© BITSoftware

SAP CRM is pursuing a new strategy in customer relationship management that is based on the concept of "social CRM." This is a big buzzword in business today, because it describes the methods that companies are using to deal with the implications of customers who have increasing control over the marketing and interaction around their online brands. Brand reputation, sales, service issues and loyalty are all more sensitive to the influence of customers' opinions and interactions online then ever before.

Thanks to social media, customer comments about products and brands are being amplified to have a much greater influence other people's purchasing decisions. Customers increasingly use the social media channels and online communities like Facebook and Twitter to consider the opinion of others in their decision-making process, and this is equally true of B2B and consumer companies.

© Infusionsoft

In the latest CRM software news, Gartner CRM SaaS vendor market guide has just listed smartFOCUS, which is a global provider of multi-channel marketing software. The vendor market guide is a comprehensive list of vendors that offer CRM software as a deployment option. Garnter notes that the number of CRM vendors that provide software as a service continues to grow, but some segments of the market like sales force automation have many vendor alternatives, while other segments like campaign management have few.

In the call center realm of CRM, BenchmarkPortal featured the its CEO and Service Agility's President on its monthly CallTalk show in April, which is broadcast directly over the internet. The show was titled "Go With the Flow: Tips for Optimal IVR Call Flow Design". The two executives discussed the basics of IVRs and offered tips for getting the best out of IVR deployment in a call center.

© 4nitsirk

The French software company BonitaSoft has released a new version of its Bonita Open Solution BPM suite that offers additional development and testing tools. The new features in the 5.5 version include document management software with an integrated content repository that enables document management within processes.

This includes an implementation of the xCMIS content management interoperability specification (CMIS) from eXo. Decision tables are also included that allow users to define business rules without relying on an external system or having to do any hard coding. The Drools business rules engine connector has also been made available. However, Bonita Studio now features a new debugger which gives developers the option of not using connectors with external systems. This added flexibility makes it easier then ever to create more powerful, custom-built BPM applications.