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(Nasdaq: MSFT) and Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) on Wednesday announced an agreement with 24 Hour Fitness, one of the nation’s largest privately owned and operated fitness chains, to deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Adobe Experience Cloud across its network of more than 420 clubs nationwide. This will enable 24 Hour Fitness to dramatically enhance its ability to offer more personalized and unified digital experiences for members throughout every touch point in their fitness journey. With technology integrations across Microsoft business applications and Adobe Experience Cloud, 24 Hour Fitness is investing in a combined cloud platform to engage its members and prospects with highly personalized experiences.</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \"><br /></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; \">“We have an opportunity to establish a new bar across the industry by delivering personalized digital interactions to our members that are available 24 hours a day, at home, on the road or in the gym,” said Frank Napolitano, president, 24 Hour Fitness. “It’s not an easy feat to achieve this with nearly 4 million members. Adobe is empowering us to create mass consumer personalization that scales, all utilizing the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform. In doing so, we are better positioned to serve our members the workouts and health and fitness guidance they truly want and need.”</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \"><br /></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \">24 Hour Fitness is undertaking a journey to digitally transform its operations by combining functional departments to provide a single view of members and guests, messaging, and performance. Integrated cloud solutions from Adobe and Microsoft will help 24 Hour Fitness with scale, security and outreach along with AI and machine learnings to streamline its business and connect more deliberately to its members.</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \"><br /></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; \">“Adobe and Microsoft are at the center of how we bring in relevant data, draw intelligent insights, and then how we act upon those insights across all our channels holistically,” said Tom Lapcevic, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, 24 Hour Fitness. “Our mission is to help people improve their lives every day through fitness, both inside and outside our clubs. So, whether it be email communications with a member, a mobile push notification or an SMS communication, we make sure that all our channels are in sync with what the needs of that individual are. It’s about giving every one of our members and guests a better and more personalized experience — and ultimately the results they desire.”</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \"><br /></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \">24 Hour Fitness already leverages Adobe Campaign for email, SMS and mobile push messaging, and Adobe Target for personalization across channels. Integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales will enable 24 Hour Fitness to leverage sales data for member and guest insights, providing a single view of the customer that can be used to personalize experiences. For example, 24 Hour Fitness can customize offers, such as personal training recommendations based on loyalty, interests and geography. In addition, the 24 Hour Fitness 24GO custom coaching platform, powered by Adobe Experience Manager for content management and delivery, combined with Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides custom workouts, at-home programming, progress and goal tracking, and class schedules — all within a single dashboard. 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More information on these joint solutions can be found here.</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \"><br /></span>","alias":"adobe-experience-cloud-microsoft-dynamics-365-for-24-hour-fitness","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Adobe Experience Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement","keywords":"Adobe Experience Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Customer Engagement, Customer, Fitness, custom workouts, at-home programming, progress, goal tracking, class schedules, mobile push notification, SMS communication","description":"<span style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); \">Microsoft Corp. 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It’s everything you need to orchestrate a great customer experience.\r\nTailored experiences for every industry:\r\n<ul><li>&nbsp;Financial Services</li><li>&nbsp;Government</li><li>&nbsp;High tech</li><li>&nbsp;Manufacturing</li><li>&nbsp;Media &amp; Entertainment</li><li>&nbsp;Retail</li><li>&nbsp;Telecommunications</li><li>&nbsp;Travel &amp; hospitality</li><li>&nbsp;Healthcare</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","shortDescription":"Adobe Experience Cloud gives you access to an integrated set of solutions to build campaigns, manage your advertising, and gain deep intelligence about your business. 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"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1568,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":52,"title":"SaaS - software as a service","alias":"saas-software-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Software as a service (SaaS)</span> is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as &quot;on-demand software&quot;, and was formerly referred to as &quot;software plus services&quot; by Microsoft.\r\n SaaS services is typically accessed by users using a thin client, e.g. via a web browser. SaaS software solutions has become a common delivery model for many business applications, including office software, messaging software, payroll processing software, DBMS software, management software, CAD software, development software, gamification, virtualization, accounting, collaboration, customer relationship management (CRM), Management Information Systems (MIS), enterprise resource planning (ERP), invoicing, human resource management (HRM), talent acquisition, learning management systems, content management (CM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and service desk management. SaaS has been incorporated into the strategy of nearly all leading enterprise software companies.\r\nSaaS applications are also known as <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Web-based software</span>, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">on-demand software</span> and<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> hosted software</span>.\r\nThe term &quot;Software as a Service&quot; (SaaS) is considered to be part of the nomenclature of cloud computing, along with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS),managed software as a service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), and information technology management as a service (ITMaaS).\r\nBecause SaaS is based on cloud computing it saves organizations from installing and running applications on their own systems. That eliminates or at least reduces the associated costs of hardware purchases and maintenance and of software and support. The initial setup cost for a SaaS application is also generally lower than it for equivalent enterprise software purchased via a site license.\r\nSometimes, the use of SaaS cloud software can also reduce the long-term costs of software licensing, though that depends on the pricing model for the individual SaaS offering and the enterprise’s usage patterns. In fact, it’s possible for SaaS to cost more than traditional software licenses. This is an area IT organizations should explore carefully.<br />SaaS also provides enterprises the flexibility inherent with cloud services: they can subscribe to a SaaS offering as needed rather than having to buy software licenses and install the software on a variety of computers. The savings can be substantial in the case of applications that require new hardware purchases to support the software.<br /><br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Who uses SaaS?</span></h1>\r\nIndustry analyst Forrester Research notes that SaaS adoption has so far been concentrated mostly in human resource management (HRM), customer relationship management (CRM), collaboration software (e.g., email), and procurement solutions, but is poised to widen. Today it’s possible to have a data warehouse in the cloud that you can access with business intelligence software running as a service and connect to your cloud-based ERP like NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics.The dollar savings can run into the millions. And SaaS installations are often installed and working in a fraction of the time of on-premises deployments—some can be ready in hours. \r\nSales and marketing people are likely familiar with Salesforce.com, the leading SaaS CRM software, with millions of users across more than 100,000 customers. Sales is going SaaS too, with apps available to support sales in order management, compensation, quote production and configure, price, quoting, electronic signatures, contract management and more.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why SaaS? Benefits of software as a service</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lower cost of entry</span>. With SaaS solution, you pay for what you need, without having to buy hardware to host your new applications. Instead of provisioning internal resources to install the software, the vendor provides APIs and performs much of the work to get their software working for you. The time to a working solution can drop from months in the traditional model to weeks, days or hours with the SaaS model. In some businesses, IT wants nothing to do with installing and running a sales app. In the case of funding software and its implementation, this can be a make-or-break issue for the sales and marketing budget, so the lower cost really makes the difference.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduced time to benefit/rapid prototyping</span>. In the SaaS model, the software application is already installed and configured. Users can provision the server for the cloud and quickly have the application ready for use. This cuts the time to benefit and allows for rapid demonstrations and prototyping. With many SaaS companies offering free trials, this means a painless proof of concept and discovery phase to prove the benefit to the organization. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Pay as you go</span>. SaaS business software gives you the benefit of predictable costs both for the subscription and to some extent, the administration. Even as you scale, you can have a clear idea of what your costs will be. This allows for much more accurate budgeting, especially as compared to the costs of internal IT to manage upgrades and address issues for an owned instance.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The SaaS vendor is responsible for upgrades, uptime and security</span>. Under the SaaS model, since the software is hosted by the vendor, they take on the responsibility for maintaining the software and upgrading it, ensuring that it is reliable and meeting agreed-upon service level agreements, and keeping the application and its data secure.&nbsp; While some IT people worry about Software as a Service security outside of the enterprise walls, the likely truth is that the vendor has a much higher level of security than the enterprise itself would provide. Many will have redundant instances in very secure data centers in multiple geographies.&nbsp; Also, the data is being automatically backed up by the vendor, providing additional security and peace of mind. Because of the data center hosting, you’re getting the added benefit of at least some disaster recovery. Lastly, the vendor manages these issues as part of their core competencies—let them.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Integration and scalability.</span> Most SaaS apps are designed to support some amount of customization for the way you do business. SaaS vendors create APIs to allow connections not only to internal applications like ERPs or CRMs but also to other SaaS providers. One of the terrific aspects of integration is that orders written in the field can be automatically sent to the ERP. Now a salesperson in the field can check inventory through the catalog, write the order in front of the customer for approval, send it and receive confirmation, all in minutes. And as you scale with a SaaS vendor, there’s no need to invest in server capacity and software licenses. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Work anywhere</span>. Since the software is hosted in the cloud and accessible over the internet, users can access it via mobile devices wherever they are connected. This includes checking customer order histories prior to a sales call, as well as having access to real time data and real time order taking with the customer.</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/SaaS__1_.png"},{"id":146,"title":"ECM - Enterprise Content Management","alias":"ecm-enterprise-content-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise content management (ECM)</span> extends the concept of content management by adding a time line for each content item and possibly enforcing processes for the creation, approval and distribution of them. Systems that implement ECM generally provide a secure repository for managed items, be they analog or digital, that indexes them. They also include one or more methods for importing content to bring new items under management and several presentation methods to make items available for use. The key feature of ECM that distinguishes it from &quot;simple&quot; content management is that an ECM is at least cognizant of the processes and procedures of the enterprise it is created for, and as such is particular to it. \r\nECM as an umbrella term covers enterprise document management system, Web content management, search, collaboration, records management, digital asset management (DAM), workflow management, capture and scanning. ECM is primarily aimed at managing the life-cycle of information from initial publication or creation all the way through archival and eventual disposal. ECM enterprise content management software is delivered in four ways:\r\n- on-premises software (installed on an organization's own network)\r\n- software as a service (SaaS) (Web access to information that is stored on a software manufacturer's system)\r\n- a hybrid composed of both on-premises and SaaS components\r\n- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) (which refers to online services that abstract the user from the details of infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc.)\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ECM provides</span> a centralized platform where content can be held and disseminated in a manner that meets regulatory compliance requirements and risk management guidelines. An ECM achieves the latter two benefits by eliminating ad hoc processes that can expose an enterprise to regulatory compliance risks and other potential problems. Full-function enterprise content management solutions include features such as content taxonomies, auditing capabilities, check-in/check-out and other workflow controls and security mechanisms.\r\nAn <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">effective ECM </span>can streamline access and business processes, eliminate bottlenecks by reducing storage, as well as paper and mailing needs, optimize security, maintain integrity and minimize overhead. All of these can lead to increased productivity. The first step is to document all the types of content that the organization deals with, the business processes its part of and who handles the content. \r\nECM software can be used to identify duplicate and near-duplicate content, allowing the organization to keep a few copies of a particular piece of content instead of hundreds. The best ECM software extends the reach of traditional ECM capabilities into previously isolated applications and information silos, such as ERP, CRM, SCM and HCM, to take the shape of a content services platform. Information can now flow across the enterprise to the people and processes—when, where and in whatever context it is needed.\r\nTo understand more specific ways it could help your company, consider these <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">three types of ECM</span> software solutions.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web Content Management.</span> WCM puts control over the look and feel of a website in the hands of specific, key people. It’s used by organizations with relatively complex websites and strict brand guidelines, giving those key personnel the means to easily update, modify and publish content for the sites while adhering to the guidelines.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Collaborative Content Management.</span> CCM enables multiple people to access and modify a single document, such as a legal document. It’s ideal for organizations that must manage projects involving multiple stakeholders. CCM makes it easy to work together while keeping track of, and updating, the most-current version of the document.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Transactional Content Management.</span> This type of ECM document management is designed for organizations that repeatedly use varied types of content, including records, paper documents, and digital files. TCM solutions capture content from various channels, classify it, store it, create an automated workflow to ensure the right user receives the content at the right time, and even deletes documents when they’re no longer needed, all while working seamlessly with other apps and databases, ensuring all of that content is available throughout the company.<br /><br /><br />\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM)?</span></h1>\r\nEnterprise Content Management is the organization of structured and unstructured documents using technology and software that allows your organization to “work smarter, not harder.” As technology advanced and everything became digital, organizations needed a new way to store and access files, leading to the creation of ECM. \r\nECM document management system consists of four main points:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Capture:</span> Capturing information from hardcopy documents or online forms and transferring it into the system</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Manage:</span> Managing the captured data in a structured format that allows quick and easy retrieval</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Storing:</span> Securely storing files in a central repository that can be accessed from multiple locations</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Delivery:</span> Implementation of business process workflows to automatically move documents from one step to the next</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Five ways ECM software can benefit your organization</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Basic file sharing and library services.</span> At its core, enterprise document management software begins with basic file sharing and library services managed within a networked repository. Individuals and groups with predefined access rights and permissions can access the repository and then create, read, update and delete files stored within it.\r\nMany ECM applications support Content Management Interoperability Services, an industry standard that allows different vendors' products to interoperate; this is an essential capability within large enterprises that maintain content management tools from multiple vendors.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content governance, compliance and records management.</span> For many organizations, managing business documents or other content types is a critical use case for ECM. Companies subject to compliance or other industry regulations need document content management system software to capture, manage, archive and ultimately dispose of files after a predefined period.\r\nECM can ensure that only individuals with predefined permissions - determined by access controls - can update or view documents stored within a repository. An organization can thus manage document modification.\r\nIn addition, enterprise content management tools can log all actions, providing an organization with the capabilities to maintain an auditable record of all the changes to documents within the repository.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Business process management.</span> Companies also use ECM to establish workflows that span departments and geographies to support extended enterprise and inter-enterprise business processes.\r\nMost ECM software provides tools to help both technical and non-technical business users define business processes. Most applications provide audit controls to track each step of the process and analytic capabilities to help identify inefficiencies and streamline business procedures.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content repositories linked to other enterprise applications.</span> Some companies use electronic content management software as a repository for documents created by other enterprise applications, including CRM, ERP, HR and financial systems. These enterprise systems can seamlessly access, view or modify content managed by the ECM.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enabling mobile and remote workforces.</span> Content management tools often include functionality to allow remote workers to access content from mobile devices. This is an increasingly important feature for many companies.\r\nMobile capabilities also enable new kinds of data capture and presentation functionalities. By combining content management capabilities with other data, for example, a political canvasser can use a tablet to enter new information about a political donor without having to start from scratch, as some of that information is already stored in a content management system. \r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ECM_-_Enterprise_Content_Management.png"},{"id":69,"title":"Business Analytics","alias":"business-analytics","description":"Business Analytics is “the study of data through statistical and operations analysis, the formation of predictive models, application of optimization techniques, and the communication of these results to customers, business partners, and college executives.” Business Analytics requires quantitative methods and evidence-based data for business modeling and decision making; as such, Business Analytics requires the use of Big Data.\r\nSAS describes Big Data as “a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis.” What’s important to keep in mind about Big Data is that the amount of data is not as important to an organization as the analytics that accompany it. When companies analyze Big Data, they are using Business Analytics to get the insights required for making better business decisions and strategic moves.\r\nCompanies use Business Analytics (BA) to make data-driven decisions. The insight gained by BA enables these companies to automate and optimize their business processes. In fact, data-driven companies that utilize Business Analytics achieve a competitive advantage because they are able to use the insights to:\r\n<ul><li>Conduct data mining (explore data to find new patterns and relationships)</li><li>Complete statistical analysis and quantitative analysis to explain why certain results occur</li><li>Test previous decisions using A/B testing and multivariate testing</li><li>Make use of predictive modeling and predictive analytics to forecast future results</li></ul>\r\nBusiness Analytics also provides support for companies in the process of making proactive tactical decisions, and BA makes it possible for those companies to automate decision making in order to support real-time responses.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What does Business Analytics (BA) mean?</span>\r\nBusiness analytics (BA) refers to all the methods and techniques that are used by an organization to measure performance. Business analytics are made up of statistical methods that can be applied to a specific project, process or product. Business analytics can also be used to evaluate an entire company. Business analytics are performed in order to identify weaknesses in existing processes and highlight meaningful data that will help an organization prepare for future growth and challenges.\r\nThe need for good business analytics has spurred the creation of business analytics software and enterprise platforms that mine an organization’s data in order to automate some of these measures and pick out meaningful insights.\r\nAlthough the term has become a bit of a buzzword, business analytics are a vital part of any business. Business analytics make up a large portion of decision support systems, continuous improvement programs and many of the other techniques used to keep a business competitive. Consequently, accurate business analytics like efficiency measures and capacity utilization rates are the first step to properly implementing these techniques.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Business_Analytics.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1575,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics 365","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":1,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-365","companyTypes":[],"description":"\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Sales</span></p>\r\n<p>Empower sellers with insights to personalize relationships, predict customer needs, and increase sales.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Retail</span></p>\r\n<p>Create personalized shopping experiences that unify digital, in-store, and back office operations.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Customer Service</span></p>\r\n<p>Exceed customer expectations across self and assisted support with empowered agents that deliver personalized experiences.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Field Service</span></p>\r\n<p>Serve customers better through proactive maintenance, predictive scheduling, and first-time fix.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation</span></p>\r\n<p>Deliver customer projects on-time, within budget, and become a trusted advisor.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations</span></p>\r\n<p>Modernize your business operations across finance, manufacturing, and supply chain to drive new growth.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Talent</span></p>\r\n<p>Attract the right people and seamlessly onboard, engage, and grow your talent.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Adobe Marketing Cloud</span></p>\r\n<p>Deliver personalized experiences throughout your marketing and sales engagements at scale with Dynamics 365 and Adobe.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Marketing</span></p>\r\n<p>Increase demand by automating tasks from multi-channel campaigns to events with an application built on the same platform as Dynamics 365 for Sales.</p>\r\n","shortDescription":"Microsoft Dynamics 365 is unified CRM and ERP capabilities — modern, intelligent cloud applications that help move your business forward.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":19,"sellingCount":0,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics 365","keywords":"","description":"\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Sales</span></p>\r\n<p>Empower sellers with insights to personalize relationships, predict customer needs, and increase sales.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Retail</span></p>\r\n<p>","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics 365","og:description":"\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Sales</span></p>\r\n<p>Empower sellers with insights to personalize relationships, predict customer needs, and increase sales.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Retail</span></p>\r\n<p>"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1576,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"planned","statusLabel":"Planned","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":7,"title":"Improve Customer Service"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":389,"title":"Customer attrition"},{"id":390,"title":"Low quality of customer support"}]}},"categories":[{"id":52,"title":"SaaS - software as a service","alias":"saas-software-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Software as a service (SaaS)</span> is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as &quot;on-demand software&quot;, and was formerly referred to as &quot;software plus services&quot; by Microsoft.\r\n SaaS services is typically accessed by users using a thin client, e.g. via a web browser. SaaS software solutions has become a common delivery model for many business applications, including office software, messaging software, payroll processing software, DBMS software, management software, CAD software, development software, gamification, virtualization, accounting, collaboration, customer relationship management (CRM), Management Information Systems (MIS), enterprise resource planning (ERP), invoicing, human resource management (HRM), talent acquisition, learning management systems, content management (CM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and service desk management. SaaS has been incorporated into the strategy of nearly all leading enterprise software companies.\r\nSaaS applications are also known as <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Web-based software</span>, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">on-demand software</span> and<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> hosted software</span>.\r\nThe term &quot;Software as a Service&quot; (SaaS) is considered to be part of the nomenclature of cloud computing, along with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS),managed software as a service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), and information technology management as a service (ITMaaS).\r\nBecause SaaS is based on cloud computing it saves organizations from installing and running applications on their own systems. That eliminates or at least reduces the associated costs of hardware purchases and maintenance and of software and support. The initial setup cost for a SaaS application is also generally lower than it for equivalent enterprise software purchased via a site license.\r\nSometimes, the use of SaaS cloud software can also reduce the long-term costs of software licensing, though that depends on the pricing model for the individual SaaS offering and the enterprise’s usage patterns. In fact, it’s possible for SaaS to cost more than traditional software licenses. This is an area IT organizations should explore carefully.<br />SaaS also provides enterprises the flexibility inherent with cloud services: they can subscribe to a SaaS offering as needed rather than having to buy software licenses and install the software on a variety of computers. The savings can be substantial in the case of applications that require new hardware purchases to support the software.<br /><br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Who uses SaaS?</span></h1>\r\nIndustry analyst Forrester Research notes that SaaS adoption has so far been concentrated mostly in human resource management (HRM), customer relationship management (CRM), collaboration software (e.g., email), and procurement solutions, but is poised to widen. Today it’s possible to have a data warehouse in the cloud that you can access with business intelligence software running as a service and connect to your cloud-based ERP like NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics.The dollar savings can run into the millions. And SaaS installations are often installed and working in a fraction of the time of on-premises deployments—some can be ready in hours. \r\nSales and marketing people are likely familiar with Salesforce.com, the leading SaaS CRM software, with millions of users across more than 100,000 customers. Sales is going SaaS too, with apps available to support sales in order management, compensation, quote production and configure, price, quoting, electronic signatures, contract management and more.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why SaaS? Benefits of software as a service</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lower cost of entry</span>. With SaaS solution, you pay for what you need, without having to buy hardware to host your new applications. Instead of provisioning internal resources to install the software, the vendor provides APIs and performs much of the work to get their software working for you. The time to a working solution can drop from months in the traditional model to weeks, days or hours with the SaaS model. In some businesses, IT wants nothing to do with installing and running a sales app. In the case of funding software and its implementation, this can be a make-or-break issue for the sales and marketing budget, so the lower cost really makes the difference.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduced time to benefit/rapid prototyping</span>. In the SaaS model, the software application is already installed and configured. Users can provision the server for the cloud and quickly have the application ready for use. This cuts the time to benefit and allows for rapid demonstrations and prototyping. With many SaaS companies offering free trials, this means a painless proof of concept and discovery phase to prove the benefit to the organization. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Pay as you go</span>. SaaS business software gives you the benefit of predictable costs both for the subscription and to some extent, the administration. Even as you scale, you can have a clear idea of what your costs will be. This allows for much more accurate budgeting, especially as compared to the costs of internal IT to manage upgrades and address issues for an owned instance.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The SaaS vendor is responsible for upgrades, uptime and security</span>. Under the SaaS model, since the software is hosted by the vendor, they take on the responsibility for maintaining the software and upgrading it, ensuring that it is reliable and meeting agreed-upon service level agreements, and keeping the application and its data secure.&nbsp; While some IT people worry about Software as a Service security outside of the enterprise walls, the likely truth is that the vendor has a much higher level of security than the enterprise itself would provide. Many will have redundant instances in very secure data centers in multiple geographies.&nbsp; Also, the data is being automatically backed up by the vendor, providing additional security and peace of mind. Because of the data center hosting, you’re getting the added benefit of at least some disaster recovery. Lastly, the vendor manages these issues as part of their core competencies—let them.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Integration and scalability.</span> Most SaaS apps are designed to support some amount of customization for the way you do business. SaaS vendors create APIs to allow connections not only to internal applications like ERPs or CRMs but also to other SaaS providers. One of the terrific aspects of integration is that orders written in the field can be automatically sent to the ERP. Now a salesperson in the field can check inventory through the catalog, write the order in front of the customer for approval, send it and receive confirmation, all in minutes. And as you scale with a SaaS vendor, there’s no need to invest in server capacity and software licenses. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Work anywhere</span>. Since the software is hosted in the cloud and accessible over the internet, users can access it via mobile devices wherever they are connected. This includes checking customer order histories prior to a sales call, as well as having access to real time data and real time order taking with the customer.</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/SaaS__1_.png"},{"id":146,"title":"ECM - Enterprise Content Management","alias":"ecm-enterprise-content-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise content management (ECM)</span> extends the concept of content management by adding a time line for each content item and possibly enforcing processes for the creation, approval and distribution of them. Systems that implement ECM generally provide a secure repository for managed items, be they analog or digital, that indexes them. They also include one or more methods for importing content to bring new items under management and several presentation methods to make items available for use. The key feature of ECM that distinguishes it from &quot;simple&quot; content management is that an ECM is at least cognizant of the processes and procedures of the enterprise it is created for, and as such is particular to it. \r\nECM as an umbrella term covers enterprise document management system, Web content management, search, collaboration, records management, digital asset management (DAM), workflow management, capture and scanning. ECM is primarily aimed at managing the life-cycle of information from initial publication or creation all the way through archival and eventual disposal. ECM enterprise content management software is delivered in four ways:\r\n- on-premises software (installed on an organization's own network)\r\n- software as a service (SaaS) (Web access to information that is stored on a software manufacturer's system)\r\n- a hybrid composed of both on-premises and SaaS components\r\n- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) (which refers to online services that abstract the user from the details of infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc.)\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ECM provides</span> a centralized platform where content can be held and disseminated in a manner that meets regulatory compliance requirements and risk management guidelines. An ECM achieves the latter two benefits by eliminating ad hoc processes that can expose an enterprise to regulatory compliance risks and other potential problems. Full-function enterprise content management solutions include features such as content taxonomies, auditing capabilities, check-in/check-out and other workflow controls and security mechanisms.\r\nAn <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">effective ECM </span>can streamline access and business processes, eliminate bottlenecks by reducing storage, as well as paper and mailing needs, optimize security, maintain integrity and minimize overhead. All of these can lead to increased productivity. The first step is to document all the types of content that the organization deals with, the business processes its part of and who handles the content. \r\nECM software can be used to identify duplicate and near-duplicate content, allowing the organization to keep a few copies of a particular piece of content instead of hundreds. The best ECM software extends the reach of traditional ECM capabilities into previously isolated applications and information silos, such as ERP, CRM, SCM and HCM, to take the shape of a content services platform. Information can now flow across the enterprise to the people and processes—when, where and in whatever context it is needed.\r\nTo understand more specific ways it could help your company, consider these <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">three types of ECM</span> software solutions.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web Content Management.</span> WCM puts control over the look and feel of a website in the hands of specific, key people. It’s used by organizations with relatively complex websites and strict brand guidelines, giving those key personnel the means to easily update, modify and publish content for the sites while adhering to the guidelines.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Collaborative Content Management.</span> CCM enables multiple people to access and modify a single document, such as a legal document. It’s ideal for organizations that must manage projects involving multiple stakeholders. CCM makes it easy to work together while keeping track of, and updating, the most-current version of the document.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Transactional Content Management.</span> This type of ECM document management is designed for organizations that repeatedly use varied types of content, including records, paper documents, and digital files. TCM solutions capture content from various channels, classify it, store it, create an automated workflow to ensure the right user receives the content at the right time, and even deletes documents when they’re no longer needed, all while working seamlessly with other apps and databases, ensuring all of that content is available throughout the company.<br /><br /><br />\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM)?</span></h1>\r\nEnterprise Content Management is the organization of structured and unstructured documents using technology and software that allows your organization to “work smarter, not harder.” As technology advanced and everything became digital, organizations needed a new way to store and access files, leading to the creation of ECM. \r\nECM document management system consists of four main points:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Capture:</span> Capturing information from hardcopy documents or online forms and transferring it into the system</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Manage:</span> Managing the captured data in a structured format that allows quick and easy retrieval</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Storing:</span> Securely storing files in a central repository that can be accessed from multiple locations</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Delivery:</span> Implementation of business process workflows to automatically move documents from one step to the next</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Five ways ECM software can benefit your organization</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Basic file sharing and library services.</span> At its core, enterprise document management software begins with basic file sharing and library services managed within a networked repository. Individuals and groups with predefined access rights and permissions can access the repository and then create, read, update and delete files stored within it.\r\nMany ECM applications support Content Management Interoperability Services, an industry standard that allows different vendors' products to interoperate; this is an essential capability within large enterprises that maintain content management tools from multiple vendors.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content governance, compliance and records management.</span> For many organizations, managing business documents or other content types is a critical use case for ECM. Companies subject to compliance or other industry regulations need document content management system software to capture, manage, archive and ultimately dispose of files after a predefined period.\r\nECM can ensure that only individuals with predefined permissions - determined by access controls - can update or view documents stored within a repository. An organization can thus manage document modification.\r\nIn addition, enterprise content management tools can log all actions, providing an organization with the capabilities to maintain an auditable record of all the changes to documents within the repository.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Business process management.</span> Companies also use ECM to establish workflows that span departments and geographies to support extended enterprise and inter-enterprise business processes.\r\nMost ECM software provides tools to help both technical and non-technical business users define business processes. Most applications provide audit controls to track each step of the process and analytic capabilities to help identify inefficiencies and streamline business procedures.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content repositories linked to other enterprise applications.</span> Some companies use electronic content management software as a repository for documents created by other enterprise applications, including CRM, ERP, HR and financial systems. These enterprise systems can seamlessly access, view or modify content managed by the ECM.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enabling mobile and remote workforces.</span> Content management tools often include functionality to allow remote workers to access content from mobile devices. This is an increasingly important feature for many companies.\r\nMobile capabilities also enable new kinds of data capture and presentation functionalities. By combining content management capabilities with other data, for example, a political canvasser can use a tablet to enter new information about a political donor without having to start from scratch, as some of that information is already stored in a content management system. \r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ECM_-_Enterprise_Content_Management.png"},{"id":69,"title":"Business Analytics","alias":"business-analytics","description":"Business Analytics is “the study of data through statistical and operations analysis, the formation of predictive models, application of optimization techniques, and the communication of these results to customers, business partners, and college executives.” Business Analytics requires quantitative methods and evidence-based data for business modeling and decision making; as such, Business Analytics requires the use of Big Data.\r\nSAS describes Big Data as “a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis.” What’s important to keep in mind about Big Data is that the amount of data is not as important to an organization as the analytics that accompany it. When companies analyze Big Data, they are using Business Analytics to get the insights required for making better business decisions and strategic moves.\r\nCompanies use Business Analytics (BA) to make data-driven decisions. The insight gained by BA enables these companies to automate and optimize their business processes. In fact, data-driven companies that utilize Business Analytics achieve a competitive advantage because they are able to use the insights to:\r\n<ul><li>Conduct data mining (explore data to find new patterns and relationships)</li><li>Complete statistical analysis and quantitative analysis to explain why certain results occur</li><li>Test previous decisions using A/B testing and multivariate testing</li><li>Make use of predictive modeling and predictive analytics to forecast future results</li></ul>\r\nBusiness Analytics also provides support for companies in the process of making proactive tactical decisions, and BA makes it possible for those companies to automate decision making in order to support real-time responses.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What does Business Analytics (BA) mean?</span>\r\nBusiness analytics (BA) refers to all the methods and techniques that are used by an organization to measure performance. Business analytics are made up of statistical methods that can be applied to a specific project, process or product. Business analytics can also be used to evaluate an entire company. Business analytics are performed in order to identify weaknesses in existing processes and highlight meaningful data that will help an organization prepare for future growth and challenges.\r\nThe need for good business analytics has spurred the creation of business analytics software and enterprise platforms that mine an organization’s data in order to automate some of these measures and pick out meaningful insights.\r\nAlthough the term has become a bit of a buzzword, business analytics are a vital part of any business. Business analytics make up a large portion of decision support systems, continuous improvement programs and many of the other techniques used to keep a business competitive. Consequently, accurate business analytics like efficiency measures and capacity utilization rates are the first step to properly implementing these techniques.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Business_Analytics.png"},{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://news.adobe.com/press-release/experience-cloud/microsoft-dynamics-365-and-adobe-experience-cloud-selected-24-hour","title":"Web-site of vendor"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":432,"title":"Barracuda NGFW For Dutch Insurance Provider","description":"<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Aevitae is a leading Dutch insurance provider company that protects hundreds of thousands of individuals through corporate and direct insurance plans. With a relatively small staff, they provide best-inclass insurance to a quarter-million customers across the Netherlands and processed over six million digital claims in 2016. On top of being the Netherlands’ leading insurance provider, they are also a technology pioneer, which they leverage as a key competitive advantage.</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold;\">Profile</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Leading Dutch insurance provider company</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Provides corporate and direct insurance plans</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">200 employees</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">250,000 customers</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">800,000 paper claims, and over six million digital claims processed per year.</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold;\">Challenges</span>\r\n<ul><li>Aging on-premises infrastructure</li><li>Seamless data security and visibility in a hybrid environment</li><li>Heightened security due to sensitive market (Insurance)</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold;\">Solution</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Barracuda NextGen Firewall F-Series and Web Application Firewall deployed on Microsoft Azure cloud platform and on-premises</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold;\">Results</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">End-to-end visibility and security across a hybrid environment</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Ease of use and management</span>\r\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Scalable and flexible platform that suits their dynamic business</span>","alias":"barracuda-ngfw-for-dutch-insurance-provider","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Barracuda NGFW For Dutch Insurance Provider","keywords":"insurance, Dutch, claims, they, security, provider, Barracuda, platform","description":"<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Aevitae is a leading Dutch insurance provider company that protects hundreds of thousands of individuals through corporate and direct insurance plans. With a relatively smal","og:title":"Barracuda NGFW For Dutch Insurance Provider","og:description":"<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">Aevitae is a leading Dutch insurance provider company that protects hundreds of thousands of individuals through corporate and direct insurance plans. With a relatively smal"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":4192,"title":"Aevitae B.V.","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/Aevitae_B.V..png","alias":"aevitae-bv","address":"","roles":[],"description":"Aevitae B.V. provides health insurance and employee benefits solutions. The Company offers outdoors, liability, residential home, accident, legal aid, and car insurance. Aevitae operates in the Netherlands. 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The Company offers outdoors, liability, residential home, accident, legal aid, and car insurance. Aevitae operates in the Netherlands. 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Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""},{"id":183,"title":"Barracuda Networks","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/barracuda_logo.png","alias":"barracuda-networks","address":"","roles":[],"description":"Barracuda Networks, Inc. is the world leader in email and web security. In addition, the company develops solutions for IM security, server load balancing systems and message archiving.<br /><br />The company develops products for security, networking and storage based on network devices and cloud services. Security products include solutions to protect against spam, web surfing, hackers and threats from instant messaging services. The platform also successfully combats such threats as spam, spyware, Trojans and other malware. Barracuda solutions provide web traffic filtering, load balancing, message archiving, backup services, data protection, and more.<br /><br />Today, more than 50,000 companies and security organizations around the world use Barracuda Networks solutions. The main product list includes solutions such as Barracuda Spam Firewall, Barracuda Web Filter, Barracuda IM Firewall. ","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":11,"suppliedProductsCount":11,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":15,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":3,"b4r":1,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.barracuda.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Barracuda Networks","keywords":"products, company, Barracuda, include, protection, services, storage, security","description":"Barracuda Networks, Inc. is the world leader in email and web security. 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In addition, the company develops solutions for IM security, server load balancing systems and message archiving.<br /><br />The company develops products for security, networking and stor","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/barracuda_logo.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":792,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Azure","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.70","implementationsCount":7,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-azure","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine images for popular software packages. App services, platform as a service (PaaS) environment letting developers easily publish and manage Web sites. Websites, high density hosting of websites allows developers to build sites using ASP.NET, PHP, Node.js, or Python and can be deployed using FTP, Git, Mercurial, Team Foundation Server or uploaded through the user portal. This feature was announced in preview form in June 2012 at the Meet Microsoft Azure event.[5] Customers can create websites in PHP, ASP.NET, Node.js, or Python, or select from several open source applications from a gallery to deploy. This comprises one aspect of the platform as a service (PaaS) offerings for the Microsoft Azure Platform. It was renamed to Web Apps in April 2015. WebJobs, applications that can be deployed to a Web App to implement background processing. That can be invoked on a schedule, on demand or can run continuously. The Blob, Table and Queue services can be used to communicate between Web Apps and Web Jobs and to provide state. Mobile services Mobile Engagement collects real-time analytics that highlight users&rsquo; behavior. It also provides push notifications to mobile devices. HockeyApp can be used to develop, distribute, and beta-test mobile apps Storage services Storage Services provides REST and SDK APIs for storing and accessing data on the cloud. Table Service lets programs store structured text in partitioned collections of entities that are accessed by partition key and primary key. It's a NoSQL non-relational database. Blob Service allows programs to store unstructured text and binary data as blobs that can be accessed by a HTTP(S) path. Blob service also provides security mechanisms to control access to data. Queue Service lets programs communicate asynchronously by message using queues. File Service allows storing and access of data on the cloud using the REST APIs or the SMB protocol. Data management Azure Search provides text search and a subset of OData's structured filters using REST or SDK APIs. DocumentDB is a NoSQL database service that implements a subset of the SQL SELECT statement on JSON documents. Redis Cache is a managed implementation of Redis. StorSimple manages storage tasks between on-premises devices and cloud storage. SQL Database, formerly known as SQL Azure Database, works to create, scale and extend applications into the cloud using Microsoft SQL Server technology. It also integrates with Active Directory and Microsoft System Center and Hadoop. SQL Data Warehouse is a data warehousing service designed to handle computational and data intensive queries on datasets exceeding 1TB. Messaging The Microsoft Azure Service Bus allows applications running on Azure premises or off premises devices to communicate with Azure. This helps to build scalable and reliable applications in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Event Hubs, which provide event and telemetry ingress to the cloud at massive scale, with low latency and high reliability. For example an event hub can be used to track data from cell phones such as a GPS location coordinate in real time. Queues, which allow one-directional communication. A sender application would send the message to the service bus queue, and a receiver would read from the queue. Though there can be multiple readers for the queue only one would process a single message. Topics, which provide one-directional communication using a subscriber pattern. It is similar to a queue, however each subscriber will receive a copy of the message sent to a Topic. Optionally the subscriber can filter out messages based on specific criteria defined by the subscriber. Relays, which provide bi-directional communication. Unlike queues and topics, a relay doesn't store in-flight messages in its own memory. Instead, it just passes them on to the destination application.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers. \r\n","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":11,"sellingCount":16,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Azure","keywords":"Azure, Microsoft, service, using, data, cloud, Service, which","description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine image","og:title":"Microsoft Azure","og:description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine image"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":793,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":39,"title":"IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service","alias":"iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Infrastructure as a service</span> (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS solutions involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure – virtual machines and other resources – as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud infrastructure providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Infrastructure as a Service Benefits&nbsp;</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cost savings:</span> An obvious benefit of moving to the managed IaaS model is lower infrastructure costs. No longer do organizations have the responsibility of ensuring uptime, maintaining hardware and networking equipment, or replacing old equipment. IaaS&nbsp; technology also saves enterprises from having to buy more capacity to deal with sudden business spikes. Organizations with a smaller IT infrastructure generally require a smaller IT staff as well. The pay-as-you-go model also provides significant cost savings. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and flexibility:</span> One of the greatest benefits of IaaS is the ability to scale up and down quickly in response to an enterprise’s requirements. Infrastructure as a Service providers generally have the latest, most powerful storage, servers and networking technology to accommodate the needs of their customers. This on-demand scalability provides added flexibility and greater agility to respond to changing opportunities and requirements. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Faster time to market:</span> Competition is strong in every sector, and time to market is one of the best ways to beat the competition. Because IaaS vendors elasticity and scalability, organizations can ramp up and get the job done (and the product or service to market) more rapidly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Support for DR, BC and high availability:</span> While every enterprise has some type of disaster recovery plan, the technology behind those plans is often expensive and unwieldy. Organizations with several disparate locations often have different disaster recovery and business continuity plans and technologies, making management virtually impossible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Focus on business growth:</span> Time, money and energy spent making technology decisions and hiring staff to manage and maintain the technology infrastructure is time not spent on growing the business. By moving infrastructure to a global infrastructure services, organizations can focus their time and resources where they belong, on developing innovations in applications and solutions.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">IaaS, PaaS and SaaS: What’s the Difference?</h1>\r\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS) is the next step up from IaaS products, where the provider also supplies the operating environment including the operating system, application services, middleware and other ‘runtimes’ for cloud users. It’s used for development environments where the business can focus on creating an app but wants someone else to maintain the deployment platform. It means you have much simpler workloads but you can’t necessarily be as flexible as you want.\r\nAt the highest level of orchestration is Software as a Service. In SaaS infrastructure applications are accessed on demand. Here you just open your browser and go, consuming software rather than installing and running it. A user simply logs on to access the provider’s application. Users can decide how the app will work but pretty much everything else is the responsibility of the software provider.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1399,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Barracuda NextGen Firewall (NGFW)","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"3.00","implementationsCount":4,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"barracuda-nextgen-firewall-ngfw","companyTypes":[],"description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Next-Generation Firewalls for the Cloud Era</span>\r\nIn the cloud era, network firewalls must do more than secure your network. They must also ensure you have uninterrupted network availability and robust access to cloud-hosted applications. The Barracuda NextGen Firewall F-Series is a family of hardware, virtual, and cloud-based appliances that protect and enhance your dispersed network infrastructure. They deliver advanced security by tightly integrating a comprehensive set of next-generation firewall technologies, including Layer 7 application profiling, intrusion prevention, web filtering, malware and advanced threat protection, antispam protection, and network access control. In addition, the F-Series combines highly resilient VPN technology with intelligent traffic management and WAN optimization capabilities. This lets you reduce line costs, increase overall network availability, improve site-to-site connectivity, and ensure uninterrupted access to applications hosted in the cloud. Scalable centralized management helps you reduce administrative overhead while defining and enforcing granular policies across your entire dispersed network. The F-Series cloud-ready firewalls are ideal for multi-site enterprises, managed service providers, and other organizations with complex, dispersed network infrastructures.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Security for the Cloud Era</span>\r\nSecurity paradigms are shifting—and securing your network perimeter is no longer good enough. In the cloud era, workloads happen everywhere, users are increasingly mobile, and potential attack surfaces are multiplying. Barracuda NextGen Firewall F-Series is purpose-built to deal with the challenges of securing widely distributed networks.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Advanced Threat Protection</span>\r\nIn today's constantly evolving threat landscape, your organization faces zero-hour malware exploits and advanced persistent threats that routinely bypass traditional, signature-based IPS and antivirus engines. Barracuda Advanced Threat Protection gives your security infrastructure the ability to identify and block new, sophisticated threats-without affecting network performance and throughput.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Secure SD-WAN..</span>\r\nBarracuda Cloud Era Firewalls include full next gen Security paired with all network optimization and management functionality today known as Secure SD-WAN. This includes true zero touch deployment (ZTD), dynamic bandwidth measurement, performance based transport selection, application specific routing and even data duplication and WAN optimization technology. VPN tunnels between sites can make use of multiple uplinks simultaneously and dynamically assign the best path for the application.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">This enables:</span>\r\n\r\n<ul> <li>Balancing of Internet traffic across multiple uplinks to minimize downtime and improve performance</li> <li>VPN across multiple broadband connections and MPLs replacement</li> <li>Up to 24 physical uplinks to create highly redundant VPN tunnels</li> <li>Replacing network backhauling central policy enforcement architectures with direct internet break outs</li> <li>Faster access to cloud applications like office365 by dynamically prioritizing them over non-critical traffic</li> <li>Guaranteed users' access to critical applications through granular policy controls</li> <li>Increased available bandwidth with built-in traffic compression and data deduplication</li> <li>Auto creation of VPN tunnels between spokes in a hub-and-spoke architecture to enhance connection quality for latency-sensitive traffic</li> </ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why Barracuda NextGen Firewall?</span> When selecting security technology, it is critical that your products are supported by people who take your data security as seriously as you do. The Barracuda NextGen Firewall is supported by our award-winning 24x7 technical support staffed by in-house security engineers with no phone trees. Help is always a phone call away. Hundreds of thousands of organizations around the globe rely on Barracuda to protect their applications, networks, and data. The Barracuda NextGen Firewall is part of a comprehensive line of data protection, network firewall, and security products and services designed for organizations seeking robust yet affordable protection from ever-increasing cyber threats.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Source:&nbsp;https://www.barracuda.com/products/nextgenfirewall_f</span>","shortDescription":"Barracuda's Next Generation Firewalls redefine the role of the Firewall from a perimeter security solution to a distributed network optimization solution that scales across any number of locations.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":0,"sellingCount":5,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":5,"seo":{"title":"Barracuda NextGen Firewall (NGFW)","keywords":"","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Next-Generation Firewalls for the Cloud Era</span>\r\nIn the cloud era, network firewalls must do more than secure your network. 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Other techniques might also be employed, such as TLS/SSL encrypted traffic inspection, website filtering, QoS/bandwidth management, antivirus inspection and third-party identity management integration (i.e. LDAP, RADIUS, Active Directory).\r\nNGFWs include the typical functions of traditional firewalls such as packet filtering, network- and port-address translation (NAT), stateful inspection, and virtual private network (VPN) support. The goal of next-generation firewalls is to include more layers of the OSI model, improving filtering of network traffic that is dependent on the packet contents.\r\nNGFWs perform deeper inspection compared to stateful inspection performed by the first- and second-generation firewalls. NGFWs use a more thorough inspection style, checking packet payloads and matching signatures for harmful activities such as exploitable attacks and malware.\r\nImproved detection of encrypted applications and intrusion prevention service. Modern threats like web-based malware attacks, targeted attacks, application-layer attacks, and more have had a significantly negative effect on the threat landscape. In fact, more than 80% of all new malware and intrusion attempts are exploiting weaknesses in applications, as opposed to weaknesses in networking components and services.\r\nStateful firewalls with simple packet filtering capabilities were efficient blocking unwanted applications as most applications met the port-protocol expectations. Administrators could promptly prevent an unsafe application from being accessed by users by blocking the associated ports and protocols. But today, blocking a web application like Farmville that uses port 80 by closing the port would also mean complications with the entire HTTP protocol.\r\nProtection based on ports, protocols, IP addresses is no more reliable and viable. This has led to the development of identity-based security approach, which takes organizations a step ahead of conventional security appliances which bind security to IP-addresses.\r\nNGFWs offer administrators a deeper awareness of and control over individual applications, along with deeper inspection capabilities by the firewall. Administrators can create very granular &quot;allow/deny&quot; rules for controlling use of websites and applications in the network. ","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> What is a next-generation firewall (NGFW)?</span>\r\nAn NGFW contains all the normal defences that a traditional firewall has as well as a type of intrusion prevention software and application control, alongside other bonus security features. NGFWs are also capable of deep packet inspection which enables more robust filters.\r\nIntrusion prevention software monitors network activity to detect and stop vulnerability exploits from occurring. This is usually done by monitoring for breaches against the network policies in place as a breach is usually indicative of malicious activity.\r\nApplication control software simply sets up a hard filter for programs that are trying to send or receive data over the Internet. This can either be done by blacklist (programs in the filter are blocked) or by whitelist (programs not in the filter are blocked).","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_NGFW.png"},{"id":782,"title":"NGFW - next-generation firewall","alias":"ngfw-next-generation-firewall","description":"A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a part of the third generation of firewall technology that is implemented in either hardware or software and is capable of detecting and blocking sophisticated attacks by enforcing security policies at the application, port and protocol levels.\r\nNGFWs typically feature advanced functions including:\r\n<ul><li>application awareness;</li><li>integrated intrusion prevention systems (IPS);</li><li>identity awareness -- user and group control;</li><li>bridged and routed modes;</li><li> the ability to use external intelligence sources.</li></ul>\r\nOf these offerings, most next-generation firewalls integrate at least three basic functions: enterprise firewall capabilities, an intrusion prevention system (IPS) and application control.\r\nLike the introduction of stateful inspection in traditional firewalls, NGFWs bring additional context to the firewall's decision-making process by providing it with the ability to understand the details of the web application traffic passing through it and to take action to block traffic that might exploit vulnerabilities.\r\nThe different features of next-generation firewalls combine to create unique benefits for users. NGFWs are often able to block malware before it enters a network, something that wasn't previously possible.\r\nNGFWs are also better equipped to address advanced persistent threats (APTs) because they can be integrated with threat intelligence services. NGFWs can also offer a low-cost option for companies trying to improve basic device security through the use of application awareness, inspection services, protection systems and awareness tools.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a next-generation firewall (NGFW)?</span>\r\nA NGFW contains all the normal defenses that a traditional firewall has as well as a type of intrusion prevention software and application control, alongside other additional security features. NGFWs are also capable of deep packet inspection, which enables more robust filters.\r\nIntrusion prevention software monitors network activity to detect and stop vulnerability exploits from occurring. This is usually done by monitoring for breaches against the network policies in place as a breach is usually indicative of malicious activity.\r\nApplication control software simply sets up a hard filter for programs that are trying to send or receive data over the Internet. This can either be done by a blacklist (programs in the filter are blocked) or by a whitelist (programs not in the filter are blocked).","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_NGFW.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":384,"title":"Risk of attacks by hackers"},{"id":385,"title":"Risk of data loss or damage"},{"id":386,"title":"Risk of lost access to data and IT systems"}]}},"categories":[{"id":39,"title":"IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service","alias":"iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Infrastructure as a service</span> (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS solutions involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure – virtual machines and other resources – as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud infrastructure providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Infrastructure as a Service Benefits&nbsp;</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cost savings:</span> An obvious benefit of moving to the managed IaaS model is lower infrastructure costs. No longer do organizations have the responsibility of ensuring uptime, maintaining hardware and networking equipment, or replacing old equipment. IaaS&nbsp; technology also saves enterprises from having to buy more capacity to deal with sudden business spikes. Organizations with a smaller IT infrastructure generally require a smaller IT staff as well. The pay-as-you-go model also provides significant cost savings. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and flexibility:</span> One of the greatest benefits of IaaS is the ability to scale up and down quickly in response to an enterprise’s requirements. Infrastructure as a Service providers generally have the latest, most powerful storage, servers and networking technology to accommodate the needs of their customers. This on-demand scalability provides added flexibility and greater agility to respond to changing opportunities and requirements. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Faster time to market:</span> Competition is strong in every sector, and time to market is one of the best ways to beat the competition. Because IaaS vendors elasticity and scalability, organizations can ramp up and get the job done (and the product or service to market) more rapidly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Support for DR, BC and high availability:</span> While every enterprise has some type of disaster recovery plan, the technology behind those plans is often expensive and unwieldy. Organizations with several disparate locations often have different disaster recovery and business continuity plans and technologies, making management virtually impossible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Focus on business growth:</span> Time, money and energy spent making technology decisions and hiring staff to manage and maintain the technology infrastructure is time not spent on growing the business. By moving infrastructure to a global infrastructure services, organizations can focus their time and resources where they belong, on developing innovations in applications and solutions.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">IaaS, PaaS and SaaS: What’s the Difference?</h1>\r\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS) is the next step up from IaaS products, where the provider also supplies the operating environment including the operating system, application services, middleware and other ‘runtimes’ for cloud users. It’s used for development environments where the business can focus on creating an app but wants someone else to maintain the deployment platform. It means you have much simpler workloads but you can’t necessarily be as flexible as you want.\r\nAt the highest level of orchestration is Software as a Service. In SaaS infrastructure applications are accessed on demand. Here you just open your browser and go, consuming software rather than installing and running it. A user simply logs on to access the provider’s application. Users can decide how the app will work but pretty much everything else is the responsibility of the software provider.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS.png"},{"id":784,"title":"NGFW - next-generation firewall - Appliance","alias":"ngfw-next-generation-firewall-appliance","description":" A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a part of the third generation of firewall technology, combining a traditional firewall with other network device filtering functionalities, such as an application firewall using in-line deep packet inspection (DPI), an intrusion prevention system (IPS). Other techniques might also be employed, such as TLS/SSL encrypted traffic inspection, website filtering, QoS/bandwidth management, antivirus inspection and third-party identity management integration (i.e. LDAP, RADIUS, Active Directory).