Cisco continues to double down on Cisco Collaboration Cloud offered services and acquisitions of proven technologies with a clear focus of continued market leadership.
Having secure and reliable access to data, prospects, partners and customers from the web is the direction of the future.
There is no question that companies are looking to have tighter integration through unified services that work with their existing and acquired mix of on Priemise and SAAS service platforms.
What's going to be key to break through success? Keeping an open architecture.
The leader in unified communication continues to lead and out pace competitors with consistent innovation and differentiation with new product releases and steady development.
Key your eyes and minds open...... What's next...?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10393138-266.html
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Laggards, Stivers & Leaders
It's been a while since submitted a post however an article I read inspired me to share.
I hope this creates some good dialog within your organiztion.
"For years, marketers have chased the Holy Grail of marketing: To deliver the right message to the right person at the right time through the right medium. Yet, most structure their company around their products or business lines. As a result, they lack a holistic view of their customers and communicate with them from multiple silos. To be successful, marketers must become more customer-centric — which requires the organizational clout and strategic remit to establish customer experience and customer value as key performance indicators. Adopting a customer-centric approach allows marketers to develop strategies that maximize total customer value, ensure consistent management of the customer experience, and provide responsible governance of customer communications."
How customer centric is your marketing?
“We struggle to measure customer engagement. We don’t have a system to manage it,in part because nobody has singular responsibility for managing it. Unfortunately, it’s just not a priority.” (A senior marketer at a high-tech company)
Do you track the "impact" of your marketing activity?
When this question was asked to the head of marketing of a CPG company they honestly state..........
“We do try to track the impact of our marketing activity, but to a large extent we are winging it — we make decisions based on past history, personal preferences, and what our agencies say is working for other clients. Frankly, it’s a lot of trial, error, and guesswork.”
Does measurement drive you budget allocation?
Studies show measurement doesn’t drive budget allocation. Despite the claim that they rely on a systematic approach to marketing measurement, almost two-thirds of marketers (64%) Integrated, Customer-Centric Marketing allocate budget across marketing disciplines based on historical spending, and 56% do so simply based on planned activity (i.e., they use direct mail for acquisition purposes. Why? Because that’s what they do). Media mix modeling — which allows marketers to understand the incremental impact of specific media and activity — is employed by less than a third of respondents.
Marketers are missing the point more than half of the time. When calculating attribution — such as deciding which marketing activity to “credit” for a transaction — more than half of the respondents attribute activity to the most recent touchpoint. If a prospect or customer saw a TV ad, received a direct mail piece, received three emails, and then searched for an item and bought it from their company, the entire “credit” for driving the sale would be
allocated to the firm’s search engine marketing efforts or activity.
Only a third of marketers calculate fractional attribution through models across their activity. Far from enjoying a systematic and consistent approach to marketing measurement, marketers’ entire approach is broken. They emphasize financial criteria, which they fail to measure in a robust and accurate manner, and then they use those findings to plan their budgets for their next campaigns.
Could there be a better way?
If your interested in reading this full article you can click here and download it from Merkle's site.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Merkle, Inc., August 2009
I hope this creates some good dialog within your organiztion.
"For years, marketers have chased the Holy Grail of marketing: To deliver the right message to the right person at the right time through the right medium. Yet, most structure their company around their products or business lines. As a result, they lack a holistic view of their customers and communicate with them from multiple silos. To be successful, marketers must become more customer-centric — which requires the organizational clout and strategic remit to establish customer experience and customer value as key performance indicators. Adopting a customer-centric approach allows marketers to develop strategies that maximize total customer value, ensure consistent management of the customer experience, and provide responsible governance of customer communications."
How customer centric is your marketing?
“We struggle to measure customer engagement. We don’t have a system to manage it,in part because nobody has singular responsibility for managing it. Unfortunately, it’s just not a priority.” (A senior marketer at a high-tech company)
Do you track the "impact" of your marketing activity?
When this question was asked to the head of marketing of a CPG company they honestly state..........
“We do try to track the impact of our marketing activity, but to a large extent we are winging it — we make decisions based on past history, personal preferences, and what our agencies say is working for other clients. Frankly, it’s a lot of trial, error, and guesswork.”
Does measurement drive you budget allocation?
Studies show measurement doesn’t drive budget allocation. Despite the claim that they rely on a systematic approach to marketing measurement, almost two-thirds of marketers (64%) Integrated, Customer-Centric Marketing allocate budget across marketing disciplines based on historical spending, and 56% do so simply based on planned activity (i.e., they use direct mail for acquisition purposes. Why? Because that’s what they do). Media mix modeling — which allows marketers to understand the incremental impact of specific media and activity — is employed by less than a third of respondents.
