Capital Insights - Cloud 360° view

The Figure shows how companies can overcome the challenges of cloud computing. The inner circle show the four key challenges:

• Cloud Assurance
• Cloud Positioning
• Cloud Provisioning
• Cloud Realization

While the outer circle outlines 16 specific areas within those challenges that corporates need to focus on to effectively manage their journey through the cloud.

Source: Ernst & Young (Capital Insights)

Using Mobile Technology in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) by Jose Ferreiro

Integrating mobile technology into an organization's CRM systems enables the organization to increase its responsiveness to customers. There are three key concepts to consider before creating a strategy for integrating mobile technology into an existing CRM system.

Key concepts of mobile CRM

 

Mobile devices build CRM databases

Customer information received through mobile devices can add to CRM databases. A part of Knowledge management (KM) and CRM integration is the constant addition of information to the searchable repository.

When you develop mobile CRM, you can use every mobile device as one more point of contact with your customers. So, for every query made via a mobile device, customers provide data which gets added to the CRM bank.

 

Customer opt-in leads to CRM penetration 

Many mobile providers require customers to choose to opt-in when subscribing, or to give their permission to receive offers and advertisements via their mobile devices. This additional point of contact allows for deeper CRM system penetration. In other words, more information can be passed back and forth to your customers.

This new channel for customers to receive messages, offers, deals, and ads can quickly add up in sales figures or brand recognition.

 

Personal technology increases CRM value 

 

Many mobile device users regard their phone as a much more personal device than, for example, their e-mail or their television. That's why the one-to-one personal nature of mobile technology increases its value.

Receiving a message through a mobile device taps into that personal nature of the technology. People are less likely to immediately dismiss a message via their mobile device. This enables mobile CRM to make a personal connection with the customer.

Keyword: Customer-focused Interaction

My first QR code by Jose Ferreiro

Visit a free online QR code generator and type your URL. Just save the image and use it on your document or website.
I used this website : http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Microsoft's Surface tablet: an iPad-killer?

Microsoft unveiled the Surface table on 18 June 2012. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's executive chief dit it! The device will for the first time containg both hardware and software engineered by a company (Microsoft). The device is thin and light, with specifications very similar to the newest iPad, which went on sale in March. With the Surface, Microsoft's Mr. Ballmer sait it built its tablet as a way to show off its new Windows 8 operating system can do.It has to be noted that until now the smartphones and tablets have received the most consumer attention. The Surface will be released later this year, leading the charge of computers and touch-screen tablets built using its new Windows RT and Windows 8 operating systems.

Customs System through the Cloud: Trans-Kalahari Corridor (TKC)

The Trans-Kalahari Corridor is a paved highway corridor that provides a direct route from Walvis Bay and Windhoek in central Namibia, through Botswana, to Johannesburg and Pretoria in Gauteng province in South Africa. The corridor also includes railway lines from Walvis Bay as far as Gobabis in Namibia, and from Johannesburg as far as Lobatse in Botswana. It was officially opened in 1998.

Last year (2011) at the World Customs Organization IT conference in Seattle (USA), Microsoft announces the launch of a pilot "cloud computing" project based on Azure technologies between Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. A pilot programme to link the ASYCUDA systems of Namibia and Botswana via Microsoft’s Cloud Computing technology. Both Microsoft and USAID are partners in this initiative seeking to enable the two customs systems to communicate with each other through a secure portal.

This year (2012) at the World Customs Organization IT conference in Tallinn (Estonia),
progresses about this pilot cloud computing solution have been shown at Microsoft's booth.

Also, FTW Online recently published an update on recent developments occurring along the Trans-Kalahari Corridor. It suggests that customs systems throughout the SADC region could soon be talking to each other through the Internet, if the pilot project between Namibia and Botswana is successful.

Career Positioning Strategy: Success & Fulfillment

Two key learning from industrial restructuring:
1. Do not take a job you cannot afford to lose. Otherwise you will make everything to stay that could be bad for your carrier and health.
2. People are hired thanks to their technical skills but are fired because of their soft skills.