service environment. When a customer calls with an issue, the service provider drops everything to fix it. Under these circumstances, service providers have a difficult time forecasting monthly revenues and staffing needs, which has a huge impact on profitability. Add to this the intense competition, excessive customer turnover, low technician utilization rates, and shrinking margins that characterize today‟s market, and the result is IT service providers anxious to find a new way of delivering their services. Learn about innovative IT-as-a-Service initiatives that are defining the new IT value chain of the future.
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Do-it-yourself (DIY) security can be daunting. It requires significant time, effort and expertise to maintain strong security while complying with information access and disclosure regulations. Find out how a hosted security solution can provide reliable and comprehensive security coverage for your company’s e-mail, Web, and instant messaging (IM), without requiring extensive expertise or equipment in-house.
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For companies considering offering a product with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business and delivery model, there are many ways things can go wrong—from inadequate market research, to poorly planned release cycles, to a failure to keep up with industry developments. Discover 10 common ways that SaaS companies fail, and learn how to avoid these pitfalls.
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As software-as-a-service (SaaS) spreads rapidly as a business model among independent software vendors (ISVs), the importance of SaaS configurability has come to the fore. With increasingly competitive deployments, the ability of individual tenants to configure their own options, business processes, and data structures will become the key differentiator among otherwise similar offerings—and will often prove critical to
the success or failure of a SaaS deployment. Discover the variety of configurable options, typical technical challenges, and common approaches for optimizing SaaS configurability.
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The rapid deployment of nationwide technology rollouts requires well-defined processes, robust management skills, and a unique understanding of how to get the job done. Without a proven technology rollout system, businesses run a high risk of project complications that can result in increased costs, missed deadlines, and an overwhelming burden on internal resources. Learn what a technology rollout system is, how it can lower costs and save time without compromising quality, and what questions to ask a technology rollout company.
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For IT departments drowning in complex and expensive software maintenance chores, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model can ease the burden. SaaS reduces complexity by outsourcing most of the infrastructure needed to run software applications, and reduces costs by charging only for what is consumed. But you can also adopt a hybrid SaaS model, in which some systems are outsourced and others are kept in-house. Learn more.
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As you begin a customer relationship management (CRM) initiative, software selection is only one facet of a successful project. You may consider implementing your new CRM system with internal resources. But even in providing a simple CRM solution in your company, a number of steps need to take place, including requirements gathering, configuration, and more. Discover the benefits of selecting a CRM implementation partner.
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WebTrends, a leader in Web analytics, needed a way to offer customers reporting and analytical access to the information generated by its Visitor Intelligence product, which combines off- and online data to provide insight into customers. WebTrends sought a scalable best-of-breed business intelligence (BI) solution that would integrate with its own product. Find out about the reporting and analytics solution it chose.
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High Concrete encountered several challenges in trying to understand its customer relationship management (CRM) data. Its CRM reporting involved lengthy and error-prone processes. After seeing a demonstration of a business intelligence (BI) application specifically designed for its Dynamics CRM system, the company knew integrating the two systems would be easy—and provide flexible reports, quickly and accurately.
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Most companies want to use customer relationship management (CRM) applications to “supercharge” their sales forces. They want to gain some advantage with customer retention and acquisition, to manage the sales pipeline, and to have better market insight. But few companies realize these goals, often because of the way CRM is implemented. Find out where a CRM implementation can get off track—and how to ensure CRM success.
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Digital marketing involves using your Web site and associated marketing tools to promote your business online. You can learn some basic skills in both search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing. But for optimal results, you’re advised to consult a professional, who can provide you with insight into what SEO services should entail, allowing you to make an informed decision when selecting a supplier.
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Many manufacturers are incorporating embedded systems into their products to meet the growing demand. While this approach offers exciting opportunities for innovation, it also adds a level of complexity to products that have zero tolerance for bugs and must beat the competition to market. But companies that successfully address these challenges are seeing higher profitability—in spite of the current economy. Find out why.
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Design globalization—and the access it provides to new markets, talents, and resources around the world—offers many opportunities to manufacturers today. Tapping into this growing network of suppliers and partners does bring risks and challenges. You can achieve best-in-class performance in a global design environment and achieve greater profitability. Find out the product design strategies of best-in-class manufacturers.
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If you are a small to medium business (SMB) looking to purchase a business phone system, you’ve no doubt discovered that buying one is not easy. You must quickly identify your specific needs before you contact vendors and compare phone system options. To make an informed decision about which phone system is right for your company, you should understand four crucial aspects, from product requirements to cost considerations.