\r\nNGFWs include the typical functions of traditional firewalls such as packet filtering, network- and port-address translation (NAT), stateful inspection, and virtual private network (VPN) support. The goal of next-generation firewalls is to include more layers of the OSI model, improving filtering of network traffic that is dependent on the packet contents.\r\nNGFWs perform deeper inspection compared to stateful inspection performed by the first- and second-generation firewalls. NGFWs use a more thorough inspection style, checking packet payloads and matching signatures for harmful activities such as exploitable attacks and malware.\r\nImproved detection of encrypted applications and intrusion prevention service. Modern threats like web-based malware attacks, targeted attacks, application-layer attacks, and more have had a significantly negative effect on the threat landscape. In fact, more than 80% of all new malware and intrusion attempts are exploiting weaknesses in applications, as opposed to weaknesses in networking components and services.\r\nStateful firewalls with simple packet filtering capabilities were efficient blocking unwanted applications as most applications met the port-protocol expectations. Administrators could promptly prevent an unsafe application from being accessed by users by blocking the associated ports and protocols. But today, blocking a web application like Farmville that uses port 80 by closing the port would also mean complications with the entire HTTP protocol.\r\nProtection based on ports, protocols, IP addresses is no more reliable and viable. 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Websites, high density hosting of websites allows developers to build sites using ASP.NET, PHP, Node.js, or Python and can be deployed using FTP, Git, Mercurial, Team Foundation Server or uploaded through the user portal. This feature was announced in preview form in June 2012 at the Meet Microsoft Azure event.[5] Customers can create websites in PHP, ASP.NET, Node.js, or Python, or select from several open source applications from a gallery to deploy. This comprises one aspect of the platform as a service (PaaS) offerings for the Microsoft Azure Platform. It was renamed to Web Apps in April 2015. WebJobs, applications that can be deployed to a Web App to implement background processing. That can be invoked on a schedule, on demand or can run continuously. The Blob, Table and Queue services can be used to communicate between Web Apps and Web Jobs and to provide state. Mobile services Mobile Engagement collects real-time analytics that highlight users&rsquo; behavior. It also provides push notifications to mobile devices. HockeyApp can be used to develop, distribute, and beta-test mobile apps Storage services Storage Services provides REST and SDK APIs for storing and accessing data on the cloud. Table Service lets programs store structured text in partitioned collections of entities that are accessed by partition key and primary key. It's a NoSQL non-relational database. Blob Service allows programs to store unstructured text and binary data as blobs that can be accessed by a HTTP(S) path. Blob service also provides security mechanisms to control access to data. Queue Service lets programs communicate asynchronously by message using queues. File Service allows storing and access of data on the cloud using the REST APIs or the SMB protocol. Data management Azure Search provides text search and a subset of OData's structured filters using REST or SDK APIs. DocumentDB is a NoSQL database service that implements a subset of the SQL SELECT statement on JSON documents. Redis Cache is a managed implementation of Redis. StorSimple manages storage tasks between on-premises devices and cloud storage. SQL Database, formerly known as SQL Azure Database, works to create, scale and extend applications into the cloud using Microsoft SQL Server technology. It also integrates with Active Directory and Microsoft System Center and Hadoop. SQL Data Warehouse is a data warehousing service designed to handle computational and data intensive queries on datasets exceeding 1TB. Messaging The Microsoft Azure Service Bus allows applications running on Azure premises or off premises devices to communicate with Azure. This helps to build scalable and reliable applications in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Event Hubs, which provide event and telemetry ingress to the cloud at massive scale, with low latency and high reliability. For example an event hub can be used to track data from cell phones such as a GPS location coordinate in real time. Queues, which allow one-directional communication. A sender application would send the message to the service bus queue, and a receiver would read from the queue. Though there can be multiple readers for the queue only one would process a single message. Topics, which provide one-directional communication using a subscriber pattern. It is similar to a queue, however each subscriber will receive a copy of the message sent to a Topic. Optionally the subscriber can filter out messages based on specific criteria defined by the subscriber. Relays, which provide bi-directional communication. Unlike queues and topics, a relay doesn't store in-flight messages in its own memory. Instead, it just passes them on to the destination application.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers. \r\n","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":11,"sellingCount":16,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Azure","keywords":"Azure, Microsoft, service, using, data, cloud, Service, which","description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine image","og:title":"Microsoft Azure","og:description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine image"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":793,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":39,"title":"IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service","alias":"iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Infrastructure as a service</span> (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS solutions involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure – virtual machines and other resources – as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud infrastructure providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Infrastructure as a Service Benefits&nbsp;</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cost savings:</span> An obvious benefit of moving to the managed IaaS model is lower infrastructure costs. No longer do organizations have the responsibility of ensuring uptime, maintaining hardware and networking equipment, or replacing old equipment. IaaS&nbsp; technology also saves enterprises from having to buy more capacity to deal with sudden business spikes. Organizations with a smaller IT infrastructure generally require a smaller IT staff as well. The pay-as-you-go model also provides significant cost savings. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and flexibility:</span> One of the greatest benefits of IaaS is the ability to scale up and down quickly in response to an enterprise’s requirements. Infrastructure as a Service providers generally have the latest, most powerful storage, servers and networking technology to accommodate the needs of their customers. This on-demand scalability provides added flexibility and greater agility to respond to changing opportunities and requirements. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Faster time to market:</span> Competition is strong in every sector, and time to market is one of the best ways to beat the competition. Because IaaS vendors elasticity and scalability, organizations can ramp up and get the job done (and the product or service to market) more rapidly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Support for DR, BC and high availability:</span> While every enterprise has some type of disaster recovery plan, the technology behind those plans is often expensive and unwieldy. Organizations with several disparate locations often have different disaster recovery and business continuity plans and technologies, making management virtually impossible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Focus on business growth:</span> Time, money and energy spent making technology decisions and hiring staff to manage and maintain the technology infrastructure is time not spent on growing the business. By moving infrastructure to a global infrastructure services, organizations can focus their time and resources where they belong, on developing innovations in applications and solutions.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">IaaS, PaaS and SaaS: What’s the Difference?</h1>\r\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS) is the next step up from IaaS products, where the provider also supplies the operating environment including the operating system, application services, middleware and other ‘runtimes’ for cloud users. It’s used for development environments where the business can focus on creating an app but wants someone else to maintain the deployment platform. It means you have much simpler workloads but you can’t necessarily be as flexible as you want.\r\nAt the highest level of orchestration is Software as a Service. In SaaS infrastructure applications are accessed on demand. Here you just open your browser and go, consuming software rather than installing and running it. A user simply logs on to access the provider’s application. Users can decide how the app will work but pretty much everything else is the responsibility of the software provider.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1399,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Barracuda NextGen Firewall (NGFW)","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"3.00","implementationsCount":4,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"barracuda-nextgen-firewall-ngfw","companyTypes":[],"description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Next-Generation Firewalls for the Cloud Era</span>\r\nIn the cloud era, network firewalls must do more than secure your network. They must also ensure you have uninterrupted network availability and robust access to cloud-hosted applications. The Barracuda NextGen Firewall F-Series is a family of hardware, virtual, and cloud-based appliances that protect and enhance your dispersed network infrastructure. They deliver advanced security by tightly integrating a comprehensive set of next-generation firewall technologies, including Layer 7 application profiling, intrusion prevention, web filtering, malware and advanced threat protection, antispam protection, and network access control. In addition, the F-Series combines highly resilient VPN technology with intelligent traffic management and WAN optimization capabilities. This lets you reduce line costs, increase overall network availability, improve site-to-site connectivity, and ensure uninterrupted access to applications hosted in the cloud. Scalable centralized management helps you reduce administrative overhead while defining and enforcing granular policies across your entire dispersed network. The F-Series cloud-ready firewalls are ideal for multi-site enterprises, managed service providers, and other organizations with complex, dispersed network infrastructures.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Security for the Cloud Era</span>\r\nSecurity paradigms are shifting—and securing your network perimeter is no longer good enough. In the cloud era, workloads happen everywhere, users are increasingly mobile, and potential attack surfaces are multiplying. Barracuda NextGen Firewall F-Series is purpose-built to deal with the challenges of securing widely distributed networks.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Advanced Threat Protection</span>\r\nIn today's constantly evolving threat landscape, your organization faces zero-hour malware exploits and advanced persistent threats that routinely bypass traditional, signature-based IPS and antivirus engines. Barracuda Advanced Threat Protection gives your security infrastructure the ability to identify and block new, sophisticated threats-without affecting network performance and throughput.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Secure SD-WAN..</span>\r\nBarracuda Cloud Era Firewalls include full next gen Security paired with all network optimization and management functionality today known as Secure SD-WAN. This includes true zero touch deployment (ZTD), dynamic bandwidth measurement, performance based transport selection, application specific routing and even data duplication and WAN optimization technology. VPN tunnels between sites can make use of multiple uplinks simultaneously and dynamically assign the best path for the application.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">This enables:</span>\r\n\r\n<ul> <li>Balancing of Internet traffic across multiple uplinks to minimize downtime and improve performance</li> <li>VPN across multiple broadband connections and MPLs replacement</li> <li>Up to 24 physical uplinks to create highly redundant VPN tunnels</li> <li>Replacing network backhauling central policy enforcement architectures with direct internet break outs</li> <li>Faster access to cloud applications like office365 by dynamically prioritizing them over non-critical traffic</li> <li>Guaranteed users' access to critical applications through granular policy controls</li> <li>Increased available bandwidth with built-in traffic compression and data deduplication</li> <li>Auto creation of VPN tunnels between spokes in a hub-and-spoke architecture to enhance connection quality for latency-sensitive traffic</li> </ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why Barracuda NextGen Firewall?</span> When selecting security technology, it is critical that your products are supported by people who take your data security as seriously as you do. The Barracuda NextGen Firewall is supported by our award-winning 24x7 technical support staffed by in-house security engineers with no phone trees. Help is always a phone call away. Hundreds of thousands of organizations around the globe rely on Barracuda to protect their applications, networks, and data. The Barracuda NextGen Firewall is part of a comprehensive line of data protection, network firewall, and security products and services designed for organizations seeking robust yet affordable protection from ever-increasing cyber threats.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Source:&nbsp;https://www.barracuda.com/products/nextgenfirewall_f</span>","shortDescription":"Barracuda's Next Generation Firewalls redefine the role of the Firewall from a perimeter security solution to a distributed network optimization solution that scales across any number of locations.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":0,"sellingCount":5,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":5,"seo":{"title":"Barracuda NextGen Firewall (NGFW)","keywords":"","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Next-Generation Firewalls for the Cloud Era</span>\r\nIn the cloud era, network firewalls must do more than secure your network. 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Other techniques might also be employed, such as TLS/SSL encrypted traffic inspection, website filtering, QoS/bandwidth management, antivirus inspection and third-party identity management integration (i.e. LDAP, RADIUS, Active Directory).\r\nNGFWs include the typical functions of traditional firewalls such as packet filtering, network- and port-address translation (NAT), stateful inspection, and virtual private network (VPN) support. The goal of next-generation firewalls is to include more layers of the OSI model, improving filtering of network traffic that is dependent on the packet contents.\r\nNGFWs perform deeper inspection compared to stateful inspection performed by the first- and second-generation firewalls. NGFWs use a more thorough inspection style, checking packet payloads and matching signatures for harmful activities such as exploitable attacks and malware.\r\nImproved detection of encrypted applications and intrusion prevention service. Modern threats like web-based malware attacks, targeted attacks, application-layer attacks, and more have had a significantly negative effect on the threat landscape. In fact, more than 80% of all new malware and intrusion attempts are exploiting weaknesses in applications, as opposed to weaknesses in networking components and services.\r\nStateful firewalls with simple packet filtering capabilities were efficient blocking unwanted applications as most applications met the port-protocol expectations. Administrators could promptly prevent an unsafe application from being accessed by users by blocking the associated ports and protocols. But today, blocking a web application like Farmville that uses port 80 by closing the port would also mean complications with the entire HTTP protocol.\r\nProtection based on ports, protocols, IP addresses is no more reliable and viable. This has led to the development of identity-based security approach, which takes organizations a step ahead of conventional security appliances which bind security to IP-addresses.\r\nNGFWs offer administrators a deeper awareness of and control over individual applications, along with deeper inspection capabilities by the firewall. Administrators can create very granular &quot;allow/deny&quot; rules for controlling use of websites and applications in the network. ","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> What is a next-generation firewall (NGFW)?</span>\r\nAn NGFW contains all the normal defences that a traditional firewall has as well as a type of intrusion prevention software and application control, alongside other bonus security features. NGFWs are also capable of deep packet inspection which enables more robust filters.\r\nIntrusion prevention software monitors network activity to detect and stop vulnerability exploits from occurring. This is usually done by monitoring for breaches against the network policies in place as a breach is usually indicative of malicious activity.\r\nApplication control software simply sets up a hard filter for programs that are trying to send or receive data over the Internet. This can either be done by blacklist (programs in the filter are blocked) or by whitelist (programs not in the filter are blocked).","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_NGFW.png"},{"id":782,"title":"NGFW - next-generation firewall","alias":"ngfw-next-generation-firewall","description":"A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a part of the third generation of firewall technology that is implemented in either hardware or software and is capable of detecting and blocking sophisticated attacks by enforcing security policies at the application, port and protocol levels.\r\nNGFWs typically feature advanced functions including:\r\n<ul><li>application awareness;</li><li>integrated intrusion prevention systems (IPS);</li><li>identity awareness -- user and group control;</li><li>bridged and routed modes;</li><li> the ability to use external intelligence sources.</li></ul>\r\nOf these offerings, most next-generation firewalls integrate at least three basic functions: enterprise firewall capabilities, an intrusion prevention system (IPS) and application control.\r\nLike the introduction of stateful inspection in traditional firewalls, NGFWs bring additional context to the firewall's decision-making process by providing it with the ability to understand the details of the web application traffic passing through it and to take action to block traffic that might exploit vulnerabilities.\r\nThe different features of next-generation firewalls combine to create unique benefits for users. NGFWs are often able to block malware before it enters a network, something that wasn't previously possible.\r\nNGFWs are also better equipped to address advanced persistent threats (APTs) because they can be integrated with threat intelligence services. NGFWs can also offer a low-cost option for companies trying to improve basic device security through the use of application awareness, inspection services, protection systems and awareness tools.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a next-generation firewall (NGFW)?</span>\r\nA NGFW contains all the normal defenses that a traditional firewall has as well as a type of intrusion prevention software and application control, alongside other additional security features. NGFWs are also capable of deep packet inspection, which enables more robust filters.\r\nIntrusion prevention software monitors network activity to detect and stop vulnerability exploits from occurring. This is usually done by monitoring for breaches against the network policies in place as a breach is usually indicative of malicious activity.\r\nApplication control software simply sets up a hard filter for programs that are trying to send or receive data over the Internet. This can either be done by a blacklist (programs in the filter are blocked) or by a whitelist (programs not in the filter are blocked).","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_NGFW.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":384,"title":"Risk of attacks by hackers"},{"id":385,"title":"Risk of data loss or damage"},{"id":386,"title":"Risk of lost access to data and IT systems"}]}},"categories":[{"id":39,"title":"IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service","alias":"iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Infrastructure as a service</span> (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS solutions involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure – virtual machines and other resources – as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud infrastructure providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Infrastructure as a Service Benefits&nbsp;</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cost savings:</span> An obvious benefit of moving to the managed IaaS model is lower infrastructure costs. No longer do organizations have the responsibility of ensuring uptime, maintaining hardware and networking equipment, or replacing old equipment. IaaS&nbsp; technology also saves enterprises from having to buy more capacity to deal with sudden business spikes. Organizations with a smaller IT infrastructure generally require a smaller IT staff as well. The pay-as-you-go model also provides significant cost savings. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and flexibility:</span> One of the greatest benefits of IaaS is the ability to scale up and down quickly in response to an enterprise’s requirements. Infrastructure as a Service providers generally have the latest, most powerful storage, servers and networking technology to accommodate the needs of their customers. This on-demand scalability provides added flexibility and greater agility to respond to changing opportunities and requirements. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Faster time to market:</span> Competition is strong in every sector, and time to market is one of the best ways to beat the competition. Because IaaS vendors elasticity and scalability, organizations can ramp up and get the job done (and the product or service to market) more rapidly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Support for DR, BC and high availability:</span> While every enterprise has some type of disaster recovery plan, the technology behind those plans is often expensive and unwieldy. Organizations with several disparate locations often have different disaster recovery and business continuity plans and technologies, making management virtually impossible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Focus on business growth:</span> Time, money and energy spent making technology decisions and hiring staff to manage and maintain the technology infrastructure is time not spent on growing the business. By moving infrastructure to a global infrastructure services, organizations can focus their time and resources where they belong, on developing innovations in applications and solutions.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">IaaS, PaaS and SaaS: What’s the Difference?</h1>\r\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS) is the next step up from IaaS products, where the provider also supplies the operating environment including the operating system, application services, middleware and other ‘runtimes’ for cloud users. It’s used for development environments where the business can focus on creating an app but wants someone else to maintain the deployment platform. It means you have much simpler workloads but you can’t necessarily be as flexible as you want.\r\nAt the highest level of orchestration is Software as a Service. In SaaS infrastructure applications are accessed on demand. Here you just open your browser and go, consuming software rather than installing and running it. A user simply logs on to access the provider’s application. Users can decide how the app will work but pretty much everything else is the responsibility of the software provider.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS.png"},{"id":784,"title":"NGFW - next-generation firewall - Appliance","alias":"ngfw-next-generation-firewall-appliance","description":" A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a part of the third generation of firewall technology, combining a traditional firewall with other network device filtering functionalities, such as an application firewall using in-line deep packet inspection (DPI), an intrusion prevention system (IPS). Other techniques might also be employed, such as TLS/SSL encrypted traffic inspection, website filtering, QoS/bandwidth management, antivirus inspection and third-party identity management integration (i.e. LDAP, RADIUS, Active Directory).\r\nNGFWs include the typical functions of traditional firewalls such as packet filtering, network- and port-address translation (NAT), stateful inspection, and virtual private network (VPN) support. The goal of next-generation firewalls is to include more layers of the OSI model, improving filtering of network traffic that is dependent on the packet contents.\r\nNGFWs perform deeper inspection compared to stateful inspection performed by the first- and second-generation firewalls. NGFWs use a more thorough inspection style, checking packet payloads and matching signatures for harmful activities such as exploitable attacks and malware.\r\nImproved detection of encrypted applications and intrusion prevention service. Modern threats like web-based malware attacks, targeted attacks, application-layer attacks, and more have had a significantly negative effect on the threat landscape. In fact, more than 80% of all new malware and intrusion attempts are exploiting weaknesses in applications, as opposed to weaknesses in networking components and services.\r\nStateful firewalls with simple packet filtering capabilities were efficient blocking unwanted applications as most applications met the port-protocol expectations. Administrators could promptly prevent an unsafe application from being accessed by users by blocking the associated ports and protocols. But today, blocking a web application like Farmville that uses port 80 by closing the port would also mean complications with the entire HTTP protocol.\r\nProtection based on ports, protocols, IP addresses is no more reliable and viable. This has led to the development of identity-based security approach, which takes organizations a step ahead of conventional security appliances which bind security to IP-addresses.\r\nNGFWs offer administrators a deeper awareness of and control over individual applications, along with deeper inspection capabilities by the firewall. Administrators can create very granular &quot;allow/deny&quot; rules for controlling use of websites and applications in the network. ","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> What is a next-generation firewall (NGFW)?</span>\r\nAn NGFW contains all the normal defences that a traditional firewall has as well as a type of intrusion prevention software and application control, alongside other bonus security features. NGFWs are also capable of deep packet inspection which enables more robust filters.\r\nIntrusion prevention software monitors network activity to detect and stop vulnerability exploits from occurring. This is usually done by monitoring for breaches against the network policies in place as a breach is usually indicative of malicious activity.\r\nApplication control software simply sets up a hard filter for programs that are trying to send or receive data over the Internet. This can either be done by blacklist (programs in the filter are blocked) or by whitelist (programs not in the filter are blocked).","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_NGFW.png"},{"id":782,"title":"NGFW - next-generation firewall","alias":"ngfw-next-generation-firewall","description":"A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a part of the third generation of firewall technology that is implemented in either hardware or software and is capable of detecting and blocking sophisticated attacks by enforcing security policies at the application, port and protocol levels.\r\nNGFWs typically feature advanced functions including:\r\n<ul><li>application awareness;</li><li>integrated intrusion prevention systems (IPS);</li><li>identity awareness -- user and group control;</li><li>bridged and routed modes;</li><li> the ability to use external intelligence sources.</li></ul>\r\nOf these offerings, most next-generation firewalls integrate at least three basic functions: enterprise firewall capabilities, an intrusion prevention system (IPS) and application control.\r\nLike the introduction of stateful inspection in traditional firewalls, NGFWs bring additional context to the firewall's decision-making process by providing it with the ability to understand the details of the web application traffic passing through it and to take action to block traffic that might exploit vulnerabilities.\r\nThe different features of next-generation firewalls combine to create unique benefits for users. NGFWs are often able to block malware before it enters a network, something that wasn't previously possible.\r\nNGFWs are also better equipped to address advanced persistent threats (APTs) because they can be integrated with threat intelligence services. NGFWs can also offer a low-cost option for companies trying to improve basic device security through the use of application awareness, inspection services, protection systems and awareness tools.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a next-generation firewall (NGFW)?</span>\r\nA NGFW contains all the normal defenses that a traditional firewall has as well as a type of intrusion prevention software and application control, alongside other additional security features. NGFWs are also capable of deep packet inspection, which enables more robust filters.\r\nIntrusion prevention software monitors network activity to detect and stop vulnerability exploits from occurring. 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It offers comprehensive, end-to-end data protection environment visibility in a single, unified product.&nbsp;\r\nREDUCE COSTS\r\nConsolidate information enterprise-wide to reduce administrative efforts, accelerate problem resolution, and forecast resource and capacity planning.\r\nPROVE PROTECTION\r\nUnderstand potential risks and data protection strategy exposures across multiple backup and recovery products so applications are recoverable and data is safe.\r\nLESSEN COMPLEXITY\r\nUse an automated, unified approach to managing the data protection environment, greatly simplifying the monitoring process and tuning the environment to maximize utilization.\r\nAUTOMATE PROCESSES\r\nRemove manual data collection, analysis, alerting, and reporting effort for key backup and recovery management to drive an efficient, risk-managed, and simplified environment.","shortDescription":"Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor: Improve recovery confidence and ensure service levels with EMC’s powerful data protection management software.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":20,"sellingCount":3,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor (DPA)","keywords":"data, environment, protection, recovery, backup, Advisor, Protection, Data","description":"With Data Protection Advisor, you’ll be able to unify and automate monitoring, analysis and reporting across backup and recovery environments while reducing complexity, lowering costs, and eliminating manual efforts.\r\nINCREASE VISIBILITY\r\nData Protection Advis","og:title":"Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor (DPA)","og:description":"With Data Protection Advisor, you’ll be able to unify and automate monitoring, analysis and reporting across backup and recovery environments while reducing complexity, lowering costs, and eliminating manual efforts.\r\nINCREASE VISIBILITY\r\nData Protection Advis"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":414,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":497,"title":"Backup and Recovery Reporting Software","alias":"backup-and-recovery-reporting-software","description":" Backup and recovery describes the process of creating and storing copies of data that can be used to protect organizations against data loss. 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For more information about the Hyper-V module, see Hyper-V Module for Windows PowerShell.\r\nIf you use Server Manager to install the Hyper-V role, the management tools are included unless you specifically exclude them. If you use Windows PowerShell to install the Hyper-V role, the management tools are not included by default. To install the tools, use the parameter –IncludeManagementTools. For instructions about installing the Hyper-V role, see Install Hyper-V and create a virtual machine.\r\n\r\nOverview of Hyper-V\r\nApplies To: Windows Server 2008 R2\r\nHyper-V provides software infrastructure and basic management tools that you can use to create and manage a virtualized server computing environment. This virtualized environment can be used to address a variety of business goals aimed at improving efficiency and reducing costs. For example, a virtualized server environment can help you:\r\nReduce the costs of operating and maintaining physical servers by increasing your hardware utilization. You can reduce the amount of hardware needed to run your server workloads.\r\nIncrease development and test efficiency by reducing the amount of time it takes to set up hardware and software and reproduce test environments.\r\nImprove server availability without using as many physical computers as you would need in a failover configuration that uses only physical computers.\r\nSome ways Hyper-V can help you\r\nHyper-V can help you:\r\nEstablish or expand a private cloud environment. Provide more flexible, on-demand IT services by moving to or expanding your use of shared resources and adjust utilization as demand changes.\r\nUse your hardware more effectively. Consolidate servers and workloads onto fewer, more powerful physical computers to use less power and physical space.\r\nImprove business continuity. Minimize the impact of both scheduled and unscheduled downtime of your workloads.\r\nEstablish or expand a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Use a centralized desktop strategy with VDI can help you increase business agility and data security, as well as simplify regulatory compliance and manage desktop operating systems and applications. Deploy Hyper-V and Remote Desktop Virtualization Host (RD Virtualization Host) on the same server to make personal virtual desktops or virtual desktop pools available to your users.\r\nMake development and test more efficient. Reproduce different computing environments without having to buy or maintain all the hardware you'd need if you only used physical systems.\r\nHyper-V and other virtualization products\r\nHyper-V in Windows and Windows Server replaces older hardware virtualization products, such as Microsoft Virtual PC, Microsoft Virtual Server, and Windows Virtual PC. Hyper-V offers networking, performance, storage and security features not available in these older products.\r\nHyper-V and most third-party virtualization applications that require the same processor features aren't compatible. That's because the processor features, known as hardware virtualization extensions, are designed to not be shared. For details, see Virtualization applications do not work together with Hyper-V, Device Guard, and Credential Guard.","shortDescription":"The Hyper-V role enables you to create and manage a virtualized computing environment by using virtualization technology that is built in to Windows Server. Installing the Hyper-V role installs the required components and optionally installs management tools. The required components include Windows hypervisor, Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management Service, the virtualization WMI provider, and other virtualization components such as the virtual machine bus (VMbus), virtualization service provider (VSP) and virtual infrastructure driver (VID).","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":18,"sellingCount":10,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Hyper-V","keywords":"Hyper-V, Windows, hardware, virtual, physical, your, tools, server","description":"The management tools for the Hyper-V role consist of:\r\nGUI-based management tools: Hyper-V Manager, a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, and Virtual Machine Connection, which provides access to the video output of a virtual machine so you can interact","og:title":"Microsoft Hyper-V","og:description":"The management tools for the Hyper-V role consist of:\r\nGUI-based management tools: Hyper-V Manager, a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, and Virtual Machine Connection, which provides access to the video output of a virtual machine so you can interact"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":617,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":2,"title":"Virtual machine and cloud system software","alias":"virtual-machine-and-cloud-system-software","description":" A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based computer that exists within another computer’s operating system, often used for the purposes of testing, backing up data, or running SaaS applications. To fully grasp how VMs work, it’s important to first understand how computer software and hardware are typically integrated by an operating system.\r\n&quot;The cloud&quot; refers to servers that are accessed over the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centers all over the world. By using cloud computing, users and companies don't have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines.\r\nThe cloud enables users to access the same files and applications from almost any device, because the computing and storage take place on servers in a data center, instead of locally on the user device. This is why a user can log into their Instagram account on a new phone after their old phone breaks and still find their old account in place, with all their photos, videos, and conversation history. It works the same way with cloud email providers like Gmail or Microsoft Office 365, and with cloud storage providers like Dropbox or Google Drive.\r\nFor businesses, switching to cloud computing removes some IT costs and overhead: for instance, they no longer need to update and maintain their own servers, as the cloud vendor they are using will do that. This especially makes an impact on small businesses that may not have been able to afford their own internal infrastructure but can outsource their infrastructure needs affordably via the cloud. The cloud can also make it easier for companies to operate internationally because employees and customers can access the same files and applications from any location.\r\nSeveral cloud providers offer virtual machines to their customers. These virtual machines typically live on powerful servers that can act as a host to multiple VMs and can be used for a variety of reasons that wouldn’t be practical with a locally-hosted VM. These include:\r\n<ul><li>Running SaaS applications - Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS for short, is a cloud-based method of providing software to users. SaaS users subscribe to an application rather than purchasing it once and installing it. These applications are generally served to the user over the Internet. Often, it is virtual machines in the cloud that are doing the computation for SaaS applications as well as delivering them to users. If the cloud provider has a geographically distributed network edge, then the application will run closer to the user, resulting in faster performance.</li><li>Backing up data - Cloud-based VM services are very popular for backing up data because the data can be accessed from anywhere. Plus, cloud VMs provide better redundancy, require less maintenance, and generally scale better than physical data centers. (For example, it’s generally fairly easy to buy an extra gigabyte of storage space from a cloud VM provider, but much more difficult to build a new local data server for that extra gigabyte of data.)</li><li>Hosting services like email and access management - Hosting these services on cloud VMs is generally faster and more cost-effective, and helps minimize maintenance and offload security concerns as well.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":"What is an operating system?\r\nTraditional computers are built out of physical hardware, including hard disk drives, processor chips, RAM, etc. In order to utilize this hardware, computers rely on a type of software known as an operating system (OS). Some common examples of OSes are Mac OSX, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Android.\r\nThe OS is what manages the computer’s hardware in ways that are useful to the user. For example, if the user wants to access the Internet, the OS directs the network interface card to make the connection. If the user wants to download a file, the OS will partition space on the hard drive for that file. The OS also runs and manages other pieces of software. For example, it can run a web browser and provide the browser with enough random access memory (RAM) to operate smoothly. Typically, operating systems exist within a physical computer at a one-to-one ratio; for each machine, there is a single OS managing its physical resources.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can you have two or more operating systems on one computer?</span>\r\nSome users want to be able to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on one computer, either for testing or one of the other reasons listed in the section below. This can be achieved through a process called virtualization. In virtualization, a piece of software behaves as if it were an independent computer. This piece of software is called a virtual machine, also known as a ‘guest’ computer. (The computer on which the VM is running is called the ‘host’.) The guest has an OS as well as its own virtual hardware.\r\n‘Virtual hardware’ may sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but it works by mapping to real hardware on the host computer. For example, the VM’s ‘hard drive’ is really just a file on the host computer’s hard drive. When the VM wants to save a new file, it actually has to communicate with the host OS, which will write this file to the host hard drive. Because virtual hardware must perform this added step of negotiating with the host to access hardware resources, virtual machines can’t run quite as fast as their host computers.\r\nWith virtualization, one computer can run two or more operating systems. The number of VMs that can run on one host is limited only by the host’s available resources. The user can run the OS of a VM in a window like any other program, or they can run it in fullscreen so that it looks and feels like a genuine host OS.\r\n <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are virtual machines used for?</span>\r\nSome of the most popular reasons people run virtual machines include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Testing</span> - Oftentimes software developers want to be able to test their applications in different environments. They can use virtual machines to run their applications in various OSes on one computer. This is simpler and more cost-effective than having to test on several different physical machines.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Running software designed for other OSes</span> - Although certain software applications are only available for a single platform, a VM can run software designed for a different OS. For example, a Mac user who wants to run software designed for Windows can run a Windows VM on their Mac host.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Running outdated software</span> - Some pieces of older software can’t be run in modern OSes. Users who want to run these applications can run an old OS on a virtual machine.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Virtual_machine_and_cloud_system_software.png"},{"id":1,"title":"Desktop virtualization","alias":"desktop-virtualization","description":" Desktop virtualization is a virtualization technology that separates an individual's PC applications from his or her desktop. Virtualized desktops are generally hosted on a remote central server, rather than the hard drive of the personal computer. Because the client-server computing model is used in virtualizing desktops, desktop virtualization is also known as client virtualization.\r\nDesktop virtualization provides a way for users to maintain their individual desktops on a single, central server. The users may be connected to the central server through a LAN, WAN or over the Internet.\r\nDesktop virtualization has many benefits, including a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), increased security, reduced energy costs, reduced downtime and centralized management.\r\nLimitations of desktop virtualization include difficulty in maintenance and set up of printer drivers; increased downtime in case of network failures; complexity and costs involved in VDI deployment and security risks in the event of improper network management.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are types of desktop virtualization technologies?</span>\r\nHost-based forms of desktop virtualization require that users view and interact with their virtual desktops over a network by using a remote display protocol. Because processing takes place in a data center, client devices can be traditional PCs, but also thin clients, zero clients, smartphones and tablets. Examples of host-based desktop virtualization technology include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Host-based virtual machines:</span> Each user connects to an individual VM that is hosted in a data center. The user may connect to the same VM every time, allowing for personalization (known as a persistent desktop), or be given a fresh VM at each login (a nonpersistent desktop).\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Shared hosted:</span> Users connect to a shared desktop that runs on a server. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, formerly Terminal Services, takes this client-server approach. Users may also connect to individual applications running on a server; this technology is an example of application virtualization.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Host-based physical machines:</span> The operating system runs directly on another device's physical hardware.\r\nClient virtualization requires processing to occur on local hardware; the use of thin clients, zero clients and mobile devices is not possible. These types of desktop virtualization include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">OS image streaming:</span> The operating system runs on local hardware, but it boots to a remote disk image across the network. This is useful for groups of desktops that use the same disk image. OS image streaming, also known as remote desktop virtualization, requires a constant network connection in order to function.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Client-based virtual machines:</span> A VM runs on a fully functional PC, with a hypervisor in place. Client-based virtual machines can be managed by regularly syncing the disk image with a server, but a constant network connection is not necessary in order for them to function.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Desktop virtualization vs. virtual desktop infrastructure</span>\r\nThe terms <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">desktop virtualization</span> and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. While VDI is a type of desktop virtualization, not all desktop virtualization uses VDI.\r\nVDI refers to the use of host-based VMs to deliver virtual desktops, which emerged in 2006 as an alternative to Terminal Services and Citrix's client-server approach to desktop virtualization technology. Other types of desktop virtualization -- including the shared hosted model, host-based physical machines and all methods of client virtualization -- are not examples of VDI.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Desktop_virtualization.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":405,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"EMC VNX","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":1,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"emc-vnx","companyTypes":[],"description":"With the VNX Series, you’ll achieve new levels of performance, protection, compliance, and ease of management.","shortDescription":"EMC VNX - High-performing unified storage with unsurpassed simplicity and efficiency, optimised for virtual applications.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":17,"sellingCount":11,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"EMC VNX","keywords":"performance, compliance, protection, management, ease, With, Series, you’ll","description":"With the VNX Series, you’ll achieve new levels of performance, protection, compliance, and ease of management.","og:title":"EMC VNX","og:description":"With the VNX Series, you’ll achieve new levels of performance, protection, compliance, and ease of management."},"eventUrl":"","translationId":406,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":501,"title":"All-flash and Hybrid Storage","alias":"all-flash-and-hybrid-storage","description":" Costs have come down making hybrid and all-flash enterprise storage solutions the preferred choice for storing, processing and moving the massive volumes of business data generated in today’s cloud, mobile and IoT environment.\r\nll-flash storage arrays utilize solid-state drives (SSDs) to deliver high-performance and low-latency workloads using data compression and deduplication technologies. Hybrid Storage combines those same solid-state drives (SSDs) with SAS or NL-SAS drives to offer a more cost-effective storage solution that balances cost with superior performance and high storage density.\r\nBoth options lower the complexity of providing scale-out performance at ultralow latency for data-intensive loads and big data analytics.\r\nWhether you are building a new storage array or refreshing your existing storage infrastructure we will work with you to plan, source, install and configure a storage solution to meet you budgetary and business requirements.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is flash storage and what is it used for?</span>\r\nFlash storage is any storage repository that uses flash memory. Flash memory comes in many form factors, and you probably use flash storage every day. From a single Flash chip on a simple circuit board attached to your computing device via USB to circuit boards in your phone or MP3 player, to a fully integrated “Enterprise Flash Disk” where lots of chips are attached to a circuit board in a form factor that can be used in place of a spinning disk.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is flash storage SSD?</span>\r\nA “Solid State Disk” or EFD “Enterprise Flash Disk” is a fully integrated circuit board where many Flash chips are engineered to represent a single Flash disk. Primarily used to replace a traditional spinning disk, SSDs are used in MP3 players, laptops, servers and enterprise storage systems.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between flash storage and SSD?</span>\r\nFlash storage is a reference to any device that can function as a storage repository. Flash storage can be a simple USB device or a fully integrated All-Flash Storage Array. SSD, “Solid State Disk” is an integrated device designed to replace spinning media, commonly used in enterprise storage arrays.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between flash storage and traditional hard drives?</span>\r\nA traditional hard drive leveraged rotating platters and heads to read data from a magnetic device, comparable to a traditional record player; while flash storage leveraged electronic media or flash memory, to vastly improve performance. Flash eliminates rotational delay and seeks time, functions that add latency to traditional storage media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between an all-flash array and a hybrid array?</span>\r\nA Hybrid Storage Array uses a combination of spinning disk drives and Flash SSD. Along with the right software, a Hybrid Array can be configured to improve overall performance while reducing cost. An All-Flash-Array is designed to support only SSD media.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Al_flash_and_Hybrid_Storage.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":180,"title":"Russia","name":"RUS"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"}]}},"categories":[{"id":2,"title":"Virtual machine and cloud system software","alias":"virtual-machine-and-cloud-system-software","description":" A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based computer that exists within another computer’s operating system, often used for the purposes of testing, backing up data, or running SaaS applications. To fully grasp how VMs work, it’s important to first understand how computer software and hardware are typically integrated by an operating system.\r\n&quot;The cloud&quot; refers to servers that are accessed over the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centers all over the world. By using cloud computing, users and companies don't have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines.\r\nThe cloud enables users to access the same files and applications from almost any device, because the computing and storage take place on servers in a data center, instead of locally on the user device. This is why a user can log into their Instagram account on a new phone after their old phone breaks and still find their old account in place, with all their photos, videos, and conversation history. It works the same way with cloud email providers like Gmail or Microsoft Office 365, and with cloud storage providers like Dropbox or Google Drive.\r\nFor businesses, switching to cloud computing removes some IT costs and overhead: for instance, they no longer need to update and maintain their own servers, as the cloud vendor they are using will do that. This especially makes an impact on small businesses that may not have been able to afford their own internal infrastructure but can outsource their infrastructure needs affordably via the cloud. The cloud can also make it easier for companies to operate internationally because employees and customers can access the same files and applications from any location.\r\nSeveral cloud providers offer virtual machines to their customers. These virtual machines typically live on powerful servers that can act as a host to multiple VMs and can be used for a variety of reasons that wouldn’t be practical with a locally-hosted VM. These include:\r\n<ul><li>Running SaaS applications - Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS for short, is a cloud-based method of providing software to users. SaaS users subscribe to an application rather than purchasing it once and installing it. These applications are generally served to the user over the Internet. Often, it is virtual machines in the cloud that are doing the computation for SaaS applications as well as delivering them to users. If the cloud provider has a geographically distributed network edge, then the application will run closer to the user, resulting in faster performance.</li><li>Backing up data - Cloud-based VM services are very popular for backing up data because the data can be accessed from anywhere. Plus, cloud VMs provide better redundancy, require less maintenance, and generally scale better than physical data centers. (For example, it’s generally fairly easy to buy an extra gigabyte of storage space from a cloud VM provider, but much more difficult to build a new local data server for that extra gigabyte of data.)</li><li>Hosting services like email and access management - Hosting these services on cloud VMs is generally faster and more cost-effective, and helps minimize maintenance and offload security concerns as well.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":"What is an operating system?\r\nTraditional computers are built out of physical hardware, including hard disk drives, processor chips, RAM, etc. In order to utilize this hardware, computers rely on a type of software known as an operating system (OS). Some common examples of OSes are Mac OSX, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Android.\r\nThe OS is what manages the computer’s hardware in ways that are useful to the user. For example, if the user wants to access the Internet, the OS directs the network interface card to make the connection. If the user wants to download a file, the OS will partition space on the hard drive for that file. The OS also runs and manages other pieces of software. For example, it can run a web browser and provide the browser with enough random access memory (RAM) to operate smoothly. Typically, operating systems exist within a physical computer at a one-to-one ratio; for each machine, there is a single OS managing its physical resources.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can you have two or more operating systems on one computer?</span>\r\nSome users want to be able to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on one computer, either for testing or one of the other reasons listed in the section below. This can be achieved through a process called virtualization. In virtualization, a piece of software behaves as if it were an independent computer. This piece of software is called a virtual machine, also known as a ‘guest’ computer. (The computer on which the VM is running is called the ‘host’.) The guest has an OS as well as its own virtual hardware.\r\n‘Virtual hardware’ may sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but it works by mapping to real hardware on the host computer. For example, the VM’s ‘hard drive’ is really just a file on the host computer’s hard drive. When the VM wants to save a new file, it actually has to communicate with the host OS, which will write this file to the host hard drive. Because virtual hardware must perform this added step of negotiating with the host to access hardware resources, virtual machines can’t run quite as fast as their host computers.\r\nWith virtualization, one computer can run two or more operating systems. The number of VMs that can run on one host is limited only by the host’s available resources. The user can run the OS of a VM in a window like any other program, or they can run it in fullscreen so that it looks and feels like a genuine host OS.\r\n <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are virtual machines used for?</span>\r\nSome of the most popular reasons people run virtual machines include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Testing</span> - Oftentimes software developers want to be able to test their applications in different environments. They can use virtual machines to run their applications in various OSes on one computer. This is simpler and more cost-effective than having to test on several different physical machines.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Running software designed for other OSes</span> - Although certain software applications are only available for a single platform, a VM can run software designed for a different OS. For example, a Mac user who wants to run software designed for Windows can run a Windows VM on their Mac host.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Running outdated software</span> - Some pieces of older software can’t be run in modern OSes. Users who want to run these applications can run an old OS on a virtual machine.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Virtual_machine_and_cloud_system_software.png"},{"id":1,"title":"Desktop virtualization","alias":"desktop-virtualization","description":" Desktop virtualization is a virtualization technology that separates an individual's PC applications from his or her desktop. Virtualized desktops are generally hosted on a remote central server, rather than the hard drive of the personal computer. Because the client-server computing model is used in virtualizing desktops, desktop virtualization is also known as client virtualization.\r\nDesktop virtualization provides a way for users to maintain their individual desktops on a single, central server. The users may be connected to the central server through a LAN, WAN or over the Internet.\r\nDesktop virtualization has many benefits, including a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), increased security, reduced energy costs, reduced downtime and centralized management.\r\nLimitations of desktop virtualization include difficulty in maintenance and set up of printer drivers; increased downtime in case of network failures; complexity and costs involved in VDI deployment and security risks in the event of improper network management.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are types of desktop virtualization technologies?</span>\r\nHost-based forms of desktop virtualization require that users view and interact with their virtual desktops over a network by using a remote display protocol. Because processing takes place in a data center, client devices can be traditional PCs, but also thin clients, zero clients, smartphones and tablets. Examples of host-based desktop virtualization technology include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Host-based virtual machines:</span> Each user connects to an individual VM that is hosted in a data center. The user may connect to the same VM every time, allowing for personalization (known as a persistent desktop), or be given a fresh VM at each login (a nonpersistent desktop).\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Shared hosted:</span> Users connect to a shared desktop that runs on a server. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, formerly Terminal Services, takes this client-server approach. Users may also connect to individual applications running on a server; this technology is an example of application virtualization.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Host-based physical machines:</span> The operating system runs directly on another device's physical hardware.\r\nClient virtualization requires processing to occur on local hardware; the use of thin clients, zero clients and mobile devices is not possible. These types of desktop virtualization include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">OS image streaming:</span> The operating system runs on local hardware, but it boots to a remote disk image across the network. This is useful for groups of desktops that use the same disk image. OS image streaming, also known as remote desktop virtualization, requires a constant network connection in order to function.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Client-based virtual machines:</span> A VM runs on a fully functional PC, with a hypervisor in place. Client-based virtual machines can be managed by regularly syncing the disk image with a server, but a constant network connection is not necessary in order for them to function.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Desktop virtualization vs. virtual desktop infrastructure</span>\r\nThe terms <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">desktop virtualization</span> and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. While VDI is a type of desktop virtualization, not all desktop virtualization uses VDI.\r\nVDI refers to the use of host-based VMs to deliver virtual desktops, which emerged in 2006 as an alternative to Terminal Services and Citrix's client-server approach to desktop virtualization technology. Other types of desktop virtualization -- including the shared hosted model, host-based physical machines and all methods of client virtualization -- are not examples of VDI.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Desktop_virtualization.png"},{"id":501,"title":"All-flash and Hybrid Storage","alias":"all-flash-and-hybrid-storage","description":" Costs have come down making hybrid and all-flash enterprise storage solutions the preferred choice for storing, processing and moving the massive volumes of business data generated in today’s cloud, mobile and IoT environment.\r\nll-flash storage arrays utilize solid-state drives (SSDs) to deliver high-performance and low-latency workloads using data compression and deduplication technologies. Hybrid Storage combines those same solid-state drives (SSDs) with SAS or NL-SAS drives to offer a more cost-effective storage solution that balances cost with superior performance and high storage density.\r\nBoth options lower the complexity of providing scale-out performance at ultralow latency for data-intensive loads and big data analytics.\r\nWhether you are building a new storage array or refreshing your existing storage infrastructure we will work with you to plan, source, install and configure a storage solution to meet you budgetary and business requirements.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is flash storage and what is it used for?</span>\r\nFlash storage is any storage repository that uses flash memory. Flash memory comes in many form factors, and you probably use flash storage every day. From a single Flash chip on a simple circuit board attached to your computing device via USB to circuit boards in your phone or MP3 player, to a fully integrated “Enterprise Flash Disk” where lots of chips are attached to a circuit board in a form factor that can be used in place of a spinning disk.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is flash storage SSD?</span>\r\nA “Solid State Disk” or EFD “Enterprise Flash Disk” is a fully integrated circuit board where many Flash chips are engineered to represent a single Flash disk. Primarily used to replace a traditional spinning disk, SSDs are used in MP3 players, laptops, servers and enterprise storage systems.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between flash storage and SSD?</span>\r\nFlash storage is a reference to any device that can function as a storage repository. Flash storage can be a simple USB device or a fully integrated All-Flash Storage Array. SSD, “Solid State Disk” is an integrated device designed to replace spinning media, commonly used in enterprise storage arrays.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between flash storage and traditional hard drives?</span>\r\nA traditional hard drive leveraged rotating platters and heads to read data from a magnetic device, comparable to a traditional record player; while flash storage leveraged electronic media or flash memory, to vastly improve performance. Flash eliminates rotational delay and seeks time, functions that add latency to traditional storage media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between an all-flash array and a hybrid array?</span>\r\nA Hybrid Storage Array uses a combination of spinning disk drives and Flash SSD. Along with the right software, a Hybrid Array can be configured to improve overall performance while reducing cost. An All-Flash-Array is designed to support only SSD media.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Al_flash_and_Hybrid_Storage.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"https://www.technoserv.com/about/success-stories/detail.php?id=6104","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":1106,"title":"fieldengineer","description":"<p><span style=\"color: #767676; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px;\">A field solution architecture is one of the essential parts of organizational success. The field solution architect (FSA) is responsible for working together with internal and external sales department to plan, organize, and sales strategies.visit us @&nbsp;</span><a style=\"border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, background-color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; color: #1e73be; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px;\" href=\"https://www.fieldengineer.com/skills/field-solutions-architect\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.fieldengineer.com/skills/field-solutions-architect</a></p>","alias":"fieldengineer","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"fieldengineer","keywords":"","description":"<p><span style=\"color: #767676; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13.6px;\">A field solution architecture is one of the essential parts of organizational success. 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Versions for Windows and Mac will be released by the end of 2017.\r\nNew Skype made a group of chat more personalized with color settings, add-ons and bots. With the \"Se"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":827,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":367,"title":"Web Conferencing Applications","alias":"web-conferencing-applications","description":" Web conferencing is the common name for technology and tools for online meetings and real-time collaboration. Web conferencing allows you to conduct online presentations, collaborate on documents and applications, view websites, videos, images.\r\nWeb conferences, as a rule, are Internet services that require the installation of a client program on each participant’s computer. Some services also provide access to a web conference via a browser using flash, java or a special plug-in.\r\nServices for web conferencing can include features and tools such as screen sharing (screen sharing or individual applications), whiteboard (interactive whiteboard), the ability to show web presentations, co-browsing (the ability to synchronously browse web pages), tools for annotations, monitoring the presence of participants, text chat, integrated VoIP communication, video communication, the ability to change the leader, the ability to give control over the mouse and keyboard, meeting moderation tools, feedback collection tools (on example, polls), tools for scheduling and inviting participants, the ability to record the progress of a web conference.\r\nOften, web conferencing is used with Internet services for audio and video calls (for example, Skype) or they provide conference calling via a regular telephone.","materialsDescription":" What is the first thing that strikes you when we look at businessmen who are trying to establish communication with each other online? All of them require: “Give more opportunities for web conferencing!”. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the WebRTC technology is gaining the favor of an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses.\r\nA recent study conducted by Software Advice showed that more than half of employees in small businesses prefer web conferences, noting their efficiency and usability. The advantages are especially noticeable in comparison with communications via telephone or the use of special applications. However, the benefits of web conferencing do not end there - according to the study, they not only increase the speed and quality of online meetings, but also provide a lot of opportunities for collaboration. In addition, and this is obvious, they reduce travel costs.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Speed ​​and quality come first.</span>\r\nIt is worth noting that now small and medium businesses are almost gone from the use of communication hardware and use desktop computers and mobile devices. Despite the fact that audio and video conferences are still very popular (they are used by 45% and 50% of users, respectively), web conferences are actively replacing them. Judge for yourself - according to statistics, every third user selects them as a means of communication after the first experience of use.\r\nThe main reason for such a rapid growth in popularity is the speed and quality that web conferencing users provide. According to respondents, the main advantage of web conferences is the ability to organize a meeting much faster than before. Now there is no need to spend time on installing special applications like Skype or similar - any communication systems using any third-party programs are a thing of the past. Also worth noting is the ability to connect to the web conference literally in one click.\r\nMore than 40% of the people surveyed showed dissatisfaction with the tedious procedure of entering authorization data, noting the simplicity and convenience of connecting to the WebRTC web conference. All you need is access to the Internet!\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">We work in a team</span>\r\nIt is no secret that the use of web conferencing significantly reduces the company's travel expenses. After all, booking tickets, searching for hotels and meeting places can result in a decent amount, which will seriously hurt the company's income. Using web conferences, you get the opportunity to arrange business meetings, even with overseas partners, without leaving your office. But that's not all! 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Some services also provide access to a web conference via a browser using flash, java or a special plug-in.\r\nServices for web conferencing can include features and tools such as screen sharing (screen sharing or individual applications), whiteboard (interactive whiteboard), the ability to show web presentations, co-browsing (the ability to synchronously browse web pages), tools for annotations, monitoring the presence of participants, text chat, integrated VoIP communication, video communication, the ability to change the leader, the ability to give control over the mouse and keyboard, meeting moderation tools, feedback collection tools (on example, polls), tools for scheduling and inviting participants, the ability to record the progress of a web conference.\r\nOften, web conferencing is used with Internet services for audio and video calls (for example, Skype) or they provide conference calling via a regular telephone.","materialsDescription":" What is the first thing that strikes you when we look at businessmen who are trying to establish communication with each other online? All of them require: “Give more opportunities for web conferencing!”. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the WebRTC technology is gaining the favor of an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses.\r\nA recent study conducted by Software Advice showed that more than half of employees in small businesses prefer web conferences, noting their efficiency and usability. The advantages are especially noticeable in comparison with communications via telephone or the use of special applications. However, the benefits of web conferencing do not end there - according to the study, they not only increase the speed and quality of online meetings, but also provide a lot of opportunities for collaboration. 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Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":64,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft 365","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"4.00","implementationsCount":8,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-365","companyTypes":[],"description":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Microsoft 365</span> is the productivity cloud that brings together best-in-class Office apps with powerful cloud services, device management, and advanced security.</p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Be more productive wherever you are</span></p>\r\n<p>Connect employees to the people, information, and content they need to do their best work, from any device.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Comes with Office apps</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Stay up to date with the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email and calendaring</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Connect with customers and coworkers using Outlook and Exchange.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Chat, call, and meet</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Keep your team on the same page with group chat, online meetings, and calling in Microsoft Teams.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Cloud storage</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Manage your files from anywhere with 1 TB of OneDrive storage.</p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Don&rsquo;t drown in paperwork</span></p>\r\n<p>Transform the way you manage your business and simplify the way work gets done with modern tools that streamline business processes.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Manage customer appointments</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Simplify how customers schedule and manage appointments with Bookings.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Capture employee and customer insights</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Create surveys, polls, and questionnaires to gather data and insights with Microsoft Forms.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Make repetitive tasks easy</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Automate everyday business processes with Power Automate.