As vendors jockey for position in the crowded midmarket enterprise applications field, their customers are reaping the benefits in rapid product enhancements. Six ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) software makers are currently in the midst of major software releases, bringing deeper integration options and added customization features to their applications.
NetSuite went live recently with Version 10.6 of its hosted sales, ERP, and e-commerce applications suite. The update includes broader support for AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language), allowing Web pages to update immediately -- without a complete page reload -- in response to user actions.
“It’s a huge performance issue,” said NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson. “Transactions that might have taken five seconds are instantaneous.”
NetSuite has also extended its integration with third-party programs such as Microsoft’s Outlook and Excel, allowing data to automatically flow from NetSuite to Excel in order to update models and other analytical tools. A new tool called Custom Center lets developers build custom user interfaces.
Open-source CRM software maker SugarCRM is preparing to launch an enterprise version of its software, adding Oracle 9i support, an offline client, and advanced reporting functionality. A beta version of Sugar Enterprise Edition is available now, with general availability set for Aug. 15. Sugar Enterprise Edition is priced at $449 per user per year, while Sugar Professional Edition costs $239 per year. Sugar also offers a free, open source version of its software.
SugarCRM is also adding to all of its editions a new “module loader” feature to enable quick installation of third-party software extensions. So far, open source developers have created add-ons for SugarCRM, such as language-translation packs, Java-synchronization tools, and timesheet-management features.
RightNow Technologies rolled out the latest version of its hosted CRM service last week. The new version tightens integration between RightNow Sales and Microsoft Outlook, and improves data synchronization in RightNow’s offline client.
New features in RightNow Marketing include the addition of SMS (Short Message Service) marketing as a delivery channel and more granular response-tracking mechanisms that can be embedded directly in e-mail messages and other customer communications.
One RightNow customer, industrial supplies wholesaler Beco Holding, has been testing RightNow 7.5 and hopes to push the deployment into production this week. The company began using RightNow Marketing last year to manage the newsletters and product pricing e-mail campaigns it sends to its list of 40,000 customers, said Karen Brinson Yates, application coordination manager at Beco Holding.
Yates particularly likes the way the new version of RightNow handles e-mail response tracking. The software now automatically tracks click-throughs on any URL included in an e-mail message; previously users had to create tracking links manually.
“I pulled up a document I sent out and I could see the tracking link report by clicking right on the actual document -- I didn’t have to go looking in a second report,” Yates said. “To be able to have that in an e-mail blast is fantastic.”
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