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Change management is an inherent part of software implementation. Ideally, you want new business processes and the software to support them. However, companies still often compromise, due to their implementation approach and technology limitations—resulting in needless expense. There is a more rapid approach to implementation and change management, with reduced risk, greater value, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
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Sales at F.J. Westcott began to grow, placing a greater demand on its legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system’s inventory capabilities. Unrelieved inventory and other challenges led Westcott to seek a new ERP system—and a software evaluation and comparison methodology within the company’s budget. See how Technology Evaluation Centers’ Software Selection Services provided the resources for a confident decision.
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Today’s mobile software companies face a daunting challenge: How can they achieve quality while getting to market swiftly? After all, speed is king in the mobile market. The trade-off between speed and quality in mobile software development is an illusion—or should be. Get a closer look at the situation with a framework that presents a way to use quality assurance (QA) processes to accelerate development.
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The crucial interoperability of wireless network devices built around the 802.11 standard is threatened by the advent of faster technologies. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is trying to cope by developing the 802.11n standard—but it’s still in draft form. Meanwhile, how can manufacturers cope with the confusion surrounding the future of 802.11? Get an outline of the situation.
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Efforts to improve the efficiency and maturity of a quality assurance (QA) or test organization have largely been academic exercises, and difficult to apply to real-world software development environments. Today, with newer methods such as the Testing Maturity Model (TMM), it’s easier to assess, implement, and improve test processes. Learn about fresh techniques for assessing the effectiveness of QA organizations.
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Stand-alone learning management systems (LMS) often lack scalability, reliability, and secure access—and the interfaces to offer these features. But new development strategies, standards, and tools can move LMS into the “next generation.” If you’re an independent software vendor (ISV), an engineer of educational software products, or the chief learning officer of a corporate university, this info will interest you.
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Today’s technology and application leaders are pressured to deliver functionality that drives efficiency, innovation, and growth—while reducing costs. As a result, technology and application portfolio management (APM) are top business priorities. Learn about a framework for implementing an APM program that can enable your company to monitor and analyze the impact of application changes and reduce portfolio complexity.
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Identifying, evaluating, and outlining your information management needs is already a tough task—but conducting a complete vendor review can stretch the project further. To reduce the time spent learning about the information management solution landscape—and vendor tendencies—arm yourself with the questions that your search vendors don’t want to answer. The first question: Can I request a proof of concept? Learn more.
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Consultant Paul Mitnick chose the Training Partner learning management system (LMS) to help a real estate firm consolidate its learning management program. In addition to a breakdown of the steps involved in his LMS software selection process, you’ll also discover how the LMS implementation went—including the testing and timing involved in ensuring that all data was in the new LMS before it was accessed by users.
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The implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to automate business processes is a strategic investment. Buying the right system and choosing the best vendor for you are critical to a successful ERP implementation. As a decision maker, you need to quickly identify your ERP requirements, effectively communicate these needs to vendors, and successfully compare various product alternatives. Learn how.
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Hosted services can offer a sound solution for small and medium businesses requiring safe and reasonably priced platforms. Applying the same concept at a higher level could result in hosting and services providers leasing or renting virtual real estate for the services they provide in order to lower their initial investments or subsequent upgrade costs. Learn more about “hosted hosting,” the new breed of hosting services.
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For many projects, the transition from initiative to production is chaotic and lacks a pragmatic framework for ongoing support. Inheritance Engineering offers a means for carrying out change in a reliable fashion and retaining as much value as possible throughout the life of the software. Unfortunately, this does not occur for a variety of reasons. Find out what those reasons are, and how to address software maintenance.
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Users implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for the first time are often intimidated by the time and cost, and want to accelerate the go-live date. Acceleration, when done with the right implementation strategy and tools, can be of tremendous benefit, including reduced costs and increased return on investment (ROI). But for some, the question is: to accelerate or not to accelerate? Learn more.
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For midsize firms seeking more value in a shorter period of time, a rapid enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation may be the way to go. If you’re unsure this is the right choice, you need to consider some important factors. The best candidates tend to be ERP solution first-timers. Learn more about how to work closely with ERP partner vendors for a rapid—and successful—ERP implementation.
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Oracle’s Accelerate is a program in which Certified and Certified Advantage partners build industry-specific solutions combining Oracle enterprise applications and rapid-implementation tools with the partners’ own expertise or software. The program aims to reduce the time, complexity, and cost of deploying Oracle solutions, to make them suitable for mid-market companies and governmental organizations. Learn more.
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Everything manufacturing executives thought they knew about project management and operations management is changing. Now, project managers may be connecting elements of an ongoing enterprise with a project in order to achieve certain defined goals, or use projects in a recurring way. Discover the many benefits manufacturers can realize by adopting a management-by-project approach with project-centric ERP software.
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Process manufacturers can no longer rely on purely reactive strategies to product safety. Now, reactive strategies such as lot tracking need to be incorporated into holistic strategies that include proactive measures to assess risk and prevent costly quality assurance (QA) events like product recalls. Learn how you can develop a product safety master plan that reduces risk, protects products, and improves profitability.