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Works with what you have</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Sign in once to access all your tools. Microsoft 365 integrates with hundreds of third-party cloud apps.</p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Protect what matters most</span></p>\r\n<p>Help protect your employees, data, and customer information with enterprise-grade security you can trust.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defend against cyberthreats</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Protect against phishing attempts, ransomware, spam, malware, viruses, malicious links, and other threats.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Keep customer data safe</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Protect sensitive business information from cybercriminals, unauthorized access, and accidental deletion.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Secure your devices</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Help keep your data safe, even when accessed on employees&rsquo; personal devices.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Simplify IT management</span></span></p>\r\n<p>Easily setup and manage your users, devices, and data, giving you time back to focus on running your business.</p>","shortDescription":"Microsoft 365 combines premium Office apps with Outlook, cloud storage and more, to help you make more of your time.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":13,"sellingCount":14,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft 365","keywords":"Office, Microsoft, software, services, storage, Server, Skype, service","description":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Microsoft 365</span> is the productivity cloud that brings together best-in-class Office apps with powerful cloud services, device management, and advanced security.</p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Be","og:title":"Microsoft 365","og:description":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Microsoft 365</span> is the productivity cloud that brings together best-in-class Office apps with powerful cloud services, device management, and advanced security.</p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Be"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":99,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":267,"title":"Collaborative Applications","alias":"collaborative-applications","description":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Collaborative applications, </span>collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people involved in a common task to achieve their goals. One of the earliest definitions of collaborative software is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nIn terms of the level of interaction it allows, collaborative software may be divided into: real-time collaborative editing (RTCE) platforms that allow multiple users to engage in live, simultaneous and reversible editing of a single file, like document collaboration app, and version control (also known as revision control and source control) platforms, which allow separate users to make parallel edits to a file, while preserving every saved edit by every user as multiple files (that are variants of the original file). The use of collaborative software in the work space creates a collaborative working environment (CWE). \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">There are three main categories</span> of collaboration software based on their functional capabilities. Knowing how does collaboration software work can be gleaned from the tools employed.<br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Communication.</span> Helps in the exchange of communication between groups. The most common communication tools that are used are systems and applications for email hosting, file sharing, project management and a website or online collaboration applications platform that can be readily accessed. Research findings have shown that file sharing is the most common and needed feature in collaboration software. <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Example tools:</span> email, voicemail, instant messaging, VoIP or video calls.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Conferencing.</span> Allows real-time collaboration among members. Groupware software tools make possible real-time discussions among project members through a virtual meeting room with a moderator who oversees the sharing of information. These web based collaboration applications meetings are helpful when there are important matters to be decided on by project members who are in various locations. <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Example tools:</span> video conferencing, IM conferencing, online forums, social media group chats, community boards, application sharing.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Coordination.</span> Assists in group activities, schedule and deliverables. Coordination software solutions are used for complex interdependent tasks to realize a common goal. Typical business collaboration app suits for time management, project management and online proofing so that team members are aware of deadlines, are properly coordinated, and can monitor the status of projects. <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Example tools:</span> calendars, time trackers, spreadsheets, client portals, alerts and status updates<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">What does collaboration software do?</h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Internal Communication System.</span> Teams need an efficient communication system to be able to stay on task and not miss crucial aspects of ongoing projects. With many tools built into web based collaboration apps that allow all forms of communication – email, IM, voice, video – as well as mechanisms to review and retrieve conversations and discussions, team members are assured of uninterrupted coordination and kept in sync.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">File Sharing.</span> Like communication, the ability to share files, documents, data and all other forms of media is one of the most important features of collaboration software.&nbsp; Many groupware now carry robust document management systems, providing you and your team members a convenient means to share, access, view and retrieve files</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content Creation.</span> Several all-in-one collaboration platforms offer content creation functionality that allows producing and publishing content both for internal and external audiences. This is useful for inbound marketing activities like creating blogs and informative content to attract new audience and enhance your business’ online presence.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Powerful Search.</span> Finding old files, previous conversation or past blog post are facilitated by the robust search feature of web based collaboration software. What was previously a time-consuming process, now you can use tags and search filters to find what you’re looking for in quickly and efficiently.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Personal and Group Calendars.</span> Keeping track of numerous meetings, events and other important matters that need your attention is a sure headache-inducer. Personal as well as group calendars are integral features in most collaborative platforms and mobile collaboration apps to help you and your team members stay attuned, involved and present at all times, wherever they may be.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">What are the benefits of collaboration software? </h1>\r\nThere are a number of benefits of collaboration software that can result in more efficient and effective completion of tasks and goals. Understanding what does a collaboration software do will help you justify its implementation in your organization and bolster its adoption with your employees. The successful execution of good collaboration software will afford you many advantages. Why use collaboration software? Here are four good reasons why.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Save time</span> – Time is gold, and in a business that is tantamount to money. The more you save time, the more you save on unwanted expenses, and the better it is for your organization. Collaboration among employees makes possible the quicker completion of end goals that wouldn’t otherwise be achievable in other ways. Embracing collaboration methods cuts disparate, uncoordinated work on a particular project from different contributing members and saves not only time but also resources and efforts. If you are looking to cut costs on projects, collaboration software can help in that respect.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enhance project management</span> – Keeping a handle on a project, a team and its members and their progress are never easy to work. Coordination and communication are of paramount importance if you want a project completed. Collaboration is one of the most optimal means to guarantee that you get the most out of your team. It opens lines of communication and makes sure everything is on track in order to avoid mistakes and confusion that can delay projects.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Strengthen team relationships</span> – One sure-fire way to build effective working relationships among employees is to have them work together to complete tasks and projects. Collaboration programs are designed to do that, making it easy for teams to work almost like a concerted unit with a singular purpose. This makes teams comfortable and confident in working with one another when it comes to completing common objectives.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Improve organization</span> – The process of keeping things and tasks in order has always been a problem for businesses. It is typical to lose track of what has been done and what needs to be done in project workflows simply because everything is a mess. Collaborative programs assist in maintaining order and managing the stages in workflows through open communication and coordination among concerned individuals and team.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":392,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Exchange","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":11,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-exchange","companyTypes":[],"description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaboration with document sharing Add enhanced archiving, security, and compliance features <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Online</span> Exchange is available as a standalone hosted service from Microsoft. You can also get Exchange as part of an Office 365 plan that includes Office apps, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Server 2016</span> Increase productivity and keep your business information safe, while maintaining the control you need. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Other Exchange products</span> Exchange Online Archiving Exchange Online Protection Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Exchange Online Kiosk Exchange for government agencies","shortDescription":"Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":20,"sellingCount":2,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange","keywords":"Exchange, Online, Microsoft, Office, with, Protection, email, more","description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati","og:title":"Microsoft Exchange","og:description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":393,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":792,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Azure","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.70","implementationsCount":7,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-azure","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine images for popular software packages. App services, platform as a service (PaaS) environment letting developers easily publish and manage Web sites. Websites, high density hosting of websites allows developers to build sites using ASP.NET, PHP, Node.js, or Python and can be deployed using FTP, Git, Mercurial, Team Foundation Server or uploaded through the user portal. This feature was announced in preview form in June 2012 at the Meet Microsoft Azure event.[5] Customers can create websites in PHP, ASP.NET, Node.js, or Python, or select from several open source applications from a gallery to deploy. This comprises one aspect of the platform as a service (PaaS) offerings for the Microsoft Azure Platform. It was renamed to Web Apps in April 2015. WebJobs, applications that can be deployed to a Web App to implement background processing. That can be invoked on a schedule, on demand or can run continuously. The Blob, Table and Queue services can be used to communicate between Web Apps and Web Jobs and to provide state. Mobile services Mobile Engagement collects real-time analytics that highlight users&rsquo; behavior. It also provides push notifications to mobile devices. HockeyApp can be used to develop, distribute, and beta-test mobile apps Storage services Storage Services provides REST and SDK APIs for storing and accessing data on the cloud. Table Service lets programs store structured text in partitioned collections of entities that are accessed by partition key and primary key. It's a NoSQL non-relational database. Blob Service allows programs to store unstructured text and binary data as blobs that can be accessed by a HTTP(S) path. Blob service also provides security mechanisms to control access to data. Queue Service lets programs communicate asynchronously by message using queues. File Service allows storing and access of data on the cloud using the REST APIs or the SMB protocol. Data management Azure Search provides text search and a subset of OData's structured filters using REST or SDK APIs. DocumentDB is a NoSQL database service that implements a subset of the SQL SELECT statement on JSON documents. Redis Cache is a managed implementation of Redis. StorSimple manages storage tasks between on-premises devices and cloud storage. SQL Database, formerly known as SQL Azure Database, works to create, scale and extend applications into the cloud using Microsoft SQL Server technology. It also integrates with Active Directory and Microsoft System Center and Hadoop. SQL Data Warehouse is a data warehousing service designed to handle computational and data intensive queries on datasets exceeding 1TB. Messaging The Microsoft Azure Service Bus allows applications running on Azure premises or off premises devices to communicate with Azure. This helps to build scalable and reliable applications in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Event Hubs, which provide event and telemetry ingress to the cloud at massive scale, with low latency and high reliability. For example an event hub can be used to track data from cell phones such as a GPS location coordinate in real time. Queues, which allow one-directional communication. A sender application would send the message to the service bus queue, and a receiver would read from the queue. Though there can be multiple readers for the queue only one would process a single message. Topics, which provide one-directional communication using a subscriber pattern. It is similar to a queue, however each subscriber will receive a copy of the message sent to a Topic. Optionally the subscriber can filter out messages based on specific criteria defined by the subscriber. Relays, which provide bi-directional communication. Unlike queues and topics, a relay doesn't store in-flight messages in its own memory. Instead, it just passes them on to the destination application.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers. \r\n","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":11,"sellingCount":16,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Azure","keywords":"Azure, Microsoft, service, using, data, cloud, Service, which","description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine image","og:title":"Microsoft Azure","og:description":"Microsoft lists over 600 Azure services, of which some are covered below: Compute Virtual machines, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) allowing users to launch general-purpose Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines, as well as preconfigured machine image"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":793,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":39,"title":"IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service","alias":"iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Infrastructure as a service</span> (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS solutions involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure – virtual machines and other resources – as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud infrastructure providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Infrastructure as a Service Benefits&nbsp;</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cost savings:</span> An obvious benefit of moving to the managed IaaS model is lower infrastructure costs. No longer do organizations have the responsibility of ensuring uptime, maintaining hardware and networking equipment, or replacing old equipment. IaaS&nbsp; technology also saves enterprises from having to buy more capacity to deal with sudden business spikes. Organizations with a smaller IT infrastructure generally require a smaller IT staff as well. The pay-as-you-go model also provides significant cost savings. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and flexibility:</span> One of the greatest benefits of IaaS is the ability to scale up and down quickly in response to an enterprise’s requirements. Infrastructure as a Service providers generally have the latest, most powerful storage, servers and networking technology to accommodate the needs of their customers. This on-demand scalability provides added flexibility and greater agility to respond to changing opportunities and requirements. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Faster time to market:</span> Competition is strong in every sector, and time to market is one of the best ways to beat the competition. Because IaaS vendors elasticity and scalability, organizations can ramp up and get the job done (and the product or service to market) more rapidly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Support for DR, BC and high availability:</span> While every enterprise has some type of disaster recovery plan, the technology behind those plans is often expensive and unwieldy. Organizations with several disparate locations often have different disaster recovery and business continuity plans and technologies, making management virtually impossible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Focus on business growth:</span> Time, money and energy spent making technology decisions and hiring staff to manage and maintain the technology infrastructure is time not spent on growing the business. By moving infrastructure to a global infrastructure services, organizations can focus their time and resources where they belong, on developing innovations in applications and solutions.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">IaaS, PaaS and SaaS: What’s the Difference?</h1>\r\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS) is the next step up from IaaS products, where the provider also supplies the operating environment including the operating system, application services, middleware and other ‘runtimes’ for cloud users. It’s used for development environments where the business can focus on creating an app but wants someone else to maintain the deployment platform. It means you have much simpler workloads but you can’t necessarily be as flexible as you want.\r\nAt the highest level of orchestration is Software as a Service. In SaaS infrastructure applications are accessed on demand. Here you just open your browser and go, consuming software rather than installing and running it. A user simply logs on to access the provider’s application. Users can decide how the app will work but pretty much everything else is the responsibility of the software provider.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":342,"title":"Total high cost of ownership of IT infrastructure (TCO)"},{"id":370,"title":"No automated business processes"},{"id":375,"title":"No support for mobile and remote users"},{"id":393,"title":"Complex and non-transparent business processes"},{"id":398,"title":"Poor communication and coordination among staff"}]}},"categories":[{"id":267,"title":"Collaborative Applications","alias":"collaborative-applications","description":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Collaborative applications, </span>collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people involved in a common task to achieve their goals. One of the earliest definitions of collaborative software is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nIn terms of the level of interaction it allows, collaborative software may be divided into: real-time collaborative editing (RTCE) platforms that allow multiple users to engage in live, simultaneous and reversible editing of a single file, like document collaboration app, and version control (also known as revision control and source control) platforms, which allow separate users to make parallel edits to a file, while preserving every saved edit by every user as multiple files (that are variants of the original file). The use of collaborative software in the work space creates a collaborative working environment (CWE). \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">There are three main categories</span> of collaboration software based on their functional capabilities. Knowing how does collaboration software work can be gleaned from the tools employed.<br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Communication.</span> Helps in the exchange of communication between groups. The most common communication tools that are used are systems and applications for email hosting, file sharing, project management and a website or online collaboration applications platform that can be readily accessed. Research findings have shown that file sharing is the most common and needed feature in collaboration software. <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Example tools:</span> email, voicemail, instant messaging, VoIP or video calls.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Conferencing.</span> Allows real-time collaboration among members. Groupware software tools make possible real-time discussions among project members through a virtual meeting room with a moderator who oversees the sharing of information. These web based collaboration applications meetings are helpful when there are important matters to be decided on by project members who are in various locations. <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Example tools:</span> video conferencing, IM conferencing, online forums, social media group chats, community boards, application sharing.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Coordination.</span> Assists in group activities, schedule and deliverables. Coordination software solutions are used for complex interdependent tasks to realize a common goal. Typical business collaboration app suits for time management, project management and online proofing so that team members are aware of deadlines, are properly coordinated, and can monitor the status of projects. <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Example tools:</span> calendars, time trackers, spreadsheets, client portals, alerts and status updates<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">What does collaboration software do?</h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Internal Communication System.</span> Teams need an efficient communication system to be able to stay on task and not miss crucial aspects of ongoing projects. With many tools built into web based collaboration apps that allow all forms of communication – email, IM, voice, video – as well as mechanisms to review and retrieve conversations and discussions, team members are assured of uninterrupted coordination and kept in sync.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">File Sharing.</span> Like communication, the ability to share files, documents, data and all other forms of media is one of the most important features of collaboration software.&nbsp; Many groupware now carry robust document management systems, providing you and your team members a convenient means to share, access, view and retrieve files</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content Creation.</span> Several all-in-one collaboration platforms offer content creation functionality that allows producing and publishing content both for internal and external audiences. This is useful for inbound marketing activities like creating blogs and informative content to attract new audience and enhance your business’ online presence.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Powerful Search.</span> Finding old files, previous conversation or past blog post are facilitated by the robust search feature of web based collaboration software. What was previously a time-consuming process, now you can use tags and search filters to find what you’re looking for in quickly and efficiently.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Personal and Group Calendars.</span> Keeping track of numerous meetings, events and other important matters that need your attention is a sure headache-inducer. Personal as well as group calendars are integral features in most collaborative platforms and mobile collaboration apps to help you and your team members stay attuned, involved and present at all times, wherever they may be.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">What are the benefits of collaboration software? </h1>\r\nThere are a number of benefits of collaboration software that can result in more efficient and effective completion of tasks and goals. Understanding what does a collaboration software do will help you justify its implementation in your organization and bolster its adoption with your employees. The successful execution of good collaboration software will afford you many advantages. Why use collaboration software? Here are four good reasons why.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Save time</span> – Time is gold, and in a business that is tantamount to money. The more you save time, the more you save on unwanted expenses, and the better it is for your organization. Collaboration among employees makes possible the quicker completion of end goals that wouldn’t otherwise be achievable in other ways. Embracing collaboration methods cuts disparate, uncoordinated work on a particular project from different contributing members and saves not only time but also resources and efforts. If you are looking to cut costs on projects, collaboration software can help in that respect.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enhance project management</span> – Keeping a handle on a project, a team and its members and their progress are never easy to work. Coordination and communication are of paramount importance if you want a project completed. Collaboration is one of the most optimal means to guarantee that you get the most out of your team. It opens lines of communication and makes sure everything is on track in order to avoid mistakes and confusion that can delay projects.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Strengthen team relationships</span> – One sure-fire way to build effective working relationships among employees is to have them work together to complete tasks and projects. Collaboration programs are designed to do that, making it easy for teams to work almost like a concerted unit with a singular purpose. This makes teams comfortable and confident in working with one another when it comes to completing common objectives.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Improve organization</span> – The process of keeping things and tasks in order has always been a problem for businesses. It is typical to lose track of what has been done and what needs to be done in project workflows simply because everything is a mess. Collaborative programs assist in maintaining order and managing the stages in workflows through open communication and coordination among concerned individuals and team.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Collaborative_Applications.png"},{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"},{"id":39,"title":"IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service","alias":"iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Infrastructure as a service</span> (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS solutions involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure – virtual machines and other resources – as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud infrastructure providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Infrastructure as a Service Benefits&nbsp;</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cost savings:</span> An obvious benefit of moving to the managed IaaS model is lower infrastructure costs. No longer do organizations have the responsibility of ensuring uptime, maintaining hardware and networking equipment, or replacing old equipment. IaaS&nbsp; technology also saves enterprises from having to buy more capacity to deal with sudden business spikes. Organizations with a smaller IT infrastructure generally require a smaller IT staff as well. The pay-as-you-go model also provides significant cost savings. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and flexibility:</span> One of the greatest benefits of IaaS is the ability to scale up and down quickly in response to an enterprise’s requirements. Infrastructure as a Service providers generally have the latest, most powerful storage, servers and networking technology to accommodate the needs of their customers. This on-demand scalability provides added flexibility and greater agility to respond to changing opportunities and requirements. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Faster time to market:</span> Competition is strong in every sector, and time to market is one of the best ways to beat the competition. Because IaaS vendors elasticity and scalability, organizations can ramp up and get the job done (and the product or service to market) more rapidly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Support for DR, BC and high availability:</span> While every enterprise has some type of disaster recovery plan, the technology behind those plans is often expensive and unwieldy. Organizations with several disparate locations often have different disaster recovery and business continuity plans and technologies, making management virtually impossible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Focus on business growth:</span> Time, money and energy spent making technology decisions and hiring staff to manage and maintain the technology infrastructure is time not spent on growing the business. By moving infrastructure to a global infrastructure services, organizations can focus their time and resources where they belong, on developing innovations in applications and solutions.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">IaaS, PaaS and SaaS: What’s the Difference?</h1>\r\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS) is the next step up from IaaS products, where the provider also supplies the operating environment including the operating system, application services, middleware and other ‘runtimes’ for cloud users. It’s used for development environments where the business can focus on creating an app but wants someone else to maintain the deployment platform. It means you have much simpler workloads but you can’t necessarily be as flexible as you want.\r\nAt the highest level of orchestration is Software as a Service. In SaaS infrastructure applications are accessed on demand. Here you just open your browser and go, consuming software rather than installing and running it. A user simply logs on to access the provider’s application. Users can decide how the app will work but pretty much everything else is the responsibility of the software provider.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"-1","functionallyTaskAssignment":"-1","projectWasPut":"-1","price":0,"source":{"url":"https://ko.com.ua/ami_sozdala_dlya_realty_estate_group_otkazoustojchivuyu_oblachnuyu_infrastrukturu_103790","title":"Media"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":455,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX for group of manufacturing companies","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-ax-for-group-of-manufacturing-companies","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX for group of manufacturing companies","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX for group of manufacturing companies","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{},"supplier":{"id":2050,"title":"Columbus","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/Columbus.gif","alias":"columbus","address":"","roles":[],"description":"Columbus is an international consultancy serving customers worldwide. We are experts in the retail, food and manufacturing, and distribution industries, knowing about these industries’ processes, needs and wants in-depth, and our success is solely based on our ability to convert our knowledge into value for our customers. We’ve proved this through 20 years of experience with more than 6,000 successful business cases. We help manufacturers, distributors, retailers and food and beverage manufacturers accelerate their business success through Enterprise Resource Planning.\r\n\r\nGlobal delivery\r\nWe have offices and partners all around the world. This means, that we provide our services to customers globally. Furthermore we are able to ensure that our consultants are local and speak the language of our customers.\r\n\r\nBest Practice Software\r\nWe develop our own best practice software which is tailored to companies within the food, retail and distribution and manufacturing industries. Our software ensures increased operational efficiency through enhanced automation. The gain for our customers is a less expensive business solution implementation, a shorter time to value and an improved ROI. Our software is based on Microsoft’s proven Business Solutions. 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Global businesses have realized the new playing field is not based solely on competing with products and price, but rather through client-driven projects that require unique consulting knowledge, skills and experience.\r\nThis project-driven service economy depends on accurately capturing knowledge-worker productivity—how much time, skill, materials, and intellectual property are required to produce favorable client outcomes? New cloud-based services resource planning (SRP) applications have emerged to manage the entire project lifecycle from requirements to quoting, time and expense capture and billing.\r\nSRP provides the systems basis for the initiation, planning, resource management, execution, close and control of projects and services. An SRP solution combines the best elements of previous standalone business applications for accounting (ERP), client relationship management (CRM) and professional services automation (PSA) to support the entire bid-to-bill lifecycle of a project- and service-driven organizations.\r\nA complete SRP solution provides all aspects of project-based finance and accounting to generate invoices based on a variety of methods (time and materials, milestone-based, fixed price, etc.), ensuring accurate invoicing, timely cash collection and revenue recognition.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Six Reasons Services Resource Planning is a Game-Changer for Services Organizations</span>\r\nIn the 1970s and ‘80s, materials requirements planning helped to transform the manufacturing industry.\r\nNow, three decades later, Services resource planning (SRP) is poised to be just as transformative for software and professional services. SRP provides a consistent and comprehensive platform for services organizations to manage the entire client lifecycle, from lead to project to cash. Simply put, services organizations can't afford to ignore the potential of Service Resource Planning. Here are six reasons why:\r\n<ol><li>Integration -- Integrating project management, resource optimization, project accounting, and client management is an idea whose time has come. It is virtually impossible to provide real-time insights to all stakeholders when dozens or even hundreds of simultaneous projects are being managed on spreadsheets, email, and stand-alone systems.</li><li>Decision making -- Until accounting, sales, human resources, project management and field professionals all speak the same languages of planning and execution, it is impossible to make coordinated decisions that lead to better client outcomes and increased efficiencies.</li><li>Globalization -- MRP brought centralized and consistent controls to every step of the manufacturing process at a time when globalization was shrinking the industrial world. American, Asian and European businesses vied with one another for the same customers with the same product lines. MRP sorted the winners from the losers by giving the winners tremendous cost and efficiency advantages. This should sound familiar. The market for professional services and other knowledge-based businesses has become global, and competitive pressures are coming from all corners of the world. SRP delivers the same edge to services businesses today that manufacturers needed in order to succeed three decades ago.</li><li>Coordination -- In the past, it was possible for many organizations to use professional services as a loss-leader to secure a larger piece of business, such as a long-term software contract. Now that the market for professional services is so competitive, this loss-leader mentality is a business-killing dead end. Becoming a profit center requires coordination, and that means SRP.</li><li>Growth -- Accounting and sales departments need to understand future revenue and profit opportunities, which is difficult to do when information about professional services projects and resource utilization is not readily available. SRP gives sales the information they need to understand resource availability when pitching new business, and provides accounting with the insight they need to produce more accurate forecasts and timely invoices.</li><li>Profitability -- The disciplines of Services Resource Planning expose the profitability of every resource and every project. That's the kind of granularity professional services organizations need in order to make competitive strategic decisions in the face of global competition.</li></ol>\r\nSoftware, consulting, advertising and accounting service organizations are already transforming their business with cloud SRP solutions. Here are some of the SRP success stories and take the first steps towards modernizing your own practice.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Services_Resource_Planning_Applications.png"},{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"in_process","statusLabel":"In Process","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":254,"title":"Centralize management"},{"id":260,"title":"Generate Business Reports"},{"id":261,"title":"Support Financial Management"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":180,"title":"Inability to forecast execution timelines"},{"id":356,"title":"High costs of routine operations"},{"id":370,"title":"No automated business processes"},{"id":376,"title":"Unstructured data"},{"id":394,"title":"Shortage of information for decision making"}]}},"categories":[{"id":419,"title":"Services Resource Planning Applications","alias":"services-resource-planning-applications","description":" The world economy has become service- and project-driven. Global businesses have realized the new playing field is not based solely on competing with products and price, but rather through client-driven projects that require unique consulting knowledge, skills and experience.\r\nThis project-driven service economy depends on accurately capturing knowledge-worker productivity—how much time, skill, materials, and intellectual property are required to produce favorable client outcomes? New cloud-based services resource planning (SRP) applications have emerged to manage the entire project lifecycle from requirements to quoting, time and expense capture and billing.\r\nSRP provides the systems basis for the initiation, planning, resource management, execution, close and control of projects and services. An SRP solution combines the best elements of previous standalone business applications for accounting (ERP), client relationship management (CRM) and professional services automation (PSA) to support the entire bid-to-bill lifecycle of a project- and service-driven organizations.\r\nA complete SRP solution provides all aspects of project-based finance and accounting to generate invoices based on a variety of methods (time and materials, milestone-based, fixed price, etc.), ensuring accurate invoicing, timely cash collection and revenue recognition.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Six Reasons Services Resource Planning is a Game-Changer for Services Organizations</span>\r\nIn the 1970s and ‘80s, materials requirements planning helped to transform the manufacturing industry.\r\nNow, three decades later, Services resource planning (SRP) is poised to be just as transformative for software and professional services. SRP provides a consistent and comprehensive platform for services organizations to manage the entire client lifecycle, from lead to project to cash. Simply put, services organizations can't afford to ignore the potential of Service Resource Planning. Here are six reasons why:\r\n<ol><li>Integration -- Integrating project management, resource optimization, project accounting, and client management is an idea whose time has come. It is virtually impossible to provide real-time insights to all stakeholders when dozens or even hundreds of simultaneous projects are being managed on spreadsheets, email, and stand-alone systems.</li><li>Decision making -- Until accounting, sales, human resources, project management and field professionals all speak the same languages of planning and execution, it is impossible to make coordinated decisions that lead to better client outcomes and increased efficiencies.</li><li>Globalization -- MRP brought centralized and consistent controls to every step of the manufacturing process at a time when globalization was shrinking the industrial world. American, Asian and European businesses vied with one another for the same customers with the same product lines. MRP sorted the winners from the losers by giving the winners tremendous cost and efficiency advantages. This should sound familiar. The market for professional services and other knowledge-based businesses has become global, and competitive pressures are coming from all corners of the world. SRP delivers the same edge to services businesses today that manufacturers needed in order to succeed three decades ago.</li><li>Coordination -- In the past, it was possible for many organizations to use professional services as a loss-leader to secure a larger piece of business, such as a long-term software contract. Now that the market for professional services is so competitive, this loss-leader mentality is a business-killing dead end. Becoming a profit center requires coordination, and that means SRP.</li><li>Growth -- Accounting and sales departments need to understand future revenue and profit opportunities, which is difficult to do when information about professional services projects and resource utilization is not readily available. SRP gives sales the information they need to understand resource availability when pitching new business, and provides accounting with the insight they need to produce more accurate forecasts and timely invoices.</li><li>Profitability -- The disciplines of Services Resource Planning expose the profitability of every resource and every project. That's the kind of granularity professional services organizations need in order to make competitive strategic decisions in the face of global competition.</li></ol>\r\nSoftware, consulting, advertising and accounting service organizations are already transforming their business with cloud SRP solutions. Here are some of the SRP success stories and take the first steps towards modernizing your own practice.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Services_Resource_Planning_Applications.png"},{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"https://www.crn.ru/news/detail.php?ID=125537","title":"Media"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":201,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX for retail","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-ax-for-retail","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX for retail","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX for retail","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{},"supplier":{},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":580,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":4,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-ax","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics AX contains 19 core modules:\r\n\r\nTraditional core (since Axapta 2.5)\r\nGeneral Ledger – ledger, sales tax, currency, and fixed assets features\r\nBank Management – receives and pays cash\r\nCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) – business relations contact and maintenance (customers, vendors, and leads)\r\nAccounts Receivable – order entry, shipping, and invoicing\r\nAccounts Payable – purchase orders, goods received into inventory\r\nInventory Management – inventory management and valuation[9]\r\nMaster Planning (resources) – purchase and production planning\r\nProduction – bills of materials, manufacturing tracking\r\nProduct Builder – product mode creation and maintenance\r\nHuman Resources – employee information\r\nProject Accounting – projects creation and tracking (primarily from an accounting perspective)\r\nBasic – data configuration\r\nAdministration Module – system configuration\r\nProcurement and Sourcing\r\nSales and Marketing","shortDescription":"Microsoft Dynamics AX is one of Microsoft's enterprise resource planning software products. It is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":12,"sellingCount":17,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX","keywords":"Management, Accounts, maintenance, Microsoft, configuration, creation, tracking, inventory","description":"Microsoft Dynamics AX contains 19 core modules:\r\n\r\nTraditional core (since Axapta 2.5)\r\nGeneral Ledger – ledger, sales tax, currency, and fixed assets features\r\nBank Management – receives and pays cash\r\nCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) – business relatio","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics AX contains 19 core modules:\r\n\r\nTraditional core (since Axapta 2.5)\r\nGeneral Ledger – ledger, sales tax, currency, and fixed assets features\r\nBank Management – receives and pays cash\r\nCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) – business relatio"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":581,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":419,"title":"Services Resource Planning Applications","alias":"services-resource-planning-applications","description":" The world economy has become service- and project-driven. Global businesses have realized the new playing field is not based solely on competing with products and price, but rather through client-driven projects that require unique consulting knowledge, skills and experience.\r\nThis project-driven service economy depends on accurately capturing knowledge-worker productivity—how much time, skill, materials, and intellectual property are required to produce favorable client outcomes? New cloud-based services resource planning (SRP) applications have emerged to manage the entire project lifecycle from requirements to quoting, time and expense capture and billing.\r\nSRP provides the systems basis for the initiation, planning, resource management, execution, close and control of projects and services. An SRP solution combines the best elements of previous standalone business applications for accounting (ERP), client relationship management (CRM) and professional services automation (PSA) to support the entire bid-to-bill lifecycle of a project- and service-driven organizations.\r\nA complete SRP solution provides all aspects of project-based finance and accounting to generate invoices based on a variety of methods (time and materials, milestone-based, fixed price, etc.), ensuring accurate invoicing, timely cash collection and revenue recognition.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Six Reasons Services Resource Planning is a Game-Changer for Services Organizations</span>\r\nIn the 1970s and ‘80s, materials requirements planning helped to transform the manufacturing industry.\r\nNow, three decades later, Services resource planning (SRP) is poised to be just as transformative for software and professional services. SRP provides a consistent and comprehensive platform for services organizations to manage the entire client lifecycle, from lead to project to cash. Simply put, services organizations can't afford to ignore the potential of Service Resource Planning. Here are six reasons why:\r\n<ol><li>Integration -- Integrating project management, resource optimization, project accounting, and client management is an idea whose time has come. It is virtually impossible to provide real-time insights to all stakeholders when dozens or even hundreds of simultaneous projects are being managed on spreadsheets, email, and stand-alone systems.</li><li>Decision making -- Until accounting, sales, human resources, project management and field professionals all speak the same languages of planning and execution, it is impossible to make coordinated decisions that lead to better client outcomes and increased efficiencies.</li><li>Globalization -- MRP brought centralized and consistent controls to every step of the manufacturing process at a time when globalization was shrinking the industrial world. American, Asian and European businesses vied with one another for the same customers with the same product lines. MRP sorted the winners from the losers by giving the winners tremendous cost and efficiency advantages. This should sound familiar. The market for professional services and other knowledge-based businesses has become global, and competitive pressures are coming from all corners of the world. SRP delivers the same edge to services businesses today that manufacturers needed in order to succeed three decades ago.</li><li>Coordination -- In the past, it was possible for many organizations to use professional services as a loss-leader to secure a larger piece of business, such as a long-term software contract. Now that the market for professional services is so competitive, this loss-leader mentality is a business-killing dead end. Becoming a profit center requires coordination, and that means SRP.</li><li>Growth -- Accounting and sales departments need to understand future revenue and profit opportunities, which is difficult to do when information about professional services projects and resource utilization is not readily available. SRP gives sales the information they need to understand resource availability when pitching new business, and provides accounting with the insight they need to produce more accurate forecasts and timely invoices.</li><li>Profitability -- The disciplines of Services Resource Planning expose the profitability of every resource and every project. That's the kind of granularity professional services organizations need in order to make competitive strategic decisions in the face of global competition.</li></ol>\r\nSoftware, consulting, advertising and accounting service organizations are already transforming their business with cloud SRP solutions. Here are some of the SRP success stories and take the first steps towards modernizing your own practice.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Services_Resource_Planning_Applications.png"},{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":180,"title":"Russia","name":"RUS"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":9,"title":"Support Decision Making"},{"id":10,"title":"Ensure Compliance"},{"id":260,"title":"Generate Business Reports"},{"id":261,"title":"Support Financial Management"},{"id":306,"title":"Manage Risks"},{"id":307,"title":"Enhance Competitive Ability"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":177,"title":"Decentralized IT systems"},{"id":179,"title":"Shortage of inhouse software developers"}]}},"categories":[{"id":419,"title":"Services Resource Planning Applications","alias":"services-resource-planning-applications","description":" The world economy has become service- and project-driven. Global businesses have realized the new playing field is not based solely on competing with products and price, but rather through client-driven projects that require unique consulting knowledge, skills and experience.\r\nThis project-driven service economy depends on accurately capturing knowledge-worker productivity—how much time, skill, materials, and intellectual property are required to produce favorable client outcomes? New cloud-based services resource planning (SRP) applications have emerged to manage the entire project lifecycle from requirements to quoting, time and expense capture and billing.\r\nSRP provides the systems basis for the initiation, planning, resource management, execution, close and control of projects and services. An SRP solution combines the best elements of previous standalone business applications for accounting (ERP), client relationship management (CRM) and professional services automation (PSA) to support the entire bid-to-bill lifecycle of a project- and service-driven organizations.\r\nA complete SRP solution provides all aspects of project-based finance and accounting to generate invoices based on a variety of methods (time and materials, milestone-based, fixed price, etc.), ensuring accurate invoicing, timely cash collection and revenue recognition.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Six Reasons Services Resource Planning is a Game-Changer for Services Organizations</span>\r\nIn the 1970s and ‘80s, materials requirements planning helped to transform the manufacturing industry.\r\nNow, three decades later, Services resource planning (SRP) is poised to be just as transformative for software and professional services. SRP provides a consistent and comprehensive platform for services organizations to manage the entire client lifecycle, from lead to project to cash. Simply put, services organizations can't afford to ignore the potential of Service Resource Planning. Here are six reasons why:\r\n<ol><li>Integration -- Integrating project management, resource optimization, project accounting, and client management is an idea whose time has come. It is virtually impossible to provide real-time insights to all stakeholders when dozens or even hundreds of simultaneous projects are being managed on spreadsheets, email, and stand-alone systems.</li><li>Decision making -- Until accounting, sales, human resources, project management and field professionals all speak the same languages of planning and execution, it is impossible to make coordinated decisions that lead to better client outcomes and increased efficiencies.</li><li>Globalization -- MRP brought centralized and consistent controls to every step of the manufacturing process at a time when globalization was shrinking the industrial world. American, Asian and European businesses vied with one another for the same customers with the same product lines. MRP sorted the winners from the losers by giving the winners tremendous cost and efficiency advantages. This should sound familiar. The market for professional services and other knowledge-based businesses has become global, and competitive pressures are coming from all corners of the world. SRP delivers the same edge to services businesses today that manufacturers needed in order to succeed three decades ago.</li><li>Coordination -- In the past, it was possible for many organizations to use professional services as a loss-leader to secure a larger piece of business, such as a long-term software contract. Now that the market for professional services is so competitive, this loss-leader mentality is a business-killing dead end. Becoming a profit center requires coordination, and that means SRP.</li><li>Growth -- Accounting and sales departments need to understand future revenue and profit opportunities, which is difficult to do when information about professional services projects and resource utilization is not readily available. SRP gives sales the information they need to understand resource availability when pitching new business, and provides accounting with the insight they need to produce more accurate forecasts and timely invoices.</li><li>Profitability -- The disciplines of Services Resource Planning expose the profitability of every resource and every project. That's the kind of granularity professional services organizations need in order to make competitive strategic decisions in the face of global competition.</li></ol>\r\nSoftware, consulting, advertising and accounting service organizations are already transforming their business with cloud SRP solutions. Here are some of the SRP success stories and take the first steps towards modernizing your own practice.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Services_Resource_Planning_Applications.png"},{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://korusconsulting.ru/press-center/news/avtomatizacia-ucheta-rashodov-na-arendu.html","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":158,"title":"MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX for trading and manufacturing company","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-ax-for-trading-and-manufacturing-company","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX for trading and manufacturing company","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX for trading and manufacturing company","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{},"supplier":{},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":580,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":4,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-ax","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics AX contains 19 core modules:\r\n\r\nTraditional core (since Axapta 2.5)\r\nGeneral Ledger – ledger, sales tax, currency, and fixed assets features\r\nBank Management – receives and pays cash\r\nCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) – business relations contact and maintenance (customers, vendors, and leads)\r\nAccounts Receivable – order entry, shipping, and invoicing\r\nAccounts Payable – purchase orders, goods received into inventory\r\nInventory Management – inventory management and valuation[9]\r\nMaster Planning (resources) – purchase and production planning\r\nProduction – bills of materials, manufacturing tracking\r\nProduct Builder – product mode creation and maintenance\r\nHuman Resources – employee information\r\nProject Accounting – projects creation and tracking (primarily from an accounting perspective)\r\nBasic – data configuration\r\nAdministration Module – system configuration\r\nProcurement and Sourcing\r\nSales and Marketing","shortDescription":"Microsoft Dynamics AX is one of Microsoft's enterprise resource planning software products. It is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":12,"sellingCount":17,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX","keywords":"Management, Accounts, maintenance, Microsoft, configuration, creation, tracking, inventory","description":"Microsoft Dynamics AX contains 19 core modules:\r\n\r\nTraditional core (since Axapta 2.5)\r\nGeneral Ledger – ledger, sales tax, currency, and fixed assets features\r\nBank Management – receives and pays cash\r\nCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) – business relatio","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics AX","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics AX contains 19 core modules:\r\n\r\nTraditional core (since Axapta 2.5)\r\nGeneral Ledger – ledger, sales tax, currency, and fixed assets features\r\nBank Management – receives and pays cash\r\nCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) – business relatio"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":581,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":419,"title":"Services Resource Planning Applications","alias":"services-resource-planning-applications","description":" The world economy has become service- and project-driven. Global businesses have realized the new playing field is not based solely on competing with products and price, but rather through client-driven projects that require unique consulting knowledge, skills and experience.\r\nThis project-driven service economy depends on accurately capturing knowledge-worker productivity—how much time, skill, materials, and intellectual property are required to produce favorable client outcomes? New cloud-based services resource planning (SRP) applications have emerged to manage the entire project lifecycle from requirements to quoting, time and expense capture and billing.\r\nSRP provides the systems basis for the initiation, planning, resource management, execution, close and control of projects and services. An SRP solution combines the best elements of previous standalone business applications for accounting (ERP), client relationship management (CRM) and professional services automation (PSA) to support the entire bid-to-bill lifecycle of a project- and service-driven organizations.\r\nA complete SRP solution provides all aspects of project-based finance and accounting to generate invoices based on a variety of methods (time and materials, milestone-based, fixed price, etc.), ensuring accurate invoicing, timely cash collection and revenue recognition.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Six Reasons Services Resource Planning is a Game-Changer for Services Organizations</span>\r\nIn the 1970s and ‘80s, materials requirements planning helped to transform the manufacturing industry.\r\nNow, three decades later, Services resource planning (SRP) is poised to be just as transformative for software and professional services. SRP provides a consistent and comprehensive platform for services organizations to manage the entire client lifecycle, from lead to project to cash. Simply put, services organizations can't afford to ignore the potential of Service Resource Planning. Here are six reasons why:\r\n<ol><li>Integration -- Integrating project management, resource optimization, project accounting, and client management is an idea whose time has come. It is virtually impossible to provide real-time insights to all stakeholders when dozens or even hundreds of simultaneous projects are being managed on spreadsheets, email, and stand-alone systems.</li><li>Decision making -- Until accounting, sales, human resources, project management and field professionals all speak the same languages of planning and execution, it is impossible to make coordinated decisions that lead to better client outcomes and increased efficiencies.</li><li>Globalization -- MRP brought centralized and consistent controls to every step of the manufacturing process at a time when globalization was shrinking the industrial world. American, Asian and European businesses vied with one another for the same customers with the same product lines. MRP sorted the winners from the losers by giving the winners tremendous cost and efficiency advantages. This should sound familiar. The market for professional services and other knowledge-based businesses has become global, and competitive pressures are coming from all corners of the world. SRP delivers the same edge to services businesses today that manufacturers needed in order to succeed three decades ago.</li><li>Coordination -- In the past, it was possible for many organizations to use professional services as a loss-leader to secure a larger piece of business, such as a long-term software contract. Now that the market for professional services is so competitive, this loss-leader mentality is a business-killing dead end. Becoming a profit center requires coordination, and that means SRP.</li><li>Growth -- Accounting and sales departments need to understand future revenue and profit opportunities, which is difficult to do when information about professional services projects and resource utilization is not readily available. SRP gives sales the information they need to understand resource availability when pitching new business, and provides accounting with the insight they need to produce more accurate forecasts and timely invoices.</li><li>Profitability -- The disciplines of Services Resource Planning expose the profitability of every resource and every project. That's the kind of granularity professional services organizations need in order to make competitive strategic decisions in the face of global competition.</li></ol>\r\nSoftware, consulting, advertising and accounting service organizations are already transforming their business with cloud SRP solutions. Here are some of the SRP success stories and take the first steps towards modernizing your own practice.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Services_Resource_Planning_Applications.png"},{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":180,"title":"Russia","name":"RUS"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":307,"title":"Enhance Competitive Ability"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":177,"title":"Decentralized IT systems"}]}},"categories":[{"id":419,"title":"Services Resource Planning Applications","alias":"services-resource-planning-applications","description":" The world economy has become service- and project-driven. Global businesses have realized the new playing field is not based solely on competing with products and price, but rather through client-driven projects that require unique consulting knowledge, skills and experience.\r\nThis project-driven service economy depends on accurately capturing knowledge-worker productivity—how much time, skill, materials, and intellectual property are required to produce favorable client outcomes? New cloud-based services resource planning (SRP) applications have emerged to manage the entire project lifecycle from requirements to quoting, time and expense capture and billing.\r\nSRP provides the systems basis for the initiation, planning, resource management, execution, close and control of projects and services. An SRP solution combines the best elements of previous standalone business applications for accounting (ERP), client relationship management (CRM) and professional services automation (PSA) to support the entire bid-to-bill lifecycle of a project- and service-driven organizations.\r\nA complete SRP solution provides all aspects of project-based finance and accounting to generate invoices based on a variety of methods (time and materials, milestone-based, fixed price, etc.), ensuring accurate invoicing, timely cash collection and revenue recognition.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Six Reasons Services Resource Planning is a Game-Changer for Services Organizations</span>\r\nIn the 1970s and ‘80s, materials requirements planning helped to transform the manufacturing industry.\r\nNow, three decades later, Services resource planning (SRP) is poised to be just as transformative for software and professional services. SRP provides a consistent and comprehensive platform for services organizations to manage the entire client lifecycle, from lead to project to cash. Simply put, services organizations can't afford to ignore the potential of Service Resource Planning. Here are six reasons why:\r\n<ol><li>Integration -- Integrating project management, resource optimization, project accounting, and client management is an idea whose time has come. It is virtually impossible to provide real-time insights to all stakeholders when dozens or even hundreds of simultaneous projects are being managed on spreadsheets, email, and stand-alone systems.</li><li>Decision making -- Until accounting, sales, human resources, project management and field professionals all speak the same languages of planning and execution, it is impossible to make coordinated decisions that lead to better client outcomes and increased efficiencies.</li><li>Globalization -- MRP brought centralized and consistent controls to every step of the manufacturing process at a time when globalization was shrinking the industrial world. American, Asian and European businesses vied with one another for the same customers with the same product lines. MRP sorted the winners from the losers by giving the winners tremendous cost and efficiency advantages. This should sound familiar. The market for professional services and other knowledge-based businesses has become global, and competitive pressures are coming from all corners of the world. SRP delivers the same edge to services businesses today that manufacturers needed in order to succeed three decades ago.</li><li>Coordination -- In the past, it was possible for many organizations to use professional services as a loss-leader to secure a larger piece of business, such as a long-term software contract. Now that the market for professional services is so competitive, this loss-leader mentality is a business-killing dead end. Becoming a profit center requires coordination, and that means SRP.</li><li>Growth -- Accounting and sales departments need to understand future revenue and profit opportunities, which is difficult to do when information about professional services projects and resource utilization is not readily available. SRP gives sales the information they need to understand resource availability when pitching new business, and provides accounting with the insight they need to produce more accurate forecasts and timely invoices.</li><li>Profitability -- The disciplines of Services Resource Planning expose the profitability of every resource and every project. That's the kind of granularity professional services organizations need in order to make competitive strategic decisions in the face of global competition.</li></ol>\r\nSoftware, consulting, advertising and accounting service organizations are already transforming their business with cloud SRP solutions. Here are some of the SRP success stories and take the first steps towards modernizing your own practice.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Services_Resource_Planning_Applications.png"},{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://www.navicongroup.ru/press-room/news/4234/","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":994,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for construction equipment supplier in Ukraine","description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Description is not ready yet</span>","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm-2011-for-construction-equipment-supplier-in-ukraine","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for construction equipment supplier in Ukraine","keywords":"","description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Description is not ready yet</span>","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for construction equipment supplier in Ukraine","og:description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Description is not ready yet</span>"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":4272,"title":"Zeppelin","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/Zeppelin.png","alias":"zeppelin","address":"","roles":[],"description":"Group-wide collaboration within Zeppelin Group revolves around a management holding company and six strategic business units. This structure makes it possible to centralize operations and gear the business models toward different markets and customers. The Group's management holding company is Zeppelin GmbH. The company is legally domiciled in Friedrichshafen, with its headquarters located in Garching near Munich.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":0,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":1,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"https://www.zeppelin-systems.com/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Zeppelin","keywords":"Zeppelin, company, Group, management, holding, business, markets, customers","description":"Group-wide collaboration within Zeppelin Group revolves around a management holding company and six strategic business units. This structure makes it possible to centralize operations and gear the business models toward different markets and customers. The Gro","og:title":"Zeppelin","og:description":"Group-wide collaboration within Zeppelin Group revolves around a management holding company and six strategic business units. This structure makes it possible to centralize operations and gear the business models toward different markets and customers. The Gro","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/Zeppelin.png"},"eventUrl":""},"supplier":{"id":6275,"title":"BMS Consulting","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/bms_consulting.png","alias":"bms-consulting","address":"","roles":[],"description":"<b>BMS Consulting</b> was founded on 7 July 1997. BMS Consulting is one of the leaders of Ukrainian market of information technologies in sphere of system integration. <b>BMS Consulting</b> is the only IT company in Ukraine which concentrated its business on the corporate market only.&nbsp; <b></b>\r\n<b>BMS Consulting</b> is engaged in the development and implementation of complex projects of creating integral information systems for companies operating in different segments of industry. The company is confident that what the client needs is not the computers and networks per se but the functional solutions which the system must ensure. Based on the many years of practical experience and knowledge of the latest technologies, <b>BMS Consulting</b> is offering unique solutions capable of satisfying completely the needs of its clients while using the available resources in the most rational way. It is constantly on the top of the world trends and use in its work the latest achievements in sphere of information technologies. \r\nSource: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bms-consulting/about/","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":104,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":4,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":5,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"http://www.bms-consulting.com/ru/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"BMS Consulting","keywords":"","description":"<b>BMS Consulting</b> was founded on 7 July 1997. BMS Consulting is one of the leaders of Ukrainian market of information technologies in sphere of system integration. <b>BMS Consulting</b> is the only IT company in Ukraine which concentrated its business on t","og:title":"BMS Consulting","og:description":"<b>BMS Consulting</b> was founded on 7 July 1997. BMS Consulting is one of the leaders of Ukrainian market of information technologies in sphere of system integration. <b>BMS Consulting</b> is the only IT company in Ukraine which concentrated its business on t","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/bms_consulting.png"},"eventUrl":""},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":629,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":5,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service sectors, though Microsoft has been marketing Dynamics CRM as an XRM platform and has been encouraging partners to use its proprietary (.NET based) framework to customize it. In recent years, it has also grown as an Analytics platform driven by CRM.\r\nThe CRM Solution can be used to drive the sales productivity and marketing effectiveness for an organization, handle the complete customer support chain, and provide social insights, business intelligence, and a lot of other out-of-the-box functionalities and features. As a product, Microsoft Dynamics CRM also offers full mobile support for using CRM apps on mobiles and tablets.\r\nAs of writing this tutorial, the latest version of CRM is CRM 2016. However, in this tutorial we will be using CRM 2015 Online version as it is the latest stable version as well as frequently used in many organizations. Nevertheless, even if you are using any other versions of CRM, all the concepts in the tutorial will still hold true.\r\nMicrosoft Dynamics CRM is offered in two categories −\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM Online</span>\r\nCRM Online is a cloud-based offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM where all the backend processes (such as application servers, setups, deployments, databases, licensing, etc.) are managed on Microsoft servers. CRM Online is a subscription-based offering which is preferred for organizations who may not want to manage all the technicalities involved in a CRM implementation. You can get started with setting up your system in a few days (not weeks, months or years) and access it on web via your browser.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM On-Premise</span>\r\nCRM on-premise is a more customized and robust offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, where the CRM application and databases will be deployed on your servers. This offering allows you to control all your databases, customizations, deployments, backups, licensing and other network and hardware setups. Generally, organizations who want to go for a customized CRM solution prefer on-premise deployment as it offers better integration and customization capabilities.\r\nFrom the functional standpoint, both the offerings offer similar functionalities; however, they differ significantly in terms of implementation. The differences are summarized in the following table.\r\n\r\nSource:&nbsp;https://www.tutorialspoint.com/microsoft_crm/microsoft_crm_overview.htm","shortDescription":"Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a system for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. CRM can help reduce costs and increase profitability by organizing and automating business processes that nurture customer satisfaction and loyalty.