How CRM Data Updates Lead to Data Corruption
In theory, it's best to clear all your database transactions as soon as you can, keeping the tables up to date so that you don't have to worry about data integrity or time-smear problems. It's not...
View Article3 Deep, Dark Secrets of Cloud Computing
Everybody uses the cloud. How can there be any secrets? Many companies had to learn these three little lessons the hard way, but there's no reason your business can't learn from those mistakes.The...
View ArticleWhy CRM Security Is Always a 'Role'-Your-Own Project
With most enterprise applications, the security model can be simply user/group/world. It can't be all that complicated with CRM, right? Think again.CRM systems are the most political of all enterprise...
View ArticleWhy 'Agile Project Management Controls' Isn't an Oxymoron
George Carlin made phrases like 'jumbo shrimp' famous. But the need to control agile projects is no joke. Ask the right questions along the way, though, and you'll bring order to a process than can...
View ArticleSocial Data Warehousing Is Worth the Trouble
Everybody knows data warehousing is big data. But when you want to understand what's really going on with your customers' social interactions, terabytes may seem small. It's a laborious process, but...
View ArticleTime and Distance Enemies of Agile Project Management
f you haven't read Nassim Taleb 'Anti-Fragile,' it's time to break out your e-reader. Big software projects are constitutionally doomed because they're fragile. Agile may be the way to go, but what can...
View ArticleHow IT Can Scare Off BYOD Monsters in the Closet
When it comes to security risks, BYOD is the gift that keeps on giving. But what about the devices that your employees used to use, gave up on and, months later, finally dug out of the closet to sell?...
View ArticleWhy CRM Implementation Needs Training Wheels, Not Racing Gear
If it's true that the best CRM systems are built, not bought, then which features should you be building? And how should you build them? As with riding a bike, implementing a CRM system gets much...
View ArticleWhy the Last Mile of CRM Implementation Is the Hardest
In broadband networking, the last-mile problem is getting from the big pipes to the end user at a reasonable cost. The last mile in CRM is getting data from users' favorite application -- email -- into...
View ArticleWhy CRM Financial Analysis Always Fails
A smart person once said, 'As long as you're asking the wrong questions, it doesn't matter what answers you come up with.' When it comes to making the business case for CRM, the CFO is likely to ask...
View ArticleAre Purchasing Practices Killing Your Software Projects?
Alan Shepard famously said, 'It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract.' Don't let the purchasing...
View Article23 Signs Your Cloud Project May Be in Trouble
On many an old map, unknown territories were marked, 'Here be dragons!' Sure, it's actionable, but it's not very informative. Centuries later, do we have the same problem with software project...
View ArticleIn CRM Software, Cost Control Is Impulse Control
Behavioral economics has proven that we're all pretty bad at making rational decisions. So what are you supposed to do about it? Make the people who want shiny new software pay for it themselves.The...
View ArticleBest practices for cloud spring cleaning
Even the cloud needs spring cleaning. And the cleanup isn’t the refactoring and data quality work that you already know about. Those “big animals” are hard to miss, and now we need to pay attention to...
View ArticleThe dirty secrets of project management revealed
For business systems, the project go-live date really does matter — and project managers seem willing to sacrifice budget limits more often than they’re willing to blow past a scheduled deadline....
View Article5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce
Dreamforce is not just a tradeshow. It’s practically a cultural phenomenon (bring on the ukuleles!), and it certainly has a significant impact on the economy of San Francisco. Whether you go in...
View ArticleHow to fix a broken CRM pipeline
For a company’s executive management and all members of the sales team, a CRM system proves its value by improving the quality of the sales pipeline and the efficiency of closing those deals. Sure, a...
View ArticleCloud coding pitfalls: Tips for avoiding big, bad bugs
According to this ACM article, the seven coding constructs that have been the most frequent source of bugs are function calls, assignments, conditions, pointers, uses of NULL, variable declarations,...
View ArticleWhy 'Agile Project Management Controls' Isn't an Oxymoron
George Carlin made phrases like 'jumbo shrimp' famous. But the need to control agile projects is no joke. Ask the right questions along the way, though, and you'll bring order to a process than can...
View ArticleSocial Data Warehousing Is Worth the Trouble
Everybody knows data warehousing is big data. But when you want to understand what's really going on with your customers' social interactions, terabytes may seem small. It's a laborious process, but...
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