Marketers are missing the point more than half of the time. When calculating attribution — such as deciding which marketing activity to “credit” for a transaction — more than half of the respondents attribute activity to the most recent touchpoint. If a prospect or customer saw a TV ad, received a direct mail piece, received three emails, and then searched for an item and bought it from their company, the entire “credit” for driving the sale would be
allocated to the firm’s search engine marketing efforts or activity.
Only a third of marketers calculate fractional attribution through models across their activity. Far from enjoying a systematic and consistent approach to marketing measurement, marketers’ entire approach is broken. They emphasize financial criteria, which they fail to measure in a robust and accurate manner, and then they use those findings to plan their budgets for their next campaigns.
Could there be a better way?
If your interested in reading this full article you can click here and download it from Merkle's site.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Merkle, Inc., August 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
SMB's; Several Solutions One Goal! Always Measure.
Driving revenue and making sense of your online marketing is the theme of Silicon Valley based Lyris Inc.
Forrester Research proves Inadequate Customer Intelligence Hinders SMB Marketing Programs.
SMB's are absolutley are seeing the value in taking advantage of the convergence in online marketing but yet find themselves with many under utilized solutions and a scattered strategies.
What does this mean?
Companies are taking the right steps forward; the flips side is if their often left with unmeasurable results and several solution providers.
A conversation I have with hundreds of companies each year is understanding your calculated risk and how to change the fear of the unknown to the known. Measure, Measure, Measure. If you don't have a plan to measure you may be successful but you won't know how to improve!
Tip of the day: Realize the measurements that will make you successful and align yourself with partners and vendors that have a full understanding of your entire vision ad can provide measurable results. Not their measurements but YOURS!
Check out http://www.lyris.com/ they are on of the few I've seen who talk a wholistic approach to online marketing.
Forrester Research proves Inadequate Customer Intelligence Hinders SMB Marketing Programs.
SMB's are absolutley are seeing the value in taking advantage of the convergence in online marketing but yet find themselves with many under utilized solutions and a scattered strategies.
What does this mean?
Companies are taking the right steps forward; the flips side is if their often left with unmeasurable results and several solution providers.
A conversation I have with hundreds of companies each year is understanding your calculated risk and how to change the fear of the unknown to the known. Measure, Measure, Measure. If you don't have a plan to measure you may be successful but you won't know how to improve!
Tip of the day: Realize the measurements that will make you successful and align yourself with partners and vendors that have a full understanding of your entire vision ad can provide measurable results. Not their measurements but YOURS!
Check out http://www.lyris.com/ they are on of the few I've seen who talk a wholistic approach to online marketing.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Unified Communication = Unified Business
A posing question businesses have been asking themselves this year, where do we go from here?
Every decision is critical and can be game changing. There is no mistake cloud based computing (Saas) is taking to market like a bee on a flower; what is time & time again proven result; SWEET HONEY!
Whether you have an allergic reaction or you embrace the benefits competition is fierce. The way partners, customers and individuals communicate now has changed. Instant communication, accessibility from anywhere anytime, any device, virtual collaboration, thought leadership and education is becoming more the norm and vital to remaining competitive. What is unbelievable is you can become more efficient, faster and stronger while reducing costs. Never before have companies had such an opportunity under their nose. What direction is your company headed? What goals do you have set to overcome your challenges? What you don't know can hurt you. Don't get stung; find out what all of the buzz is about.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Social Marketing Generates Creative Juices = Sweet Victory for Marketing
I love creative idea's and innovation! Social networking has undoubtedly taken marketing teams by surprise and has many of us feeling like were chasing our ideas in circles.
Be it product launch, company / industry announcement, discussion boards or event announcements we all want the same thing, more qualified leads, percieved value, market leadership and open communication with our prospects and customers.
With consumed budgets and competitve pressures I'm finding company after company trying to find the best way to captiatlize on the new wave of "social marketing". Is this consuming your time $$$ or maximizing your opportunities $$$?
What businesses small and large are finding is social interaction is taking marketing to a new level, not only can you drive more interest and traffic to your websites but you can also be more engaged with your prospects, have better businesss intellegence and in my estimation, a foundation for better longer term relationships as interests were developed on the basis of open communication.
My favorite example to date is one related to musicians: Bob Lawrence; President of The Dallas School of Music and team have created a very easy to use community portal that interacts with their own MusickED. MusickED is home of the world's best Online Music Lessons. Here you can learn musical concepts and skills using the most innovative Music Curriculum available.