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":14,"sellingCount":7,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","keywords":"Microsoft, Dynamics, Online, your, offering, databases, version, will","description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto","og:title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1016,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":260,"title":"Generate Business Reports"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":180,"title":"Inability to forecast execution timelines"},{"id":334,"title":"Poor timing of management decision making"},{"id":346,"title":"Shortage of inhouse IT resources"},{"id":396,"title":"Low speed of report generation"}]}},"categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://www.bms-consulting.com/ru/projects/portfel-proektov-po-razrabotke-otchetov-dlya-crm-sistemy-tseppelin/","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":194,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for bank","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm-for-bank","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for bank","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for bank","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":477,"title":"Credit Agricole","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/credit_agricole.png","alias":"credit-agricole","address":"ул. Пушкинская, 42/4 01004 г. Киев","roles":[],"description":"<p>Credit Agricole &mdash; крупнейший банк и одна из крупнейших компаний Франции. Разветвлённая филиальная сеть и величина активов позволяет считать банковскую группу крупнейшей во Франции и одной из крупнейших в мире (46 место в Fortune Global 500 в 2009 году).</p>","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":0,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":2,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"https://credit-agricole.ua/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Credit Agricole","keywords":"Agricole, Crédit, mutual, banks, cooperative, network, comprising, Regional","description":"<p>Credit Agricole &mdash; крупнейший банк и одна из крупнейших компаний Франции. Разветвлённая филиальная сеть и величина активов позволяет считать банковскую группу крупнейшей во Франции и одной из крупнейших в мире (46 место в Fortune Global 500 в 2009 году","og:title":"Credit Agricole","og:description":"<p>Credit Agricole &mdash; крупнейший банк и одна из крупнейших компаний Франции. Разветвлённая филиальная сеть и величина активов позволяет считать банковскую группу крупнейшей во Франции и одной из крупнейших в мире (46 место в Fortune Global 500 в 2009 году","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/credit_agricole.png"},"eventUrl":""},"supplier":{"id":2053,"title":"SMART business","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/SMART_business.png","alias":"smart-business","address":"","roles":[],"description":"SMART business is a recognized leader on the Ukrainian market of consulting services in providing innovative solutions for effective business management with Microsoft Dynamics (AX, NAV, CRM) platforms.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":2,"suppliedProductsCount":41,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":3,"vendorImplementationsCount":1,"vendorPartnersCount":1,"supplierPartnersCount":1,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"http://www.smart-it.com/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"SMART business","keywords":"business, SMART, management, solutions, effective, with, Dynamics, platforms","description":"SMART business is a recognized leader on the Ukrainian market of consulting services in providing innovative solutions for effective business management with Microsoft Dynamics (AX, NAV, CRM) platforms.","og:title":"SMART business","og:description":"SMART business is a recognized leader on the Ukrainian market of consulting services in providing innovative solutions for effective business management with Microsoft Dynamics (AX, NAV, CRM) platforms.","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/SMART_business.png"},"eventUrl":""},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":629,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":5,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service sectors, though Microsoft has been marketing Dynamics CRM as an XRM platform and has been encouraging partners to use its proprietary (.NET based) framework to customize it. In recent years, it has also grown as an Analytics platform driven by CRM.\r\nThe CRM Solution can be used to drive the sales productivity and marketing effectiveness for an organization, handle the complete customer support chain, and provide social insights, business intelligence, and a lot of other out-of-the-box functionalities and features. As a product, Microsoft Dynamics CRM also offers full mobile support for using CRM apps on mobiles and tablets.\r\nAs of writing this tutorial, the latest version of CRM is CRM 2016. However, in this tutorial we will be using CRM 2015 Online version as it is the latest stable version as well as frequently used in many organizations. Nevertheless, even if you are using any other versions of CRM, all the concepts in the tutorial will still hold true.\r\nMicrosoft Dynamics CRM is offered in two categories −\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM Online</span>\r\nCRM Online is a cloud-based offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM where all the backend processes (such as application servers, setups, deployments, databases, licensing, etc.) are managed on Microsoft servers. CRM Online is a subscription-based offering which is preferred for organizations who may not want to manage all the technicalities involved in a CRM implementation. You can get started with setting up your system in a few days (not weeks, months or years) and access it on web via your browser.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM On-Premise</span>\r\nCRM on-premise is a more customized and robust offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, where the CRM application and databases will be deployed on your servers. This offering allows you to control all your databases, customizations, deployments, backups, licensing and other network and hardware setups. Generally, organizations who want to go for a customized CRM solution prefer on-premise deployment as it offers better integration and customization capabilities.\r\nFrom the functional standpoint, both the offerings offer similar functionalities; however, they differ significantly in terms of implementation. The differences are summarized in the following table.\r\n\r\nSource:&nbsp;https://www.tutorialspoint.com/microsoft_crm/microsoft_crm_overview.htm","shortDescription":"Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a system for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. CRM can help reduce costs and increase profitability by organizing and automating business processes that nurture customer satisfaction and loyalty.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":14,"sellingCount":7,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","keywords":"Microsoft, Dynamics, Online, your, offering, databases, version, will","description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto","og:title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1016,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":7,"title":"Improve Customer Service"},{"id":8,"title":"Reduce Production Timelines"},{"id":9,"title":"Support Decision Making"},{"id":10,"title":"Ensure Compliance"},{"id":252,"title":"Increase Customer Base"},{"id":260,"title":"Generate Business Reports"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":177,"title":"Decentralized IT systems"},{"id":340,"title":"Low quality of customer service"},{"id":388,"title":"Failure to attract new customers"},{"id":389,"title":"Customer attrition"},{"id":390,"title":"Low quality of customer support"}]}},"categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://www.smart-it.com/ru/customers/stories/credit-agricole/","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":237,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for operator of multiservice communication services","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm-for-operator-of-multiservice-communication-services","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for operator of multiservice communication services","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for operator of multiservice communication services","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{},"supplier":{},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":629,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":5,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service sectors, though Microsoft has been marketing Dynamics CRM as an XRM platform and has been encouraging partners to use its proprietary (.NET based) framework to customize it. In recent years, it has also grown as an Analytics platform driven by CRM.\r\nThe CRM Solution can be used to drive the sales productivity and marketing effectiveness for an organization, handle the complete customer support chain, and provide social insights, business intelligence, and a lot of other out-of-the-box functionalities and features. As a product, Microsoft Dynamics CRM also offers full mobile support for using CRM apps on mobiles and tablets.\r\nAs of writing this tutorial, the latest version of CRM is CRM 2016. However, in this tutorial we will be using CRM 2015 Online version as it is the latest stable version as well as frequently used in many organizations. Nevertheless, even if you are using any other versions of CRM, all the concepts in the tutorial will still hold true.\r\nMicrosoft Dynamics CRM is offered in two categories −\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM Online</span>\r\nCRM Online is a cloud-based offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM where all the backend processes (such as application servers, setups, deployments, databases, licensing, etc.) are managed on Microsoft servers. CRM Online is a subscription-based offering which is preferred for organizations who may not want to manage all the technicalities involved in a CRM implementation. You can get started with setting up your system in a few days (not weeks, months or years) and access it on web via your browser.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM On-Premise</span>\r\nCRM on-premise is a more customized and robust offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, where the CRM application and databases will be deployed on your servers. This offering allows you to control all your databases, customizations, deployments, backups, licensing and other network and hardware setups. Generally, organizations who want to go for a customized CRM solution prefer on-premise deployment as it offers better integration and customization capabilities.\r\nFrom the functional standpoint, both the offerings offer similar functionalities; however, they differ significantly in terms of implementation. The differences are summarized in the following table.\r\n\r\nSource:&nbsp;https://www.tutorialspoint.com/microsoft_crm/microsoft_crm_overview.htm","shortDescription":"Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a system for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. CRM can help reduce costs and increase profitability by organizing and automating business processes that nurture customer satisfaction and loyalty.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":14,"sellingCount":7,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","keywords":"Microsoft, Dynamics, Online, your, offering, databases, version, will","description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto","og:title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1016,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":180,"title":"Russia","name":"RUS"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"2017-03-20","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":7,"title":"Improve Customer Service"},{"id":10,"title":"Ensure Compliance"},{"id":252,"title":"Increase Customer Base"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":177,"title":"Decentralized IT systems"},{"id":340,"title":"Low quality of customer service"},{"id":388,"title":"Failure to attract new customers"},{"id":389,"title":"Customer attrition"},{"id":390,"title":"Low quality of customer support"}]}},"categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://maykor.com/press/news/mttpereshelnaomnikanalnuyucrm/","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":186,"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM for transport and logistics company","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm-for-transport-and-logistics-company","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM for transport and logistics company","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM for transport and logistics company","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{},"supplier":{},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":629,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":5,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service sectors, though Microsoft has been marketing Dynamics CRM as an XRM platform and has been encouraging partners to use its proprietary (.NET based) framework to customize it. In recent years, it has also grown as an Analytics platform driven by CRM.\r\nThe CRM Solution can be used to drive the sales productivity and marketing effectiveness for an organization, handle the complete customer support chain, and provide social insights, business intelligence, and a lot of other out-of-the-box functionalities and features. As a product, Microsoft Dynamics CRM also offers full mobile support for using CRM apps on mobiles and tablets.\r\nAs of writing this tutorial, the latest version of CRM is CRM 2016. However, in this tutorial we will be using CRM 2015 Online version as it is the latest stable version as well as frequently used in many organizations. Nevertheless, even if you are using any other versions of CRM, all the concepts in the tutorial will still hold true.\r\nMicrosoft Dynamics CRM is offered in two categories −\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM Online</span>\r\nCRM Online is a cloud-based offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM where all the backend processes (such as application servers, setups, deployments, databases, licensing, etc.) are managed on Microsoft servers. CRM Online is a subscription-based offering which is preferred for organizations who may not want to manage all the technicalities involved in a CRM implementation. You can get started with setting up your system in a few days (not weeks, months or years) and access it on web via your browser.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM On-Premise</span>\r\nCRM on-premise is a more customized and robust offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, where the CRM application and databases will be deployed on your servers. This offering allows you to control all your databases, customizations, deployments, backups, licensing and other network and hardware setups. Generally, organizations who want to go for a customized CRM solution prefer on-premise deployment as it offers better integration and customization capabilities.\r\nFrom the functional standpoint, both the offerings offer similar functionalities; however, they differ significantly in terms of implementation. The differences are summarized in the following table.\r\n\r\nSource:&nbsp;https://www.tutorialspoint.com/microsoft_crm/microsoft_crm_overview.htm","shortDescription":"Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a system for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. CRM can help reduce costs and increase profitability by organizing and automating business processes that nurture customer satisfaction and loyalty.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":14,"sellingCount":7,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","keywords":"Microsoft, Dynamics, Online, your, offering, databases, version, will","description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto","og:title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1016,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":180,"title":"Russia","name":"RUS"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":7,"title":"Improve Customer Service"},{"id":262,"title":"Support Customers"},{"id":307,"title":"Enhance Competitive Ability"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":179,"title":"Shortage of inhouse software developers"},{"id":340,"title":"Low quality of customer service"},{"id":370,"title":"No automated business processes"},{"id":388,"title":"Failure to attract new customers"},{"id":389,"title":"Customer attrition"},{"id":390,"title":"Low quality of customer support"}]}},"categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://korusconsulting.ru/press-center/news/avtomatizazia-prodaj-v-logistike.html","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":891,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Winner Automotive","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm-for-winner-automotive","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Winner Automotive","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Winner Automotive","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":368,"title":"Winner Automotive","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/winner.png","alias":"winner-automotive","address":"Киев, пр-т Московский, 24-д","roles":[],"description":"Company «Winner Automotive» is the official dealer of car brands Land Rover, Volvo, Ford and under Jaguar. 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","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/winner.png"},"eventUrl":""},"supplier":{"id":1392,"title":"S&T Ukraine","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/S_T_Ukraine.png","alias":"ehs-ehnd-ti-ukraina","address":"","roles":[],"description":"S&amp;T Ukraine was established in 1993 and today we are in TOP3 of Ukrainian systems integrators. We hold leading positions in the field of design and implementation of corporate integrated information systems, complex network and telecom solutions as well as provision of IT services in Ukraine.<br />There are more than 130 employees working at S&amp;T Ukraine now. We pay utmost attention to growing skills of our team. Not only we employ best experts around but also invest seriously into their further training and education.<br />S&amp;T Ukraine closely co-operates with a number of global IT vendors ans holds top partner statuses with them. Cisco, EMC, IBM, HPЕ, Microsoft, Oracle and many more are among them.<br />S&amp;T has subsidiaries in more than 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe.<br /><br />","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":182,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":15,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":7,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"http://www.snt.ua/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"S&T Ukraine","keywords":"Ukraine, more, with, than, them, systems, also, around","description":"S&amp;T Ukraine was established in 1993 and today we are in TOP3 of Ukrainian systems integrators. We hold leading positions in the field of design and implementation of corporate integrated information systems, complex network and telecom solutions as well as","og:title":"S&T Ukraine","og:description":"S&amp;T Ukraine was established in 1993 and today we are in TOP3 of Ukrainian systems integrators. We hold leading positions in the field of design and implementation of corporate integrated information systems, complex network and telecom solutions as well as","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/S_T_Ukraine.png"},"eventUrl":""},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":629,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":5,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-crm","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service sectors, though Microsoft has been marketing Dynamics CRM as an XRM platform and has been encouraging partners to use its proprietary (.NET based) framework to customize it. In recent years, it has also grown as an Analytics platform driven by CRM.\r\nThe CRM Solution can be used to drive the sales productivity and marketing effectiveness for an organization, handle the complete customer support chain, and provide social insights, business intelligence, and a lot of other out-of-the-box functionalities and features. As a product, Microsoft Dynamics CRM also offers full mobile support for using CRM apps on mobiles and tablets.\r\nAs of writing this tutorial, the latest version of CRM is CRM 2016. However, in this tutorial we will be using CRM 2015 Online version as it is the latest stable version as well as frequently used in many organizations. Nevertheless, even if you are using any other versions of CRM, all the concepts in the tutorial will still hold true.\r\nMicrosoft Dynamics CRM is offered in two categories −\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM Online</span>\r\nCRM Online is a cloud-based offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM where all the backend processes (such as application servers, setups, deployments, databases, licensing, etc.) are managed on Microsoft servers. CRM Online is a subscription-based offering which is preferred for organizations who may not want to manage all the technicalities involved in a CRM implementation. You can get started with setting up your system in a few days (not weeks, months or years) and access it on web via your browser.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">CRM On-Premise</span>\r\nCRM on-premise is a more customized and robust offering of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, where the CRM application and databases will be deployed on your servers. This offering allows you to control all your databases, customizations, deployments, backups, licensing and other network and hardware setups. Generally, organizations who want to go for a customized CRM solution prefer on-premise deployment as it offers better integration and customization capabilities.\r\nFrom the functional standpoint, both the offerings offer similar functionalities; however, they differ significantly in terms of implementation. The differences are summarized in the following table.\r\n\r\nSource:&nbsp;https://www.tutorialspoint.com/microsoft_crm/microsoft_crm_overview.htm","shortDescription":"Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a system for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. CRM can help reduce costs and increase profitability by organizing and automating business processes that nurture customer satisfaction and loyalty.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":14,"sellingCount":7,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","keywords":"Microsoft, Dynamics, Online, your, offering, databases, version, will","description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto","og:title":"Microsoft DYNAMICS CRM","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft focused on enhancing the customer relationship for any organization. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service secto"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1016,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"2009-06-24","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":7,"title":"Improve Customer Service"},{"id":8,"title":"Reduce Production Timelines"},{"id":10,"title":"Ensure Compliance"},{"id":254,"title":"Centralize management"},{"id":260,"title":"Generate Business Reports"},{"id":261,"title":"Support Financial Management"},{"id":262,"title":"Support Customers"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":177,"title":"Decentralized IT systems"},{"id":180,"title":"Inability to forecast execution timelines"},{"id":334,"title":"Poor timing of management decision making"},{"id":340,"title":"Low quality of customer service"},{"id":350,"title":"No monitoring of corporate IT processes"},{"id":356,"title":"High costs of routine operations"},{"id":370,"title":"No automated business processes"},{"id":378,"title":"Low employee productivity"},{"id":381,"title":"HR management"},{"id":393,"title":"Complex and non-transparent business processes"}]}},"categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"},{"id":152,"title":"Contact Center","alias":"contact-center","description":"A contact center is a central point from where you can contact.\r\nThe contact center typically includes one or more call centers but may include other types of customer contact, as well. A contact center is generally part of an enterprise's overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.<br />Contact centers and call centers are both centers for customer service, and the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a contact center supports more services than a typical call center.\r\nContact centers offer omnichannel customer support, including email, chat, voice over IP (VoIP) and website support. A call center typically uses phones as the main channel of communication and can handle a mass volume of calls.<br />Contact centers are used for inbound communication, outbound communication or a hybrid of both. Contact center agents also interact with customers via web chat, phone, email or other communication channels.\r\nThe contact center infrastructure that is necessary to support communications may be located on the same premises as the contact center, or it can be located externally.\r\nIn an on-premises scenario, the company that owns the contact center also owns and manages its own hardware and software. This requires staffing and IT investments that some companies choose to forgo by outsourcing those tasks to cloud providers or hosting companies.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Call Center?</span>\r\nTraditionally, a call center is an office where a large number of call center agents provide customer service over the telephone. Inbound call centers receive calls for customer support and often serve as a knowledge base for tech support, billing questions, and other customer service issues. These call centers focus on quick call resolution times and agent productivity. In outbound call centers, agents make calls rather than receive them. These could be sales calls, marketing offers, surveys, fundraising requests, or debt collection, for example.\r\nThe term “call center” conjures an image for many people of waiting on perpetual hold or being routed through an endless IVR that never gives them what they need. Because so many consumers have had a dreadful customer service experience along these lines, call centers have developed a bad rap. But as legacy phone systems give way to newer digital technologies, call centers are evolving.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a Contact Center?</span>\r\nThe term &quot;contact center&quot; (or “contact centre”) reflects the modern reality that there are many other ways to connect with a customer these days besides by telephone. The combined trends of increased customer expectations and newer technologies that allow for many channels of communication are creating a shift in the traditional call center model which has existed for decades. Consumers want more ways to reach businesses, and businesses are looking for new ways to improve customer experience.\r\nWhile call center agents generally focus on inbound and outbound calls, either on traditional phone lines or over VoIP, contact center agents handle a wide variety of communications. In a modern multichannel contact center, technical support might be delivered over in-app chat or video, while order status updates are delivered via SMS, event promotions are sent as push notifications, surveys are deployed over Facebook Messenger, and sales inquiries received by email are sent directly to an agent to connect by phone. Call centers handle voice communications, contact centers handle all communications.\r\nA company’s contact center is usually integrated with their customer relationship management (CRM) system, where all interactions between the organization and the public are tracked, coordinated, and managed. Depending on the infrastructure and ecosystem, it could be comprised of an alphabet soup of complex components. Many companies have purchased off-the-shelf systems or a highly customized network of technologies from multiple vendors. Some companies have adopted a cloud-based solution or two, but they remain siloed from the rest of their systems and can’t talk to each other.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contact_Center1.png"},{"id":337,"title":"Sales","alias":"sales","description":" Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given targeted time period.\r\nThe seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.\r\nIn common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are somewhat uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.\r\nA person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same &quot;coin&quot; or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, &quot;worth the price&quot;. Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.\r\nAlthough the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing. Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading &quot;art&quot;. Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What's the Difference Between Sales and Marketing?</span>\r\nSales and Marketing: two terms we often hear together when working with mid-size companies. In some ways, this is logical because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.\r\nBusiness leaders know what Operations are; they make stuff. They know what Accounting is; they record and control the money. And they know what Sales do; they sell stuff. So if you are not making stuff, selling stuff, or recording the money—what is marketing and why do you need it?\r\nWhat's the difference between Sales and Marketing? To answer this question, let's define what Sales and Marketing are separately and how they support one another.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Marketing? Aligning with Customers, Now and for the Future</span></span>\r\nA key job of Marketing is to understand the marketplace from the perspective of the customer looking back towards the company and helping lead the company where it should be in the future. Marketing’s job is to direct the organization toward the segments, or groups of customers and channels where the company can profitably compete. It should help the organization see how it needs to modify its product offerings, pricing, and communication so that it meets the needs of the distribution channel or end customers.\r\nMarketing also needs to convert the market understanding into tools and tactics to attract the market, build (often digital) relationships, and develop leads. Without Sales, Marketing efforts run short. Marketing directs Sales as to where they should be hunting and what ammo to use. Note, however, that if Marketing becomes a sales support function focused only on the now, the future can become lost.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Without Marketing, Sales Suffers</span></span>\r\nNot even the best hunter can bring home dinner if they are shooting blanks at decoys. Markets are constantly changing. The job of marketing is to stay ahead of the changes and help the hunters see where they should be hunting and provide them with the right ammunition. If Marketing is only focused on delivering the ammunition for today, nobody will see where the industry is moving or where the company needs to hunt next. This limits growth not only for Sales and Marketing but also for your entire organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can You be Both Sales and Marketing?</span></span>\r\nIn all my years, working for companies that ranged from Fortune 100 to mid-size companies I have never met anyone who was really good at both sales and marketing. I have held the title of VP of Sales and Marketing, managing a 500 person sales and merchandising force. I was really a marketing person with sales authority. The skills required to focus on the now and the push of sales are different. In many ways, they are contrary to the skills of looking to the future and the customer perspective of marketing.\r\nEvery Sales organization feels they have a good understanding of their customers. But every Sales conversation with a customer has a sales transaction lurking in the background. Therefore, customers can never be completely open about their needs and want when talking to a sales person.\r\nFor a company to really grow, someone must have the job of looking out the window towards where the company needs to go in the future. For many companies, this is the job of the CEO and Sales hires someone to do some sales support and gives them a marketing title. But as companies grow, the job of CEO starts to become a full-time job in itself and the strategic role of Marketing gets short-changed. A study of mid-size companies by the University of Texas showed that companies that separated the roles of Marketing and Sales were much more likely to grow faster than the industry average.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sales and Marketing: Today and the Future</span></span>\r\nSales need to be focused on the now. You can’t run a company unless your sales team is focused on bringing in today’s business. But you can’t really ask your Sales leaders where the company should go next and to develop the 18-month plan to get there without losing focus on today’s revenue. Besides, if your sales executive was really good at developing future-focused business strategies and tying that strategy to the plans and tools of marketing to make it happen, they would be a marketing person and not a now-focused sales person.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Sales.png"},{"id":339,"title":"Marketing","alias":"marketing","description":" Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Because marketing is used to attract customers, it is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketers can direct product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or directly to consumers (B2C marketing).\r\nRegardless of who is being marketed to, several factors, including the perspective the marketers will use. These market orientations determine how marketers will approach the planning stage of marketing. This leads into the marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be sold. This can in turn, be affected by the environment surrounding the product, the results of marketing research and market research, and the characteristics of the product's target market.\r\nOnce these factors are determined, marketers must then decide what methods will be used to market the product. This decision is based on the factors analyzed in the planning stage as well as where the product is in the product life cycle.\r\nMarketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as &quot;the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large&quot;. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is &quot;a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction&quot;.\r\nPhilip Kotler defined marketing as &quot;Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process&quot;, and a decade later defines it as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.”\r\nThe Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as &quot;the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably&quot;. A similar concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as &quot;the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage&quot;.\r\nIn the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.\r\nThe process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation; determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a communications strategy; budgeting; and visioning long-term market development goals. Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What the differences between B2B and B2C Marketing?</span>\r\nThe different goals of B2B and B2C marketing lead to differences in the B2B and B2C markets. The main differences in these markets are demand, purchasing volume, amount of customers, customer concentration, distribution, buying nature, buying influences, negotiations, reciprocity, leasing and promotional methods.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Demand:</span> B2B demand is derived because businesses buy products based on how much demand there is for the final consumer product. Businesses buy products based on customer's wants and needs. B2C demand is primarily because customers buy products based on their own wants and needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Purchasing Volume:</span> Businesses buy products in large volumes to distribute to consumers. Consumers buy products in smaller volumes suitable for personal use.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Amount of Customers:</span> There are relatively fewer businesses to market to than direct consumers.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer Concentration:</span> Businesses that specialize in a particular market tend to be geographically concentrated while customers that buy products from these businesses are not concentrated.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Distribution:</span> B2B products pass directly from the producer of the product to the business while B2C products must additionally go through a wholesaler or retailer.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Nature:</span> B2B purchasing is a formal process done by professional buyers and sellers while B2C purchasing is informal.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Buying Influences:</span> B2B purchasing is influenced by multiple people in various departments such as quality control, accounting, and logistics while B2C marketing is only influenced by the person making the purchase and possibly a few others.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Negotiations:</span> In B2B marketing, negotiating for lower prices or added benefits is commonly accepted while in B2C marketing (particularly in Western cultures) prices are fixed.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Reciprocity:</span> Businesses tend to buy from businesses they sell to. For example, a business that sells printer ink is more likely to buy office chairs from a supplier that buys the business's printer ink. In B2C marketing, this does not occur because consumers are not also selling products.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Leasing:</span> Businesses tend to lease expensive items while consumers tend to save up to buy expensive items.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Promotional Methods:</span> In B2B marketing, the most common promotional method is personal selling. B2C marketing mostly uses sales promotion, public relations, advertising, and social media.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are marketing orientations?</span>\r\nA marketing orientation has been defined as a &quot;philosophy of business management.&quot; or &quot;a corporate state of mind&quot; or as an &quot;organization[al] culture&quot;. Although scholars continue to debate the precise nature of specific orientations that inform marketing practice, the most commonly cited orientations are as follows:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Product</span></span>\r\nA firm employing a product orientation is mainly concerned with the quality of its product. A product orientation is based on the assumption that all things being equal, consumers will purchase products of superior quality. The approach is most effective when the firm has deep insights into customer needs and desires as derived from research and/or intuition and understands consumer's quality expectations and price consumers are willing to pay. Although the product orientation has largely been supplanted by the marketing orientation, firms practicing a product orientation can still be found in haute couture and arts marketing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Sales</span></span>\r\nA sales orientation focuses on the selling/promotion of the firm's existing products, rather than developing new products to satisfy unmet needs or wants. This orientation seeks to attain the highest possible sales through promotion and direct sales techniques. The sales orientation &quot;is typically practiced with unsought goods.&quot; One study found that industrial companies are more likely to hold a sales orientation than consumer goods companies. The approach may also suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes diminishing demand.\r\nA 2011 meta-analyses found that the factors with the greatest impact on sales performance are a salesperson's sales-related knowledge (knowledge of market segments, sales presentation skills, conflict resolution, and products), degree of adaptiveness (changing behavior based on the aforementioned knowledge), role clarity (salesperson's role is to expressly to sell), cognitive aptitude (intelligence) and work engagement (motivation and interest in a sales role).\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Production</span></span>\r\nA firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service in order to achieve economies of scale or economies of scope. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with certainty that consumer tastes and preferences remain relatively constant (similar to the sales orientation). The so-called production era is thought to have dominated marketing practice from the 1860s to the 1930s, but other theorists argue that evidence of the production orientation can still be found in some companies or industries. Specifically, Kotler and Armstrong note that the production philosophy is &quot;one of the oldest philosophies that guides sellers... [and] is still useful in some situations.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Marketing</span></span>\r\nThe marketing orientation is the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It is a customer-centric approach that involves a firm basing its marketing program around products that suit new consumer tastes. Firms adopting a marketing orientation typically engage in extensive market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&amp;D (Research &amp; Development) to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure consumers are aware of the product's existence and the benefits it can deliver. Scales designed to measure a firm's overall market orientation have been developed and found to be robust in a variety of contexts.\r\nThe marketing orientation has three prime facets, which are:\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Customer orientation:</span> A firm in the market economy can survive by producing goods that people are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Organizational orientation:</span> The marketing department is of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from the marketing department is used to guide the actions of a company's other departments.\r\nAs an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&amp;D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.\r\nThe production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production, and promotion of the product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Mutually beneficial exchange:</span> In a transaction in the market economy, a firm gains revenue, which thus leads to more profits, market shares, and/or sales. A consumer, on the other hand, gains the satisfaction of a need/want, utility, reliability and value for money from the purchase of a product or service.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Societal marketing</span></span>\r\nA number of scholars and practitioners have argued that marketers have a greater social responsibility than simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value. Marketing organizations that have embraced the societal marketing concept typically identify key stakeholder groups such as employees, customers, and local communities. Companies that adopt a societal marketing perspective typically practice triple bottom line reporting whereby they publish social impact and environmental impact reports alongside financial performance reports. Sustainable marketing or green marketing is an extension of societal marketing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Marketing.png"},{"id":341,"title":"Customer Service","alias":"customer-service","description":" Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means.\r\nCustomer service is an important part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which is key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels.\r\nMost successful businesses recognize the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Courteous and empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can mean the difference between losing or retaining a customer.\r\nWhen problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit on hold can sour an interaction before it begins.\r\nIdeally, customer service should be a one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is fully resolved.\r\nThis may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a call to skilled technicians in another department. Proactively following up with the customer to ensure that he or she is fully satisfied is another smart move.","materialsDescription":" What are customer service standards?\r\nCustomer service standards are an internal corporate set of rules governing the company's customer service activities, an algorithm for communicating with customers, and general standards for responding to unusual situations. The standard of customer service is an integral part of the corporate standard of the company.\r\nFunctions of customer service standards:\r\n<ol><li>To order. The client does not encounter problems, does not see them, which means that he is confident that all the staff without exception are professionals who know their business.</li><li>To control. It is difficult to assess and monitor the work of each manager if there are no clear criteria for evaluation. At the same time, the implementation of the sales plan cannot be the only parameter of the assessment; you need to know whether the manager of customer service standards adopted in this company adheres.</li><li>To adapt. Among other things, the availability of customer service standards simplifies the procedure.</li></ol>\r\nCustomer service standards are effective if the customer does not see the difference between the work of two (or more) managers, and sees only “proprietary” service, always the same, regardless of any external factors or circumstances. The customer service standard, which has been tested in practice, backed up by experience (perhaps even someone else's), created on the basis of analytical studies and recognized methods, can be called &quot;gold&quot;. It allows you to increase profits, improve the image of the company, attract new customers.\r\nCustomer service standards are an important part of the company's brand. But, in addition, the standards are necessary and other units, in particular, the department to work with staff. Therefore, their development must take into account the needs of all interested services of the company.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is the purpose of introducing customer service standards in the company?</span>\r\nThe objectives of implementing the standards are as follows:\r\n<ul><li>For employees with experience: minimize the number of erroneous and unnecessary actions. The result of this will be saving time of each employee (no errors - no need to spend time correcting them). And, as a result, increased productivity.</li><li>For novice employees: customer service standards allow you to transfer the necessary knowledge in the most concise manner and in a short time.</li><li>For the company: the abolition of dependence on the old-timers. Not all employees who have worked in the company for many years (or even since the day of foundation) are able to resist the so-called star disease. Having knowledge and experience, a person loses the ability to objectively evaluate his work, he begins to think that he is the best manager in the company. It can end very badly - in the event of dismissal, such an employee will take the base, and turn clients against the company. Standards for customer service are needed to ensure that all employees can be assessed on a single scale, based on the actual benefits they bring to the company, as well as the attitude of the employee to the company.</li><li>For the company: the uniformity of control activities of managers. Standards are unequivocal, exclude double interpretations, and therefore cannot cause controversy about the rightness of an employee or employer.</li><li>For managers: the standards of uniform customer service are the same for all managers, and this makes it possible to make the pay of each manager absolutely transparent and intelligible. Realizing that there will be no double interpretations, the manager may not be afraid that he will be paid less than expected - all his mistakes and achievements are immediately visible and understandable.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The application of service standards allows you:</span>\r\n<ul><li>to develop a company style in dealing with clients;</li><li>to increase the effectiveness of the work of managers with new customers;</li><li>to bring the quality of communication with customers to a higher level;</li><li>to create a positive opinion of the company about the company, so that it can be recommended to its acquaintances, thus increasing the number of potential and then real customers;</li><li>to minimize conflicts between the manager and the customer;</li><li>to develop a technology for training newcomers;</li><li>to transfer the assessment of the work of the manager from the subjective to the objective, transparent and understandable to everyone;</li><li>to establish a procedure for controlling the work of personnel;</li><li>to increase the motivation of managers to work.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits of applying service standards</span>\r\n<ul><li>The accumulation of experience: the entire base focuses on the company, and not on the hands of managers, &quot;old-timers.&quot; Thus, the departure of one or several “old” employees does not become a “natural disaster” for the company.</li><li>Motivation, analysis and control: customer service standards make it possible to develop a transparent scheme of managers' motivation based on a clear, almost mathematical analysis of their work. The sales process is optimized.</li><li>Setting goals. With the help of standards, the company has the ability to set clear, reasonable plans. This allows you to keep the atmosphere in the team friendly and stable, and the lack of &quot;muffled&quot; tasks - to increase the loyalty of managers to the company.</li><li>Standards of customer service is a fairly mobile system that allows you to immediately detect errors in working with clients and quickly eliminate them. In addition, at any stage of working with a client, the head of the sales department can intervene in the process, noticing an error in the work of the manager, and even be proactive in order to prevent an error to which the manager is heading.</li><li>Quick and easy start for beginners. Customer service standards are actually a knowledge base, collected, analyzed, and streamlined. Such information is easily transmitted and assimilated by beginners, which means that the beginner quickly gets to work and starts to make a profit. In addition, a newbie will not spoil relations with a client by awkward actions, since he already knows what to do in any conflict and problem situations.</li><li>Customer confidence. Customer service standards allow the latter to feel confident in the company - no matter where the customer is, he will always easily recognize “his” company by brand features and can be absolutely sure that in a small town they will be served as qualitatively as in a million-plus city, because that the company is well aware of their work. So, such a company can be trusted.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Customer_Service.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"-1","functionallyTaskAssignment":"-1","projectWasPut":"-1","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://snt.ua/news/pressroom/pressreleases/47827.ua.php","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":292,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Non-credit Financial Institutions","description":"Consyst Business Group&quot; has developed an accounting system on the industry standards of the accounting system based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV for non-state pension funds, insurance companies and other non-credit financial institutions.\r\nThe solution “Consyst: accounting on the industry standards of the accounting system in the Non-credit Financial Institutions on the basis of Microsoft Dynamics NAV” allows you to automate the process of accounting under the new industry standards of the accounting system, of the generation of accounting and supervisory reporting, as well as to conduct tax accounting and the generation of tax reports. Above that the solution can connect the budgeting module, which allows you to automate the processes of budgeting, treasury and the management reporting.\r\nFor the purpose of creating of a complete set of reporting – accounting, supervisory and tax – a mechanism of data downloading from the related systems is implemented in the solution, such as: personalized accounting systems, management company systems, special depository. The solution provides the data uploading in the international standardized business reporting format XBRL, which will become an obligatory standard for reporting for the majority of non-credit financial institutions from January 1, 2018.\t\r\nVladimir Tarasenko, CEO Deputy Consyst, Business Group\r\n“The solution will help many companies to proceed to the new standards in accordance with the requirements of the Bank of Russia within the given timeframe. We sincerely appreciate our customers who were the first to implement the solution and are already using it successfully. The Consyst Business Group team of experts and consultants together with our clients has done a great job, as a result of which an up-to-date technological solution which meets the current business requirements has been developed.”\r\nThe solution has been registered in the corporation Microsoft and is already used in several large Russian companies, including the non-state pension fund NPF Almaznaya Osen, and others.","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-nav-for-non-credit-financial-institutions","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Non-credit Financial Institutions","keywords":"accounting, solution, reporting, Consyst, standards, Microsoft, system, which","description":"Consyst Business Group&quot; has developed an accounting system on the industry standards of the accounting system based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV for non-state pension funds, insurance companies and other non-credit financial institutions.\r\nThe solution “Cons","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Non-credit Financial Institutions","og:description":"Consyst Business Group&quot; has developed an accounting system on the industry standards of the accounting system based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV for non-state pension funds, insurance companies and other non-credit financial institutions.\r\nThe solution “Cons"},"deal_info":"","user":{},"supplier":{},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":640,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":3,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-nav","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to provide support for:\r\nFinancial management\r\nSupply chain management\r\nManufacturing\r\nDistribution\r\nCustomer relationship management\r\nSales and marketing\r\nService management\r\nHuman resource management\r\nProject &amp; Resource management\r\nWarehouse management\r\n\r\nDeploy a system that does everything you need to achieve more.\r\n\r\nFinancial management and accounting\r\nManage your cash, assets, and banking.\r\nSupply chain, manufacturing, and operations\r\nTrack and manage your production, inventory, orders, and vendors.\r\nSales and service\r\nManage your contacts, sales opportunities, and service contract.\r\nProject management\r\nCreate estimates, track projects, and manage capacity.\r\nBusiness intelligence and reporting\r\nGet a holistic view of your business and make informed decisions.\r\nSupport for international currencies\r\nCompete globally using multiple currencies and languages.\r\nFlexible deployment\r\nDeploy on-premises or in the cloud,whichever model best fits your business.\r\n\r\nDynamics NAV works like the familiar Microsoft Office tools you already use, working seamlessly with Outlook, Word, and Excel to help you complete common tasks right from your Inbox. And you get the same powerful capabilities across iOS, Android, and Windows platforms for a consistent, more secure experience across your desktop, laptop, and mobile device. So you get things done wherever you need to work.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software product from Microsoft.\r\nThe product is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family, and intended to assist with finance, manufacturing, customer relationship management, supply chains, analytics and electronic commerce for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise and local subsidiaries of large international Groups. Value-added resellers (VAR)s can have full access to the business logic source code.\r\nFor modifications of the system, the proprietary programming language C/AL is used.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":6,"sellingCount":20,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV","keywords":"management, your, Dynamics, Microsoft, Deploy, need, across, manage","description":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to provide support for:\r\nFinancial management\r\nSupply chain management\r\nManufacturing\r\nDistribution\r\nCustomer relationship management\r\nSales and marketing\r\nService management\r\nHuman resource management\r\n","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to provide support for:\r\nFinancial management\r\nSupply chain management\r\nManufacturing\r\nDistribution\r\nCustomer relationship management\r\nSales and marketing\r\nService management\r\nHuman resource management\r\n"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":641,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":180,"title":"Russia","name":"RUS"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":4,"title":"Reduce Costs"},{"id":9,"title":"Support Decision Making"},{"id":10,"title":"Ensure Compliance"},{"id":260,"title":"Generate Business Reports"},{"id":261,"title":"Support Financial Management"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":177,"title":"Decentralized IT systems"},{"id":370,"title":"No automated business processes"}]}},"categories":[{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://www.cbgr.ru/npf_almaznaya/","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":254,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV Implementation at Antonio Merloni S.p.A. Group of companies","description":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A. Group of companies is one of the largest manufacturers in Europe, that has been producing industrial products of the highest technological level for more than fourty years now.\r\n\r\nThe company specializes in the production of the large household appliances: refrigeration (refrigerators, freezers, chest freezers), washing machines, dryers and washer-dryers, dishwashers, cookers, hoods, and the whole range of embedded technology. One of the key brands of the group of companies is a household appliances trade mark ARDO.\r\nAll appliances that are manufactured by the group of companies are certified by the European Union and meet all the strict quality, environmental impact, energy conservation and efficiency requirements (ISO 9001, 14001 certificates and other).\r\nAntonio Merloni S.p.A. Group of companies is known in many countries of the world for the high quality, wide range, excellence in design and functionality of the products.\r\n\r\nSituation\r\nAfter the production plant was opened in Ukraine, to guarantee the further dynamic development of the business decision was made to implement the ERP-system that would allow to integrate all business processes within one single information space.\r\n«It’s crucial for our company to have information of good quality when it is needed. High standards of the Antonio Merloni S.p.A. require accurate accounting and planning, completeness and clarity of the information».\r\nAuthor's imageIgor SkibizkiyManager of manufacture planning, Ukrainian household appliances (Merloni Group of companies)\r\nThe company was choosing among several products. But finally the decision was made to implement Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0. Comparatively low cost of the ownership and high degree of necessary business processes coverage served as the main preconditions.\r\n\r\nSolution\r\nThe implementation project was divided into two main stages. Financial module that included localization of the bookkeeping and fiscal accounting was introduced in the first place. It allowed to perform accounting in the system long before the manufacturing line was launched.\r\nThe second stage was about logistics and manufacturing automation. Logistics business processes included the whole commodity turnover cycle, from the materials and components order till complete goods shipment from the warehouse. Consolidated planning on the base of sales prognosis was carried out as well as records of completion and orders scheduling in prepack shops and on the final assembly line, load management of the final assembly line.\r\nOn the second stage the ultimate goal of the automation was reached at using only 90% of standard functionality. Substantial development took place only in the CRP (Capacity Resource Planning) module, the so called «Master leveling line» was developed.\r\n\r\n«Characteristic feature of the project was the fact that the implementation was carried out along with business development on the territory of Ukraine, what allowed to build implementation logic, using standard functionality with minimum revisions. It allowed to completely avoid possible risks, always present in this type of implementation procedure». - Kirill RudnevSales Director, SMART business\r\n\r\nResult\r\nDue to the project all aspects of the company’s activities are now automated: finance, logistics, sales, manufacture. Ukrainian localization and management reporting according to the international standards were implemented. Aside from the international standards complete solution fully met the requirements of the Ukrainian legislation in the sphere of bookkeeping and fiscal accounting.","alias":"microsoft-dynamics-nav-implementation-at-antonio-merloni-spa-group-of-companies","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV Implementation at Antonio Merloni S.p.A. Group of companies","keywords":"companies, business, that, Merloni, implementation, accounting, appliances, line","description":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A. Group of companies is one of the largest manufacturers in Europe, that has been producing industrial products of the highest technological level for more than fourty years now.\r\n\r\nThe company specializes in the production of the large ho","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV Implementation at Antonio Merloni S.p.A. Group of companies","og:description":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A. Group of companies is one of the largest manufacturers in Europe, that has been producing industrial products of the highest technological level for more than fourty years now.\r\n\r\nThe company specializes in the production of the large ho"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":3027,"title":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A.","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/Antonio_Merloni_S.p.A..jpg","alias":"antonio-merloni-spa","address":"","roles":[],"description":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A. manufactures household appliances in Europe. The company’s products include tumble dryers, freezer and refrigerators, washing machines, washer dryers, dishwashing, and pressure containers. The company was founded in 1960 and is based in Fabriano, Italy.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":0,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":1,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"http://www.antoniomerloni.it/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A.","keywords":"Antonio, dryers, Merloni, company, containers, dishwashing, pressure, 1960","description":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A. manufactures household appliances in Europe. The company’s products include tumble dryers, freezer and refrigerators, washing machines, washer dryers, dishwashing, and pressure containers. The company was founded in 1960 and is based in ","og:title":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A.","og:description":"Antonio Merloni S.p.A. manufactures household appliances in Europe. The company’s products include tumble dryers, freezer and refrigerators, washing machines, washer dryers, dishwashing, and pressure containers. The company was founded in 1960 and is based in ","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/Antonio_Merloni_S.p.A..jpg"},"eventUrl":""},"supplier":{"id":2053,"title":"SMART business","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/SMART_business.png","alias":"smart-business","address":"","roles":[],"description":"SMART business is a recognized leader on the Ukrainian market of consulting services in providing innovative solutions for effective business management with Microsoft Dynamics (AX, NAV, CRM) platforms.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":2,"suppliedProductsCount":41,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":3,"vendorImplementationsCount":1,"vendorPartnersCount":1,"supplierPartnersCount":1,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"http://www.smart-it.com/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"SMART business","keywords":"business, SMART, management, solutions, effective, with, Dynamics, platforms","description":"SMART business is a recognized leader on the Ukrainian market of consulting services in providing innovative solutions for effective business management with Microsoft Dynamics (AX, NAV, CRM) platforms.","og:title":"SMART business","og:description":"SMART business is a recognized leader on the Ukrainian market of consulting services in providing innovative solutions for effective business management with Microsoft Dynamics (AX, NAV, CRM) platforms.","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/SMART_business.png"},"eventUrl":""},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":640,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.80","implementationsCount":3,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-nav","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to provide support for:\r\nFinancial management\r\nSupply chain management\r\nManufacturing\r\nDistribution\r\nCustomer relationship management\r\nSales and marketing\r\nService management\r\nHuman resource management\r\nProject &amp; Resource management\r\nWarehouse management\r\n\r\nDeploy a system that does everything you need to achieve more.\r\n\r\nFinancial management and accounting\r\nManage your cash, assets, and banking.\r\nSupply chain, manufacturing, and operations\r\nTrack and manage your production, inventory, orders, and vendors.\r\nSales and service\r\nManage your contacts, sales opportunities, and service contract.\r\nProject management\r\nCreate estimates, track projects, and manage capacity.\r\nBusiness intelligence and reporting\r\nGet a holistic view of your business and make informed decisions.\r\nSupport for international currencies\r\nCompete globally using multiple currencies and languages.\r\nFlexible deployment\r\nDeploy on-premises or in the cloud,whichever model best fits your business.\r\n\r\nDynamics NAV works like the familiar Microsoft Office tools you already use, working seamlessly with Outlook, Word, and Excel to help you complete common tasks right from your Inbox. And you get the same powerful capabilities across iOS, Android, and Windows platforms for a consistent, more secure experience across your desktop, laptop, and mobile device. So you get things done wherever you need to work.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software product from Microsoft.\r\nThe product is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family, and intended to assist with finance, manufacturing, customer relationship management, supply chains, analytics and electronic commerce for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise and local subsidiaries of large international Groups. Value-added resellers (VAR)s can have full access to the business logic source code.\r\nFor modifications of the system, the proprietary programming language C/AL is used.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":6,"sellingCount":20,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV","keywords":"management, your, Dynamics, Microsoft, Deploy, need, across, manage","description":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to provide support for:\r\nFinancial management\r\nSupply chain management\r\nManufacturing\r\nDistribution\r\nCustomer relationship management\r\nSales and marketing\r\nService management\r\nHuman resource management\r\n","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV","og:description":"Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to provide support for:\r\nFinancial management\r\nSupply chain management\r\nManufacturing\r\nDistribution\r\nCustomer relationship management\r\nSales and marketing\r\nService management\r\nHuman resource management\r\n"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":641,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"in_process","statusLabel":"In Process","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":8,"title":"Reduce Production Timelines"},{"id":9,"title":"Support Decision Making"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":177,"title":"Decentralized IT systems"}]}},"categories":[{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"","functionallyTaskAssignment":"","projectWasPut":"","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://www.smart-it.com/ru/customers/stories/antonio-merloni/","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":1078,"title":"Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft Lync Server for a logistics company","description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Description is not ready yet</span>","alias":"microsoft-exchange-2010-microsoft-sharepoint-server-2010-microsoft-lync-server-for-a-logistics-company","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft Lync Server for a logistics company","keywords":"","description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Description is not ready yet</span>","og:title":"Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft Lync Server for a logistics company","og:description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Description is not ready yet</span>"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":7889,"title":"Delivery, LTD","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/delivery_ua.png","alias":"deliveri","address":"ул. 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More than 15 years of successful activity in the field of logistics and transport services have allowed to accumulate considerable experience and establish partnerships with companies involved in trade, production and service.\r\nCurrently, Delivers is:\r\n<ul><li>273 representative offices throughout Ukraine</li></ul>\r\n<ul><li>More than 1000 daily flights</li></ul>\r\n<ul><li>More than 2000 highly qualified employees</li></ul>\r\n<ul><li>27 sorting and distribution centers</li></ul>\r\n<ul><li>15 regional customer service offices</li></ul>\r\n<ul><li>Modern Customer Service Center in the center of Kiev</li></ul>","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":0,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":1,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"http://www.delivery-auto.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Delivery, LTD","keywords":"","description":" Today, Deliver is one of Ukraine's leading logistics companies in the B2B sector. 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AM Integrator helps companies:\r\n<ul><li>increase risk manageability and business productivity;</li></ul>\r\n<ul><li>reduce costs;</li></ul>\r\n<ul><li>protect data.</li></ul>\r\nAM Integrator offers intelligent and flexible solutions, including cloud services, that will help you strategically transform your business using technologies and platforms of industry leaders.<br />The company offers solutions for increasing productivity, effective collaboration, mobility and relationship management, identity-driven, advanced analytics, or the Internet of things. AM Integrator also helps with core infrastructure, from support to creating disaster recovery solutions. The team of company experts has been working with cloud technologies for more than 5 years, with virtual environments - more than 10 years.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":116,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":21,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":8,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"http://www.amintegrator.com/","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"AM Integrator (AMI)","keywords":"","description":"AM INTEGRATOR Group of Companies is one of the leading IT operators in Ukraine, being a supplier and integrator of a wide range of solutions in the field of modern IT infrastructure, multimedia solutions, engineering infrastructure, business applications and i","og:title":"AM Integrator (AMI)","og:description":"AM INTEGRATOR Group of Companies is one of the leading IT operators in Ukraine, being a supplier and integrator of a wide range of solutions in the field of modern IT infrastructure, multimedia solutions, engineering infrastructure, business applications and i","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/am_integrator.png"},"eventUrl":""},"vendors":[{"id":163,"title":"Microsoft","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png","alias":"microsoft","address":"Microsoft","roles":[],"description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup. As of 2011, it was the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":39,"suppliedProductsCount":39,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:title":"Microsoft","og:description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software pr","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/ms_dshchpshch.png"},"eventUrl":""}],"products":[{"id":366,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Sharepoint Server","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.70","implementationsCount":7,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-sharepoint-server","companyTypes":[],"description":"SharePoint Server is provided to organizations that seek greater control over SharePoint's behavior or design. This product is installed on the customer's IT infrastructure. It receives less frequent updates, but has access to a wider set of features and customization capabilities. There are three versions of SharePoint Server: Foundation (free), Standard, and Enterprise, although the free version may have been discontinued in 2016. These servers may be provisioned as normal virtual/cloud servers, or as hosted services.","shortDescription":"SharePoint is a web based application that integrates with Microsoft Office. Launched in 2001, SharePoint is primarily sold as a document management and storage system, but the product is highly configurable and usage varies substantially between organizations.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":6,"sellingCount":16,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Sharepoint Server","keywords":"SharePoint, Server, free, servers, Standard, although, Enterprise, versions","description":"SharePoint Server is provided to organizations that seek greater control over SharePoint's behavior or design. 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Enterprise portals provide a secure unified access point, often in the form of a web-based user interface, and are designed to aggregate and personalize information through application-specific portlets.\r\nOne hallmark of enterprise portals is the de-centralized content contribution and content management, which keeps the information always updated. Another distinguishing characteristic is that they cater for customers, vendors and others beyond an organization's boundaries. This contrasts with a corporate portal which is structured for roles within an organization.\r\nAn enterprise portal has two main functions; integration and presentation. It must be able to access information from multiple and varied sources and manipulate that information through the portal.\r\nOther common features include;\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Single sign-on</span> — enterprise portals can provide single sign-on capabilities between their users and various other systems. This requires a user to authenticate only once.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Integration</span> — the connection of functions and data from multiple systems into new components/portlets/web parts with an integrated navigation between these components.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Federation</span> — the integration of content provided by other portals, typically through the use of WSRP or similar technologies.