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Why would a company choose to migrate its development tools? And if the migration is decided upon, how can this be done easily and effectively? Get answers to these questions, and explore the concerns and issues surrounding migration of your development environment, using IBM’s Rational Application Developer (RAD) as an example of a current tool and MyEclipse Blue Edition from Genuitec as an example of a new tool.
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The role of the chief financial officer (CFO) is evolving, but due to pressures to meet financial reporting requirements, there’s still a strong pull toward “chief bean counter” responsibilities. But CFOs can find opportunities to become true business leaders. With help from technology, five key strategies can enable the CFO to have a significant impact on the direction and success of the business. Learn more.
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While simple on the surface, the decision to outsource is a major strategic undertaking. Besides weighing cost reduction against the consequences of reduced control, companies must also consider various economic effects, political consequences, and even cultural limitations. Discover the economic and political implications of outsourcing and offshoring, and learn techniques for managing successful deals.
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The increasing use of virtualization allowed managed hosting providers to reduce costs by sharing infrastructure between customers, creating the earliest versions of what is now known as cloud computing. Platforms managed by specialists provide higher service levels, greater ease of secure access, and more manageable costs than many companies can achieve internally. Discover more about Europe’s managed hosting market.
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IT departments rarely have the luxury of spare capacity or sufficient knowledge of all the products and technologies that the rest of the organization expects. However, IT is an integral part of most companies, and supporting diverse or specialized technologies and understanding their impact on the business is necessary. Organizations not only need third parties—they need them to be focused and cost-effective. Learn more.
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As marketing budgets shrink and companies in the corporate services industry aim to leverage their Web sites as less expensive alternatives to traditional marketing tools, Web-site strategy is becoming more important. Web-site strategy must focus on enhancing credibility, strengthening existing relationships, generating leads, and more. Get tips on how to create a Web-site strategy that will help you achieve these goals.
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In today’s demanding project delivery environment, meeting contract deadlines is paramount. Companies are under pressure to rapidly establish plans, isolate deliverables, and deliver quality products. Learn about a project delivery management system that can help you streamline collaboration between business units, ensuring each step is monitored and controlled so you can deliver your project on time and on budget.
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Kempe, a provider of innovative engineering solutions and services for a variety of industries, was using separate systems to manage the financial and operation aspects of the business. These systems were out of date and made accurate financial reporting almost impossible. With the help of a value-added reseller (VAR), Kepme implemented a centralized, integrated solution that stores information in real time. Learn more.
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Do you understand the differences between open source and closed source (proprietary) software? To make an informed decision when choosing between them, you need to know the advantages and disadvantages of each. The main issues in the debate include cost, service and support, innovation, usability, and security. Get a closer look at open source and closed source software solutions so you know what’s right for your needs.
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Since 1996, NumeriX had been using in-house-developed licensing tools to manage and protect its applications. In 2006, it outsourced licensing to a third-party vendor that could provide a scalable solution with two licensing options. After some problems with integration, NumeriX consolidated on one commercial licensing management solution. Find out about the benefits of the licensing solution the company chose.
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The term program management office (PMO) has been around for some time. Its core concepts, methods, and benefits have remained constant, while resources and tools have changed somewhat over the years. But not understanding what a program office is and when it should be leveraged is a common pitfall and reason for failure. Find out more about the program office, and its roles, processes, and responsibilities.
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Currently, India’s population is approximately 1.0009 billion. The middle class is large and still growing; wages were low, but now are some of the best in various industries; many workers are well educated and speak English; and investors are optimistic and local stocks are up. Despite political turmoil, the country presses on with economic reforms. But for potential investors, there’s still cause for worry—find out why.
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Outsourcing can provide management with a powerful tool to control cost and enhance product and service delivery. Yet so many outsourcing initiatives fall short of expectations—why? For one thing, you need to know what you’re getting into, by going through an intense request for proposal (RFP) process and many rounds of contract negotiations. Find out how to better manage negotiating your outsourcing contract, and more.
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The IT field is littered with failed global software integration sagas. The many reasons for these failures include mismatched capabilities, geographical requirements, and project technical management deficiencies. Global software projects should start with in-depth analysis of features and functions, so the software’s capabilities meet corporate requirements. Find out how to avoid a failed software integration project.
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During a recession, successful businesses change their approach to managing information technology (IT) sourcing. The challenge is to become more efficient and invest in IT so the return on investment (ROI) is realized quickly and business competitiveness is improved at lower cost. IT vendor management allows you to build a mutually beneficial relationship with your suppliers and service providers. Find out how.
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Since 1996, Air International US (AIUS) has used an outsourced manufacturing strategy instead of maintaining its own facilities. For the first |