Do you think this will evolve or change as the market changes? You bet, his strategy has already changed since the conception of their first communicty and I expect to hear about more innovation as their creative juices keep flowing!
What do you think?
Be it product launch, company / industry announcement, discussion boards or event announcements we all want the same thing, more qualified leads, percieved value, market leadership and open communication with our prospects and customers.
With consumed budgets and competitve pressures I'm finding company after company trying to find the best way to captiatlize on the new wave of "social marketing". Is this consuming your time $$$ or maximizing your opportunities $$$?
What businesses small and large are finding is social interaction is taking marketing to a new level, not only can you drive more interest and traffic to your websites but you can also be more engaged with your prospects, have better businesss intellegence and in my estimation, a foundation for better longer term relationships as interests were developed on the basis of open communication.
My favorite example to date is one related to musicians: Bob Lawrence; President of The Dallas School of Music and team have created a very easy to use community portal that interacts with their own MusickED. MusickED is home of the world's best Online Music Lessons. Here you can learn musical concepts and skills using the most innovative Music Curriculum available.
Do you think this will evolve or change as the market changes? You bet, his strategy has already changed since the conception of their first communicty and I expect to hear about more innovation as their creative juices keep flowing!
What do you think?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sweeny Research Proves Webex Easy To Use & Effective For Seniors
Sweeney Research says that in January 2009 they had spoken to 400 senior employees, working in Australian businesses with staff strengths that varied between 20 and 200 in number. Of the respondents, 64 percent were in their 40’s and 50’s, and 95 percent of this category worked in an office, and only ten percent invariably worked from home.
Sweeney claims that 70 percent of respondents in all categories were males, 55 percent had children living at home, more than 33 percent were from New South Wales, and 25 percent were from Victoria and Tasmania. Industrial type categorizations were: 23 percent from service and consultancy, 16 percent from manufacturing, 13 percent from construction, and 11 percent from retail.
Other important findings in the research paper, say Cisco officials, were SMB leaders wanted geography independent working platforms that did not affect either work results or the quality of interactions with colleagues, customers and prospects – ten percent of respondents waste more than four hours a week travelling to and from meetings and 20 percent commute two hours to and from work.
Company officials say that in addition 100 percent of respondents work away from their own official premises an average of five times per month, and 35 percent of SMB owners work away from headquarters 12 times a month; close to 100 percent have worked overtime, and nearly 50 percent have worked beyond either side of stipulated work timings; and, more than 50 percent take work home 4 times a month, and 16 percent take work home every day.
The most time consuming tasks, say all respondents unanimously, are preparing reports and presentations, attending internal meetings, training other employees, editing and approving documents, travelling, and attending external meetings.
“ StatSeeker and Kinetic Securities" are strong examples of advanced Australian SMBs who are using online collaboration technology to grow their businesses and simultaneously meet their flexibility and productivity needs,” said Adams.
StatSeeker is a network monitoring company based in Brisbane with 17 employees and claims that 98 percent of its clientele are from overseas. It says that by using the Cisco WebEx collaboration technology it has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by preventing its staff from moving out of office on work, and has also been able to expand its business reach in all directions in countries outside Australia.
"Being able to connect with clients remotely at any time makes the company more approachable and accessible, giving us a competitive advantage,” said Jay Pace, Private Client Advisor for Kinetic Securities. “WebEx is also a great warm-up for prospects, allowing them to see us, hear about what we do, and what we can offer them, virtually simulating the face-to-face experience. We also use WebEx to communicate between our offices, especially about product updates. Overall, the best part is its cost effectiveness and allows us to gauge the prospects' interest level, helping us decide whether it's worthwhile to organise a physical meeting."
Sweeney claims that 70 percent of respondents in all categories were males, 55 percent had children living at home, more than 33 percent were from New South Wales, and 25 percent were from Victoria and Tasmania. Industrial type categorizations were: 23 percent from service and consultancy, 16 percent from manufacturing, 13 percent from construction, and 11 percent from retail.
Other important findings in the research paper, say Cisco officials, were SMB leaders wanted geography independent working platforms that did not affect either work results or the quality of interactions with colleagues, customers and prospects – ten percent of respondents waste more than four hours a week travelling to and from meetings and 20 percent commute two hours to and from work.
Company officials say that in addition 100 percent of respondents work away from their own official premises an average of five times per month, and 35 percent of SMB owners work away from headquarters 12 times a month; close to 100 percent have worked overtime, and nearly 50 percent have worked beyond either side of stipulated work timings; and, more than 50 percent take work home 4 times a month, and 16 percent take work home every day.