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Customization</span> — Users can customize the look and feel of their environment. Customers who are using EIPs can edit and design their own web sites which are full of their own personality and own style; they can also choose the specific content and services they prefer. Also refers to the ability to prioritize most appropriate content based on attributes of the user and metadata of the available content.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Personalization</span> — Personalization is more about matching content with the user. Based on a user profile, personalization uses rules to match the &quot;services&quot;, or content, to the specific user. To some degree, you can think of the two like this: customization is in hands of the end user, personalization is not. Of course actual personalization is often based on your role or job function within the portal context.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Access control</span> — the ability for portal to limit specific types of content and services users have access to. For example, a company's proprietary information can be entitled for only company employee access. This access rights may be provided by a portal administrator or by a provisioning process. Access control lists manage the mapping between portal content and services over the portal user base.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Enterprise search</span> — search enterprise content using enterprise search.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Omni channel enablement</span> — present the pages optimally on all channels and devices.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Analytics</span> — track and monitor user behaviour on portal pages (such as navigation, clicks, downloads, page exits and such) and generate reports.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is an Enterprise Portal?</span>\r\nAbbreviated as EPS, Enterprise Portal Software is a prepackaged software kit used by the enterprise to integrate its information and processes. Organizations use portals primarily to aggregate information from a number of different sources, including disparate systems, and provide this information to authorized users in a neatly managed single screen or system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Typical Enterprise Portal's Interface</span>\r\nEPS usually offers a Web-based interface to provide a secure unified access point through which information is aggregated to application-specific portlets.&nbsp; Enterprise Portal Software lets authorized users access Web services, and portals can be combined to form portal networks that can cover an organization's entire enterprise system.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Enterprise_Portal.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"},{"id":307,"title":"Archiving Software","alias":"archiving-software","description":" Enterprise <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">archiving software </span>is designed to assist in storing a company’s structured and unstructured data. By incorporating unstructured data (e.g., email messages and media files), enterprise information archiving software provides more complete archives of business data across the board. Data can be stored on premise with local data servers or on cloud servers, or using a hybrid of the two. These solutions are used throughout a business by any employee, since all teams should be archiving their data for, at minimum, auditing purposes. Data archiving software are typically implemented and maintained by a company’s data team, and they can be used by companies of any size.\r\nWhile similar to a backup software solution, archiving solution handles the original data as opposed to a copy of that data. To qualify for the data archiving solutions category, a product must: \r\n<ul><li>Store both structured and unstructured data</li><li>Provide data management options for archived data</li><li>Protect access to archived data</li></ul>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> What is Archiving Software?</h1>\r\nArchiving Software supports enterprises in retaining and rapidly retrieving structured and unstructured data over time while complying with security standards and the like. File archiving may include images, messages (e.g. IMs, social media posts, etc.), emails, and content from web pages and social sites. Compliant data retention may require retaining data in its native form and context so that it can be understood.\r\nAlso called Enterprise Information Archiving (EIA), archiving software is designed to meet discovery requirements. That means that the archive must be searchable so that all stored data can be retrieved with context intact.\r\nArchiving software is most commonly a requirement for banking institutions and governments. More stringent privacy laws means that EIA has become a concern for private corporations as well. Archiving software will contain features overlapping Enterprise Search, Data Governance and eDiscovery, and some features in common with ECM.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">What’s the Difference: Backup vs Archive</h1>\r\nBackups and archives serve different functions, yet it’s common to hear the terms used interchangeably in cloud storage. \r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">backup </span>is a copy of your data that is made to protect against loss of that data. Typically, backups are made on a regular basis according to a time schedule or when the original data changes. The original data is not deleted, but older backups are often deleted in favor of newer backups.<br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The goal of a backup</span> is to make a copy of anything in current use that can’t afford to be lost. A backup of a desktop or mobile device might include just the user data so that a previous version of a file can be recovered if necessary.\r\nOn these types of devices an assumption is often made that the OS and applications can easily be restored from original sources if necessary (and/or that restoring an OS to a new device could lead to significant corruption issues). In a virtual server environment, a backup could include.\r\nAn <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">archive </span>is a copy of data made for long-term storage and reference. The original data may or may not be deleted from the source system after the archive copy is made and stored, though it is common for the archive to be the only copy of the data. \r\nIn contrast to a backup whose purpose is to be able to return a computer or file system to a state it existed in previously, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">data archiving can have multiple purposes</span>. An archiving system can provide an individual or organization with a permanent record of important papers, legal documents, correspondence, and other matters.\r\nOften, archive program is used to meet information retention requirements for corporations and businesses. If a dispute or inquiry arises about a business practice, contract, financial transaction, or employee, the records pertaining to that subject can be obtained from the archive.\r\nAn archive is frequently used to ease the burden on faster and more frequently accessed data storage systems. Older data that is unlikely to be needed often is put on systems that don’t need to have the speed and accessibility of systems that contain data still in use. Archival storage systems are usually less expensive, as well, so a strong motivation is to save money on data storage.\r\nArchives are often created based on the age of the data or whether the project the data belongs to is still active. Data archiving solutions&nbsp; might send data to an archive if it hasn’t been accessed in a specified amount of time, when it has reached a certain age, if a person is no longer with the organization, or the files have been marked for storage because the project has been completed or closed.<br /><br /><br />","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Archiving_Software.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":392,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Exchange","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":11,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-exchange","companyTypes":[],"description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaboration with document sharing Add enhanced archiving, security, and compliance features <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Online</span> Exchange is available as a standalone hosted service from Microsoft. You can also get Exchange as part of an Office 365 plan that includes Office apps, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Server 2016</span> Increase productivity and keep your business information safe, while maintaining the control you need. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Other Exchange products</span> Exchange Online Archiving Exchange Online Protection Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Exchange Online Kiosk Exchange for government agencies","shortDescription":"Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":20,"sellingCount":2,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange","keywords":"Exchange, Online, Microsoft, Office, with, Protection, email, more","description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati","og:title":"Microsoft Exchange","og:description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":393,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":983,"logo":false,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Skype for Business","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":6,"suppliersCount":0,"alias":"microsoft-skype-for-business","companyTypes":[],"description":"Microsoft Skype for Business Basic gives you presence, instant messaging (IM), audio and video calls, online meetings, and sharing capabilities with the latest User Interface.. This is free download. For more information about features available in Skype for Business Basic in comparison to the Skype for Business client, please visit this page: Skype for Business client comparision chart&nbsp; Note: This Skype for Business Basic MSI desktop client provides presence, instant messaging and conferencing features. If you are licensed for Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Enterprise E3 or Office 365 Enterprise E4, you are also licensed for the full Skype for Business Windows desktop client, which includes additional features including advanced telephony support, archiving &amp; compliance features. Please download full Skype for Business Windows desktop client from the Office 365 Software portal following the steps in Install Skype for Business on your PC.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Skype for Business gives you instant messaging (IM), audio and video calls, online meetings, availability (presence) information, and sharing capabilities all from one, easy-to-use program.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":5,"sellingCount":5,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Skype for Business","keywords":"Business, Skype, client, Office, features, Basic, desktop, Microsoft","description":"Microsoft Skype for Business Basic gives you presence, instant messaging (IM), audio and video calls, online meetings, and sharing capabilities with the latest User Interface.. This is free download. For more information about features available in Skype for B","og:title":"Microsoft Skype for Business","og:description":"Microsoft Skype for Business Basic gives you presence, instant messaging (IM), audio and video calls, online meetings, and sharing capabilities with the latest User Interface.. This is free download. For more information about features available in Skype for B"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":984,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":367,"title":"Web Conferencing Applications","alias":"web-conferencing-applications","description":" Web conferencing is the common name for technology and tools for online meetings and real-time collaboration. Web conferencing allows you to conduct online presentations, collaborate on documents and applications, view websites, videos, images.\r\nWeb conferences, as a rule, are Internet services that require the installation of a client program on each participant’s computer. Some services also provide access to a web conference via a browser using flash, java or a special plug-in.\r\nServices for web conferencing can include features and tools such as screen sharing (screen sharing or individual applications), whiteboard (interactive whiteboard), the ability to show web presentations, co-browsing (the ability to synchronously browse web pages), tools for annotations, monitoring the presence of participants, text chat, integrated VoIP communication, video communication, the ability to change the leader, the ability to give control over the mouse and keyboard, meeting moderation tools, feedback collection tools (on example, polls), tools for scheduling and inviting participants, the ability to record the progress of a web conference.\r\nOften, web conferencing is used with Internet services for audio and video calls (for example, Skype) or they provide conference calling via a regular telephone.","materialsDescription":" What is the first thing that strikes you when we look at businessmen who are trying to establish communication with each other online? All of them require: “Give more opportunities for web conferencing!”. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the WebRTC technology is gaining the favor of an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses.\r\nA recent study conducted by Software Advice showed that more than half of employees in small businesses prefer web conferences, noting their efficiency and usability. The advantages are especially noticeable in comparison with communications via telephone or the use of special applications. However, the benefits of web conferencing do not end there - according to the study, they not only increase the speed and quality of online meetings, but also provide a lot of opportunities for collaboration. In addition, and this is obvious, they reduce travel costs.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Speed ​​and quality come first.</span>\r\nIt is worth noting that now small and medium businesses are almost gone from the use of communication hardware and use desktop computers and mobile devices. Despite the fact that audio and video conferences are still very popular (they are used by 45% and 50% of users, respectively), web conferences are actively replacing them. Judge for yourself - according to statistics, every third user selects them as a means of communication after the first experience of use.\r\nThe main reason for such a rapid growth in popularity is the speed and quality that web conferencing users provide. According to respondents, the main advantage of web conferences is the ability to organize a meeting much faster than before. Now there is no need to spend time on installing special applications like Skype or similar - any communication systems using any third-party programs are a thing of the past. Also worth noting is the ability to connect to the web conference literally in one click.\r\nMore than 40% of the people surveyed showed dissatisfaction with the tedious procedure of entering authorization data, noting the simplicity and convenience of connecting to the WebRTC web conference. All you need is access to the Internet!\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">We work in a team</span>\r\nIt is no secret that the use of web conferencing significantly reduces the company's travel expenses. After all, booking tickets, searching for hotels and meeting places can result in a decent amount, which will seriously hurt the company's income. Using web conferences, you get the opportunity to arrange business meetings, even with overseas partners, without leaving your office. But that's not all! Web conferencing offers a range of tools to overcome language barriers. For example, in the field of healthcare, videoconferencing has been used to establish consultations between doctors and patients from completely different countries. With the help of online translators and other special features of web conferences, people can get the necessary help from qualified foreign specialists.\r\nDo not forget that web conferencing is not only a convenient way to hold a video call. You can arrange trainings for your team using file transfer and document display functions, as well as conduct job interviews without wasting time.\r\nIt is interesting to note that small and medium-sized businesses share their product samples with prospective clients using web conferences, turning them into a powerful marketing tool. This brings the business to a fundamentally new level, allowing the company to take a leading position in its industry!","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Web_Conferencing_Applications.png"},{"id":415,"title":"Mobile Enterprise Applications","alias":"mobile-enterprise-applications","description":"The term <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">enterprise mobile application</span> is used in context of mobile apps created/brought by individual organizations for their workers to carry out functions required to run the organization.\r\nAn enterprise mobile app belonging to an organization is expected to be used by only the workers of that organization. The definition of enterprise mobility apps do not include the mobile apps that an organization create for its customers or consumers of the products or services generated by the organization. \r\nProviders of mobile enterprise application solutions create and develop apps for individual organizations that can buy instead of creating the apps themselves. Reasons for Organizations buying the apps include time and cost savings, technical expertise. Today Enterprise Mobility is playing track role for enterprise transformation.\r\nCompanies are rapidly incorporating mobile applications into their larger IT strategies, allowing them to grow their mobile presence further. Big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning are all propelling this growth.\r\nNeed for enterprise mobility applications arose with mobile devices becoming essential in the day to day life and with employees using mobile devices for business purposes. This lead companies to adapt to either Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE) approach for Enterprise Mobility. BYOD is making significant progress in the business world, with employees using their own technology at work.\r\nOrganizations having their internal mobile teams develop the apps internally and deploy them. However, some organizations go for enterprise mobile app development company with wide experience in creating Mobile strategies and deploying the apps for Medium to Large Scale Enterprises. These companies provide options for Pre built and custom built turn-key suite of apps. ","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are corporate mobile apps?</span></h1>\r\nConventionally, corporate mobile applications can be divided into several groups.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The first group</span></span> is applications designed only for work. Their main goal is to reduce company costs, optimize business processes, and, as a result, increase profits. Another option is an application to increase the efficiency of the analytical department, giving its users the opportunity to improve monitoring of the market, competitors, quickly collect and process data on prices, points of sale of goods, etc.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The second group</span></span> is applications that integrate work and communication. These include corporate social networks, so popular recently. Created in the image and likeness of social networks familiar to everyone, they successfully combine work functionality and allow employees to communicate with each other, create personal pages, workgroups, communities, keep blogs, receive news about the company, share important files, create a common information base and use it at any time. </li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The third group</span></span> is applications for monitoring remote employees. Office workers are easy to control: most of the day they are at their workplace, and if necessary, you can organize a system of electronic passes. Remote employees are left to their own devices - it’s very difficult to check whether they arrived at the site on time and reached at all, how many points they visited in a day, and whether they used company materials and equipment to fulfill “left” orders. </li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The fourth group</span></span> is Service Desk and Help Desk, designed to automate the processing of client requests while providing technical support to users of IT departments. Most of these systems are online, because it is important for the user to solve the problem as quickly as possible. With their help, you can provide customer support directly from your mobile device. Applications provide an opportunity in the background to access the list of applications, view in detail individual applications, make changes to them, respond and work with comments.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">Top 5 enterprise mobility app features you must know</h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Centrally Moderated and Strongly Secured Data Infrastructure.</span> Security must never be at bay when it comes to enterprise mobility apps. In the age of information, data is undoubtedly the most valuable commodity, losing which can result in a massive loss for business enterprises. Data sharing done via enterprise mobility apps or solutions need to be monitored. Construct a centrally moderated and highly secure (multi-level security) infrastructure for enterprise mobility solutions. This approach enhances trust and ensures that critical business data remains safe always.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Automation of Processes.</span> Automation is the main factor behind the adoption of enterprise mobility in the core business processes by the organizations. Businesses aim to streamline their operations with minimal human intervention and cut back on time/cost. The number of device usage in the enterprise domain is increasing year-after-year. The growth showcases the seriousness of organizations to adopt top enterprise mobile apps for enhancing automation and processes for better efficiency. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Real-Time Analytics and Connectivity.</span> The integration of enterprise mobility applications in the existing system leverages the technology benefits for seeking better insights into the ongoing processes. Every enterprise app must have cognitive analytical capabilities to succeed. Modern organizations have to manage thousands of procedures, offerings and deal with hundreds of stakeholders at any point in time. In case of such massive data overloads, every enterprise aims to have a real-time data analysis to make better decisions for growth in the future.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Incredible User Experience.&nbsp; </span>An enterprise mobility app must deliver an intuitive user experience. Not only should it focus on making the functionality better, but also on offering the best experience to the users. This step, in turn, will boost app adoption within the enterprise, fulfilling the organization’s aim for automation. The app must contain futuristic features such as in-app notifications, multi-platform support, offline functionality, etc., to offer an incredible user experience. <br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Event-Driven Approach. </span>Event-driven approach and architecture is the main differentiator, which fuels digital business transformation. This approach mainly revolves around the delivery of solutions that fulfill organizational objectives by offering rapid response to specific events. Moreover, the event-driven approach aims to transform the task flow based on particular circumstances. Businesses would be able to leverage dynamic opportunities to the maximum potential and provide real-time solutions by choosing the event-driven approach for their enterprise mobility applications. </p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Mobile_Enterprise_Applications.jpg"},{"id":82,"title":"Unified Communications","alias":"unified-communications","description":"Unified communications (UC) is a framework for integrating various asynchronous and real-time communication tools. The goal of UC is to enhance business communication, collaboration and productivity. Unified communications do not represent a singular technology; rather, it describes a strategy for integrating interconnected systems of enterprise communication devices and applications that can be used in concert or successively.\r\nSome business communication tools - like Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and video conferencing - facilitate real-time communication, also called synchronous communication. Other enterprise communication tools, like email, facilitate asynchronous communication, which takes place at a person's convenience.\r\nIncreasingly, team collaboration tools have emerged to offer messaging-centric workflows and near-real-time communication. These tools also offer voice and video capabilities, API integrations and, ultimately, expound on instant messaging services by providing better UC features.\r\nThe goal of unified communications is to integrate the software that supports synchronous and asynchronous communication, so the end user has easy access to all tools from whatever device is in use.\r\nA unified communications environment is typically supported by one or more back-end systems, often referred to as UC platforms, that facilitate integration among services, as well as the front-end clients that provide access. For example, a web conferencing system would make use of an audio conferencing system - which, in turn, would be built on an underlying IP telephony platform - and a unified messaging client would allow click-to-talk (CTC), click-to-chat or click-to-video functionality.\r\nUC also supports users moving from one mode of communication to another within the same session. For example, a user may start communicating via email but then decide to escalate the interaction to real-time communication, transitioning the session to a voice call with one click and then to a video conference with another click without any disruption.\r\nUnified communications systems and their components can be deployed on premises, in a public or private cloud, or a combination of all three. Cloud-based unified communications is also called UC as a service (UCaaS). An open source project called WebRTC, for example, enables real-time communications to be embedded into web browsers.\r\nHistorically, single-vendor UC environments have demonstrated the tightest integration and compatibility. Interoperability among vendors remains an ongoing challenge in UC, but it has also been mitigated, in part, by partnerships, common protocols and open APIs.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What technology do unified communications have?</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contrasting unified messaging</span></span>\r\nUnified communications are sometimes confused with unified messaging, but it is distinct. Unified communications refer to both real-time and non-real-time delivery of communications based on the preferred method and location of the recipient; unified messaging culls messages from several sources (such as e-mail, voice mail and faxes), but holds those messages only for retrieval at a later time. Unified communications allow for an individual to check and retrieve an e-mail or voice mail from any communication device at any time. It expands beyond voice mail services to data communications and video services.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Components</span></span>\r\nWith unified communications, multiple modes of business communications are integrated. Unified communications is not a single product but a collection of elements that include:\r\n<ul><li>Call control and multimodal communications</li><li>Presence</li><li>Instant messaging</li><li>Unified messaging</li><li>Speech access and personal assistant</li><li>Conferencing (audio, Web and video)</li><li>Collaboration tools</li><li>Mobility</li><li>Business process integration (BPI)</li><li>Software to enable business process integration</li></ul>\r\nPresence — knowing where intended recipients are, and if they are available, in real-time — is a key component of unified communications. Unified communications integrate all systems a user might already use, and helps those systems work together in real-time. For example, unified communications technology could allow a user to seamlessly collaborate with another person on a project, even if the two users are in separate locations. The user could quickly locate the necessary person by accessing an interactive directory, engage in a text messaging session, and then escalate the session to a voice call or even a video call.\r\nIn another example, an employee receives a call from a customer who wants answers. Unified communications enable that employee to call an expert colleague from a real-time list. This way, the employee can answer the customer faster by eliminating rounds of back-and-forth e-mails and phone-tag.\r\nThe examples in the previous paragraph primarily describe &quot;personal productivity&quot; enhancements that tend to benefit the individual user. While such benefits can be important, enterprises are finding that they can achieve even greater impact by using unified communications capabilities to transform business processes. This is achieved by integrating UC functionality directly into the business applications using development tools provided by many of the suppliers. Instead of the individual user invoking the UC functionality to, say, find an appropriate resource, the workflow or process application automatically identifies the resource at the point in the business activity where one is needed.\r\nWhen used in this manner, the concept of presence often changes. Most people associate presence with instant messaging (IM &quot;buddy lists&quot;) the status of individuals is identified. But, in many business process applications, what is important is finding someone with a certain skill. In these environments, presence identifies available skills or capabilities.\r\nThis &quot;business process&quot; approach to integrating UC functionality can result in bottom-line benefits that are an order of magnitude greater than those achievable by personal productivity methods alone.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Related concepts</span>\r\nUnified communications &amp; collaboration (UCC) is the integration of various communications methods with collaboration tools such as virtual white boards, real-time audio and video conferencing, and enhanced call control capabilities. Before this fusion of communications and collaboration tools into a single platform, enterprise collaboration service vendors and enterprise communications service vendors offered distinctly different solutions. Now, collaboration service vendors also offer communications services, and communications service providers have developed collaboration tools.\r\nUnified communications &amp; collaboration as a service (UCCaaS) is cloud-based UCC platforms. Compared to premises-based UCC solutions, UCCaaS platforms offer enhanced flexibility and scalability due to the SaaS subscription model.\r\nUnified communications provisioning is the act of entering and configuring the settings for users of phone systems, instant messaging, telepresence, and other collaboration channels. Provisioners refer to this process as making moves, adds, changes, and deletes or MAC-Ds.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Unified_Communications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":373,"title":"IT infrastructure does not meet business tasks"},{"id":375,"title":"No support for mobile and remote users"},{"id":378,"title":"Low employee productivity"},{"id":393,"title":"Complex and non-transparent business processes"},{"id":398,"title":"Poor communication and coordination among staff"}]}},"categories":[{"id":148,"title":"Enterprise Portal","alias":"enterprise-portal","description":"An enterprise portal, also known as an enterprise information portal (EIP), is a framework for integrating information, people and processes across organizational boundaries in a manner similar to the more general web portals. Enterprise portals provide a secure unified access point, often in the form of a web-based user interface, and are designed to aggregate and personalize information through application-specific portlets.\r\nOne hallmark of enterprise portals is the de-centralized content contribution and content management, which keeps the information always updated. Another distinguishing characteristic is that they cater for customers, vendors and others beyond an organization's boundaries. This contrasts with a corporate portal which is structured for roles within an organization.\r\nAn enterprise portal has two main functions; integration and presentation. It must be able to access information from multiple and varied sources and manipulate that information through the portal.\r\nOther common features include;\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Single sign-on</span> — enterprise portals can provide single sign-on capabilities between their users and various other systems. This requires a user to authenticate only once.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Integration</span> — the connection of functions and data from multiple systems into new components/portlets/web parts with an integrated navigation between these components.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Federation</span> — the integration of content provided by other portals, typically through the use of WSRP or similar technologies.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Customization</span> — Users can customize the look and feel of their environment. Customers who are using EIPs can edit and design their own web sites which are full of their own personality and own style; they can also choose the specific content and services they prefer. Also refers to the ability to prioritize most appropriate content based on attributes of the user and metadata of the available content.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Personalization</span> — Personalization is more about matching content with the user. Based on a user profile, personalization uses rules to match the &quot;services&quot;, or content, to the specific user. To some degree, you can think of the two like this: customization is in hands of the end user, personalization is not. Of course actual personalization is often based on your role or job function within the portal context.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Access control</span> — the ability for portal to limit specific types of content and services users have access to. For example, a company's proprietary information can be entitled for only company employee access. This access rights may be provided by a portal administrator or by a provisioning process. Access control lists manage the mapping between portal content and services over the portal user base.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Enterprise search</span> — search enterprise content using enterprise search.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Omni channel enablement</span> — present the pages optimally on all channels and devices.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Analytics</span> — track and monitor user behaviour on portal pages (such as navigation, clicks, downloads, page exits and such) and generate reports.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is an Enterprise Portal?</span>\r\nAbbreviated as EPS, Enterprise Portal Software is a prepackaged software kit used by the enterprise to integrate its information and processes. Organizations use portals primarily to aggregate information from a number of different sources, including disparate systems, and provide this information to authorized users in a neatly managed single screen or system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Typical Enterprise Portal's Interface</span>\r\nEPS usually offers a Web-based interface to provide a secure unified access point through which information is aggregated to application-specific portlets.&nbsp; Enterprise Portal Software lets authorized users access Web services, and portals can be combined to form portal networks that can cover an organization's entire enterprise system.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Enterprise_Portal.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"},{"id":307,"title":"Archiving Software","alias":"archiving-software","description":" Enterprise <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">archiving software </span>is designed to assist in storing a company’s structured and unstructured data. By incorporating unstructured data (e.g., email messages and media files), enterprise information archiving software provides more complete archives of business data across the board. Data can be stored on premise with local data servers or on cloud servers, or using a hybrid of the two. These solutions are used throughout a business by any employee, since all teams should be archiving their data for, at minimum, auditing purposes. Data archiving software are typically implemented and maintained by a company’s data team, and they can be used by companies of any size.\r\nWhile similar to a backup software solution, archiving solution handles the original data as opposed to a copy of that data. To qualify for the data archiving solutions category, a product must: \r\n<ul><li>Store both structured and unstructured data</li><li>Provide data management options for archived data</li><li>Protect access to archived data</li></ul>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> What is Archiving Software?</h1>\r\nArchiving Software supports enterprises in retaining and rapidly retrieving structured and unstructured data over time while complying with security standards and the like. File archiving may include images, messages (e.g. IMs, social media posts, etc.), emails, and content from web pages and social sites. Compliant data retention may require retaining data in its native form and context so that it can be understood.\r\nAlso called Enterprise Information Archiving (EIA), archiving software is designed to meet discovery requirements. That means that the archive must be searchable so that all stored data can be retrieved with context intact.\r\nArchiving software is most commonly a requirement for banking institutions and governments. More stringent privacy laws means that EIA has become a concern for private corporations as well. Archiving software will contain features overlapping Enterprise Search, Data Governance and eDiscovery, and some features in common with ECM.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">What’s the Difference: Backup vs Archive</h1>\r\nBackups and archives serve different functions, yet it’s common to hear the terms used interchangeably in cloud storage. \r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">backup </span>is a copy of your data that is made to protect against loss of that data. Typically, backups are made on a regular basis according to a time schedule or when the original data changes. The original data is not deleted, but older backups are often deleted in favor of newer backups.<br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The goal of a backup</span> is to make a copy of anything in current use that can’t afford to be lost. A backup of a desktop or mobile device might include just the user data so that a previous version of a file can be recovered if necessary.\r\nOn these types of devices an assumption is often made that the OS and applications can easily be restored from original sources if necessary (and/or that restoring an OS to a new device could lead to significant corruption issues). In a virtual server environment, a backup could include.\r\nAn <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">archive </span>is a copy of data made for long-term storage and reference. The original data may or may not be deleted from the source system after the archive copy is made and stored, though it is common for the archive to be the only copy of the data. \r\nIn contrast to a backup whose purpose is to be able to return a computer or file system to a state it existed in previously, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">data archiving can have multiple purposes</span>. An archiving system can provide an individual or organization with a permanent record of important papers, legal documents, correspondence, and other matters.\r\nOften, archive program is used to meet information retention requirements for corporations and businesses. If a dispute or inquiry arises about a business practice, contract, financial transaction, or employee, the records pertaining to that subject can be obtained from the archive.\r\nAn archive is frequently used to ease the burden on faster and more frequently accessed data storage systems. Older data that is unlikely to be needed often is put on systems that don’t need to have the speed and accessibility of systems that contain data still in use. Archival storage systems are usually less expensive, as well, so a strong motivation is to save money on data storage.\r\nArchives are often created based on the age of the data or whether the project the data belongs to is still active. Data archiving solutions&nbsp; might send data to an archive if it hasn’t been accessed in a specified amount of time, when it has reached a certain age, if a person is no longer with the organization, or the files have been marked for storage because the project has been completed or closed.<br /><br /><br />","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Archiving_Software.png"},{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":367,"title":"Web Conferencing Applications","alias":"web-conferencing-applications","description":" Web conferencing is the common name for technology and tools for online meetings and real-time collaboration. Web conferencing allows you to conduct online presentations, collaborate on documents and applications, view websites, videos, images.\r\nWeb conferences, as a rule, are Internet services that require the installation of a client program on each participant’s computer. Some services also provide access to a web conference via a browser using flash, java or a special plug-in.\r\nServices for web conferencing can include features and tools such as screen sharing (screen sharing or individual applications), whiteboard (interactive whiteboard), the ability to show web presentations, co-browsing (the ability to synchronously browse web pages), tools for annotations, monitoring the presence of participants, text chat, integrated VoIP communication, video communication, the ability to change the leader, the ability to give control over the mouse and keyboard, meeting moderation tools, feedback collection tools (on example, polls), tools for scheduling and inviting participants, the ability to record the progress of a web conference.\r\nOften, web conferencing is used with Internet services for audio and video calls (for example, Skype) or they provide conference calling via a regular telephone.","materialsDescription":" What is the first thing that strikes you when we look at businessmen who are trying to establish communication with each other online? All of them require: “Give more opportunities for web conferencing!”. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the WebRTC technology is gaining the favor of an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses.\r\nA recent study conducted by Software Advice showed that more than half of employees in small businesses prefer web conferences, noting their efficiency and usability. The advantages are especially noticeable in comparison with communications via telephone or the use of special applications. However, the benefits of web conferencing do not end there - according to the study, they not only increase the speed and quality of online meetings, but also provide a lot of opportunities for collaboration. In addition, and this is obvious, they reduce travel costs.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Speed ​​and quality come first.</span>\r\nIt is worth noting that now small and medium businesses are almost gone from the use of communication hardware and use desktop computers and mobile devices. Despite the fact that audio and video conferences are still very popular (they are used by 45% and 50% of users, respectively), web conferences are actively replacing them. Judge for yourself - according to statistics, every third user selects them as a means of communication after the first experience of use.\r\nThe main reason for such a rapid growth in popularity is the speed and quality that web conferencing users provide. According to respondents, the main advantage of web conferences is the ability to organize a meeting much faster than before. Now there is no need to spend time on installing special applications like Skype or similar - any communication systems using any third-party programs are a thing of the past. Also worth noting is the ability to connect to the web conference literally in one click.\r\nMore than 40% of the people surveyed showed dissatisfaction with the tedious procedure of entering authorization data, noting the simplicity and convenience of connecting to the WebRTC web conference. All you need is access to the Internet!\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">We work in a team</span>\r\nIt is no secret that the use of web conferencing significantly reduces the company's travel expenses. After all, booking tickets, searching for hotels and meeting places can result in a decent amount, which will seriously hurt the company's income. Using web conferences, you get the opportunity to arrange business meetings, even with overseas partners, without leaving your office. But that's not all! Web conferencing offers a range of tools to overcome language barriers. For example, in the field of healthcare, videoconferencing has been used to establish consultations between doctors and patients from completely different countries. With the help of online translators and other special features of web conferences, people can get the necessary help from qualified foreign specialists.\r\nDo not forget that web conferencing is not only a convenient way to hold a video call. You can arrange trainings for your team using file transfer and document display functions, as well as conduct job interviews without wasting time.\r\nIt is interesting to note that small and medium-sized businesses share their product samples with prospective clients using web conferences, turning them into a powerful marketing tool. This brings the business to a fundamentally new level, allowing the company to take a leading position in its industry!","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Web_Conferencing_Applications.png"},{"id":415,"title":"Mobile Enterprise Applications","alias":"mobile-enterprise-applications","description":"The term <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">enterprise mobile application</span> is used in context of mobile apps created/brought by individual organizations for their workers to carry out functions required to run the organization.\r\nAn enterprise mobile app belonging to an organization is expected to be used by only the workers of that organization. The definition of enterprise mobility apps do not include the mobile apps that an organization create for its customers or consumers of the products or services generated by the organization. \r\nProviders of mobile enterprise application solutions create and develop apps for individual organizations that can buy instead of creating the apps themselves. Reasons for Organizations buying the apps include time and cost savings, technical expertise. Today Enterprise Mobility is playing track role for enterprise transformation.\r\nCompanies are rapidly incorporating mobile applications into their larger IT strategies, allowing them to grow their mobile presence further. Big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning are all propelling this growth.\r\nNeed for enterprise mobility applications arose with mobile devices becoming essential in the day to day life and with employees using mobile devices for business purposes. This lead companies to adapt to either Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE) approach for Enterprise Mobility. BYOD is making significant progress in the business world, with employees using their own technology at work.\r\nOrganizations having their internal mobile teams develop the apps internally and deploy them. However, some organizations go for enterprise mobile app development company with wide experience in creating Mobile strategies and deploying the apps for Medium to Large Scale Enterprises. These companies provide options for Pre built and custom built turn-key suite of apps. ","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are corporate mobile apps?</span></h1>\r\nConventionally, corporate mobile applications can be divided into several groups.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The first group</span></span> is applications designed only for work. Their main goal is to reduce company costs, optimize business processes, and, as a result, increase profits. Another option is an application to increase the efficiency of the analytical department, giving its users the opportunity to improve monitoring of the market, competitors, quickly collect and process data on prices, points of sale of goods, etc.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The second group</span></span> is applications that integrate work and communication. These include corporate social networks, so popular recently. Created in the image and likeness of social networks familiar to everyone, they successfully combine work functionality and allow employees to communicate with each other, create personal pages, workgroups, communities, keep blogs, receive news about the company, share important files, create a common information base and use it at any time. </li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The third group</span></span> is applications for monitoring remote employees. Office workers are easy to control: most of the day they are at their workplace, and if necessary, you can organize a system of electronic passes. Remote employees are left to their own devices - it’s very difficult to check whether they arrived at the site on time and reached at all, how many points they visited in a day, and whether they used company materials and equipment to fulfill “left” orders. </li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The fourth group</span></span> is Service Desk and Help Desk, designed to automate the processing of client requests while providing technical support to users of IT departments. Most of these systems are online, because it is important for the user to solve the problem as quickly as possible. With their help, you can provide customer support directly from your mobile device. Applications provide an opportunity in the background to access the list of applications, view in detail individual applications, make changes to them, respond and work with comments.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">Top 5 enterprise mobility app features you must know</h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Centrally Moderated and Strongly Secured Data Infrastructure.</span> Security must never be at bay when it comes to enterprise mobility apps. In the age of information, data is undoubtedly the most valuable commodity, losing which can result in a massive loss for business enterprises. Data sharing done via enterprise mobility apps or solutions need to be monitored. Construct a centrally moderated and highly secure (multi-level security) infrastructure for enterprise mobility solutions. This approach enhances trust and ensures that critical business data remains safe always.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Automation of Processes.</span> Automation is the main factor behind the adoption of enterprise mobility in the core business processes by the organizations. Businesses aim to streamline their operations with minimal human intervention and cut back on time/cost. The number of device usage in the enterprise domain is increasing year-after-year. The growth showcases the seriousness of organizations to adopt top enterprise mobile apps for enhancing automation and processes for better efficiency. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Real-Time Analytics and Connectivity.</span> The integration of enterprise mobility applications in the existing system leverages the technology benefits for seeking better insights into the ongoing processes. Every enterprise app must have cognitive analytical capabilities to succeed. Modern organizations have to manage thousands of procedures, offerings and deal with hundreds of stakeholders at any point in time. In case of such massive data overloads, every enterprise aims to have a real-time data analysis to make better decisions for growth in the future.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Incredible User Experience.&nbsp; </span>An enterprise mobility app must deliver an intuitive user experience. Not only should it focus on making the functionality better, but also on offering the best experience to the users. This step, in turn, will boost app adoption within the enterprise, fulfilling the organization’s aim for automation. The app must contain futuristic features such as in-app notifications, multi-platform support, offline functionality, etc., to offer an incredible user experience. <br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Event-Driven Approach. </span>Event-driven approach and architecture is the main differentiator, which fuels digital business transformation. This approach mainly revolves around the delivery of solutions that fulfill organizational objectives by offering rapid response to specific events. Moreover, the event-driven approach aims to transform the task flow based on particular circumstances. Businesses would be able to leverage dynamic opportunities to the maximum potential and provide real-time solutions by choosing the event-driven approach for their enterprise mobility applications. </p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Mobile_Enterprise_Applications.jpg"},{"id":82,"title":"Unified Communications","alias":"unified-communications","description":"Unified communications (UC) is a framework for integrating various asynchronous and real-time communication tools. The goal of UC is to enhance business communication, collaboration and productivity. Unified communications do not represent a singular technology; rather, it describes a strategy for integrating interconnected systems of enterprise communication devices and applications that can be used in concert or successively.\r\nSome business communication tools - like Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and video conferencing - facilitate real-time communication, also called synchronous communication. Other enterprise communication tools, like email, facilitate asynchronous communication, which takes place at a person's convenience.\r\nIncreasingly, team collaboration tools have emerged to offer messaging-centric workflows and near-real-time communication. These tools also offer voice and video capabilities, API integrations and, ultimately, expound on instant messaging services by providing better UC features.\r\nThe goal of unified communications is to integrate the software that supports synchronous and asynchronous communication, so the end user has easy access to all tools from whatever device is in use.\r\nA unified communications environment is typically supported by one or more back-end systems, often referred to as UC platforms, that facilitate integration among services, as well as the front-end clients that provide access. For example, a web conferencing system would make use of an audio conferencing system - which, in turn, would be built on an underlying IP telephony platform - and a unified messaging client would allow click-to-talk (CTC), click-to-chat or click-to-video functionality.\r\nUC also supports users moving from one mode of communication to another within the same session. For example, a user may start communicating via email but then decide to escalate the interaction to real-time communication, transitioning the session to a voice call with one click and then to a video conference with another click without any disruption.\r\nUnified communications systems and their components can be deployed on premises, in a public or private cloud, or a combination of all three. Cloud-based unified communications is also called UC as a service (UCaaS). An open source project called WebRTC, for example, enables real-time communications to be embedded into web browsers.\r\nHistorically, single-vendor UC environments have demonstrated the tightest integration and compatibility. Interoperability among vendors remains an ongoing challenge in UC, but it has also been mitigated, in part, by partnerships, common protocols and open APIs.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What technology do unified communications have?</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contrasting unified messaging</span></span>\r\nUnified communications are sometimes confused with unified messaging, but it is distinct. Unified communications refer to both real-time and non-real-time delivery of communications based on the preferred method and location of the recipient; unified messaging culls messages from several sources (such as e-mail, voice mail and faxes), but holds those messages only for retrieval at a later time. Unified communications allow for an individual to check and retrieve an e-mail or voice mail from any communication device at any time. It expands beyond voice mail services to data communications and video services.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Components</span></span>\r\nWith unified communications, multiple modes of business communications are integrated. Unified communications is not a single product but a collection of elements that include:\r\n<ul><li>Call control and multimodal communications</li><li>Presence</li><li>Instant messaging</li><li>Unified messaging</li><li>Speech access and personal assistant</li><li>Conferencing (audio, Web and video)</li><li>Collaboration tools</li><li>Mobility</li><li>Business process integration (BPI)</li><li>Software to enable business process integration</li></ul>\r\nPresence — knowing where intended recipients are, and if they are available, in real-time — is a key component of unified communications. Unified communications integrate all systems a user might already use, and helps those systems work together in real-time. For example, unified communications technology could allow a user to seamlessly collaborate with another person on a project, even if the two users are in separate locations. The user could quickly locate the necessary person by accessing an interactive directory, engage in a text messaging session, and then escalate the session to a voice call or even a video call.\r\nIn another example, an employee receives a call from a customer who wants answers. Unified communications enable that employee to call an expert colleague from a real-time list. This way, the employee can answer the customer faster by eliminating rounds of back-and-forth e-mails and phone-tag.\r\nThe examples in the previous paragraph primarily describe &quot;personal productivity&quot; enhancements that tend to benefit the individual user. While such benefits can be important, enterprises are finding that they can achieve even greater impact by using unified communications capabilities to transform business processes. This is achieved by integrating UC functionality directly into the business applications using development tools provided by many of the suppliers. Instead of the individual user invoking the UC functionality to, say, find an appropriate resource, the workflow or process application automatically identifies the resource at the point in the business activity where one is needed.\r\nWhen used in this manner, the concept of presence often changes. Most people associate presence with instant messaging (IM &quot;buddy lists&quot;) the status of individuals is identified. But, in many business process applications, what is important is finding someone with a certain skill. In these environments, presence identifies available skills or capabilities.\r\nThis &quot;business process&quot; approach to integrating UC functionality can result in bottom-line benefits that are an order of magnitude greater than those achievable by personal productivity methods alone.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Related concepts</span>\r\nUnified communications &amp; collaboration (UCC) is the integration of various communications methods with collaboration tools such as virtual white boards, real-time audio and video conferencing, and enhanced call control capabilities. Before this fusion of communications and collaboration tools into a single platform, enterprise collaboration service vendors and enterprise communications service vendors offered distinctly different solutions. Now, collaboration service vendors also offer communications services, and communications service providers have developed collaboration tools.\r\nUnified communications &amp; collaboration as a service (UCCaaS) is cloud-based UCC platforms. Compared to premises-based UCC solutions, UCCaaS platforms offer enhanced flexibility and scalability due to the SaaS subscription model.\r\nUnified communications provisioning is the act of entering and configuring the settings for users of phone systems, instant messaging, telepresence, and other collaboration channels. Provisioners refer to this process as making moves, adds, changes, and deletes or MAC-Ds.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Unified_Communications.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"-1","functionallyTaskAssignment":"-1","projectWasPut":"-1","price":0,"source":{"url":"https://ko.com.ua/ami_pomogla_uluchshit_kollektivnoe_vzaimodejstvie_v_kompanii_deliveri_80784","title":"Media"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":892,"title":"Microsoft Exchange for SK \"Providna\"","description":"Description is not ready yet","alias":"microsoft-exchange-for-sk-providna","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange for SK \"Providna\"","keywords":"","description":"Description is not ready yet","og:title":"Microsoft Exchange for SK \"Providna\"","og:description":"Description is not ready yet"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":7160,"title":"Providna","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/providna-logo.png","alias":"providna-sk","address":"","roles":[],"description":" Providna Insurance Company has been operating in the Ukrainian market since 1995. 99.999% of the shares of IC PROVIDNA belong to IIC Ukraine B.V. 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You can also get Exchange as part of an Office 365 plan that includes Office apps, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Server 2016</span> Increase productivity and keep your business information safe, while maintaining the control you need. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Other Exchange products</span> Exchange Online Archiving Exchange Online Protection Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Exchange Online Kiosk Exchange for government agencies","shortDescription":"Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":20,"sellingCount":2,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange","keywords":"Exchange, Online, Microsoft, Office, with, Protection, email, more","description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. 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Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":393,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"2008-01-01","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":5,"title":"Enhance Staff Productivity"},{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":7,"title":"Improve Customer Service"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":174,"title":"No unified email system"},{"id":176,"title":"No unified address book"},{"id":178,"title":"No control over data access"},{"id":340,"title":"Low quality of customer service"},{"id":378,"title":"Low employee productivity"},{"id":398,"title":"Poor communication and coordination among staff"}]}},"categories":[{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"-1","functionallyTaskAssignment":"-1","projectWasPut":"-1","price":0,"source":{"url":"http://snt.ua/news/pressroom/pressreleases/27664.ua.php","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0},{"id":1018,"title":"Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for Ukrainian bank","description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Description is not ready yet</span>","alias":"microsoft-exchange-server-2007-for-ukrainian-bank","roi":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for Ukrainian bank","keywords":"","description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Description is not ready yet</span>","og:title":"Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for Ukrainian bank","og:description":"<span style=\"font-style: italic; \">Description is not ready yet</span>"},"deal_info":"","user":{"id":4195,"title":"Hidden user","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/hidden_user.jpg","alias":"skrytyi-polzovatel","address":"","roles":[],"description":"User Information is confidential ","companyTypes":[],"products":{},"vendoredProductsCount":0,"suppliedProductsCount":0,"supplierImplementations":[],"vendorImplementations":[],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":98,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":0,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":0,"b4r":0,"categories":{},"companyUrl":"","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[],"isSeller":false,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":false,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Hidden user","keywords":"Hidden, user, User, Information, confidential","description":"User Information is confidential ","og:title":"Hidden user","og:description":"User Information is confidential ","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/hidden_user.jpg"},"eventUrl":""},"supplier":{"id":2701,"title":"VERNA","logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/uploads/roi/company/VERNA.png","alias":"verna","address":"","roles":[],"description":"VERNA is one of the leading IT Integrators, specializing in design, implementation and support of technical solutions, aimed to improve the efficiency of corporate IT systems, - both on-site and on a remote basis. <br />VERNA has spent more than 15 successful years of dynamic development in the MSP area, having implemented 150 + projects for national-wide companies at Ukrainian market as well as outsourced projects for clients from USA and Western Europe.<br />The main customers are large geographically distributed enterprises: banks, retails, industrial enterprises (BNP Paribas Group, GlobalLogic, Volksbank, Kraft, ArcelorMittal, UniCredit Bank and others).<br />Technical expertise and skills of VERNA team are proven by certificates and partnership statuses with Cisco, Microsoft, HP, IBM, APC, Oracle, VMware, Citrix, Intel, Dell, Siemens, Systemax, etc.<br />VERNA specializes in planning, implementation and support of the following solutions:<br />- Virtualization (VMware,Hyper-V, Citrix, Dockers)<br />- Infrastructure (MS Active Directory, Office 365, Azure, AWS amazon)<br />- VoIP (Cisco, asterisk/FreePBX/Elastix)<br />- Unified Communications (Webex, Big Blue Button, Lync, Exchange, SharePoint)<br />- Networking (Cisco, FortiNet, OpenVPN, CheckPoint)<br />- Server &amp; 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Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaboration with document sharing Add enhanced archiving, security, and compliance features <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Online</span> Exchange is available as a standalone hosted service from Microsoft. You can also get Exchange as part of an Office 365 plan that includes Office apps, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Server 2016</span> Increase productivity and keep your business information safe, while maintaining the control you need. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Other Exchange products</span> Exchange Online Archiving Exchange Online Protection Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Exchange Online Kiosk Exchange for government agencies","shortDescription":"Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":20,"sellingCount":2,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange","keywords":"Exchange, Online, Microsoft, Office, with, Protection, email, more","description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. 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Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":393,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"countries":[{"id":217,"title":"Ukraine","name":"UKR"}],"startDate":"0000-00-00","endDate":"0000-00-00","dealDate":"0000-00-00","price":0,"status":"finished","statusLabel":"Finished","isImplementation":true,"isAgreement":false,"confirmed":1,"implementationDetails":{"businessObjectives":{"id":14,"title":"Business objectives","translationKey":"businessObjectives","options":[{"id":6,"title":"Ensure Security and Business Continuity"},{"id":7,"title":"Improve Customer Service"},{"id":10,"title":"Ensure Compliance"},{"id":253,"title":"Expand Sales Geography"},{"id":254,"title":"Centralize management"},{"id":306,"title":"Manage Risks"}]},"businessProcesses":{"id":11,"title":"Business process","translationKey":"businessProcesses","options":[{"id":334,"title":"Poor timing of management decision making"},{"id":340,"title":"Low quality of customer service"},{"id":370,"title":"No automated business processes"},{"id":373,"title":"IT infrastructure does not meet business tasks"},{"id":375,"title":"No support for mobile and remote users"},{"id":386,"title":"Risk of lost access to data and IT systems"},{"id":387,"title":"Non-compliant with IT security requirements"},{"id":393,"title":"Complex and non-transparent business processes"},{"id":395,"title":"Decentralization of management"},{"id":401,"title":"No control over implementation"}]}},"categories":[{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"additionalInfo":{"budgetNotExceeded":"-1","functionallyTaskAssignment":"-1","projectWasPut":"-1","price":0,"source":{"url":"https://www.verna.ua/projects/infrastrukturnye-programmnye-resheniya/item/293-migratsiya-it-infrastruktury-s-microsoft-active-directory-2000-do-microsoft-active-directory-2008-i-microsoft-exchange-server-20002003-na-microsoft-exchange-server-2007","title":"Supplier's web site"}},"comments":[],"referencesCount":0}],"userImplementations":[],"userImplementationsCount":0,"supplierImplementationsCount":0,"vendorImplementationsCount":66,"vendorPartnersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"b4r":0,"categories":{"1":{"id":1,"title":"Desktop virtualization","description":" Desktop virtualization is a virtualization technology that separates an individual's PC applications from his or her desktop. Virtualized desktops are generally hosted on a remote central server, rather than the hard drive of the personal computer. Because the client-server computing model is used in virtualizing desktops, desktop virtualization is also known as client virtualization.\r\nDesktop virtualization provides a way for users to maintain their individual desktops on a single, central server. The users may be connected to the central server through a LAN, WAN or over the Internet.\r\nDesktop virtualization has many benefits, including a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), increased security, reduced energy costs, reduced downtime and centralized management.\r\nLimitations of desktop virtualization include difficulty in maintenance and set up of printer drivers; increased downtime in case of network failures; complexity and costs involved in VDI deployment and security risks in the event of improper network management.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are types of desktop virtualization technologies?</span>\r\nHost-based forms of desktop virtualization require that users view and interact with their virtual desktops over a network by using a remote display protocol. Because processing takes place in a data center, client devices can be traditional PCs, but also thin clients, zero clients, smartphones and tablets. Examples of host-based desktop virtualization technology include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Host-based virtual machines:</span> Each user connects to an individual VM that is hosted in a data center. The user may connect to the same VM every time, allowing for personalization (known as a persistent desktop), or be given a fresh VM at each login (a nonpersistent desktop).\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Shared hosted:</span> Users connect to a shared desktop that runs on a server. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, formerly Terminal Services, takes this client-server approach. Users may also connect to individual applications running on a server; this technology is an example of application virtualization.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Host-based physical machines:</span> The operating system runs directly on another device's physical hardware.\r\nClient virtualization requires processing to occur on local hardware; the use of thin clients, zero clients and mobile devices is not possible. These types of desktop virtualization include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">OS image streaming:</span> The operating system runs on local hardware, but it boots to a remote disk image across the network. This is useful for groups of desktops that use the same disk image. OS image streaming, also known as remote desktop virtualization, requires a constant network connection in order to function.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Client-based virtual machines:</span> A VM runs on a fully functional PC, with a hypervisor in place. Client-based virtual machines can be managed by regularly syncing the disk image with a server, but a constant network connection is not necessary in order for them to function.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Desktop virtualization vs. virtual desktop infrastructure</span>\r\nThe terms <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">desktop virtualization</span> and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. While VDI is a type of desktop virtualization, not all desktop virtualization uses VDI.\r\nVDI refers to the use of host-based VMs to deliver virtual desktops, which emerged in 2006 as an alternative to Terminal Services and Citrix's client-server approach to desktop virtualization technology. Other types of desktop virtualization -- including the shared hosted model, host-based physical machines and all methods of client virtualization -- are not examples of VDI.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Desktop_virtualization.png","alias":"desktop-virtualization"},"30":{"id":30,"title":"Video Conferencing","description":"Video conferencing is a technology that allows users in different locations to hold face-to-face meetings without having to move to a single location together. This technology is particularly convenient for business users in different cities or even different countries because it saves time, expense, and hassle associated with business travel. Uses for video conferencing include holding routine meetings, negotiating business deals, and interviewing job candidates.\r\nVideo conferencing's main advantage over teleconferencing is that users can see each other, which allows them to develop stronger relationships. When a video conference is held for informal purposes, it is called a video call or video chat.\r\nThere are a variety of ways video conferencing can be conducted. Individuals may use web cameras connected to our built into laptop, tablet, or desktop computers. Smartphones equipped with cameras may also be used to connect for video conferences. In such instances, a software-based platform typically is used to transmit communication over Internet protocols.\r\nSome businesses use dedicated video conferencing rooms that have been equipped with high-grade cameras and screens to ensure the conversation is clear and with limited technical faults. Third-party providers often install and assemble the hardware needed to conduct the video conference.\r\nCompanies with multiple offices might establish direct video communications between their locations in order to allow their teams to work more collaboratively.\r\nVideo conferencing can also be used as a medium for conducting training, with the instructor teaching a remote class from almost anywhere. This can be done in a corporate context, especially for getting workers the knowledge they need to better perform their jobs. The academic world can also make use of video conferencing to connect a traditional classroom setting with students who have based a considerable distance from the school.\r\nA video conference may also be used to conduct regular meetings with a company staff or to confer with shareholders about the latest activities at the business. It may be used to announce significant changes at a company, such as introducing a new CEO or to present information in an interactive way that allows all participants to engage in discussion about what they see on screen.\r\nHotels and conference centers sometimes make video conferencing services available to guests who require such services. This may be offered in suites or conference rooms that have been equipped for this purpose.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is video conferencing?</span>\r\nVideo conferencing is two-way interactive communication delivered using telephone or Internet technologies that allows people at a different location to come together for a meeting. The video conference can be as simple as a conversation between two people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several sites (multi-point) with more than one person in large rooms at different sites.\r\nA basic video conference setup has a camera and a microphone. Video from the camera and audio from the microphone is converted into a digital format and transmitted to a receiving location using a coding and decoding device, often referred to as a &quot;codec&quot;.\r\nAt that receiving location is another codec device that decodes the receiving digital stream into a form that can be seen and heard on monitors or televisions. At the same time, video and audio from cameras and microphones at the received location is sent back to the original location.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the benefits of video conferencing?</span>\r\nVideo conferencing saves travel time and money. Participants can see and hear all other participants and communicate both verbally and visually, creating a face-to-face experience. PowerPoint and other on-screen graphics, as well as other cameras, are also available presentation options. People's downtime is reduced and productivity gains are achieved by removing the logistics of flight preparations, airport delays, hotel stays, and all the other inconveniences of business travel. In distance education, video conferencing provides quality access to students who could not travel to or could afford to relocate to a traditional campus. Video conferences can also be recorded and made available in a variety of ways, e.g., DVDs, streaming video. Besides distance education, other applications include meetings, dissertation and thesis defenses, telemedical procedures, and online conferences.\r\nPeople use video conferencing when:\r\n<ul><li>a live conversation is needed;</li><li>visual information is an important component of the conversation;</li><li>the parties of the conversation can't physically come to the same location;</li><li>the expense or time of travel is a consideration.</li></ul>\r\nExamples of how video conferencing can benefit people around campus:\r\n<ul><li>Guest lecturer invited into a class from another institution.</li><li>The researcher collaborates with colleagues at other institutions on a regular basis.</li><li>Thesis defense at another institution.</li><li>Administrators from different parts of campus need to collaborate on administrator issues such as a campus strategic plan.</li><li>Researcher needs to meet with a review committee about a grant.</li><li>Student interviews with an employer in another city.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Please explain the etiquette for video conferencing</span>\r\n<ul><li>Allow a few minutes for setting up and shutting down the video conference.</li><li>Stick to time limits.</li><li>Remember to mute your microphone when you are not talking.</li><li>Consider using a location banner.</li><li>Take turns speaking and allow time for audio delay.</li><li>Don't multi-task on camera.</li><li>Be aware of possible audio distractions if your microphone is not muted - coughing, paper shuffling, air conditioning units, laptop and projector fans, phone ringing, etc.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are some suggestions for a successful video conference?</span>\r\nProvide an overview for new users so they can learn the basics of videoconferencing:\r\n<ul><li>Share rules of etiquette.</li><li>Get experience using the remote control (room based systems) or using the desktop client software.</li><li>Emphasize the importance of muting the microphone when you are not speaking.</li><li>Test with each location prior to the video conference. Testing provides experience and creates a positive experience.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Video_Conferencing.png","alias":"video-conferencing"},"39":{"id":39,"title":"IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Infrastructure as a service</span> (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS solutions involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure – virtual machines and other resources – as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud infrastructure providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Infrastructure as a Service Benefits&nbsp;</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cost savings:</span> An obvious benefit of moving to the managed IaaS model is lower infrastructure costs. No longer do organizations have the responsibility of ensuring uptime, maintaining hardware and networking equipment, or replacing old equipment. IaaS&nbsp; technology also saves enterprises from having to buy more capacity to deal with sudden business spikes. Organizations with a smaller IT infrastructure generally require a smaller IT staff as well. The pay-as-you-go model also provides significant cost savings. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and flexibility:</span> One of the greatest benefits of IaaS is the ability to scale up and down quickly in response to an enterprise’s requirements. Infrastructure as a Service providers generally have the latest, most powerful storage, servers and networking technology to accommodate the needs of their customers. This on-demand scalability provides added flexibility and greater agility to respond to changing opportunities and requirements. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Faster time to market:</span> Competition is strong in every sector, and time to market is one of the best ways to beat the competition. Because IaaS vendors elasticity and scalability, organizations can ramp up and get the job done (and the product or service to market) more rapidly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Support for DR, BC and high availability:</span> While every enterprise has some type of disaster recovery plan, the technology behind those plans is often expensive and unwieldy. Organizations with several disparate locations often have different disaster recovery and business continuity plans and technologies, making management virtually impossible.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Focus on business growth:</span> Time, money and energy spent making technology decisions and hiring staff to manage and maintain the technology infrastructure is time not spent on growing the business. By moving infrastructure to a global infrastructure services, organizations can focus their time and resources where they belong, on developing innovations in applications and solutions.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">IaaS, PaaS and SaaS: What’s the Difference?</h1>\r\nPlatform as a Service (PaaS) is the next step up from IaaS products, where the provider also supplies the operating environment including the operating system, application services, middleware and other ‘runtimes’ for cloud users. It’s used for development environments where the business can focus on creating an app but wants someone else to maintain the deployment platform. It means you have much simpler workloads but you can’t necessarily be as flexible as you want.\r\nAt the highest level of orchestration is Software as a Service. In SaaS infrastructure applications are accessed on demand. Here you just open your browser and go, consuming software rather than installing and running it. A user simply logs on to access the provider’s application. Users can decide how the app will work but pretty much everything else is the responsibility of the software provider.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS.png","alias":"iaas-infrastructure-as-a-service"},"52":{"id":52,"title":"SaaS - software as a service","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Software as a service (SaaS)</span> is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as &quot;on-demand software&quot;, and was formerly referred to as &quot;software plus services&quot; by Microsoft.\r\n SaaS services is typically accessed by users using a thin client, e.g. via a web browser. SaaS software solutions has become a common delivery model for many business applications, including office software, messaging software, payroll processing software, DBMS software, management software, CAD software, development software, gamification, virtualization, accounting, collaboration, customer relationship management (CRM), Management Information Systems (MIS), enterprise resource planning (ERP), invoicing, human resource management (HRM), talent acquisition, learning management systems, content management (CM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and service desk management. SaaS has been incorporated into the strategy of nearly all leading enterprise software companies.\r\nSaaS applications are also known as <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Web-based software</span>, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">on-demand software</span> and<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> hosted software</span>.\r\nThe term &quot;Software as a Service&quot; (SaaS) is considered to be part of the nomenclature of cloud computing, along with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS),managed software as a service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), and information technology management as a service (ITMaaS).\r\nBecause SaaS is based on cloud computing it saves organizations from installing and running applications on their own systems. That eliminates or at least reduces the associated costs of hardware purchases and maintenance and of software and support. The initial setup cost for a SaaS application is also generally lower than it for equivalent enterprise software purchased via a site license.\r\nSometimes, the use of SaaS cloud software can also reduce the long-term costs of software licensing, though that depends on the pricing model for the individual SaaS offering and the enterprise’s usage patterns. In fact, it’s possible for SaaS to cost more than traditional software licenses. This is an area IT organizations should explore carefully.<br />SaaS also provides enterprises the flexibility inherent with cloud services: they can subscribe to a SaaS offering as needed rather than having to buy software licenses and install the software on a variety of computers. The savings can be substantial in the case of applications that require new hardware purchases to support the software.<br /><br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Who uses SaaS?</span></h1>\r\nIndustry analyst Forrester Research notes that SaaS adoption has so far been concentrated mostly in human resource management (HRM), customer relationship management (CRM), collaboration software (e.g., email), and procurement solutions, but is poised to widen. Today it’s possible to have a data warehouse in the cloud that you can access with business intelligence software running as a service and connect to your cloud-based ERP like NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics.The dollar savings can run into the millions. And SaaS installations are often installed and working in a fraction of the time of on-premises deployments—some can be ready in hours. \r\nSales and marketing people are likely familiar with Salesforce.com, the leading SaaS CRM software, with millions of users across more than 100,000 customers. Sales is going SaaS too, with apps available to support sales in order management, compensation, quote production and configure, price, quoting, electronic signatures, contract management and more.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why SaaS? Benefits of software as a service</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lower cost of entry</span>. With SaaS solution, you pay for what you need, without having to buy hardware to host your new applications. Instead of provisioning internal resources to install the software, the vendor provides APIs and performs much of the work to get their software working for you. The time to a working solution can drop from months in the traditional model to weeks, days or hours with the SaaS model. In some businesses, IT wants nothing to do with installing and running a sales app. In the case of funding software and its implementation, this can be a make-or-break issue for the sales and marketing budget, so the lower cost really makes the difference.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduced time to benefit/rapid prototyping</span>. In the SaaS model, the software application is already installed and configured. Users can provision the server for the cloud and quickly have the application ready for use. This cuts the time to benefit and allows for rapid demonstrations and prototyping. With many SaaS companies offering free trials, this means a painless proof of concept and discovery phase to prove the benefit to the organization. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Pay as you go</span>. SaaS business software gives you the benefit of predictable costs both for the subscription and to some extent, the administration. Even as you scale, you can have a clear idea of what your costs will be. This allows for much more accurate budgeting, especially as compared to the costs of internal IT to manage upgrades and address issues for an owned instance.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The SaaS vendor is responsible for upgrades, uptime and security</span>. Under the SaaS model, since the software is hosted by the vendor, they take on the responsibility for maintaining the software and upgrading it, ensuring that it is reliable and meeting agreed-upon service level agreements, and keeping the application and its data secure.&nbsp; While some IT people worry about Software as a Service security outside of the enterprise walls, the likely truth is that the vendor has a much higher level of security than the enterprise itself would provide. Many will have redundant instances in very secure data centers in multiple geographies.&nbsp; Also, the data is being automatically backed up by the vendor, providing additional security and peace of mind. Because of the data center hosting, you’re getting the added benefit of at least some disaster recovery. Lastly, the vendor manages these issues as part of their core competencies—let them.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Integration and scalability.</span> Most SaaS apps are designed to support some amount of customization for the way you do business. SaaS vendors create APIs to allow connections not only to internal applications like ERPs or CRMs but also to other SaaS providers. One of the terrific aspects of integration is that orders written in the field can be automatically sent to the ERP. Now a salesperson in the field can check inventory through the catalog, write the order in front of the customer for approval, send it and receive confirmation, all in minutes. And as you scale with a SaaS vendor, there’s no need to invest in server capacity and software licenses. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Work anywhere</span>. Since the software is hosted in the cloud and accessible over the internet, users can access it via mobile devices wherever they are connected. This includes checking customer order histories prior to a sales call, as well as having access to real time data and real time order taking with the customer.</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/SaaS__1_.png","alias":"saas-software-as-a-service"},"75":{"id":75,"title":"ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Enterprise resource planning (ERP)</span> is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology.\r\nEnterprise resource planning system is usually referred to as a category of business management software — typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.\r\nERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database management system. \r\nEnterprise resource planning solutions track business resources— cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">You can think of an enterprise resource planning system as the glue that binds together the different computer systems for a large organization. Without an ERP application, each department would have its own system optimized for that division's particular tasks. With ERP software, each department still has its own system, but all of the systems can be accessed through one application with one interface.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">ERP applications also allows the different departments to communicate and share information more easily with the rest of the company. It collects information about the activity and state of different divisions, making this information available to other parts, where it can be used productively.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>An integrated system</li><li>Operates in (or near) real time</li><li>A common database that supports all the applications</li><li>A consistent look and feel across modules</li><li>Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in small steps</li><li>Deployment options include: on-premises, cloud hosted, or SaaS</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Enterprise resource planning programs have traditionally been used by the big players in the market that have thousands of employees spread out over the world. However, software developers are now marketing business ERP solutions to small- and medium-sized companies. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">There are different types of ERP software ranging from industry-specific ERP solutions to web-based, or cloud ERP software; to small business ERP.<br />The type of ERP system that will work best for your business depends on the size of your organization and the functions of the ERP solution that can best support your business requirements.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Industry Specific ERP.</span> ERP systems for large corporations are often built from the ground up to suit the organization's specific and unique needs. For a small business like yours, an off-the-shelf model will work fine. Most are grouped into three categories to service manufacturing, finance or logistics based companies.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web-Based ERP system.</span> ERP software services tend to be complex, requiring high-end computers to run them. However, instead of purchasing the software to run on your computer in your office, many suppliers offer Software as a Service, or SaaS. In this case, you pay a subscription to access the software and your data over the internet. Because the program is running on a remote server, you are free to access it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ERP software for small business.</span> Although ERP systems can cover everything from supply chain management to accounting solutions as well as customer relations management, your business may not need to automate all these functions. Therefore, software developers offer scaled-down models at a lower, more cost-effective price. For instance, your operation may work fine with a system that offers sales and order management, but leaves out the module for warehouse management.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does an ERP do?</span></h1>\r\nThe purpose of an ERP management system is to improve efficiency (and thereby profitability) through improving how company resources are spent, whether those resources be time, money, staff or something else.<br />If you can reduce how many resources are being used, without sacrificing quality/performance, then you can grow your business more efficiently and appropriately.\r\nERP software combines a number of different reports and metrics across various departments into the same environment. This makes it easier to get a full view of what’s going on and how resources are being spent.<br />From this vantage point of the business, you can discover key insights into how processes might be improved or resources better spent to generate higher growth. \r\nWithout an ERP system and proper planning of how resources should be spent to maximize growth and the bottom line, it is much easier to invest resources in tactics that underperform.\r\nConversely, a great ERP software platform allows a business to allocate resources away from underperforming tactics and into those that are generating good returns.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">An ERP system also makes it faster to find the information or report you’re after because everything is in the same place. You don’t have to search through spreadsheets or look through different business applications to find that kernel of data you need; it’s all available and accessible right from the ERP interface.</p>\r\n<header><h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the different features of ERP software?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p></header>\r\nERP software can differ depending on the package you purchase and the provider. That being said, there are some key features that you should look for when researching ERP software providers. Your software should, at the bare minimum, offer the following modules:\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Accounting:</span> Manage all of your financial reports in the same interface, such as purchase orders, expenses, sales reports, payroll, etc. This makes it easier to monitor your cash flow and revenue and determines how money might be better spent or how you can reduce your burn rate.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Inventory and warehousing</span>: If your business has inventory or warehouse processes, your ERP business software needs to be able to integrate those operations to better track and manage goods. This makes it easier to see how much inventory is available, what inventory is going out for delivery, what inventory is coming in from which vendors and more. Carefully monitoring and tracking these processes helps protect a business from running out of stock, mismanaging a delivery and other potential issues.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">eCommerce and web</span>: It’s essential for a business to be able to see the eCommerce side of their business separate from physical, retail sales. After all, the tactics you leverage to encourage online sales are different than the ones you use for your physical stores. An excellent ERP system will enhance your existing web offerings to include better purchase options for customers to choose from.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Human resources</span>: As much as a business strives to keep customers happy and retained, it is equally important that your employees remain happy as well. The HR module of your ERP system contains all of the employee management processes, including payroll expenses, recruitment, performance evaluations, attendance, scheduling and more. It’s a one-stop module for all employee management and communication efforts.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM and marketing</span>: Your brand-customer relationships are ultimately going to drive repeat business. It’s important to know how effectively your marketing tactics are working at engaging and re-engaging customers, whether those tactics are email marketing campaigns, social media offers, surveys, follow-up phone calls and others. The CRM module will better express what’s working and what isn’t and how marketing is translating into added revenue.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project management:</span> The last should-have feature of your ERP software product is a project management tool, which allows you to communicate productively across your organization to plan and execute projects internally. This helps ensure company cohesion by getting every involved stakeholder or employee on the same page and in-the-know as to the most current business objectives and goals.</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Benefits of ERP software and why to build it</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">In today’s business environments, it’s hard to move on without an ERP system. Among the main benefits of ERP implementation is automatization of manual tasks staff spends hours on and thus improves the overall business performance. So the staff can focus on more important initiatives. At the same time, you can collect real-time data for improving performance management and making data-driven decisions.<br />ERP&nbsp; planning software comes handy in lots of areas due to its in-built modules and flexibility. Here are a few advantages of ERP software tools:</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br />1. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce operating cost</span>. The company starts gaining profit as soon as the ERP system is implemented. Prepare to face the reduction of marketing expenses, inventory maintenance, production cost and so on. Also, if you’re aimed at combining all business processes within a unified system, ERP is the right choice. By using the software, it’s easy to improve cross-department cooperation and increase staff’s efficiency.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">2.<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"> Instant data access.</span> With ERP systems, employees soon forget about hours spent on collecting necessary details. Instead, they can be accessed in just a few minutes. Works great for busy executives and department managers that need to access data quickly.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">3. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Defined planning process.</span> It’s easy to understand the business objectives, targets and aims when you have a full list of business needs, outcomes, and assets all in one place.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Sure, ERP systems also have some disadvantages. The most common issue is the price. It’s almost impossible for small companies to develop an ERP suite for their own needs, only middle and large-sized corporations can afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ERP_-_Enterprise_Resource_Planning.png","alias":"erp-enterprise-resource-planning"},"82":{"id":82,"title":"Unified Communications","description":"Unified communications (UC) is a framework for integrating various asynchronous and real-time communication tools. The goal of UC is to enhance business communication, collaboration and productivity. Unified communications do not represent a singular technology; rather, it describes a strategy for integrating interconnected systems of enterprise communication devices and applications that can be used in concert or successively.\r\nSome business communication tools - like Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and video conferencing - facilitate real-time communication, also called synchronous communication. Other enterprise communication tools, like email, facilitate asynchronous communication, which takes place at a person's convenience.\r\nIncreasingly, team collaboration tools have emerged to offer messaging-centric workflows and near-real-time communication. These tools also offer voice and video capabilities, API integrations and, ultimately, expound on instant messaging services by providing better UC features.\r\nThe goal of unified communications is to integrate the software that supports synchronous and asynchronous communication, so the end user has easy access to all tools from whatever device is in use.\r\nA unified communications environment is typically supported by one or more back-end systems, often referred to as UC platforms, that facilitate integration among services, as well as the front-end clients that provide access. For example, a web conferencing system would make use of an audio conferencing system - which, in turn, would be built on an underlying IP telephony platform - and a unified messaging client would allow click-to-talk (CTC), click-to-chat or click-to-video functionality.\r\nUC also supports users moving from one mode of communication to another within the same session. For example, a user may start communicating via email but then decide to escalate the interaction to real-time communication, transitioning the session to a voice call with one click and then to a video conference with another click without any disruption.\r\nUnified communications systems and their components can be deployed on premises, in a public or private cloud, or a combination of all three. Cloud-based unified communications is also called UC as a service (UCaaS). An open source project called WebRTC, for example, enables real-time communications to be embedded into web browsers.\r\nHistorically, single-vendor UC environments have demonstrated the tightest integration and compatibility. Interoperability among vendors remains an ongoing challenge in UC, but it has also been mitigated, in part, by partnerships, common protocols and open APIs.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What technology do unified communications have?</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contrasting unified messaging</span></span>\r\nUnified communications are sometimes confused with unified messaging, but it is distinct. Unified communications refer to both real-time and non-real-time delivery of communications based on the preferred method and location of the recipient; unified messaging culls messages from several sources (such as e-mail, voice mail and faxes), but holds those messages only for retrieval at a later time. Unified communications allow for an individual to check and retrieve an e-mail or voice mail from any communication device at any time. It expands beyond voice mail services to data communications and video services.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Components</span></span>\r\nWith unified communications, multiple modes of business communications are integrated. Unified communications is not a single product but a collection of elements that include:\r\n<ul><li>Call control and multimodal communications</li><li>Presence</li><li>Instant messaging</li><li>Unified messaging</li><li>Speech access and personal assistant</li><li>Conferencing (audio, Web and video)</li><li>Collaboration tools</li><li>Mobility</li><li>Business process integration (BPI)</li><li>Software to enable business process integration</li></ul>\r\nPresence — knowing where intended recipients are, and if they are available, in real-time — is a key component of unified communications. Unified communications integrate all systems a user might already use, and helps those systems work together in real-time. For example, unified communications technology could allow a user to seamlessly collaborate with another person on a project, even if the two users are in separate locations. The user could quickly locate the necessary person by accessing an interactive directory, engage in a text messaging session, and then escalate the session to a voice call or even a video call.\r\nIn another example, an employee receives a call from a customer who wants answers. Unified communications enable that employee to call an expert colleague from a real-time list. This way, the employee can answer the customer faster by eliminating rounds of back-and-forth e-mails and phone-tag.\r\nThe examples in the previous paragraph primarily describe &quot;personal productivity&quot; enhancements that tend to benefit the individual user. While such benefits can be important, enterprises are finding that they can achieve even greater impact by using unified communications capabilities to transform business processes. This is achieved by integrating UC functionality directly into the business applications using development tools provided by many of the suppliers. Instead of the individual user invoking the UC functionality to, say, find an appropriate resource, the workflow or process application automatically identifies the resource at the point in the business activity where one is needed.\r\nWhen used in this manner, the concept of presence often changes. Most people associate presence with instant messaging (IM &quot;buddy lists&quot;) the status of individuals is identified. But, in many business process applications, what is important is finding someone with a certain skill. In these environments, presence identifies available skills or capabilities.\r\nThis &quot;business process&quot; approach to integrating UC functionality can result in bottom-line benefits that are an order of magnitude greater than those achievable by personal productivity methods alone.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Related concepts</span>\r\nUnified communications &amp; collaboration (UCC) is the integration of various communications methods with collaboration tools such as virtual white boards, real-time audio and video conferencing, and enhanced call control capabilities. Before this fusion of communications and collaboration tools into a single platform, enterprise collaboration service vendors and enterprise communications service vendors offered distinctly different solutions. Now, collaboration service vendors also offer communications services, and communications service providers have developed collaboration tools.\r\nUnified communications &amp; collaboration as a service (UCCaaS) is cloud-based UCC platforms. Compared to premises-based UCC solutions, UCCaaS platforms offer enhanced flexibility and scalability due to the SaaS subscription model.\r\nUnified communications provisioning is the act of entering and configuring the settings for users of phone systems, instant messaging, telepresence, and other collaboration channels. Provisioners refer to this process as making moves, adds, changes, and deletes or MAC-Ds.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Unified_Communications.png","alias":"unified-communications"},"148":{"id":148,"title":"Enterprise Portal","description":"An enterprise portal, also known as an enterprise information portal (EIP), is a framework for integrating information, people and processes across organizational boundaries in a manner similar to the more general web portals. Enterprise portals provide a secure unified access point, often in the form of a web-based user interface, and are designed to aggregate and personalize information through application-specific portlets.\r\nOne hallmark of enterprise portals is the de-centralized content contribution and content management, which keeps the information always updated. Another distinguishing characteristic is that they cater for customers, vendors and others beyond an organization's boundaries. This contrasts with a corporate portal which is structured for roles within an organization.\r\nAn enterprise portal has two main functions; integration and presentation. It must be able to access information from multiple and varied sources and manipulate that information through the portal.\r\nOther common features include;\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Single sign-on</span> — enterprise portals can provide single sign-on capabilities between their users and various other systems. This requires a user to authenticate only once.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Integration</span> — the connection of functions and data from multiple systems into new components/portlets/web parts with an integrated navigation between these components.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Federation</span> — the integration of content provided by other portals, typically through the use of WSRP or similar technologies.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Customization</span> — Users can customize the look and feel of their environment. Customers who are using EIPs can edit and design their own web sites which are full of their own personality and own style; they can also choose the specific content and services they prefer. Also refers to the ability to prioritize most appropriate content based on attributes of the user and metadata of the available content.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Personalization</span> — Personalization is more about matching content with the user. Based on a user profile, personalization uses rules to match the &quot;services&quot;, or content, to the specific user. To some degree, you can think of the two like this: customization is in hands of the end user, personalization is not. Of course actual personalization is often based on your role or job function within the portal context.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Access control</span> — the ability for portal to limit specific types of content and services users have access to. For example, a company's proprietary information can be entitled for only company employee access. This access rights may be provided by a portal administrator or by a provisioning process. Access control lists manage the mapping between portal content and services over the portal user base.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Enterprise search</span> — search enterprise content using enterprise search.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Omni channel enablement</span> — present the pages optimally on all channels and devices.</li><li><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Analytics</span> — track and monitor user behaviour on portal pages (such as navigation, clicks, downloads, page exits and such) and generate reports.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is an Enterprise Portal?</span>\r\nAbbreviated as EPS, Enterprise Portal Software is a prepackaged software kit used by the enterprise to integrate its information and processes. Organizations use portals primarily to aggregate information from a number of different sources, including disparate systems, and provide this information to authorized users in a neatly managed single screen or system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Typical Enterprise Portal's Interface</span>\r\nEPS usually offers a Web-based interface to provide a secure unified access point through which information is aggregated to application-specific portlets.&nbsp; Enterprise Portal Software lets authorized users access Web services, and portals can be combined to form portal networks that can cover an organization's entire enterprise system.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Enterprise_Portal.png","alias":"enterprise-portal"},"180":{"id":180,"title":"Office Suites","description":"An office suite is a collection of applications bundled together, intended to be used by knowledge workers in an organization. It is used to simplify the tasks and processes of office workers and increase their productivity.\r\nAn office suite is also known as an office application suite or office productivity software.\r\nAn office suite is a collection of software created by the same vendor and designed to be used for routine tasks within an organization. Typically an office suite includes applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, email, note-taking, database, collaboration and other related types of software. In most cases, each application in the office suite can be installed separately and all applications within the suite support interoperability between each other.\r\nExisting office suites contain wide range of various components. Most typically, the base components include:\r\n<ul><li>Word processor</li><li>Spreadsheet</li><li>Presentation program</li></ul>\r\nOther components of office suites include:\r\n<ul><li>Database software</li><li>Graphics suite (raster graphics editor, vector graphics editor, image viewer)</li><li>Desktop publishing software</li><li>Formula editor</li><li>Diagramming software</li><li>Email client</li><li>Communication software</li><li>Personal information manager</li><li>Notetaking software</li><li>Groupware</li><li>Project management software</li><li>Web log analysis software</li></ul>","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Office Suites Software?</span>\r\nOffice Suites Software are suites of personal productivity products for creating documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other similar capabilities. The trend in this area in recent years has been to move away from installed, licensed software products towards online products that are accessed over the Internet and are paid via a monthly or annual subscription.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Office_Suites.png","alias":"office-suites"},"225":{"id":225,"title":"End-User Query, Reporting, and Analysis","description":" Class systems of Query &amp; Reporting are designed to form queries to information systems in user terms, as well as their execution, integration of data from different sources, viewing data with the possibilities of detailing and summarizing and building full-fledged reports, both on-screen and printed. Visualization of query results can be presented to the user in various forms - flat or multidimensional tables, graphs, charts, various specialized interfaces.\r\nEnd-user tools for querying and building reports are delivered in two ways:\r\n<ul><li>as part of OLAP-systems</li><li>in the form of specialized Query &amp; Reporting</li></ul>\r\nVirtually every OLAP class system is equipped with Query &amp; Reporting. These funds can be either embedded in the main product or separated into a separate product.\r\nThere are also specialized systems for generating and distributing reports. At the same time, these systems incorporate their own OLAP-means. Therefore, to draw a clear line between OLAP-systems and systems of class Query &amp; Reporting is almost impossible.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the reporting tools?</span>\r\nReporting tools are widely used to support decision making and to measure organizational and team performance. Companies use them for financial consolidation, for evaluation of strategies and policies and often just for plain reporting. Today most of these tools are integrated with Business Intelligence tools.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the advantages of these tools for your organization?</span>\r\nReporting tools allow companies to create attractive reports easily. In tabular or graphical format. With data from Excel, a data warehouse or the organization’s ERP system. With the reports containing the right information, people are able to manage and improve the business processes more easily.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Which reporting tools are available in the market?</span>\r\nThere are many Business Intelligence Reporting tools in the market available. This list of reporting tools shows you a complete overview of all the major tools currently available and thoroughly studied by our industry analysts. To name a few: Cognos Query and reporting, Oracle Enterprise Reporting, Crystal Reports, Microsoft Reporting Services (SSRS), etc.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Is there a difference between reporting tools and BI tools?</span>\r\nAlmost every company, large or small, needs a reporting tool or they have already one in place. But, what is the difference between reporting software and Business Intelligence tools? They are not the same. In general reporting tools tell us where we have been but are not very good at analyzing data (at real time) and telling us where we are going (predictive).\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between a query and a report?</span>\r\nA query is a way to create a list of accounts or journal entries that match your criteria. Requests serve as an advanced search engine that finds and groups accounts or journal entries and can only create a list.\r\nA report is a detailed report of a group of accounts or journal entries. Reports analyze data and are designed to calculate and present data in a more formal form.\r\nTypically, a query finds information in the database for you, and a report is a more powerful way to display and analyze information about the accounts or log entries you want to view.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/End-User_Query__Reporting__and_Analysis.png","alias":"end-user-query-reporting-and-analysis"},"231":{"id":231,"title":"Deployment-Centric Application Platforms","description":" Deployment-centric application platforms are driving benefits for organizations embarking on their digital transformation journey.\r\nAs demand for applications increases, businesses need to make sure they have an effective application development platform in place to help them continue to capitalize on the benefits they can provide and meet customer demand. This platform has an integrated development environment that provides tools that allow the developer to program, test and implement applications.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is software deployment?</span>\r\nSoftware deployment is all of the activities that make a software system available for use.\r\nThe general deployment process consists of several interrelated activities with possible transitions between them. These activities can occur at the producer side or on the consumer side or both. Because every software system is unique, the precise processes or procedures within each activity can hardly be defined. Therefore, &quot;deployment&quot; should be interpreted as a general process that has to be customized according to specific requirements or characteristics.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Deployment-Centric_Application_Platforms.png","alias":"deployment-centric-application-platforms"},"239":{"id":239,"title":"Relational Database Management Systems","description":" Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a DBMS designed specifically for relational databases. Therefore, RDBMSes are a subset of DBMSes.\r\nA relational database refers to a database that stores data in a structured format, using rows and columns. This makes it easy to locate and access specific values within the database. It is &quot;relational&quot; because the values within each table are related to each other. Tables may also be related to other tables. The relational structure makes it possible to run queries across multiple tables at once.\r\nWhile a relational database describes the type of database an RDMBS manages, the RDBMS refers to the database program itself. It is the software that executes queries on the data, including adding, updating, and searching for values.\r\nAn RDBMS may also provide a visual representation of the data. For example, it may display data in a tables like a spreadsheet, allowing you to view and even edit individual values in the table. Some relational database softwareallow you to create forms that can streamline entering, editing, and deleting data.\r\nMost well known DBMS applications fall into the RDBMS category. Examples include Oracle Database, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2. Some of these programs support non-relational databases, but they are primarily used for relational database management.\r\nExamples of non-relational databases include Apache HBase, IBM Domino, and Oracle NoSQL Database. These type of databases are managed by other DMBS programs that support NoSQL, which do not fall into the RDBMS category.\r\nElements of the relational DBMS that overarch the basic relational database are so intrinsic to operations that it is hard to dissociate the two in practice.\r\nThe most basic features of RDBMS are related to create, read, update and delete operations, collectively known as CRUD. They form the foundation of a well-organized system that promotes consistent treatment of data.\r\nThe RDBMS typically provides data dictionaries and metadata collections useful in data handling. These programmatically support well-defined data structures and relationships. Data storage management is a common capability of the RDBMS, and this has come to be defined by data objects that range from binary large object (blob) strings to stored procedures. Data objects like this extend the scope of basic relational database operations and can be handled in a variety of ways in different RDBMSes.\r\nThe most common means of data access for the RDBMS is via SQL. Its main language components comprise data manipulation language (DML) and data definition language (DDL) statements. Extensions are available for development efforts that pair SQL use with common programming languages, such as COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language), Java and .NET.\r\nRDBMSes use complex algorithms that support multiple concurrent user access to the database, while maintaining data integrity. Security management, which enforces policy-based access, is yet another overlay service that the RDBMS provides for the basic database as it is used in enterprise settings.\r\nRDBMSes support the work of database administrators (DBAs) who must manage and monitor database activity. Utilities help automate data loading and database backup. RDBMS systems manage log files that track system performance based on selected operational parameters. This enables measurement of database usage, capacity and performance, particularly query performance. RDBMSes provide graphical interfaces that help DBAs visualize database activity.\r\nRelational database management systems are central to key applications, such as banking ledgers, travel reservation systems and online retailing. As RDBMSes have matured, they have achieved increasingly higher levels of query optimization, and they have become key parts of reporting, analytics and data warehousing applications for businesses as well. \r\nRDBMSes are intrinsic to operations of a variety of enterprise applications and are at the center of most master data management (MDM) systems.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the advantages of a Relational Database Management System?</span></h1>\r\nA Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a software system that provides access to a relational database. The software system is a collection of software applications that can be used to create, maintain, manage and use the database. A &quot;relational database&quot; is a database structured on the &quot;relational&quot; model. Data are stored and presented in a tabular format, organized in rows and columns with one record per row.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Data Structure.</span> The table format is simple and easy for database users to understand and use. Relational database management software provide data access using a natural structure and organization of the data. Database queries can search any column for matching entries.</li></ul>\r\n<dl></dl>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Multi-User Access.</span> RDBMS database program allow multiple database users to access a database simultaneously. Built-in locking and transactions management functionality allow users to access data as it is being changed, prevents collisions between two users updating the data, and keeps users from accessing partially updated records.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Privileges. </span>Authorization and privilege control features in an RDBMS allow the database administrator to restrict access to authorized users, and grant privileges to individual users based on the types of database tasks they need to perform. Authorization can be defined based on the remote client IP address in combination with user authorization, restricting access to specific external computer systems.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Network Access.</span> RDBMSs provide access to the database through a server daemon, a specialized software program that listens for requests on a network, and allows database clients to connect to and use the database. Users do not need to be able to log in to the physical computer system to use the database, providing convenience for the users and a layer of security for the database. Network access allows developers to build desktop tools and Web applications to interact with databases.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Speed.</span> The relational database model is not the fastest data structure. RDBMS software advantages, such as simplicity, make the slower speed a fair trade-off. Optimizations built into an RDBMS, and the design of the databases, enhance performance, allowing RDBMSs to perform more than fast enough for most applications and data sets. Improvements in technology, increasing processor speeds and decreasing memory and storage costs allow systems administrators to build incredibly fast systems that can overcome any database performance shortcomings.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Maintenance. </span>RDBMSs feature maintenance utilities that provide database administrators with tools to easily maintain, test, repair and back up the databases housed in the system. Many of the functions can be automated using built-in automation in the RDBMS, or automation tools available on the operating system.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Language.</span> RDBMSs support a generic language called &quot;Structured Query Language&quot; (SQL). The SQL syntax is simple, and the language uses standard English language keywords and phrasing, making it fairly intuitive and easy to learn. Many RDBMSs add non-SQL, database-specific keywords, functions and features to the SQL language.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Relational_Database_Management_Systems.png","alias":"relational-database-management-systems"},"240":{"id":240,"title":"Non-relational Database Management Systems","description":" A non-relational database is a database that does not incorporate the table/key model that relational database management systems (RDBMS) promote. These kinds of databases require data manipulation techniques and processes designed to provide solutions to big data problems that big companies face. The most popular emerging non-relational database is called NoSQL (Not Only SQL).\r\nMost non-relational databases are incorporated into websites such as Google, Yahoo!, Amazon and Facebook. These websites introduce a slew of new applications every single day with millions and millions of users, so they would not be able to handle large traffic spikes with existing RDBMS solutions. Since RDBMS cannot handle the problem, they’ve switched to a new kind of DBMS that is capable of handling Web-scale data in a non-relational way.<br /><br />An interesting aspect of a non-relational database such as NoSQL is scalability. NoSQL uses the BASE system (basically available, soft-state, eventually consistent). Non-relational databases forgo the table form of rows and columns relational databases use in favor of specialized frameworks to store data, which can be accessed by special query APIs. Persistence is an important element in these databases. To enable fast throughput of vast amounts of data the best option for performance is &quot;in memory,&quot; rather than reading and writing from disks.<br /><br />Relational databases use the ACID system, which ensures consistency of data in all situations of data management but obviously takes longer to process because of all those relations and its branching nature. However, the BASE system loosened up the requirements on consistency to achieve better availability and partitioning for better scalability.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are NoSQL databases?</span>\r\nNoSQL databases are purpose built for specific data models and have flexible schemas for building modern applications. NoSQL databases are widely recognized for their ease of development, functionality, and performance at scale. They use a variety of data models, including document, graph, key-value, in-memory, and search. This page includes resources to help you better understand NoSQL databases and to get started.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">How Does a NoSQL (nonrelational) Database Work?</span>\r\nNoSQL databases use a variety of data models for accessing and managing data, such as document, graph, key-value, in-memory, and search. These types of databases are optimized specifically for applications that require large data volume, low latency, and flexible data models, which are achieved by relaxing some of the data consistency restrictions of other databases.\r\nConsider the example of modeling the schema for a simple book database:\r\n<ul><li>In a relational database, a book record is often dissembled (or “normalized”) and stored in separate tables, and relationships are defined by primary and foreign key constraints. In this example, the Books table has columns for ISBN, Book Title, and Edition Number, the Authors table has columns for AuthorID and Author Name, and finally the Author-ISBN table has columns for AuthorID and ISBN. The relational model is designed to enable the database to enforce referential integrity between tables in the database, normalized to reduce the redundancy, and generally optimized for storage.</li><li>In a NoSQL database, a book record is usually stored as a JSON document. For each book, the item, ISBN, Book Title, Edition Number, Author Name, and AuthorID are stored as attributes in a single document. In this model, data is optimized for intuitive development and horizontal scalability.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Why should you use a NoSQL database?</span>\r\nNoSQL databases are a great fit for many modern applications such as mobile, web, and gaming that require flexible, scalable, high-performance, and highly functional databases to provide great user experiences.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Flexibility:</span> NoSQL databases generally provide flexible schemas that enable faster and more iterative development. The flexible data model makes NoSQL databases ideal for semi-structured and unstructured data.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability:</span> NoSQL databases are generally designed to scale out by using distributed clusters of hardware instead of scaling up by adding expensive and robust servers. Some cloud providers handle these operations behind-the-scenes as a fully managed service.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">High-performance:</span> NoSQL database are optimized for specific data models (such as document, key-value, and graph) and access patterns that enable higher performance than trying to accomplish similar functionality with relational databases.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Highly functional:</span> NoSQL databases provide highly functional APIs and data types that are purpose built for each of their respective data models.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the types of NoSQL Databases?</span>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Key-value:</span> Key-value databases are highly partitionable and allow horizontal scaling at scales that other types of databases cannot achieve. Use cases such as gaming, ad tech, and IoT lend themselves particularly well to the key-value data model.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Document:</span> In application code, data is represented often as an object or JSON-like document because it is an efficient and intuitive data model for developers. Document databases make it easier for developers to store and query data in a database by using the same document model format that they use in their application code. The flexible, semistructured, and hierarchical nature of documents and document databases allows them to evolve with applications’ needs. The document model works well with catalogs, user profiles, and content management systems where each document is unique and evolves over time.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Graph:</span> A graph database’s purpose is to make it easy to build and run applications that work with highly connected datasets. Typical use cases for a graph database include social networking, recommendation engines, fraud detection, and knowledge graphs.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">In-memory:</span> Gaming and ad-tech applications have use cases such as leaderboards, session stores, and real-time analytics that require microsecond response times and can have large spikes in traffic coming at any time. Amazon ElastiCache offers Memcached and Redis, to serve low-latency, high-throughput workloads, such as McDonald’s, that cannot be served with disk-based data stores.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Search:</span> Many applications output logs to help developers troubleshoot issues.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Nonrelational_Database_Management_Systems1.png","alias":"non-relational-database-management-systems"},"243":{"id":243,"title":"Database Development and Management Tools","description":" Many companies create various multi-functional applications to facilitate the management, development and administration of databases.\r\nMost relational databases consist of two separate components: a “back-end” where data is stored and a “front-end” —a user interface for interacting with data. This type of design is smart enough, as it parallels a two-level programming model that separates the data layer from the user interface and allows you to concentrate the software market directly on improving its products. This model opens doors for third parties who create their own applications for interacting with various databases.\r\nDatabase development tools can be used to create varieties of the following programs:\r\n<ul><li>client programs;</li><li>database servers and their individual components;</li><li>custom applications.</li></ul>\r\nThe programs of the first and second types are rather small since they are intended mainly for system programmers. The third type packages are much larger, but smaller than full-featured DBMS.\r\nThe development tools for custom applications include programming systems, various program libraries for various programming languages, and development automation packages (including client-server systems).<br />Database management system, abbr. DBMS (Eng. Database Management System, abbr. DBMS) - a set of software and linguistic tools for general or special purposes, providing management of the creation and use of databases.\r\nDBMS - a set of programs that allow you to create a database (DB) and manipulate data (insert, update, delete and select). The system ensures the safety, reliability of storage and data integrity, as well as provides the means to administer the database.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The main functions of the DBMS:</span>\r\n<ul><li>data management in external memory (on disk);</li><li>data management in RAM using disk cache;</li><li>change logging, backup and recovery of databases after failures;</li><li>support for database languages ​​(data definition language, data manipulation language).</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The composition of the DBMS:</span>\r\nUsually, a modern DBMS contains the following components:\r\n<ul><li>the core, which is responsible for managing data in external and RAM and logging;</li><li>database language processor, which provides the optimization of requests for the extraction and modification of data and the creation, as a rule, of a machine-independent executable internal code;</li><li>a run-time support subsystem that interprets data manipulation programs that create a user interface with a DBMS;<br />service programs (external utilities) that provide a number of additional capabilities for maintaining an information system.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Database_Development_and_Management_Tools.png","alias":"database-development-and-management-tools"},"263":{"id":263,"title":"Software Configuration Management Tools","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Software configuration management</span> (SCM) is a set of processes, policies, and tools that organizes the development process. It simultaneously maintains the current state of the software (called the “baseline”), while enabling developers to work on new versions for features or fixes.\r\nIn software engineering, <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">software configuration management process</span> is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software, part of the larger cross-disciplinary field of configuration management. SCM practices include revision control and the establishment of baselines. If something goes wrong, SCM can determine what was changed and who changed it. If a configuration is working well, SCM can determine how to replicate it across many hosts. \r\nThe acronym &quot;SCM&quot; is also expanded as <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">source configuration management process</span> and <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">software change and configuration management.</span> However, &quot;configuration&quot; is generally understood to cover changes typically made by a system administrator. \r\nSoftware configuration control usually includes the updates and the versions that have been applied to software packages, as well as locations and network addresses of hardware devices. When a system needs a software or hardware upgrade, the user can access the configuration management program and database to see what is currently installed and then make a more informed decision about the upgradation needed. Configuration management tools list have been divided into three categories: <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">tracking</span>, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">version management</span>, and r<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">elease tools.</span>\r\nThe SCM configuration management traces changes and verifies that the software has all of the planned changes that are supposed to be included in a new release. It includes four procedures that should be defined for each software project to ensure that a reliable software configuration management process is utilized. The four procedures typically found in a reliable system configuration management tools are:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Configuration identification. </span>It is the procedure by which attributes are identified that defines all the properties of a configuration item. A configuration item referred to as an object is a product (hardware and/or software) that supports use by an end user. These attributes are recorded in configuration documents or database tables and baselined. A baseline is an approved configuration object, such as a project plan, that has been authorized for implementation.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Configuration control.</span> It is a set of processes and approval stages required to change a configuration object’s attributes and to rebaseline them.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"><br /></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Configuration status documentation. </span>Configuration status accounting is the ability to record and report on the configuration baselines associated with each configuration object at any point in time.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Configuration audits. </span>Configuration audits are divided into functional and physical configuration audits. An audit occurs at the time of delivery of a project or at the time a change is made. A functional configuration audit is intended to make sure that functional and performance attributes of a configuration object are achieved. A physical configuration audit attempts to ensure that a configuration object is installed based on the requirements of its design specifications.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">The advantages of software configuration management system are:</span>\r\n<ul><li>It reduces redundant work</li><li>It effectively manages simultaneous updates</li><li>It avoids configuration related problems</li><li>It simplifies coordination between team members</li><li>It is helpful in tracking defects</li></ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> What are the outcomes of well-implemented configuration management?</h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Disaster Recovery<br /></span></li></ul>\r\nIf the worst does happen, automated configuration management tools ensures that our assets are easily recoverable. The same applies to rollbacks. Configuration management makes it so that when we’ve put out bad code, we can go back to the state of our software before the change.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Uptime and Site Reliability</span></li></ul>\r\nThe term “site reliability” refers to how often your service is up. A frequent cause of downtime is bad deployments, which can be caused by differences in running production servers to test servers. With our configuration managed properly, our test environments can mimic production, so there’s less chance of a nasty surprise.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Easier Scaling</span></li></ul>\r\nProvisioning is the act of adding more resources (usually servers) to our running application. Сonfiguration automation tools ensure that we know what a good state of our service is. That way, when we want to increase the number of servers that we run, it’s simply a case of clicking a button or running a script. The goal is really to make provisioning a non-event.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Software_Configuration_Management_Tools.png","alias":"software-configuration-management-tools"},"271":{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png","alias":"messaging-applications"},"273":{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png","alias":"team-collaborative-applications"},"275":{"id":275,"title":"Conferencing Applications","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Conferencing applications</span> may be used as an umbrella term for various types of online collaborative services including web seminars (&quot;webinars&quot;), webcasts, and peer-level web meetings.\r\nServices may allow real-time point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one sender to many receivers. It offers data streams of text-based messages, voice and video chat to be shared simultaneously, across geographically dispersed locations. Conference application includes meetings, training events, lectures, or presentations from a web-connected computer to other web-connected computers. \r\n<p class=\"align-center\">Typical features of a web conference include:</p>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Slideshow presentations </span>- where images are presented to the audience and markup tools and a remote mouse pointer are used to engage the audience while the presenter discusses slide content.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Live or streaming video</span> - where full motion webcam, digital video camera or multi-media files are pushed to the audience.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">VoIP</span> (conference call applications) - real time audio communication through the computer via use of headphones and speakers.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web tours</span> - where URLs, data from forms, cookies, scripts and session data can be pushed to other participants enabling them to be pushed through web-based logons, clicks, etc. This type of feature works well when demonstrating websites where users themselves can also participate.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Meeting Recording</span> - where presentation activity is recorded on the client side or server side for later viewing and/or distribution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Whiteboard with annotation</span> - allowing the presenter and/or attendees to highlight or mark items on the slide presentation. Or, simply make notes on a blank whiteboard.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Text chat</span> - For live question and answer sessions, limited to the people connected to the meeting. Text chat may be public (echoed to all participants) or private (between 2 participants).</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Polls and surveys</span> - allows the presenter to conduct questions with multiple choice answers directed to the audience.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Screen sharing</span>/desktop sharing/application sharing where participants can view anything the presenter currently has shown on their screen. </li></ul>\r\nThere are different types of web conferencing:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Webinars.</span> In webinars, on one hand the presenters can share information with the participants and on the other the participants can respond or ask questions regarding that information. Though, this web conference option shows possibility of interaction between the presenter and the audience but to a limited extent.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Webcast.</span> It is web conference's another type that is similar to a broadcast made on TV but both of them are different from each other on the ground that this broadcast can be done by using web instead of a TV. Though webcast can be broadcasted to large number of people as a time still there are least or no possibilities of interaction between the presenter and the participants in this format of web conferencing.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Web Meeting</span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">and Event App for conferences.</span> The virtual meetings on the internet fall in this category of web conferencing. It makes the participants in the meeting interactive to each other. The flow of information can be both way, forward and backward i.e. from the host to the audience as well as from the audience to the host. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Online Collaboration.</span> Online collaboration format of web conferencing allows you to view shared files, documents and papers live along with making changes in them to modify their style instantly on the internet. The participants of a web based online collaboration can do much more than seeing and speaking to each other on internet. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Online Presentations.&nbsp; </span>Web conferencing can also be used for presenting presentations online. The online presentations can be presented online with the help of web based chats, streaming videos or audios and slide shows. The participants have to log in to the web conference to see these presentations. They can also interact with the presenter of the presentation through web based chat or through mobile application conference.\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the benefits of online conferencing?</span></h1>\r\nInternet conference has its own nuances and features in contrast to the traditional conference. And most importantly, it also has a number of obvious and very significant advantages, namely:\r\n<ul><li>wide audience coverage - users of various categories who are remote control of a computer via the Internet by potential consumers of goods and services;</li><li>independence from geographical location - users from different cities and even countries can participate in Internet conferences, which allows to significantly expand the boundaries of business in the world wide web;</li><li>accessibility - you can take part in online meetings, sitting at a computer at home or at work, the main thing is the presence of the computer itself and Internet access;</li><li>the opportunity to significantly save on the financial costs of holding a conference, which is relevant at all times;</li><li>stakeholder participation in the topic that the Internet conference offers for consideration, which allows to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness;</li><li>thanks to preliminary preparations for the Internet conference, you can develop the most successful mechanism for selling information to participants in order to focus on the most important aspects of a product or service;</li></ul>\r\nformation of positive public opinion among participants regarding the services of remote control of a computer or products, which is achieved using special methods.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">The Benefits of Conference Event Apps</h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">A More Personalized Experience</span></p>\r\nConference planning app can solve the common problems that many attendees run into at large events. According to pewresearch.org another important fact to consider is that “More than half of smartphone owners say they get news alerts on their phones” which is largely due to notifications from apps downloaded on their smart device, so why wouldn’t you include apps at your events? Planning and event apps give the attendee a personalized experience by allowing the attendee to take notes and mark which sessions and exhibits they want to see.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Track Users</span></p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Event apps give you the ability to track the users to see what they like and dislike so you can continually improve your event products and cater to the needs of your attendees. Most event apps track attendees by GPS, badges, or the most frequently used low-energy Bluetooth device.&nbsp; </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Provides Instant Feedback</span></p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Best event apps for conferences provide instant analytic feedback. Most conference event apps track which booths the attendees favored, how long they listened to the audio tours at each exhibit, and overall what topics or things interest them the most.&nbsp; You can also set up polling to get the specific feedback you want from your attendees. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Push Notifications</span></p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Including event apps at your next conference gives you the ability to send push notifications if the schedule changes or in case of an emergency. With push notifications can set geo alerts to alert your attendees of important reminders based on their location. You can also implement AR ability so that attendees can try out new products. Your contributors can publish audio tours to impress the attendees by filling them with information at each exhibit and e-brochures that the attendee can view before, during, and after the event. </p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Boost Revenue</span></p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Conference event apps make navigating the event easier on multiple levels. Event apps are especially beneficial for allowing your attendees to purchase items easily right from their smart device and for you to showcase unique event items right at their fingertips.