The most time consuming tasks, say all respondents unanimously, are preparing reports and presentations, attending internal meetings, training other employees, editing and approving documents, travelling, and attending external meetings.
“ StatSeeker and Kinetic Securities" are strong examples of advanced Australian SMBs who are using online collaboration technology to grow their businesses and simultaneously meet their flexibility and productivity needs,” said Adams.
StatSeeker is a network monitoring company based in Brisbane with 17 employees and claims that 98 percent of its clientele are from overseas. It says that by using the Cisco WebEx collaboration technology it has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by preventing its staff from moving out of office on work, and has also been able to expand its business reach in all directions in countries outside Australia.
"Being able to connect with clients remotely at any time makes the company more approachable and accessible, giving us a competitive advantage,” said Jay Pace, Private Client Advisor for Kinetic Securities. “WebEx is also a great warm-up for prospects, allowing them to see us, hear about what we do, and what we can offer them, virtually simulating the face-to-face experience. We also use WebEx to communicate between our offices, especially about product updates. Overall, the best part is its cost effectiveness and allows us to gauge the prospects' interest level, helping us decide whether it's worthwhile to organise a physical meeting."
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Cisco Continues to Pioneer Next-Generation Data Centers
Cisco is pioneering the development of next-generation data centers that unleash the full power of virtualization. It recently unveiled its vision of Unified Computing, an evolutionary data center architecture which unites compute, network, storage access, and virtualization resources in a single cohesive system.
Tidal Software's intelligent solutions will advance Cisco's data center strategy by providing timely, accurate and cost-efficient management and automation of application performance across entire business operations
With the close of the acquisition, the Tidal Software team becomes part of the Cisco Advanced Services organization.
Tidal Software's intelligent solutions will advance Cisco's data center strategy by providing timely, accurate and cost-efficient management and automation of application performance across entire business operations
With the close of the acquisition, the Tidal Software team becomes part of the Cisco Advanced Services organization.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Big $ Incentives And Practice Gains For Physicians Who Change to Electronic Health Records
Signed into law on February 17, 2009, the ARRA provides physicians a maximum of between $44,000 and $64,000 in incentives for adopting and demonstrating "meaningful use" of an Electronic Health Record beginning in fiscal 2011. Recent studies have demonstrated that physicians who use a connected Electronic Health Record believe the technology dramatically improves the practice of medicine. One such survey of 2,758 physicians, published in the June 18, 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that physicians who use a fully functional Electronic Health Record reported the system positively affects the quality of their clinical decisions (82 percent), their ability to avoid medication errors (86 percent), their communication with other providers (97 percent) and patients (72 percent), timely access to medical records (97 percent), and the delivery of long-term and preventive care that meets clinical guidelines (82-85 percent).
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Transformation To Cloud Services Is Here
Continued market trend awareness, trail blazing, innovation, and market leadership could not more descriptive of Cisco Systems, Inc.
Today, Cisco Announces the Cisco Unified Service Delivery solution.
The Unified Service Delivery solution combines the power of the SP data center and the strength of the network. The Cisco Unified Service Delivery solution unifies compute, LAN and storage resources virtually via a unique unified network fabric. This helps enable service providers to optimally utilize pools of resources within any given data center, apply them to any service offering, or interconnect their data center islands to further combine resources and reduce capital and operational costs. This solution provides peering and interconnect capabilities between service provider data centers and partners facilities, allowing service integration, flexibility and agility for provisioning entertainment, information and communication-based services. The Cisco Unified Service Delivery solution enables a secure virtual experience by utilizing a highly secure virtual architecture that facilitates logical separation of services, helping provide privacy for business and residential customers.
Today, Cisco Announces the Cisco Unified Service Delivery solution.
The Unified Service Delivery solution combines the power of the SP data center and the strength of the network. The Cisco Unified Service Delivery solution unifies compute, LAN and storage resources virtually via a unique unified network fabric. This helps enable service providers to optimally utilize pools of resources within any given data center, apply them to any service offering, or interconnect their data center islands to further combine resources and reduce capital and operational costs. This solution provides peering and interconnect capabilities between service provider data centers and partners facilities, allowing service integration, flexibility and agility for provisioning entertainment, information and communication-based services. The Cisco Unified Service Delivery solution enables a secure virtual experience by utilizing a highly secure virtual architecture that facilitates logical separation of services, helping provide privacy for business and residential customers.
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