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Monetize Sponsors</span></p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">It’s important to take time to recognize the sponsors that helped you put on the event. You can do this by adding a section of the custom conference app that is dedicated to your sponsors. By taking time to thank them, you are giving your sponsors a unique platform and driving leads with just a click of a button. Make sure you take time to talk to your app developer on how to create ads that highlight your sponsors and allows your sponsors to track data and leads from the event.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Instantly Connected</span></p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Paper brochures, maps, and schedules are difficult to keep track of and hard to map out. I remember losing brochures and having to sit down and figure out the event layout, circling which booths I wanted to see. Conference event apps give your attendees access to important information instantly. </p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Conferencing_Applications.png","alias":"conferencing-applications"},"277":{"id":277,"title":"Enterprise Social Networks","description":" Enterprise social networking focuses on the use of online social networks or social relations among people who share business interests and/or activities. Enterprise social networking is often a facility of enterprise social software (regarded as a primary component of Enterprise 2.0), which is essentially social software used in &quot;enterprise&quot; (business/commercial) contexts. It encompasses modifications to corporate intranets (referred to as social intranets) and other classic software platforms used by large companies to organize their communication, collaboration and other aspects of their intranets. Enterprise social networking is also generally thought to include the use of a standard external social networking service to generate visibility for an enterprise.\r\nSocial networking sites started to form in the 1990s; an example of these websites is Theglobe.com, which began in 1995. As other websites such as GeoCities and Tripod.com started to form online communities, they encouraged their users to interact with each other via chat rooms and other tools. They also provided easy-to-use publishing tools along with free web space. Classmates.com’s approach was to link people together via their emails, the website was like a friends search engine.\r\nBusinesses eventually realized that social networking websites could provide a fast and efficient way of marketing. Social media websites are great places for businesses to reach their customers, and the environment can provide a means for growing a business. In 2005, as social networking websites were becoming more and more popular, Myspace had more page views than Google. Myspace was followed by Facebook which started in February 2004. When Facebook began, users were limited to college students in the United States, who had to use a college email with a .edu extension to join the network. In September 2005 some high schools were allowed to join the network, but they needed an invitation to join. On September 26 of 2006, Facebook announced that anyone around the world older than 13 years old with a valid email would be able to join Facebook’s online community. In October 2007, Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook. That gave them the right to place international ads on Facebook. In July 2010 it was reported that Facebook had more than 500 million active users. This means that one out of fourteen people around the world is a Facebook user. The growth of Facebook was a boom in the social networking space. Facebook became a huge corporation that had 1400 employees in 2009; their estimated revenue was US$800 million in 2009. In 2010, it was reported that there were more than 200 social networking websites on the web.\r\nMany companies are starting to implement social networks to promote collaboration amongst their employees. Vendors are now starting to use this as a way to help out the different companies. Some companies are starting to teach their employees about cloud computing and SaaS. These new technologies are being added to the enterprise social networks. These networks are being implemented to get employees collaborating and sharing tips and ideas about how to improve the workplace. Some social networks are homegrown systems that are built internally. Companies are using social networks to trade information amongst team members or other people who are part of the company. Sometimes this might also mean trading documents in real time. Based on research by Gartner (2010), 50% of enterprises will be using some sort of social network by 2012.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is an enterprise social network?</span>\r\nSocial networks are inherently open, public spaces, available to anyone who wishes to sign up. Now imagine a private social network, only accessible by members of an organization, business or club. This is essentially what an enterprise social network is, kept private to that particular organization. This can be extremely useful for businesses that require all the collaborative features and efficiency of a modern social network, without the public, potentially unsecured nature of them.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why use an enterprise social network?</span>\r\nWe’re inherently social beings, and so the modern enterprise workplace contains an abundance of varying formats of communication, both online and off. Talking to co-workers, making phone calls, sending emails – the list goes on. By compiling all of these channels of connectivity together into one interactive, easily accessible digital environment, you can reap the many rewards of enhanced, community-driven workspaces, helping to move your business forward through better connectivity, collaboration and productivity.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What form do corporate social networks take?</span>\r\nOrganizations can utilize a range of different social platforms, such as discussion forums and intranets. Whatever works for your company, team or department, can become a social network.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Enerprise_Social_Networks.png","alias":"enterprise-social-networks"},"281":{"id":281,"title":"Authoring and Publishing Software","description":" Authoring and publishing software is used to author, edit, and publish brochures, books, pamphlets, and other documents.\r\nApplications provide page layout tools and may include various photo editing, video editing, and media management features.\r\n<ul><li>Basic desktop publishing software allows home-based businesses to apply templates, create style sheets, and insert images for newsletters, business cards, and product brochures.</li><li>Intermediate desktop publishing software allows graphic artists and service bureaus to import content from external databases and layout tabular material for scientific publications, technical reports, and academic journals.</li><li>Advanced authoring and publishing software provides tools for pre-flighting, the process of checking digital files for compliance with printing industry standards.</li></ul>\r\nTypically, publishing software with a centralized formatting function uses a single style sheet to provide all of the format specifications for page tags, paragraph and character tags, and frame tags. Because each chapter is controlled by the same style sheet, changes are made in one place and applied across the entire document. Authoring and publishing software for reference manuals, academic journals, and other technical publications may also include an equation editor for controlling the appearance of equations and formulas. Support for hypertext markup language (HTML), portable document format (PDF), and cascading style sheets (CSS) is commonly available.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is authorware?</span>\r\nAuthoring tool, also known as authorware, is a program that helps you write hypertext or multimedia applications. Authoring tools usually enable you to create a final application merely by linking together objects, such as a paragraph of text, an illustration, or a song. By defining the objects' relationships to each other, and by sequencing them in an appropriate order, authors (those who use authoring tools) can produce attractive and useful graphics applications. Most authoring systems also support a scripting language for more sophisticated applications.\r\nThe distinction between authoring tools and programming tools is not clear-cut. Typically, though, authoring tools require less technical knowledge to master and are used exclusively for applications that present a mixture of textual, graphical, and audio data.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Authoring_and_Publishing_Software.png","alias":"authoring-and-publishing-software"},"283":{"id":283,"title":"Content Analytics, Discovery, and Cognitive Software","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content Analytics</span> comprises of range of search and reporting technologies which can provide identical levels of business intelligence and strategic value for unstructured data. Content analytics for unstructured information includes social media monitoring, reputation monitoring, and sentiment analysis. <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content analytics software</span> uses natural language queries, trends analysis, predictive analytics and contextual discovery to reveal trends and patterns for the company's unstructured data.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Discovery tools</span> are the search tools that analyse contents for its likely relevancy to a process, by linking names, time periods or terms used. Discovery tools can also extend to legal hold and partitioning of content for further scrutiny. Various types of discovery tools include search engines, auto-categorization, and information visualization tools.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Cognitive computing software</span> makes context computable by identifying and extracting context features such as hour, location, task, history or profile in structured way for an individual or an application engaged in a specific process at definite time and place. Cognitive computing technologies and platforms includes expert assistance software.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Content Analytics, Discovery and Cognitive Systems,</span> collectively covers the market and technologies that access, analyse, organize, and provides advisory services related to a range of unstructured data. Cognitive systems leverages large amounts of structured and unstructured data and content analytics tools, along with several infrastructure technologies to answer questions, provide recommendations and directions. ","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">What are Content Analytics?</h1>\r\nContent analytics is one way that brands can measure the success of their digital content; it involves analyzing data from both inbound and outbound collateral to figure out what’s working and what’s not. After all, no one wants to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on content that isn’t resonating.\r\nIt should come as no surprise, then, that 75 percent of enterprises think content analytics can provide real business insight: What are your customers most interested in reading about? What format generates the most engagement? You can use answers to these questions to help you decide what content you should be producing, how to present it (quiz, paid ad, slideshow, blog post, etc.), and where/when to post it for the best results. If utilized correctly, content analytics can offer brands a way to build customer loyalty and boost revenue.\r\nAdvanced content analytics strategies should help you to look beyond the numbers and to focus on taking action. Content analytics is not a mirror reflecting how your company’s content is performing; rather, it is but one tool that can help steer you towards actionable solutions and more effective content choices.\r\nMetrics provided by content analytics, and the actions you take based off that data, can help you optimize conversion rates. In addition to tweaking your content strategy, you can also build a conversion optimization strategy by testing calls-to-action (CTAs), headlines, subscription forms, etc.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the features of a cognitive computing solution?</span></h1>\r\nWith the present state of cognitive function computing, basic solution can play an excellent role of an assistant or virtual advisor. Siri, Google assistant, Cortana, and Alexa are good examples of personal assistants. Virtual advisor such as Dr. AI by HealthTap is a cognitive solution. It relies on individual patients’ medical profiles and knowledge gleaned from 105,000 physicians. It compiles a prioritized list of the symptoms and connects to a doctor if required. Now, experts are working on implementing cognitive solutions in enterprise systems. Some use cases are fraud detection using machine learning, predictive analytics solution, predicting oil spills in Oil and Gas production cycle etc.\r\nThe purpose of cognitive computing is the creation of computing frameworks that can solve complicated problems without constant human intervention. In order to implement cognitive function computing in commercial and widespread applications, Cognitive Computing consortium has recommended the following features for the computing systems:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Adaptive.</span>This is the first step in making a machine learning based cognitive system. The solutions should mimic the ability of the human brain to learn and adapt from the surroundings. The systems can’t be programmed for an isolated task. It needs to be dynamic in data gathering, understanding goals, and requirements.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Interactive.</span>Similar to brain the cognitive solution must interact with all elements in the system – processor, devices, cloud services and user. Cognitive systems should interact bi-directionally. It should understand human input and provide relevant results using natural language processing and deep learning. Some skilled intelligent chatbots such as Mitsuku have already achieved this feature.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Iterative and stateful.</span>The system should “remember” previous interactions in a process and return information that is suitable for the specific application at that point in time. It should be able to define the problem by asking questions or finding an additional source. This feature needs a careful application of the data quality and validation methodologies in order to ensure that the system is always provided with enough information and that the data sources it operates on to deliver reliable and up-to-date input.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Contextual.</span>They must understand, identify, and extract contextual elements such as meaning, syntax, time, location, appropriate domain, regulations, user’s profile, process, task, and goal. They may draw on multiple sources of information, including both structured and unstructured digital information, as well as sensory inputs (visual, gestural, auditory, or sensor-provided). ","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Content_Analytics_Discovery_and_Cognitive_Software.png","alias":"content-analytics-discovery-and-cognitive-software"},"295":{"id":295,"title":"Operating System and Subsystem","description":" Operating systems (OS) are programs that act as an interface between a computer’s hardware and its user. Subsystems are a part of larger systems such as operating systems; multiple subsystems can be loaded in the operating system. It bridges the gap between the users and the computer hardware. There are different types of operating systems based on their usage such as real-time, multi-user, distributed, embedded, single-user single-task and single-user multi-task. Operating systems are required in all electronic interactive systems such as mobile phones, washing machines, and computers. Various types of OS include Microsoft Windows, Linux, UNIX, Symbian, Android, and Apple Mac OS among others.\r\nTechnological advancements and rising awareness among consumers has to lead to increased demand for computer systems, consequently increasing the demand for operating systems and driving the market. However, the growth has been hampered by the rapid usage of pirated versions of operating systems. Moreover, the development of different applications in mobile phones mainly due to android OS among the youth will open the opportunities of operating system market in the upcoming years.\r\nCurrently, there are a large number of different types of operating systems that differ in application areas, hardware platforms, implementation methods, etc.\r\nA subsystem is a unit or device that is part of a larger system. For example, a disk subsystem is a part of a computer system. A bus is a part of the computer. A subsystem usually refers to hardware, but it may be used to describe software. However, &quot;module,&quot; &quot;subroutine&quot; and &quot;component&quot; are more typically used to describe parts of the software.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is an operating system (OS)?</span>\r\nAn operating system (OS) is software, consisting of programs and data, that runs on computers and manages the computer hardware and provides common services for efficient execution of various application software. For hardware functions such as input and output and memory allocation, the operating system acts as an intermediary between application programs and the computer hardware, although the application code is usually executed directly by the hardware, but will frequently call the OS or be interrupted by it. Operating systems are found on almost any device that contains a computer - from cellular phones and video game consoles to supercomputers and web servers.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the tasks of the Operating system?</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Processor Management:</span></span> The main tasks in processor management are ensuring that each process and application receives enough of the processor's time to function properly, using maximum processor cycles for real work as is possible and switch between processes in a multi-tasking environment.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Memory and Storage Management:</span></span> The tasks include allotting enough memory required for each process to execute and efficiently use the different types of memory in the system.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Device Management:</span></span> The operating system manages all hardware not on the processor through driver programs. Drivers provide a way for applications to make use of hardware subsystems without having to know every detail of the hardware's operation. The driver's function is to be the translator between the electrical signals of the hardware subsystems and the high-level programming languages of the operating system and application programs. One reason that drivers are separate from the operating system is for the upgradability of devices.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Providing Common Application Interface:</span></span> Application program interfaces (APIs) let application programmers use functions of the computer and operating system without having to directly keep track of all the details in the processor's operation. Once the programmer uses the APIs, the operating system, connected to drivers for the various hardware subsystems, deals with the changing details of the hardware.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Providing Common User Interface:</span></span> A user interface (UI) brings a formal structure to the interaction between a user and the computer.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Operating_System_and_Subsystem__1_.png","alias":"operating-system-and-subsystem"},"297":{"id":297,"title":"Availability and Clustering Software","description":" Application clustering (sometimes called software clustering) is a method of turning multiple computer servers into a cluster (a group of servers that acts like a single system). Clustering software is installed in each of the servers in the group. Each of the servers maintains the same information and collectively they perform administrative tasks such as load balancing, determining node failures, and assigning failover duty. The other clustering method, hardware clustering, requires that specialized hardware be installed in a single server that controls the cluster.\r\nШn application or software clustering, some of the protocols and administrative duties that would have been handled on each individual machine are handled by the joint software program. In other words, the software application is the control unit for the cluster. This is contrasted with a system called hardware clustering, where one individual machine runs the cluster through its operating system.\r\nOne of the advantages of application clustering is the scalability of these kinds of systems. With available specialized software, companies can easily set up multiple pieces of hardware that obey the same instructions, and refer to the same sets of information. IT pros refer to a cluster-aware application as an application that can assess systems to assign failover duties or handle delegation for transaction processing. These are kinds of principles supported by application clustering.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What does Cluster (Servers) mean?</span>\r\nA cluster, in the context of servers, is a group of computers that are connected with each other and operate closely to act as a single computer. Speedy local area networks enhance a cluster of computers' abilities to operate at an exceptionally rapid pace.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What does Clustering mean?</span>\r\nClustering, in the context of databases, refers to the ability of several servers or instances to connect to a single database. An instance is the collection of memory and processes that interacts with a database, which is the set of physical files that actually store data.\r\nClustering offers two major advantages, especially in high-volume database environments:\r\n<ul><li>Fault tolerance: Because there is more than one server or instance for users to connect to, clustering offers an alternative, in the event of individual server failure.</li><li>Load balancing: The clustering feature is usually set up to allow users to be automatically allocated to the server with the least load.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Availability_and_Clustering_Software__1_.png","alias":"availability-and-clustering-software"},"299":{"id":299,"title":"Application and User Session Virtualization","description":"Application virtualization is a technology that allows you to separate the software from the operating system on which it operates. Fully virtualized software is not installed in the traditional sense, although the end-user at first glance can not see it, because the virtualized software works just as normal. The software in the execution process works just as if it interacted with the operating system directly and with all its resources, but can be isolated or executed in a sandbox with different levels of restriction.\r\nModern operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows and Linux, can include limited software virtualization. For example, Windows 7 has Windows XP mode that allows you to run Windows XP software on Windows 7 without any changes.\r\nUser session virtualization is a newer version of desktop virtualization that works at the operating system level. While normal virtualization of the desktop allows an operating system to be run by virtualizing the hardware of the desktop, RDS and App-V allow for the virtualization of the applications. User session virtualization lies between the two.\r\nA desktop has an operating system loaded on the base hardware. This can be either physical or virtual. The user session virtualization keeps track of all changes to the operating system that a user might make by encapsulating the configuration changes and associating them to the user account. This allows the specific changes to be applied to the underlying operating system without actually changing it. This allows several users to have completely different operating system configurations applied to base operating system installation.\r\nIf you are in a distributed desktop environment and there are local file servers available at each location, you can deploy virtualized user sessions in the form of redirected folders and roaming profiles.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Understanding application virtualization</span>\r\nApplication virtualization technology isolates applications from the underlying operating system and from other applications to increase compatibility and manageability. This application virtualization technology enables applications to be streamed from a centralized location into an isolation environment on the target device where they will execute. The application files, configuration, and settings are copied to the target device and the application execution at run time is controlled by the application virtualization layer. When executed, the application run time believes that it is interfacing directly with the operating system when, in fact, it is interfacing with a virtualization environment that proxies all requests to the operating system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Understanding session virtualization</span>\r\nSession virtualization uses application streaming to deliver applications to hosting servers in the datacenter. The Application then connects the user to the server. The application then executes entirely on the server. The user interacts with the application remotely by sending mouse-clicks and keystrokes to the server. The server then responds by sending screen updates back to the user’s device. Whereas application virtualization is limited to Windows-based operating systems, session virtualization allows any user on any operating system to access any application delivered by IT. As a result, the application enables Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android devices to run any applications using session virtualization. Furthermore, session virtualization leverages server-side processing power which liberates IT from the endless cycle of PC hardware refreshes which are typically needed to support application upgrades when using traditional application deployment methods.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Application_and_User_Session_Virtualization__1_.png","alias":"application-and-user-session-virtualization"},"307":{"id":307,"title":"Archiving Software","description":" Enterprise <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">archiving software </span>is designed to assist in storing a company’s structured and unstructured data. By incorporating unstructured data (e.g., email messages and media files), enterprise information archiving software provides more complete archives of business data across the board. Data can be stored on premise with local data servers or on cloud servers, or using a hybrid of the two. These solutions are used throughout a business by any employee, since all teams should be archiving their data for, at minimum, auditing purposes. Data archiving software are typically implemented and maintained by a company’s data team, and they can be used by companies of any size.\r\nWhile similar to a backup software solution, archiving solution handles the original data as opposed to a copy of that data. To qualify for the data archiving solutions category, a product must: \r\n<ul><li>Store both structured and unstructured data</li><li>Provide data management options for archived data</li><li>Protect access to archived data</li></ul>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> What is Archiving Software?</h1>\r\nArchiving Software supports enterprises in retaining and rapidly retrieving structured and unstructured data over time while complying with security standards and the like. File archiving may include images, messages (e.g. IMs, social media posts, etc.), emails, and content from web pages and social sites. Compliant data retention may require retaining data in its native form and context so that it can be understood.\r\nAlso called Enterprise Information Archiving (EIA), archiving software is designed to meet discovery requirements. That means that the archive must be searchable so that all stored data can be retrieved with context intact.\r\nArchiving software is most commonly a requirement for banking institutions and governments. More stringent privacy laws means that EIA has become a concern for private corporations as well. Archiving software will contain features overlapping Enterprise Search, Data Governance and eDiscovery, and some features in common with ECM.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">What’s the Difference: Backup vs Archive</h1>\r\nBackups and archives serve different functions, yet it’s common to hear the terms used interchangeably in cloud storage. \r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">backup </span>is a copy of your data that is made to protect against loss of that data. Typically, backups are made on a regular basis according to a time schedule or when the original data changes. The original data is not deleted, but older backups are often deleted in favor of newer backups.<br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The goal of a backup</span> is to make a copy of anything in current use that can’t afford to be lost. A backup of a desktop or mobile device might include just the user data so that a previous version of a file can be recovered if necessary.\r\nOn these types of devices an assumption is often made that the OS and applications can easily be restored from original sources if necessary (and/or that restoring an OS to a new device could lead to significant corruption issues). In a virtual server environment, a backup could include.\r\nAn <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">archive </span>is a copy of data made for long-term storage and reference. The original data may or may not be deleted from the source system after the archive copy is made and stored, though it is common for the archive to be the only copy of the data. \r\nIn contrast to a backup whose purpose is to be able to return a computer or file system to a state it existed in previously, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">data archiving can have multiple purposes</span>. An archiving system can provide an individual or organization with a permanent record of important papers, legal documents, correspondence, and other matters.\r\nOften, archive program is used to meet information retention requirements for corporations and businesses. If a dispute or inquiry arises about a business practice, contract, financial transaction, or employee, the records pertaining to that subject can be obtained from the archive.\r\nAn archive is frequently used to ease the burden on faster and more frequently accessed data storage systems. Older data that is unlikely to be needed often is put on systems that don’t need to have the speed and accessibility of systems that contain data still in use. Archival storage systems are usually less expensive, as well, so a strong motivation is to save money on data storage.\r\nArchives are often created based on the age of the data or whether the project the data belongs to is still active. Data archiving solutions&nbsp; might send data to an archive if it hasn’t been accessed in a specified amount of time, when it has reached a certain age, if a person is no longer with the organization, or the files have been marked for storage because the project has been completed or closed.<br /><br /><br />","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Archiving_Software.png","alias":"archiving-software"},"325":{"id":325,"title":"Performance Management Software","description":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Performance management software </span>— also referred to as a <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">performance management system</span>— helps a company track, analyze, and evaluate its employees’ performance. is designed to improve business performance by spurring employee productivity. It works to ensure individual employees and teams are engaged and in alignment with organizational goals. Employee review software replaces an annual performance review process with real-time performance tracking, goal setting and feedback.\r\nPerformance management software systems are overseen by the HR department. They fit under the umbrella of <span style=\"font-style: italic; \">talent management systems.</span>\r\nAs next-generation HR software, performance management tools help companies address the modern goals of continually monitoring performance while giving employees feedback and support. Performance review software can track individual contributions to a team, as well as that team's ability to meet business objectives, thus tying performance into the company's bottom line.\r\nImproving employee engagement is another goal of performance management software. An employee can see current individual performance goals and their progress toward meeting them. This includes tracking efforts on specific projects. Managers measure individual performance against goals, and employees get a better idea of where they stand.\r\nThese systems use dashboards for quick and collaborative reviews. They can report individual performance, as well as project and team performance. The systems may also include employee ranking.\r\nAn effective performance management program must interact with other tools - in particular, workforce analytics. Data can be analyzed, for instance, against reporting from financial management systems and sales performance management systems.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">Why Implement Performance Management Software?</h1>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Easily-Navigable Dashboard </span></li></ul>\r\nThe top advantage to performance management tools are their ability to bring all key data and performance into one, organized location. Award-winning business performance management software do that. They make it easy to navigate the data and information and help leaders make better decisions for their workforce. \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Performance Review Cycles </span></li></ul>\r\nTraditional annual review cycle or not, performance management system software can help coordinate, organize, schedule and store review information. The software will send reminders to leaders, manage permissions as leadership changes and provide structure to the overall process, including scripts based on company values and the employee’s role.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">360 Degree and Peer Reviews </span></li></ul>\r\nPerformance and talent management tool can help ensure the process goes smoothly by providing structured and anonymous assessments. In some cases, there might be more than a few people involved in the performance review of one employee, so the software can track the progress of feedback to ensure each manager or leader has provided necessary input in a timely manner.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Customizable Review and Assessment Scripts </span></li></ul>\r\nIt is best practice to base performance on the unique values and goals of your organization, which means the annual review script should be different for a manager than it is for an executive, and nothing like the script of another organization. \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Goal and Performance Tracking </span></li></ul>\r\nContinuous performance and goal tracking allows leadership to see the progress of projects clearly while keeping in mind which employees are hitting the mark and which need guidance. And because automated performance management system available to the employee as well, everyone will be on the same page and aligned to the work being done, even between departments in real-time.\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Development &amp; Succession Planning </span></li></ul>\r\nEmployees need continuous support in order to become effective contributors to the organization, especially in the long run. With performance management tools, you can track development progress, assign long term goals and ensure you understand the direction of talent and the business as a whole.\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Performance_Management_Software.png","alias":"performance-management-software"},"327":{"id":327,"title":"Change and Configuration Management Software","description":" Software teams today face significant challenges. Companies require the production of high-quality software at unprecedented speeds. Software application requirements continue to grow more complex often with shorter and more frequent release cycles. Distributed development teams present challenges related to effective teaming, parallel development and diverse platforms - these factors and more intensify the pressures of developing quality software. Developing quality software in a repeatable and predictable fashion requires managing and tracking development artifacts and the activities of the development team. Successful development teams utilize software configuration management and software change management tools to help manage the software development lifecycle.\r\nSoftware configuration management provides version control and parallels development support to manage and control software assets.&nbsp; Software change management provides defect tracking and automation of software processes across the development lifecycle.\r\nSolutions that combine software configuration management and software change management in a single, tightly integrated solution are referred to as software change and configuration management (SCCM) solutions. SCCM solutions utilize activities to easily manage changes made to development artifacts. Unlike standalone SCM tools, SCCM solutions usually include substantial workflow capabilities which automate and effectively govern the software development processes for repeatable and predictable software development.\r\nEssentially, SCCM answers the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, and ‘why’ of software development. Who made the changes? What changes were made to the software? When were the changes made? Why were the changes made? Development teams and project leaders should be able to obtain answers to these questions to manage a project's activities, determine project status and track the actual product evolution.\r\nA fully comprehensive software change and configuration management (SCCM) solution empowers companies by accelerating software and systems delivery, making global teams more efficient, and governing the end-to-end software development processes. Solutions should be secure, flexible, and robust as well as provide the ability to support any size team, regardless of platform or location. Selecting ‘best in class’ solution, implementing proven best practices and partnering with a company that is a leader in technology reduces the risks associated with quality software development.","materialsDescription":" \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is software configuration management (SCM)?</span>\r\nSoftware configuration management (SCM) is designed to control change by identifying and tracking changed software artifacts and managing different versions of these artifacts.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is software change and configuration management (SCCM)?</span>\r\nSoftware change and configuration management (SCCM) provide the comprehensive integration with best practice guidance of software configuration management and software change management capabilities.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Change_and_Configuration_Management_Software.png","alias":"change-and-configuration-management-software"},"363":{"id":363,"title":"Project and Portfolio Management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project Portfolio Management (PPM)</span> is the centralized management of the processes, methods, and technologies used by project managers and project management offices (PMOs) to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. The objectives of PPM are to determine the optimal resource mix for delivery and to schedule activities to best achieve an organization’s operational and financial goals, while honouring constraints imposed by customers, strategic objectives, or external real-world factors. The International standard defines the framework of the Project Portfolio Management.\r\nPPM provides program and project managers in large, program/project-driven organizations with the capabilities needed to manage the time, resources, skills, and budgets necessary to accomplish all interrelated tasks. It provides a framework for issue resolution and risk mitigation, as well as the centralized visibility to help planning and scheduling teams to identify the fastest, cheapest, or most suitable approach to deliver projects and programs. Portfolio Managers define Key Performance Indicators and the strategy for their portfolio.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Pipeline Management.</span> Pipeline management involves steps to ensure that an adequate number of project proposals are not generated and not evaluated to determine whether (and how) a set of projects in the portfolio can be executed with finite development resources in a specified time. There are three major sub-components to pipeline management: ideation, work intake processes, and Phase-Gate reviews. Fundamental to pipeline management is the ability to align the decision-making process for estimating and selecting new capital investment projects with the strategic plan.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Resource Manager.</span> The focus on the efficient and effective deployment of an organization’s resources where and when they are needed. These can include financial resources, inventory, human resources, technical skills, production, and design. In addition to project-level resource allocation, users can also model ‘what-if’ resource scenarios, and extend this view across the portfolio.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Change Control.</span> The capture and prioritization of change requests that can include new requirements, features, functions, operational constraints, regulatory demands, and technical enhancements. PPM provides a central repository for these change requests and the ability to match available resources to evolving demand within the financial and operational constraints of individual projects.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Financial Management.</span> With PPM, the Office of Finance can improve their accuracy for estimating and managing the financial resources of a project or group of projects. In addition, the value of projects can be demonstrated in relation to the strategic objectives and priorities of the organization through financial controls and to assess progress through earned value and other project financial techniques.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Risk Management.</span> An analysis of the risk sensitivities residing within each project, as the basis for determining confidence levels across the portfolio. The integration of cost and schedule risk management with techniques for determining contingency and risk response plans, enable organizations to gain an objective view of project uncertainties.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What’s the difference between Project Management and Project Portfolio Management?</span>\r\nProject management is focused on an individual project, making sure it achieves its objectives and adheres to cost schedule baselines and performance standards. Project portfolio management, on the other hand, takes into consideration all the projects within a portfolio. The primary objective here is to select and maintain the appropriate mix of projects and to assess the costs, risks, and returns of running these projects in relation to how they match with organizational goals. Simply put, project management is about doing the project right, project portfolio management is about doing the right projects.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What Problems Can Project Portfolio Management Address?</span>\r\nProject Portfolio Management helps companies avoid project overload and work on projects that are not aligned with the ultimate vision. In other words, project portfolio management helps companies to work towards their goals without getting sidetracked by too many shiny pennies (ie. projects that appear to be enticing but actually drain their resources for little return).\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How does Project Portfolio Management help with new product development?</span>\r\nProject Portfolio Management supports companies in assessing, evaluating and ranking new product ideas before they become projects, so that time, money and human resources can be spent working on projects that support strategic objectives. This becomes increasingly important and relevant for companies that receive dozens if not hundreds of project proposals.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the key elements of successful portfolio management?</span>\r\nGoals, objectives, governance, approval processes and monitoring portfolio performance.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Project_and_Portfolio_Management.png","alias":"project-and-portfolio-management"},"369":{"id":369,"title":"File Synchronization and Sharing Software","description":" Enterprise file synchronization and sharing (also known as EFSS and enterprise file sync and share) refer to software services that enable organizations to securely synchronize and share documents, photos, videos and files from multiple devices with employees, and external customers and partners. Organizations often adopt these technologies to prevent employees from using consumer-based file sharing apps to store, access and manage corporate data that is outside of the IT department’s control and visibility.\r\nEFSS applications are often characterized by having most or all of the following features and capabilities:\r\n<ul><li>Sync files stored incorporate storage to user desktops and devices</li><li>Send links to large files with support for multiple file extensions and protocols</li><li>Integration to existing business applications via APIs, plugins and mobile apps</li><li>Built-in file creation, editing and previewing</li><li>User access permissions to files and folders</li><li>Protection of files stored and transferred by encryption, antivirus scanning, and DLP (data loss prevention)</li><li>Publish links to files with the ability to set a login requirement to access data</li><li>Authentication options for Active Directory, SAML, Azure Active Directory, etc.</li><li>Schedule and automate file transfers from automated systems and repositories</li><li>Audit and report file activities and system actions</li></ul>\r\nDepending on what an EFSS provider offers, services can be deployed using cloud computing, on-premises, or hybrid. According to Forrester Research, some EFSS providers can provide the ability to lock down data in certain geographies for companies that have requirements to store content/metadata in specific jurisdictions.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is File Synchronization and Sharing Software?</span>\r\nFile synchronization and sharing software enable companies to securely synchronize and share photos, documents, videos, and files from multiple sources with their customers, partners, and employees.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the benefits of File Synchronization and Sharing Software?</span>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Better Protection.</span> Cloud-based file-sharing services are limited in their ability to protect your sensitive business documents. As high profile service providers, they are under an increased threat of attack by hackers, as seen in recent headlines regarding security concerns and data breaches.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Efficiency and Control.</span> Sending email attachments can be problematic due to file size restrictions or their vulnerability to interception during transmission.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Convenience.</span> File Synchronization and Sharing Software eliminate the need for memory sticks to transport data and the risk associated with using them. Your files can be securely accessed anywhere, anytime with a secure Internet connection and browser.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Easy Sharing.</span> Network drives can be found in nearly every office for sharing files within your department. However, it's not so convenient if you want to share files between remote office locations or when working offsite. EFSS enables you to connect and share simply and easily without boundaries.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_File_Synchronization_and_Sharing_Software.png","alias":"file-synchronization-and-sharing-software"},"377":{"id":377,"title":"IT Asset Management","description":" IT asset management is the set of business practices that join financial, contractual and inventory functions to support life cycle management and strategic decision making for the IT environment. Assets include all elements of software and hardware that are found in the business environment.\r\nIT asset management generally uses automation to manage the discovery of assets so inventory can be compared to license entitlements. Full business management of IT assets requires a repository of multiple types of information about the asset, as well as integration with other systems such as supply chain, help desk, procurement and HR systems and ITSM.\r\nHardware asset management entails the management of the physical components of computers and computer networks, from acquisition through disposal. Common business practices include request and approval process, procurement management, life cycle management, redeployment and disposal management. A key component is capturing the financial information about the hardware life cycle which aids the organization in making business decisions based on meaningful and measurable financial objectives.\r\nSoftware Asset Management is a similar process, focusing on software assets, including licenses. Standards for this aspect of data center management are part of ISO/IEC 19770.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Information Technology Asset Management?</span>\r\nIT asset management (information technology asset management, or ITAM) is a set of business practices that combines financial, inventory and contractual functions to optimize spending and support lifecycle management and strategic decision-making within the IT environment.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the purpose of IT asset management?</span>\r\nAsset management allows the organization to keep track of all their assets. It can tell where the assets are located, how they are used, and when changes were made to them. The data from the asset management solution can ensure that asset recovery will lead to better returns.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the benefits of asset management?</span>\r\nWith a structure asset management framework in place, organizations will realize these and other benefits:\r\nGood Business Practice. Asset management results in better decisions;\r\n<ul><li>Improved Regulatory Compliance;</li><li>Improved Reliability;</li><li>Long Term System Integrity;</li><li>Cost Savings;</li><li>Eligibility for Federal Funding.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the types of asset management?</span>\r\nThere are 7 types of asset management:\r\n<ul><li>Financial Asset Management.</li><li>Enterprise Asset Management.</li><li>Infrastructure Asset Management.</li><li>Public Asset Management.</li><li>IT Asset Management.</li><li>Fixed Assets Management.</li><li>Digital Asset Management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IT_Asset_Management.png","alias":"it-asset-management"},"381":{"id":381,"title":"Software Distribution","description":" Software distribution can refer to 2 distinct concepts. When used as a verb, software distribution is the process of delivering software to the end user, while a software distribution, as a noun, (distro) is a collection of software.\r\nA software distribution (noun), or distro, is a collection of software components built, assembled and configured so that it can essentially be used &quot;as is&quot;. It is often the closest thing to turnkey form of free software. A distro may take the form of a binary distribution, with an executable installer which can be downloaded from the Internet. Examples range from whole operating system distributions to server and interpreter distributions (for example WAMP installers). Software distributions (noun) can also refer to careware and donateware.\r\nIn recent years, the term has come to refer to nearly any &quot;finished&quot; software (i.e. something that is more or less ready for its intended use, whether as a complete system or a component of a larger system) that is assembled primarily from open source components.\r\nTechnical support is a key issue for end-users of distributions, since the distribution itself is typically free and may not be &quot;owned&quot; in a commercial sense by a vendor. Depending on the distribution, support may be provided by a commercial support vendor, the developers who created the distribution or by the user community itself.\r\nIn simple terms, software distribution is the process of making a software available to the end user from the developer. It gives the organization a safe and consistent method for packaging, deploying and tracking software changes in the enterprise. The software rollout projects can be done quickly and effectively in a hassle free way through software distribution.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the Benefits of Software Distribution?</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Improved Software Security</span></span>\r\nA proper software distribution service monitors software performance on various workstations. It checks the software health and can automatically track necessary updates. Various maintenance job like uninstall, configuration, etc can also be performed securely through effective software distribution.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Track of User Actions</span></span>\r\nStatistics and analytics can be drawn from comprehensive or customized reports gathered from software distribution systems. It can be used to monitor user activities around the particular software on workstations. This can assist in establishing a controlled work environment where the actions of users can be monitored by the enterprise.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Saves Time</span></span>\r\nSoftware distribution gives comprehensive deployment options and ways to customize installation. Packages can be distributed to users in less time within hours and not in days. Software installations can be done remotely saving both time and effort. The process can be done unattended so IT team can concentrate on other jobs.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Automated Updates</span></span>\r\nSoftware distribution can track important updates and issue them to specific workstations in the organization. IT team does not need to attend to each computer and perform maintenance job. The software distribution system finds and schedules all important upgrades required by the application.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Software_Distribution.png","alias":"software-distribution"},"383":{"id":383,"title":"Software-defined storage platforms, SDS","description":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Software-defined storage (SDS)</span> is a marketing term for computer data storage software for policy-based provisioning and management of data storage independent of the underlying hardware. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">SDS software</span> typically includes a form of storage virtualization to separate the storage hardware from the software that manages it. The software enabling a software-defined storage environment may also provide policy management for features such as data deduplication, replication, thin provisioning, snapshots and backup.<br /><br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">SDS system</span> hardware may or may not also have abstraction, pooling, or automation software of its own. When implemented as software only in conjunction with commodity servers with internal disks, it may suggest software such as a virtual or global file system. If it is software layered over sophisticated large storage arrays, it suggests software such as storage virtualization or storage resource management, categories of products that address separate and different problems. If the policy and management functions also include a form of artificial intelligence to automate protection and recovery, it can be considered as intelligent abstraction.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Software-defined storage solutions</span> may be implemented via appliances over a traditional storage area network (SAN), or implemented as network-attached storage (NAS), or using object-based storage. ","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What does SDS mean?</span></h1>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">SDS </span>stays for <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">software-defined storage </span>solution - it is a computer program that manages data storage resources and functionality and has no dependencies on the underlying physical storage hardware.\r\nAll storage systems have always been software-defined. What's changed is that the <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">software has become portable</span>.\r\nBut nothing in the storage world elicits more divergent opinions than the term &quot;software-defined storage products&quot;. With no universally accepted definition, SDS is vendor-specific. Software defined storage leaders shape the SDS definition to match their storage offerings. The result is that every storage vendor appears to offer SDS.\r\nStorage system software historically was tied to the hardware it managed. When the hardware ran out of capacity or performance, it had to be replaced and the software licensing was repurchased along with the hardware.<br />What made matters significantly worse was that storage system architectures created isolated silos. Unique infrastructures made everything from storage provisioning, data protection, disaster recovery, tech refresh, data migration, power and cooling more and more untenable. Compound that with the ongoing trend of rapid data growth and the need to store ever-increasing amounts of data, and the available architectures made storage systems management too complicated, difficult, expensive and ultimately unmaintainable.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are SDS categories pros and cons?</span></h1>\r\n&nbsp;With no working standard SDS definition, a variety of technologies have emerged in the software-defined storage market. For our purposes, the four categories of SDS include: \r\n<ul><li class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Hypervisor-based SDS</span></li><li class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) SDS</span></li><li class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Storage virtualization SDS</span></li><li class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scale-out object and/or file SDS</span></li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">&nbsp;Hypervisor-based SDS pros:</span><br /> </p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Flexibility</span>. VSAN works with both hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs), including DIMM-based flash drives, PCIe, SAS, SATA and even NVMe. VMware vSAN supports both HDDs and SSDs in a hybrid mode or all SSDs in all-flash mode.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and performance</span>. VSAN is highly scalable while delivering high levels of performance. It scales out through vSphere clustering and can support up to 64 vSphere hosts per cluster. Each vSphere host supports approximately 140 TB raw storage capacity and well north of 8 PB of raw storage capacity per cluster. On the performance side, each vSAN host can supply 100,000 or more IOPS, yielding millions of IOPS per cluster.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Hypervisor-based SDS cons:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and performance issues.</span> If a VM requires more IOPS than one physical vSphere host can provide, it can get them from other nodes in the cluster, but with a considerable latency penalty. Inter-cluster storage performance is another issue. Most vSAN clusters use 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps Ethernet and TCP/IP to interconnect the hosts. This architecture essentially replaces a deterministic system bus with a non-deterministic TCP/IP network so latencies between hosts become highly variable. Unless the cluster uses more sophisticated and faster interconnections, its storage performance from one clustered host to another will be highly variable and inconsistent.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Some things are not so simple. </span>Converting from a siloed storage environment to a pure vSAN requires converting non-VM images to VMs first. It's a time-consuming process for non-vSphere environments.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) SDS pros:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and performance.</span> Scaling HCI is as simple as adding a node to the cluster. Scaling storage capacity just requires adding drives (HDDs or SSDs) up to a node's maximum or adding additional nodes. Each HCI product has its own scalability and performance limitations; however, most scale well into the PBs and add performance linearly with each server node added to the cluster.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Simplicity. </span>Plug it in, turn it on, configure and you're done. Few systems are simpler. No DIY, and there's just one throat to choke for support.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) SDS cons:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and performance issues.</span> HCI cluster capacity is limited by the number of nodes supported in the cluster and the amount of capacity supported per node. If a VM requires more IOPS than a given host can provide, it can get IOPS from other nodes, but with a considerable latency penalty. Inter-cluster storage performance is another issue. Most HCI clusters use 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps Ethernet and TCP/IP to interconnect the hosts so latencies between hosts can be highly variable.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Some things are not so simple.</span> Converting from a siloed storage environment to an HCI cluster requires first converting both non-VM images and VMs to the HCI VMs or Docker containers, a time-consuming process.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Storage virtualization SDS pros:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Flexibility.</span> It works with most x86 physical hosts or VMs as long as the hardware or hypervisor is certified and supported by the vendor. It converts all storage that sits behind it into the virtual storage pool, enabling repurposing of older storage. The scale-out versions permit physical or VM access to any node. Multi-copy mirroring isn't necessary to protect against a single controller failure, although it's available. Storage virtualization SDS can be provided as software or bundled with server hardware similar to HCI.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Total cost of ownership (TCO)</span>. The biggest cost savings in storage virtualization SDS comes from commodity hardware and server-based drives. Another cost saving comes from inline data reduction technologies. Compared to equivalent storage systems, most storage virtualization SDS will yield a much more favorable TCO.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"><br /></span>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Storage virtualization SDS cons:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Flexibility issues. </span>Most storage virtualization SDS can only run on the specific commodity hardware certified and supported by the vendor. Products that can run as VSAs require hypervisors certified and supported by the vendor.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and performance issues.</span> On paper, these systems support tremendous capacity scalability, but the pragmatic approach is a bit different. Storage virtualization SDS capacity is constrained by x86 server limitations. Each server can handle only so much capacity before performance declines below acceptable levels. Storage virtualization SDS scale-out is constrained by clustering because the number of storage controller nodes supported is limited. Performance may also be constrained by the same limitations. \r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scale-out object and/or file SDS pros:<br /></span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and performance. </span>Scaling is multi-dimensional: each node can be scaled individually and generally the cluster itself can add nodes for capacity or performance. Performance for both will never approach that of high-performance block storage.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Simplicity. </span>When bundled with hardware, scale-out object or file storage is very simple to set up, configure, and manage. Implementing it as software requires DIY systems integration. Both types leverage commodity hardware, have exceptional scalability and -- in the case of scale-out object storage -- unmatched data resilience and longevity via erasure coding.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Scale-out object and/or file SDS cons:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Flexibility issues. </span>Whether delivered as software or bundled with hardware, the hardware must be certified and supported by the vendors.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Scalability and performance issues.</span> Scale-out file SDS generally doesn't scale as high as scale-out object storage, but object will have somewhat higher latencies. Object storage has significant additional latencies from the metadata and data resiliency functions. Both types are best suited for secondary applications where high performance is not a requirement.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Some things are not so simple. </span>When scale-out file or object storage SDS is purchased as software, it's a DIY project, so special skills, professional services or a systems integrator may be required.\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Software_defined_storage_platforms.png","alias":"software-defined-storage-platforms-sds"},"389":{"id":389,"title":"Centralized Virtual Desktop","description":" Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) can bring significant benefits to organizations that want to be more flexible, as well as reduce the cost and complexity of managing various client desktops, laptops and mobile devices.\r\nOrganizations that use VDI can take advantage of a centralized desktop that has clear advantages: fast deployment, lower support costs, increased security. However, VDI can also cause a number of problems for organizations that do not plan or implement the technology correctly. Many VDI pilot projects fail due to incorrect design considerations that lead to performance problems. This, in turn, leads to unsatisfied end users.\r\nOne of the most important recommendations for implementing VDI is to properly design the network and storage. Incorrectly designed network and storage can have disastrous consequences for VDI performance and end-user satisfaction.\r\nBecause the VDI architecture includes centralized virtual machines running in the data center, the VDI desktop display for the end user depends on protocols such as PCoIP, ICA, RDP, or Blast Extreme (VMware) that can successfully process data between the end user and the center data processing. This imposes more load on the underlying network.\r\nOrganizations must fully understand all aspects of VDI performance when connecting to both high-speed local area network connections and slower channels such as a WAN.\r\nIt is impossible to emphasize how important a properly designed storage is to successfully deploy VDI. When you think of traditional workstations, they work in a distributed way. All calculations, memory and storage performance are contained in individual workstations. However, in a virtual desktop environment, you accept all the calculations, memory, and storage (disk IOPs), which in the traditional workstation environment should be distributed across all workstations, centralizing these requirements to the external virtual desktop environment.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)?</span>\r\nVirtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is virtualization technology that hosts a desktop operating system on a centralized server in a data center. VDI is a variation on the client-server computing model, sometimes referred to as server-based computing. The term was coined by VMware.\r\nIn 2006, VDI began to emerge as an alternative to the server-based computing model used by Citrix and Microsoft Terminal Services. Today, VMware, Citrix and Microsoft all offer their own VDI platforms.\r\nThere are two main approaches to VDI: persistent and nonpersistent. Persistent VDI provides each user with his or her own desktop image, which can be customized and saved for future use, much like a traditional physical desktop. Nonpersistent VDI provides a pool of uniform desktops that users can access when needed. Nonpersistent desktops revert to their original state each time the user logs out.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">How to implement VDI?</span>\r\nWhen you think about deploying a VDI, there are several best practices that must be considered to ensure successful implementation:\r\n<ol><li>Understanding End User Requirements</li><li>Proper network and storage proecting</li><li>Select the type of virtual desktop</li><li>High availability</li></ol>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Centralized_Virtual_Desktop.png","alias":"centralized-virtual-desktop"},"391":{"id":391,"title":"Cloud Testing/ASQ PaaS","description":" With the growing technological advancements, there is a requirement of continuous testing of an application. The conventional mode of application testing is very time consuming, and cost associated with such kind of testing solution is also high. That is why demand for a solution to test application on the cloud and for the cloud is rising significantly as high quality, well-performing software across platforms drive business innovation and competitive positioning. Software vendors across the globe are investing a huge amount of money in research and development of software that can provide more software-centric IT infrastructure to their customer. These software vendors are looking for automated software testing (ASQ), software as a Service (SaaS) and adaptive infrastructure support in the cloud.\r\nCloud testing and ASQ software facilitates quick access to both superiority solution and support infrastructure to sustain complex software sourcing and dynamic development. Cloud testing solutions require fewer resources and less infrastructure investment than on-premise ASQ solutions.\r\nThe continuous development in cloud computing space is driving the growth of the global cloud testing and ASQ software market. Cloud computing is creating a new shift in IT model. Cloud computing facilitates organizations to adopt software as a Service at a very low cost. Software as a Service providers business organization a more agile framework and increase their efficiency, at the same time, software as a service is a complex phenomenon and requires continuous monitoring. As an organization is deploying more enterprise mobility solution and mobile application, cloud testing and ASQ software vendors are seeing a huge opportunity in the market.\r\nHowever, business organizations’ software needs are changing very frequently, and to cope with these rapidly changing software advancements is very difficult for cloud testing ASQ software vendors, and this is the biggest challenge cloud testing and ASQ software market is facing.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is Cloud testing?</span>\r\nCloud testing is a form of software testing in which web applications use cloud computing environments (a &quot;cloud&quot;) to simulate real-world user traffic.\r\nCloud testing uses cloud infrastructure for software testing. Organizations pursuing testing in general and load, performance testing and production service monitoring, in particular, are challenged by several problems like limited test budget, meeting deadlines, high costs per test, a large number of test cases, and little or no reuse of tests and geographical distribution of users add to the challenges. Moreover, ensuring high-quality service delivery and avoiding outages requires testing in one's datacenter, outside the data-center, or both. Cloud Testing is the solution to all these problems. Effective unlimited storage, quick availability of the infrastructure with scalability, flexibility and availability of a distributed testing environment reduce the execution time of testing of large applications and lead to cost-effective solutions.\r\nTraditional approaches to test a software incurs a high cost to simulate user activity from different geographic locations. Testing firewalls and load balancers involve expenditure on hardware, software and its maintenance. In the case of applications where the rate of increase in a number of users is unpredictable or there is variation in deployment environment depending on client requirements, cloud testing is more effective.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the types of testing?</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Stress</span></span>\r\nStress Test is used to determine the ability of the application to maintain a certain level of effectiveness beyond the breaking point. It is essential for any application to work even under excessive stress and maintain stability. Stress testing assures this by creating peak loads using simulators. But the cost of creating such scenarios is enormous. Instead of investing capital in building on-premises testing environments, cloud testing offers an affordable and scalable alternative.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Load</span></span>\r\nLoad testing of an application involves the creation of heavy user traffic and measuring its response. There is also a need to tune the performance of any application to meet certain standards. However, a number of tools are available for that purpose.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Performance</span></span>\r\nFinding out thresholds, bottlenecks &amp; limitations is a part of performance testing. For this, testing performance under a particular workload is necessary. By using cloud testing, it is easy to create such an environment and vary the nature of traffic on-demand. This effectively reduces cost and time by simulating thousands of geographically targeted users.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Functional</span></span>\r\nFunctional testing of both internet and non-internet applications can be performed using cloud testing. The process of verification against specifications or system requirements is carried out in the cloud instead of on-site software testing.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Compatibility</span></span>\r\nUsing a cloud environment, instances of different Operating Systems can be created on demand, making compatibility testing effortless.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Browser performance</span></span>\r\nTo verify the application's support for various browser types and performance in each type can be accomplished with ease. Various tools enable automated website testing from the cloud.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic; \"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Latency</span></span>\r\nCloud testing is utilized to measure the latency between the action and the corresponding response for any application after deploying it on the cloud.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are the keys to successful testing?</span>\r\n<ol><li>Understanding a platform provider's elasticity model/dynamic configuration method</li><li>Staying abreast of the provider's evolving monitoring services and Service Level Agreements (SLAs)</li><li>Potentially engaging the service provider as an ongoing operations partner if producing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software</li><li>Being willing to be used as a case study by the cloud service provider. The latter may lead to cost reductions.</li></ol>\r\nCloud testing is often seen as only performance or load tests, however, as discussed earlier it covers many other types of testing. Cloud computing itself is often referred to as the marriage of software as a service (SaaS) and utility computing. In regard to test execution, the software offered as a service may be a transaction generator and the cloud provider's infrastructure software, or may just be the latter. Distributed Systems and Parallel Systems mainly use this approach for testing, because of their inherent complex nature. D-Cloud is an example of such a software testing environment.\r\nFor testing non-internet applications, virtual instances of testing environment can be quickly set up to do automated testing of the application. The cloud testing service providers provide an essential testing environment as per the requirement of the application under test. The actual testing of applications is performed by the testing team of the organization which owns the application or third-party testing vendors.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the benefits?</span>\r\nThe ability and cost to simulate web traffic for software testing purposes have been an inhibitor to overall web reliability. The low cost and accessibility of the cloud's extremely large computing resources provide the ability to replicate real-world usage of these systems by geographically distributed users, executing wide varieties of user scenarios, at scales previously unattainable in traditional testing environments. Minimal start-up time along with quality assurance can be achieved by cloud testing.\r\nFollowing are some of the key benefits:\r\n<ul><li>Reduction in capital expenditure</li><li>Highly scalable</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the issues?</span>\r\nThe initial setup cost for migrating testing to a cloud is very high as it involves modifying some of the test cases to suit the cloud environment. This makes the decision of migration crucial. Therefore, cloud testing is not necessarily the best solution to all testing problems.\r\nLegacy systems &amp; services need to be modified in order to be tested on the cloud. Usage of robust interfaces with these legacy systems may solve this problem. Also like any other cloud services, cloud testing is vulnerable to security issues.\r\nThe test results may not be accurate due to the varying performance of the service providers’ network and the internet. In many cases, service virtualization can be applied to simulate the specific performance and behaviors required for accurate and thorough testing.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Cloud_Testing.png","alias":"cloud-testingasq-paas"},"395":{"id":395,"title":"Agile Application Life-Cycle Management Software","description":" Agile software development is an approach to software development under which requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams and their customer(s)/end user(s). It advocates adaptive planning, evolutionary development, empirical knowledge, and continual improvement, and it encourages rapid and flexible response to change.\r\nThe term agile (sometimes written Agile) was popularized, in this context, by the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. The values and principles espoused in this manifesto were derived from and underpin a broad range of software development frameworks, including Scrum and Kanban.\r\nThere is significant anecdotal evidence that adopting agile practices and values improves the agility of software professionals, teams and organizations; however, some empirical studies have found no scientific evidence.\r\nAgile application lifecycle management (Agile ALM) is all the tools and processes that are used to manage software development projects based on flexible methodology. The traditional cascade design model uses a phase approach to the development life cycle. This approach means that no project phase starts earlier than the previous one ends. For example, the design does not begin before the collection of requirements ends. Development does not begin until the design is completed. Testing does not begin until development is fully completed. There are many tools to manage what is in the input and output of each phase.","materialsDescription":" Agile ALM brings together two seemingly contradictory development strategies. Agile promotes flexibility, rapid release cycles and quick response to change. Application lifecycle management (ALM) emphasizes tracking and documenting changes in an application -- from inception to retirement. Its processes are more controlled and less adaptive than the Agile methodology. That said, when put together, Agile and ALM act as complements, rending ALM more flexible and Agile more disciplined.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Agile ALM?</span>\r\nDevelopment expert Yvette Francino described Agile ALM as ALM tools and processes that are used to manage Agile software development projects. For example, rather than using Waterfall's phased approach, Agile ALM offers an approach to software development in which design, code and requirements are all handled by the same team.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How do you integrate Agile into an ALM framework?</span>\r\nAccording to Gerie Owen's article on Agile and ALM, adopting Agile means both a change to the ALM approach and a change to an organization's mind-set. An Agile ALM strategy will focus on the customer and will have the ability to adapt to shifting requirements -- from project planning to release management. For example, instead of just implementing controls to force early feedback from testers and business analysts, an organization would also foster a culture of collaboration.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Are there tools that can help me achieve this?</span>\r\nALM tools are widely available but must be chosen with care, according to Yvette Francino, SearchSoftwareQuality contributor. Organizations should look for tools that facilitate the process without impeding acceptance of changing requirements. They would also need to integrate throughout the application lifecycle and be easy to maintain. In other words, the tool should manage the development process in an Agile way. In an article for SearchSoftwareQuality.com, Amy Reichert provides a list of Agile ALM tools and identifies their strengths and weaknesses. Rally Software, for example, offers a product that works well with Agile but, according to Reichert, does not provide an intuitive workflow. VersionOne, on the other hand, offers a tool that is more user-friendly but less compatible with Agile. Which one is best will depend on the company's needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Are there challenges to Agile ALM that I should be aware of?</span>\r\nThe primary challenge to Agile ALM is in finding a balance between the two methodologies. A common pitfall is to over-ALM the development process. In other words, when developers and testers start to find workarounds to the software rules -- as they often do -- some react by creating more rules in order to more strictly enforce them. Meanwhile, processes lose their agility.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How can I overcome these challenges?</span>\r\nTesting expert Amy Reichert cautions development teams to keep track of how many rules they add and how those rules are communicated. She also suggests having a discussion with the team, asking them why they are circumventing the process. Once everyone's role has been clarified, project managers can then decide which rules, if any, to add.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Is Agile ALM a good approach for mobile development?</span>\r\nMobile development is faster and more competitive than traditional software development. It has newer technologies and higher-speed application cycles. These qualities could make mobile an excellent candidate for Agile ALM, but only if the methodology is amended to accommodate the challenges inherent in a more restrictive development process. In an article on mobile ALM, site editor James Denman suggested an ALM approach that focuses on smaller pieces of software and authenticates results as each part is finished. That way, teams can quickly discern whether the app will effectively serve its purpose or if it needs to be taken in a different direction.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Agile_Application_Life_Cycle_Management_Software.png","alias":"agile-application-life-cycle-management-software"},"409":{"id":409,"title":"Content Collaboration","description":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Content collaboration</span> software makes it easy for your users to securely create, access, share and manage business content.\r\nThe content collaboration platform (CCP) market covers a range of products and services that enable content productivity and collaboration. CCPs are aimed at individuals and teams, inside or outside an organization. Additionally, CCPs increasingly support lightweight content management and workflow use cases. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Core user functionalities include: </span>\r\n<ul><li>Mobile access to content repositories.</li><li> File synchronization across devices and cloud repositories.</li><li>File sharing with people and applications, inside or outside an organization. </li><li>Team collaboration, with dedicated folders.</li><li>A content repository. This can be cloud based collaboration software or on-premises program, native to the CCP platform or based on other file servers or repositories.</li></ul>\r\nCommon <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">features </span>of collaboration software include messaging, audio and video conferencing, task management, document management, calendars, and time tracking.\r\nFrom employees and decision-makers to partners, vendors, regulators and customers, your users benefit from easy, secure access to valuable business content. Rather than keeping files locked up in silos, content collaboration software enables information to flow safely and freely within your organization and across your firewall to external contacts.\r\nSecuring those documents is the challenge. Unless your content collaboration software maintains the highest standards of performance, security, auditing and reliability, cross-enterprise document sharing may lead to inadvertent data leaks or malicious security breaches.","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">Types of collaboration software tools</h1>\r\nGenerally, collaboration software can be divided into synchronous (or real-time) and asynchronous. Using synchronous software, teammates can work together at the same time, for example with apps that allow several users to edit the same document in real time. Asynchronous software enables users to work on the same task at different times.\r\nBased on their key features, collaboration software can be classified into:\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Communication software</span></p>\r\nTo solve communication problems, communication software offers chat and audio or video collaboration platform so people can communicate within teams without having to travel. As a result, communication software saves time, helps solve problems faster, and allows remote teams to connect, which otherwise would be difficult and time-consuming.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Key features include:</span>\r\n<ul><li>Chat and messaging to enable real-time text conversations using direct messages or group chats</li><li>Audio and video conferencing to let people make calls and hold meetings regardless of their location</li><li>Discussion threads to allow users to reply to one particular message in a group chat or channel without distracting other teammate</li><li>File sharing or file collaboration software to make it fast and easy to upload and send files</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Task management software</span></p>\r\nTask management is an important part of collaboration. Teams use task management software to prioritize and track tasks, which helps to keep track of deadlines. To make collaboration more transparent and effective, task management software often provides boards, timelines, and calendars.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Key features include:</span>\r\n<ul><li>Boards to create and manage tasks</li><li>Task assignment to appoint people to a task</li><li>Task prioritization to move tasks and set the project schedule</li><li>Planning and scheduling to create plans and meet deadlines using timelines and calendars</li><li>File management to attach and arrange file</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Document and content management software</span></p>\r\nDocument and content management software allows users to store, share, and work together on different files. Most of these tools track history of changes that different users make. Some collaboration apps and platforms also have features like chat and video conferencing, allowing users to collaborate on a document and communicate at the same time.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Key features include:</span>\r\n<ul><li>Document and content management to store and track documents and other files</li><li>Cooperative writing to let several people write content together</li><li>Synchronous editing to let several people edit the same document at the same time and see changes in real time</li><li> Ready-made templates to create documents faster</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Content_Collaboration.png","alias":"content-collaboration"},"465":{"id":465,"title":"UEBA - User and Entity Behavior Analytics","description":"Developments in UBA technology led Gartner to evolve the category to user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA). In September 2015, Gartner published the Market Guide for User and Entity Analytics by Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Avivah Litan, that provided a thorough definition and explanation. UEBA was referred to in earlier Gartner reports but not in much depth. Expanding the definition from UBA includes devices, applications, servers, data, or anything with an IP address. It moves beyond the fraud-oriented UBA focus to a broader one encompassing &quot;malicious and abusive behavior that otherwise went unnoticed by existing security monitoring systems, such as SIEM and DLP.&quot; The addition of &quot;entity&quot; reflects that devices may play a role in a network attack and may also be valuable in uncovering attack activity. &quot;When end users have been compromised, malware can lay dormant and go undetected for months. Rather than trying to find where the outsider entered, UEBAs allow for quicker detection by using algorithms to detect insider threats.&quot;\r\nParticularly in the computer security market, there are many vendors for UEBA applications. They can be &quot;differentiated by whether they are designed to monitor on-premises or cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) applications; the methods in which they obtain the source data; the type of analytics they use (i.e., packaged analytics, user-driven or vendor-written), and the service delivery method (i.e., on-premises or a cloud-based).&quot; According to the 2015 market guide released by Gartner, &quot;the UEBA market grew substantially in 2015; UEBA vendors grew their customer base, market consolidation began, and Gartner client interest in UEBA and security analytics increased.&quot; The report further projected, &quot;Over the next three years, leading UEBA platforms will become preferred systems for security operations and investigations at some of the organizations they serve. It will be—and in some cases already is—much easier to discover some security events and analyze individual offenders in UEBA than it is in many legacy security monitoring systems.&quot;","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is UEBA?</span>\r\nHackers can break into firewalls, send you e-mails with malicious and infected attachments, or even bribe an employee to gain access into your firewalls. Old tools and systems are quickly becoming obsolete, and there are several ways to get past them.\r\nUser and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) give you more comprehensive way of making sure that your organization has top-notch IT security, while also helping you detect users and entities that might compromise your entire system.\r\nUEBA is a type of cybersecurity process that takes note of the normal conduct of users. In turn, they detect any anomalous behavior or instances when there are deviations from these “normal” patterns. For example, if a particular user regularly downloads 10 MB of files every day but suddenly downloads gigabytes of files, the system would be able to detect this anomaly and alert them immediately.\r\nUEBA uses machine learning, algorithms, and statistical analyses to know when there is a deviation from established patterns, showing which of these anomalies could result in, potentially, a real threat. UEBA can also aggregate the data you have in your reports and logs, as well as analyze the file, flow, and packet information.\r\nIn UEBA, you do not track security events or monitor devices; instead, you track all the users and entities in your system. As such, UEBA focuses on insider threats, such as employees who have gone rogue, employees who have already been compromised, and people who already have access to your system and then carry out targeted attacks and fraud attempts, as well as servers, applications, and devices that are working within your system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the benefits of UEBA?</span>\r\nIt is the unfortunate truth that today's cybersecurity tools are fast becoming obsolete, and more skilled hackers and cyber attackers are now able to bypass the perimeter defenses that are used by most companies. In the old days, you were secure if you had web gateways, firewalls, and intrusion prevention tools in place. This is no longer the case in today’s complex threat landscape, and it’s especially true for bigger corporations that are proven to have very porous IT perimeters that are also very difficult to manage and oversee.\r\nThe bottom line? Preventive measures are no longer enough. Your firewalls are not going to be 100% foolproof, and hackers and attackers will get into your system at one point or another. This is why detection is equally important: when hackers do successfully get into your system, you should be able to detect their presence quickly in order to minimize the damage.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How Does UEBA Work?</span>\r\nThe premise of UEBA is actually very simple. You can easily steal an employee’s user name and password, but it is much harder to mimic the person’s normal behavior once inside the network.\r\nFor example, let’s say you steal Jane Doe’s password and user name. You would still not be able to act precisely like Jane Doe once in the system unless given extensive research and preparation. Therefore, when Jane Doe’s user name is logged in to the system, and her behavior is different than that of typical Jane Doe, that is when UEBA alerts start to sound.\r\nAnother relatable analogy would be if your credit card was stolen. A thief can pickpocket your wallet and go to a high-end shop and start spending thousands of dollars using your credit card. If your spending pattern on that card is different from the thief’s, the company’s fraud detection department will often recognize the abnormal spending and block suspicious purchases, issuing an alert to you or asking you to verify the authenticity of a transaction.\r\nAs such, UEBA is a very important component of IT security, allowing you to:\r\n1. Detect insider threats. It is not too far-fetched to imagine that an employee, or perhaps a group of employees, could go rogue, stealing data and information by using their own access. UEBA can help you detect data breaches, sabotage, privilege abuse and policy violations made by your own staff.\r\n2. Detect compromised accounts. Sometimes, user accounts are compromised. It could be that the user unwittingly installed malware on his or her machine, or sometimes a legitimate account is spoofed. UEBA can help you weed out spoofed and compromised users before they can do real harm.\r\n3. Detect brute-force attacks. Hackers sometimes target your cloud-based entities as well as third-party authentication systems. With UEBA, you are able to detect brute-force attempts, allowing you to block access to these entities.\r\n4. Detect changes in permissions and the creation of super users. Some attacks involve the use of super users. UEBA allows you to detect when super users are created, or if there are accounts that were granted unnecessary permissions.\r\n5. Detect breach of protected data. If you have protected data, it is not enough to just keep it secure. You should know when a user accesses this data when he or she does not have any legitimate business reason to access it.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_User_and_Entity_Behavior_Analytics.png","alias":"ueba-user-and-entity-behavior-analytics"},"495":{"id":495,"title":"Instant Communications Applications","description":" Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission over the Internet. A LAN messenger operates in a similar way over a local area network. Short messages are typically transmitted between two parties, when each user chooses to complete a thought and select &quot;send&quot;. Some IM applications can use push technology to provide real-time text, which transmits messages character by character, as they are composed. More advanced instant messaging can add file transfer, clickable hyperlinks, Voice over IP, or video chat.\r\nNon-IM types of chat include multicast transmission, usually referred to as &quot;chat rooms&quot;, where participants might be anonymous or might be previously known to each other (for example collaborators on a project that is using chat to facilitate communication). Instant messaging systems tend to facilitate connections between specified known users (often using a contact list also known as a &quot;buddy list&quot; or &quot;friend list&quot;). Depending on the IM protocol, the technical architecture can be peer-to-peer (direct point-to-point transmission) or client-server (an Instant message service center retransmits messages from the sender to the communication device).\r\nBy 2010, instant messaging over the Web was already in sharp decline, in favor of messaging features on social networks. The most popular IM platforms, such as AIM, closed in 2017, and Windows Live Messenger was merged into Skype. Today, most instant messaging takes place on messaging apps which by 2014 had more users than social networks.\r\nInstant messaging is a set of communication technologies used for text-based communication between two or more participants over the Internet or other types of networks. IM–chat happens in real-time. Of importance is that online chat and instant messaging differ from other technologies such as email due to the perceived quasi-synchrony of the communications by the users. Some systems permit messages to be sent to users not then 'logged on' (offline messages), thus removing some differences between IM and email (often done by sending the message to the associated email account).\r\nIM allows effective and efficient communication, allowing immediate receipt of acknowledgment or reply. However IM is basically not necessarily supported by transaction control. In many cases, instant messaging includes added features which can make it even more popular. For example, users may see each other via webcams, or talk directly for free over the Internet using a microphone and headphones or loudspeakers. Many applications allow file transfers, although they are usually limited in the permissible file-size.\r\nIt is usually possible to save a text conversation for later reference. Instant messages are often logged in a local message history, making it similar to the persistent nature of emails. ","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is instant messaging used for?</span>\r\nInstant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission over the Internet. A LAN messenger operates in a similar way over a local area network. Short messages are typically transmitted between two parties when each user chooses to complete a thought and select &quot;send&quot;.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What kind of protocols are used in instant messaging applications?</span>\r\nTwo of the main protocols used for instant messaging in the market today are WebSocket and XMPP.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between texting and instant messaging?</span>\r\nText messaging, or simply &quot;texting,&quot; is a cellular phone service typically limited to 160 characters, whereas instant messaging is usually a computer session with longer message size. Both text messaging and instant messaging are often called just plain &quot;messaging.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the key features of instant messaging?</span>\r\nThe exchange of text has long been the chief function of instant messaging, but it is now one feature of many. The ability to insert images and emojis into messages is now standard in many clients, as are file transfers. Facebook Messenger even enables users to send money via IM.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Instant_Communications_Applications.png","alias":"instant-communications-applications"},"786":{"id":786,"title":"IaaS - computing","description":"Cloud computing is the on demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to describe data centers available to many users over the Internet. Large clouds, predominant today, often have functions distributed over multiple locations from central servers. If the connection to the user is relatively close, it may be designated an edge server.\r\nInfrastructure as a service (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nThe NIST's definition of cloud computing defines Infrastructure as a Service as:\r\n<ul><li>The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications.</li><li>The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).</li></ul>\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure — virtual machines and other resources — as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS-cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cloud Computing Basics</span>\r\nWhether you are running applications that share photos to millions of mobile users or you’re supporting the critical operations of your business, a cloud services platform provides rapid access to flexible and low cost IT resources. With cloud computing, you don’t need to make large upfront investments in hardware and spend a lot of time on the heavy lifting of managing that hardware. Instead, you can provision exactly the right type and size of computing resources you need to power your newest bright idea or operate your IT department. You can access as many resources as you need, almost instantly, and only pay for what you use.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">How Does Cloud Computing Work?</span>\r\nCloud computing provides a simple way to access servers, storage, databases and a broad set of application services over the Internet. A Cloud services platform such as Amazon Web Services owns and maintains the network-connected hardware required for these application services, while you provision and use what you need via a web application.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Six Advantages and Benefits of Cloud Computing</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Trade capital expense for variable expense</span>\r\nInstead of having to invest heavily in data centers and servers before you know how you’re going to use them, you can only pay when you consume computing resources, and only pay for how much you consume.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Benefit from massive economies of scale</span>\r\nBy using cloud computing, you can achieve a lower variable cost than you can get on your own. Because usage from hundreds of thousands of customers are aggregated in the cloud, providers can achieve higher economies of scale which translates into lower pay as you go prices.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Stop guessing capacity</span>\r\nEliminate guessing on your infrastructure capacity needs. When you make a capacity decision prior to deploying an application, you often either end up sitting on expensive idle resources or dealing with limited capacity. With cloud computing, these problems go away. You can access as much or as little as you need, and scale up and down as required with only a few minutes notice.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Increase speed and agility</span>\r\nIn a cloud computing environment, new IT resources are only ever a click away, which means you reduce the time it takes to make those resources available to your developers from weeks to just minutes. This results in a dramatic increase in agility for the organization, since the cost and time it takes to experiment and develop is significantly lower.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Stop spending money on running and maintaining data centers</span>\r\nFocus on projects that differentiate your business, not the infrastructure. Cloud computing lets you focus on your own customers, rather than on the heavy lifting of racking, stacking and powering servers.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Go global in minutes</span>\r\nEasily deploy your application in multiple regions around the world with just a few clicks. This means you can provide a lower latency and better experience for your customers simply and at minimal cost.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Types of Cloud Computing</span>\r\nCloud computing has three main types that are commonly referred to as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Selecting the right type of cloud computing for your needs can help you strike the right balance of control and the avoidance of undifferentiated heavy lifting.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS_computing.png","alias":"iaas-computing"},"789":{"id":789,"title":"IaaS - storage","description":"IaaS is an abbreviation that stands for Infrastructure as a Service (“infrastructure as a service”). This model provides for a cloud provider to provide the client with the necessary amount of computing resources - virtual servers, remote workstations, data warehouses, with or without the provision of software - and software deployment within the infrastructure remains the client's prerogative. In essence, IaaS is an alternative to renting physical servers, racks in the data center, operating systems; instead, the necessary resources are purchased with the ability to quickly scale them if necessary. In many cases, this model may be more profitable than the traditional purchase and installation of equipment, here are just a few examples:\r\n<ul><li>if the need for computing resources is not constant and can vary greatly depending on the period, and there is no desire to overpay for unused capacity;</li><li>when a company is just starting its way on the market and does not have working capital in order to buy all the necessary infrastructure - a frequent option among startups;</li><li>there is a rapid growth in business, and the network infrastructure must keep pace with it;</li><li>if you need to reduce the cost of purchasing and maintaining equipment;</li><li>when a new direction is launched, and it is necessary to test it without investing significant funds in resources.</li></ul>\r\nIaaS can be organized on the basis of a public or private cloud, as well as by combining two approaches - the so-called. “Hybrid cloud”, created using the appropriate software.","materialsDescription":" IaaS or Infrastructure as a service translated into Russian as “Infrastructure as a service”.\r\n&quot;Infrastructure&quot; in the case of IaaS, it can be virtual servers and networks, data warehouses, operating systems.\r\n“As a service” means that the cloud infrastructure components listed above are provided to you as a connected service.\r\nIaaS is a cloud infrastructure utilization model in which the computing power is provided to the client for independent management.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference from PaaS and SaaS?</span>\r\nFrequently asked questions, what distinguishes IaaS, PaaS, SaaS from each other? What is the difference? Answering all questions, you decide to leave in the area of ​​responsibility of its IT specialists. It requires only time and financial costs for your business.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Who is responsible for what?</span>\r\nIn the case of using IaaS models, a company can independently use resources: install and run software, exercise control over systems, applications, and virtual storage systems.\r\nFor example, networks, servers, servers and servers. The IaaS service provider manages its own software and operating system, middleware and applications, is responsible for the infrastructure during the purchase, installation and configuration.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why do companies choose IaaS?</span>\r\nScaling capabilities. All users have access to resources, and you must use all the resources you need.\r\nCost savings. As a rule, the use of cloud services costs the company less than buying its own infrastructure.\r\nMobility. Ability to work with conventional applications.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS_storage.png","alias":"iaas-storage"},"832":{"id":832,"title":"CASB - Cloud Access Security Broker","description":"A cloud access security broker (CASB) (sometimes pronounced cas-bee) is on-premises or cloud-based software that sits between cloud service users and cloud applications, and monitors all activity and enforces security policies. A CASB can offer a variety of services, including but not limited to monitoring user activity, warning administrators about potentially hazardous actions, enforcing security policy compliance, and automatically preventing malware.\r\nA CASB may deliver security, the management or both. Broadly speaking, &quot;security&quot; is the prevention of high-risk events, whilst &quot;management&quot; is the monitoring and mitigation of high-risk events.\r\nCASBs that deliver security must be in the path of data access, between the user and the cloud. Architecturally, this might be achieved with proxy agents on each end-point device, or in agentless fashion without requiring any configuration on each device. Agentless CASB allows for rapid deployment and delivers security on all devices, company-managed or unmanaged BYOD. Agentless CASB also respects user privacy, inspecting only corporate data. Agent-based CASB is difficult to deploy and effective only on devices that are managed by the corporation. Agent-based CASB typically inspects both corporate and personal data.\r\nCASBs that deliver management may use APIs to inspect data and activity in the cloud to alert of risky events after the fact. Another management capability of a CASB is to inspect firewall or proxy logs for the usage of cloud applications.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is CASB?</span> A Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is a policy enforcement point that secures data &amp; apps in the cloud and on any device, anywhere.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between security and management?</span> Security is preventing risky events from happening, management is cleaning up after high-risk events.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Shadow IT?</span> Cloud applications used by business users without IT oversight, also known as unmanaged apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are managed apps?</span> Cloud Applications that are managed by IT, e.g.Office 365.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the types of CASB?</span> Three types of Cloud Access Security Broker\r\n<ul><li>a) API-only CASB offer basic management</li><li>b) multi-mode first-gen CASB offer management &amp; security</li><li>c) Next-Gen CASB deliver management, security &amp; Zero-Day protection.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a forward proxy?</span> A proxy where traffic must be forwarded by the end-point Such proxies requires agents and configuration on client devices.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a reverse proxy?</span> A proxy where traffic is automatically routed, requiring no agent or configuration on the end-point.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is AJAX-VM?</span> Acronym for &quot;Adaptive Javascript and XML- Virtual Machine.&quot; AJAX-VM virtualizes cloud apps on the fly so they can be proxied without agents. Reverse-proxy CASB are brittle without AJAX-VM and break frequently with app changes.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the types of CASB architecture?</span> There are three types of CASB architecture: API-only, forward proxy, and reverse proxy. Some CASB are API-only, others API and forward proxy. Next-Gen CASBs offer all three with AJAX-VM.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is CASB encryption?</span>&nbsp; Encryption/decryption of data prior to upload/download to a cloud application.\r\n <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is searchable encryption?</span> An encryption system that combines full encryption with a clear-text index to enable search and sort without compromising encryption strength.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is tokenization?</span> Obfuscation by encoding each input string as a unique output string.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is agentless MDM?</span> Mobile security for BYOD that does not require agents. Easy to deploy and has no access to personal data or apps, thereby preserving user privacy.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_CASB.png","alias":"casb-cloud-access-security-broker"},"838":{"id":838,"title":"Endpoint Detection and Response","description":"Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a cybersecurity technology that addresses the need for continuous monitoring and response to advanced threats. It is a subset of endpoint security technology and a critical piece of an optimal security posture. EDR differs from other endpoint protection platforms (EPP) such as antivirus (AV) and anti-malware in that its primary focus isn't to automatically stop threats in the pre-execution phase on an endpoint. Rather, EDR is focused on providing the right endpoint visibility with the right insights to help security analysts discover, investigate and respond to very advanced threats and broader attack campaigns stretching across multiple endpoints. Many EDR tools, however, combine EDR and EPP.\r\nWhile small and mid-market organizations are increasingly turning to EDR technology for more advanced endpoint protection, many lack the resources to maximize the benefits of the technology. Utilizing advanced EDR features such as forensic analysis, behavioral monitoring and artificial intelligence (AI) is labor and resource intensive, requiring the attention of dedicated security professionals.\r\nA managed endpoint security service combines the latest technology, an around-the-clock team of certified CSOC experts and up-to-the-minute industry intelligence for a cost-effective monthly subscription. Managed services can help reduce the day-to-day burden of monitoring and responding to alerts, enhance security orchestration and automation (SOAR) and improve threat hunting and incident response.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is Endpoint detection and response (EDR)?</span>\r\nEndpoint detection and response is an emerging technology that addresses the need for continuous monitoring and response to advanced threats. One could even make the argument that endpoint detection and response is a form of advanced threat protection.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the Key Aspects of EDR Security?</span>\r\nAccording to Gartner, effective EDR must include the following capabilities:\r\n<ul><li>Incident data search and investigation</li><li>Alert triage or suspicious activity validation</li><li>Suspicious activity detection</li><li>Threat hunting or data exploration</li><li>Stopping malicious activity</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What to look for in an EDR Solution?</span>\r\nUnderstanding the key aspects of EDR and why they are important will help you better discern what to look for in a solution. It’s important to find EDR software that can provide the highest level of protection while requiring the least amount of effort and investment — adding value to your security team without draining resources. Here are the six key aspects of EDR you should look for:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">1. Visibility:</span> Real-time visibility across all your endpoints allows you to view adversary activities, even as they attempt to breach your environment and stop them immediately.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">2. Threat Database:</span> Effective EDR requires massive amounts of telemetry collected from endpoints and enriched with context so it can be mined for signs of attack with a variety of analytic techniques.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">3. Behavioral Protection:</span> Relying solely on signature-based methods or indicators of compromise (IOCs) lead to the “silent failure” that allows data breaches to occur. Effective endpoint detection and response requires behavioral approaches that search for indicators of attack (IOAs), so you are alerted of suspicious activities before a compromise can occur.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">4. Insight and Intelligence:</span> An endpoint detection and response solution that integrates threat intelligence can provide context, including details on the attributed adversary that is attacking you or other information about the attack.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">5. Fast Response:</span> EDR that enables a fast and accurate response to incidents can stop an attack before it becomes a breach and allow your organization to get back to business quickly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">6. Cloud-based Solution:</span> Having a cloud-based endpoint detection and response solution is the only way to ensure zero impact on endpoints while making sure capabilities such as search, analysis and investigation can be done accurately and in real time.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/hgghghg.png","alias":"endpoint-detection-and-response"},"878":{"id":878,"title":"Remote Desktop Software","description":"The term remote desktop refers to a software or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely on one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a server), while being displayed on a separate client device. Remote desktop applications have varying features. Some allow attaching to an existing user's session (i.e., a running desktop) and &quot;remote controlling&quot;, either displaying the remote control session or blanking the screen. Taking over a desktop remotely is a form of remote administration.\r\nRemote access can also be explained as remote control of a computer by using another device connected via the Internet or another network. This is widely used by many computer manufacturers and large businesses' help desks for technical troubleshooting of their customers' problems.\r\nRemote desktop software captures the mouse and keyboard inputs from the local computer (client) and sends them to the remote computer (server). The remote computer in turn sends the display commands to the local computer. When applications with many graphics including video or 3D models need to be controlled remotely, a remote workstation software that sends the pixels rather than the display commands must be used to provide a smooth, like-local experience. HP Remote Graphics Software is one such remote workstation solution.\r\nRemote desktop sharing is accomplished through a common client/server model. The client, or VNC viewer, is installed on a local computer and then connects via a network to a server component, which is installed on the remote computer. In a typical VNC session, all keystrokes and mouse clicks are registered as if the client were actually performing tasks on the end-user machine.\r\nThe target computer in a remote desktop scenario is still able to access all of its core functions. Many of these core functions, including the main clipboard, can be shared between the target computer and remote desktop client.\r\nA main use of remote desktop software is remote administration and remote implementation. This need arises when software buyers are far away from their software vendor. Most remote access software can be used for &quot;headless computers&quot;: instead of each computer having its own monitor, keyboard and mouse or using a KVM switch, one computer can have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and remote control software, and control many headless computers. The duplicate desktop mode is useful for user support and education. Remote control software combined with telephone communication can be nearly as helpful for novice computer-users as if the support staff were actually there.\r\nSince the advent of cloud computing, remote desktop software can be housed on USB hardware devices, allowing users to connect the device to any PC connected to their network or the Internet and recreate their desktop via a connection to the cloud. This model avoids one problem with remote desktop software, which requires the local computer to be switched on at the time when the user wishes to access it remotely. (It is possible with a router with C2S VPN support, and Wake on LAN equipment, to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection with the router over the Internet, if not connected to the LAN, switch on a computer connected to the router, then connect to it.)\r\nRemote desktop products are available in three models: hosted service, software, and appliance.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Remote Desktop Software?</span>\r\nRemote Desktop Software is a tool that uses Virtual Network Computing (VNC) to allow one computer to remotely access and control another computer over an internet/network connection.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How does Remote Desktop Software Work?</span>\r\nRemote Desktop Software uses a client-server model to connect to and control a computer remotely:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Server:</span> The server is a remote device that is being controlled.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Client:</span> The client is the local device used to control the server.</li></ul>\r\nThe server's UI is displayed on the client monitor which enables the client to control the server via keyboard and mouse inputs. These inputs are executed in the server's environment, and the UI is updated in the client's display accordingly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why is Remote Desktop Software used?</span>\r\nRemote desktop software is a tool that allows you to use the remote desktop feature seamlessly. It is used mainly for the following purposes:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Troubleshooting:</span> IT Admins are on call 24/7 and a remote access tool helps them save time and effort by allowing them to fix issues remotely within a few minutes.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Help Desk:</span> Help Desk technicians' primary responsibility is to resolve any issues that customers might face while using their product, and this more often than not involves taking remote control of their customers' devices. Work from home: People that work from home often need to remotely connect to and use their corporate devices for various purposes.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Personal use:</span> You can remotely access a computer at your home when you're on the move, to access files or personal documents you may require urgently.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/remote.png","alias":"remote-desktop-software"}},"branches":"Information Technology","companySizes":"More than 2000 Employees","companyUrl":"www.microsoft.com","countryCodes":[],"certifications":[{"id":372,"company_id":163,"title":"Microsoft Technology Associate - MTA","type":"technical"},{"id":373,"company_id":163,"title":"Microsoft Certified Professional - MCP","type":"technical"},{"id":374,"company_id":163,"title":"Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate - MCSA","type":"technical"},{"id":375,"company_id":163,"title":"Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert - MCSE","type":"technical"},{"id":376,"company_id":163,"title":"Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer - MCSD","type":"technical"}],"isSeller":true,"isSupplier":false,"isVendor":true,"presenterCodeLng":"","seo":{"title":"Microsoft","keywords":"Microsoft, software, world, products, hardware, Xbox, video, game","description":"Microsoft Corporation is an multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. 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No delays or update compatibility issues. Always up to date.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Unparalleled optics</span>\r\nBuilt into Windows 10 for deeper insights. Exchanges signals with the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Automated security</span>\r\nTake your security to a new level, by going from alert to remediation in minutes – at scale.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Synchronized defense</span>\r\nMicrosoft 365 shares detection and exploration – across devices, identities and information – to speed up response and recovery.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Announcing Threat &amp; Vulnerability Management</span>\r\nThreat and Vulnerability Management is a new capability within Microsoft Defender ATP designed to empower security teams to discover, prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities, and misconfigurations.<br /><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Microsoft Threat Experts</span>\r\nMicrosoft Threat Experts further empowers your Security Operations Centers by providing them with deep knowledge, expert level threat monitoring, analysis, and support to identify critical threats in your unique environment.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Automation: From alert to remediation in minutes - at scale</span>\r\nAutomatically investigate alerts and remediate complex threats in minutes. Applies industry best practices and intelligent decision-making algorithms to determine whether a threat - file or fileless - is active and what action to take.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Protect your business from advanced threats</span>\r\nThrough the power of the cloud, machine learning and behavior analytics, Microsoft Defender ATP provides connected pre-breach protection.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Innovative Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)</span>\r\nCyber attacks remain a serious threat. 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EDR differs from other endpoint protection platforms (EPP) such as antivirus (AV) and anti-malware in that its primary focus isn't to automatically stop threats in the pre-execution phase on an endpoint. Rather, EDR is focused on providing the right endpoint visibility with the right insights to help security analysts discover, investigate and respond to very advanced threats and broader attack campaigns stretching across multiple endpoints. Many EDR tools, however, combine EDR and EPP.\r\nWhile small and mid-market organizations are increasingly turning to EDR technology for more advanced endpoint protection, many lack the resources to maximize the benefits of the technology. Utilizing advanced EDR features such as forensic analysis, behavioral monitoring and artificial intelligence (AI) is labor and resource intensive, requiring the attention of dedicated security professionals.\r\nA managed endpoint security service combines the latest technology, an around-the-clock team of certified CSOC experts and up-to-the-minute industry intelligence for a cost-effective monthly subscription. Managed services can help reduce the day-to-day burden of monitoring and responding to alerts, enhance security orchestration and automation (SOAR) and improve threat hunting and incident response.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is Endpoint detection and response (EDR)?</span>\r\nEndpoint detection and response is an emerging technology that addresses the need for continuous monitoring and response to advanced threats. One could even make the argument that endpoint detection and response is a form of advanced threat protection.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the Key Aspects of EDR Security?</span>\r\nAccording to Gartner, effective EDR must include the following capabilities:\r\n<ul><li>Incident data search and investigation</li><li>Alert triage or suspicious activity validation</li><li>Suspicious activity detection</li><li>Threat hunting or data exploration</li><li>Stopping malicious activity</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What to look for in an EDR Solution?</span>\r\nUnderstanding the key aspects of EDR and why they are important will help you better discern what to look for in a solution. It’s important to find EDR software that can provide the highest level of protection while requiring the least amount of effort and investment — adding value to your security team without draining resources. Here are the six key aspects of EDR you should look for:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">1. Visibility:</span> Real-time visibility across all your endpoints allows you to view adversary activities, even as they attempt to breach your environment and stop them immediately.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">2. Threat Database:</span> Effective EDR requires massive amounts of telemetry collected from endpoints and enriched with context so it can be mined for signs of attack with a variety of analytic techniques.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">3. Behavioral Protection:</span> Relying solely on signature-based methods or indicators of compromise (IOCs) lead to the “silent failure” that allows data breaches to occur. Effective endpoint detection and response requires behavioral approaches that search for indicators of attack (IOAs), so you are alerted of suspicious activities before a compromise can occur.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">4. Insight and Intelligence:</span> An endpoint detection and response solution that integrates threat intelligence can provide context, including details on the attributed adversary that is attacking you or other information about the attack.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">5. Fast Response:</span> EDR that enables a fast and accurate response to incidents can stop an attack before it becomes a breach and allow your organization to get back to business quickly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">6. 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ITSM is focused on aligning IT processes and services with business objectives to help an organization grow.\r\nITSM positions IT services as the key means of delivering and obtaining value, where an internal or external IT service provider works with business customers, at the same time taking responsibility for the associated costs and risks. ITSM works across the whole lifecycle of a service, from the original strategy, through design, transition and into live operation.\r\nTo ensure sustainable quality of IT services, ITSM establishes a set of practices, or processes, constituting a service management system. There are industrial, national and international standards for IT service management solutions, setting up requirements and good practices for the management system. \r\nITSM system is based on a set of principles, such as focusing on value and continual improvement. It is not just a set of processes – it is a cultural mindset to ensure that the desired outcome for the business is achieved. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library)</span> is a framework of best practices and recommendations for managing an organization's IT operations and services. IT service management processes, when built based on the ITIL framework, pave the way for better IT service operations management and improved business. To summarize, ITIL is a set of guidelines for effective IT service management best practices. ITIL has evolved beyond the delivery of services to providing end-to-end value delivery. The focus is now on the co-creation of value through service relationships. \r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITSM processes typically include five stages, all based on the ITIL framework:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITSM strategy.</span> This stage forms the foundation or the framework of an organization's ITSM process building. It involves defining the services that the organization will offer, strategically planning processes, and recognizing and developing the required assets to keep processes moving. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service design.</span> This stage's main aim is planning and designing the IT services the organization offers to meet business demands. It involves creating and designing new services as well as assessing current services and making relevant improvements.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service transition.</span> Once the designs for IT services and their processes have been finalized, it's important to build them and test them out to ensure that processes flow. IT teams need to ensure that the designs don't disrupt services in any way, especially when existing IT service processes are upgraded or redesigned. This calls for change management, evaluation, and risk management. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service operation. </span>This phase involves implementing the tried and tested new or modified designs in a live environment. While in this stage, the processes have already been tested and the issues fixed, but new processes are bound to have hiccups—especially when customers start using the services. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Continual service improvement (CSI).</span> Implementing IT processes successfully shouldn't be the final stage in any organization. There's always room for improvement and new development based on issues that pop up, customer needs and demands, and user feedback.\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">Benefits of efficient ITSM processes</h1>\r\nIrrespective of the size of business, every organization is involved in IT service management in some way. ITSM ensures that incidents, service requests, problems, changes, and IT assets—in addition to other aspects of IT services—are managed in a streamlined way.\r\nIT teams in your organization can employ various workflows and best practices in ITSM, as outlined in ITIL. Effective IT service management can have positive effects on an IT organization's overall function.\r\nHere are the 10 key benefits of ITSM:\r\n<ul><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lower costs for IT operations</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Higher returns on IT investments</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Minimal service outages</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ability to establish well-defined, repeatable, and manageable IT processes</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Efficient analysis of IT problems to reduce repeat incidents</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Improved efficiency of IT help desk teams</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well-defined roles and responsibilities</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Clear expectations on service levels and service availability</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Risk-free implementation of IT changes</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Better transparency into IT processes and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">How to choose an ITSM tool?</h1>\r\nWith a competent IT service management goal in mind, it's important to invest in a service desk solution that caters to your business needs. It goes without saying, with more than 150 service desk tools to choose from, selecting the right one is easier said than done. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing an ITSM products:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Identify key processes and their dependencies. </span>Based on business goals, decide which key ITSM processes need to be implemented and chart out the integrations that need to be established to achieve those goals. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Consult with ITSM experts.</span> Participate in business expos, webinars, demos, etc., and educate yourself about the various options that are available in the market. Reports from expert analysts such as Gartner and Forrester are particularly useful as they include reviews of almost every solution, ranked based on multiple criteria.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Choose a deployment option.</span> Every business has a different IT infrastructure model. Selecting an on-premises or software as a service (SaaS IT service management) tool depends on whether your business prefers to host its applications and data on its own servers or use a public or private cloud.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Plan ahead for the future.</span> Although it's important to consider the &quot;needs&quot; primarily, you shouldn't rule out the secondary or luxury capabilities. If the ITSM tool doesn't have the potential to adapt to your needs as your organization grows, it can pull you back from progressing. Draw a clear picture of where your business is headed and choose an service ITSM that is flexible and technology-driven.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Don't stop with the capabilities of the ITSM tool.</span> It might be tempting to assess an ITSM tool based on its capabilities and features but it's important to evaluate the vendor of the tool. A good IT support team, and a vendor that is endorsed for their customer-vendor relationship can take your IT services far. 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It is capable of managing multiple operating systems and can also handle VMware- and Citrix-based workflows.<br /><br />Microsoft offers add-ons for System Center Orchestrator that extend its functionality, including the Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Integration Toolkit and the Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Integration Pack.","shortDescription":"Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is a workflow automation software product that allows administrators to automate the monitoring and deployment of data center resources.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":20,"sellingCount":13,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft System Center Orchestrator","keywords":"","description":"Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is a workflow automation software product that allows administrators to automate the monitoring and deployment of data center resources.<br /><br />Microsoft System Center Orchestrator was introduced as part of the Microsof","og:title":"Microsoft System Center Orchestrator","og:description":"Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is a workflow automation software product that allows administrators to automate the monitoring and deployment of data center resources.<br /><br />Microsoft System Center Orchestrator was introduced as part of the Microsof","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/orchestrator_20121.jpg"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":4843,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":34,"title":"ITSM - IT Service Management","alias":"itsm-it-service-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">IT service management (ITSM)</span> is the process of designing, delivering, managing, and improving the IT services an organization provides to its end users. ITSM is focused on aligning IT processes and services with business objectives to help an organization grow.\r\nITSM positions IT services as the key means of delivering and obtaining value, where an internal or external IT service provider works with business customers, at the same time taking responsibility for the associated costs and risks. ITSM works across the whole lifecycle of a service, from the original strategy, through design, transition and into live operation.\r\nTo ensure sustainable quality of IT services, ITSM establishes a set of practices, or processes, constituting a service management system. There are industrial, national and international standards for IT service management solutions, setting up requirements and good practices for the management system. \r\nITSM system is based on a set of principles, such as focusing on value and continual improvement. It is not just a set of processes – it is a cultural mindset to ensure that the desired outcome for the business is achieved. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library)</span> is a framework of best practices and recommendations for managing an organization's IT operations and services. IT service management processes, when built based on the ITIL framework, pave the way for better IT service operations management and improved business. To summarize, ITIL is a set of guidelines for effective IT service management best practices. ITIL has evolved beyond the delivery of services to providing end-to-end value delivery. The focus is now on the co-creation of value through service relationships. \r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITSM processes typically include five stages, all based on the ITIL framework:</span></p>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">ITSM strategy.</span> This stage forms the foundation or the framework of an organization's ITSM process building. It involves defining the services that the organization will offer, strategically planning processes, and recognizing and developing the required assets to keep processes moving. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service design.</span> This stage's main aim is planning and designing the IT services the organization offers to meet business demands. It involves creating and designing new services as well as assessing current services and making relevant improvements.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service transition.</span> Once the designs for IT services and their processes have been finalized, it's important to build them and test them out to ensure that processes flow. IT teams need to ensure that the designs don't disrupt services in any way, especially when existing IT service processes are upgraded or redesigned. This calls for change management, evaluation, and risk management. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Service operation. </span>This phase involves implementing the tried and tested new or modified designs in a live environment. While in this stage, the processes have already been tested and the issues fixed, but new processes are bound to have hiccups—especially when customers start using the services. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Continual service improvement (CSI).</span> Implementing IT processes successfully shouldn't be the final stage in any organization. There's always room for improvement and new development based on issues that pop up, customer needs and demands, and user feedback.\r\n\r\n","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\">Benefits of efficient ITSM processes</h1>\r\nIrrespective of the size of business, every organization is involved in IT service management in some way. ITSM ensures that incidents, service requests, problems, changes, and IT assets—in addition to other aspects of IT services—are managed in a streamlined way.\r\nIT teams in your organization can employ various workflows and best practices in ITSM, as outlined in ITIL. Effective IT service management can have positive effects on an IT organization's overall function.\r\nHere are the 10 key benefits of ITSM:\r\n<ul><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lower costs for IT operations</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Higher returns on IT investments</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Minimal service outages</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ability to establish well-defined, repeatable, and manageable IT processes</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Efficient analysis of IT problems to reduce repeat incidents</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Improved efficiency of IT help desk teams</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well-defined roles and responsibilities</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Clear expectations on service levels and service availability</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Risk-free implementation of IT changes</li><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Better transparency into IT processes and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\">How to choose an ITSM tool?</h1>\r\nWith a competent IT service management goal in mind, it's important to invest in a service desk solution that caters to your business needs. It goes without saying, with more than 150 service desk tools to choose from, selecting the right one is easier said than done. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing an ITSM products:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Identify key processes and their dependencies. </span>Based on business goals, decide which key ITSM processes need to be implemented and chart out the integrations that need to be established to achieve those goals. \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Consult with ITSM experts.</span> Participate in business expos, webinars, demos, etc., and educate yourself about the various options that are available in the market. Reports from expert analysts such as Gartner and Forrester are particularly useful as they include reviews of almost every solution, ranked based on multiple criteria.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Choose a deployment option.</span> Every business has a different IT infrastructure model. Selecting an on-premises or software as a service (SaaS IT service management) tool depends on whether your business prefers to host its applications and data on its own servers or use a public or private cloud.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Plan ahead for the future.</span> Although it's important to consider the &quot;needs&quot; primarily, you shouldn't rule out the secondary or luxury capabilities. If the ITSM tool doesn't have the potential to adapt to your needs as your organization grows, it can pull you back from progressing. Draw a clear picture of where your business is headed and choose an service ITSM that is flexible and technology-driven.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Don't stop with the capabilities of the ITSM tool.</span> It might be tempting to assess an ITSM tool based on its capabilities and features but it's important to evaluate the vendor of the tool. A good IT support team, and a vendor that is endorsed for their customer-vendor relationship can take your IT services far. Check Gartner's magic quadrant and other analyst reports, along with product and support reviews to ensure that the said tool provides good customer support.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_ITSM.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":4097,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/microsoft.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Bot Framework","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-bot-framework","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"Azure Bot Service enables you to build intelligent, enterprise-grade bots with ownership and control of your data. Begin with a simple Q&amp;A bot or build a sophisticated virtual assistant.\r\nUse comprehensive open-source SDK and tools to easily connect your bot to popular channels and devices. Give your bot the ability to speak, listen, and understand your users with native integration to Azure Cognitive Services.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">AI and natural language</span>\r\nCreate a bot with the ability to speak, listen, understand, and learn from your users with Azure Cognitive Services.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Open &amp; Extensible</span>\r\nBenefit from open-source SDK and tools to build, test, and connect bots that interact naturally with users, wherever they are.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Enterprise-grade solutions</span>\r\nBuild secure, global, scalable solutions that integrate with your existing IT ecosystem.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Ownership and control</span>\r\nCreate an AI experience that can extend your brand and keep you in control of your own data.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Bot Framework is a comprehensive framework for building enterprise-grade conversational AI experiences.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":16,"sellingCount":17,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Bot Framework","keywords":"","description":"Azure Bot Service enables you to build intelligent, enterprise-grade bots with ownership and control of your data. 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Such programs are often designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner, although as of 2019, they are far short of being able to pass the Turing test. Chatbots are typically used in dialog systems for various practical purposes including customer service or information acquisition. Some chatbots use sophisticated natural language processing systems, but many simpler ones scan for keywords within the input, then pull a reply with the most matching keywords, or the most similar wording pattern, from a database.\r\nThe term &quot;ChatterBot&quot; was originally coined by Michael Mauldin (creator of the first Verbot, Julia) in 1994 to describe these conversational programs. Today, most chatbots are accessed via virtual assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, via messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger or WeChat, or via individual organizations' apps and websites. Chatbots can be classified into usage categories such as conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat), analytics, communication, customer support, design, developer tools, education, entertainment, finance, food, games, health, HR, marketing, news, personal, productivity, shopping, social, sports, travel and utilities.\r\nBeyond chatbots, Conversational AI refers to the use of messaging apps, speech-based assistants and chatbots to automate communication and create personalized customer experiences at scale.\r\nThe process of building, testing and deploying chatbots can be done on cloud-based chatbot development platforms offered by cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers such as Oracle Cloud Platform SnatchBot and IBM Watson. These cloud platforms provide Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Backend as a Service for chatbot development.\r\nSome Companies like Microsoft Azure and AARC are currently providing their Bot Engines through which chatbot Platforms or Software can be developed.","materialsDescription":"New tools designed to simplify the interaction between humans and computers have hit the market: Chatbots or Virtual Assistants. In banking, chatbots and virtual assistants are some of the industry’s newest tools designed to simplify the interaction between humans and computers.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a chatbot?</span>\r\nA chatbot is artificial intelligence (AI) software that can simulate a conversation (or a chat) with a user in natural language through messaging applications, websites, mobile apps or through the telephone.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why are chatbots important?</span>\r\nA chatbot is often described as one of the most advanced and promising expressions of interaction between humans and machines. However, from a technological point of view, a chatbot only represents the natural evolution of a Question-Answering system leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP). Formulating responses to questions in natural language is one of the most typical examples of Natural Language Processing applied in various enterprises’ end-use applications.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How does a chatbot work?</span>\r\nThere are two different tasks at the core of a chatbot:\r\n<ol><li>user request analysis</li><li>returning the response</li></ol>\r\nUser request analysis: this is the first task that a chatbot performs. It analyzes the user’s request to identify the user intent and to extract relevant entities.\r\nThe ability to identify the user’s intent and extract data and relevant entities contained in the user’s request is the first condition and the most relevant step at the core of a chatbot: If you are not able to correctly understand the user’s request, you won’t be able to provide the correct answer.\r\nReturning the response: once the user’s intent has been identified, the chatbot must provide the most appropriate response for the user’s request. The answer may be:\r\n<ul><li>a generic and predefined text;</li><li>a text retrieved from a knowledge base that contains different answers;</li><li>a contextualized piece of information based on data the user has provided;</li><li>data stored in enterprise systems;</li><li>the result of an action that the chatbot performed by interacting with one or more backend application;</li><li>a disambiguating question that helps the chatbot to correctly understand the user’s request.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">In what is the benefit of chatbots?</span>\r\nChatbot applications streamline interactions between people and services, enhancing the customer experience. At the same time, they offer companies new opportunities to improve the customer's engagement process and operational efficiency by reducing the typical cost of customer service.\r\nTo be successful, a chatbot solution should be able to effectively perform both of these tasks. Human support plays a key role here: Regardless of the kind of approach and the platform, human intervention is crucial in configuring, training and optimizing the chatbot system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Which chatbot application is right for you?</span>\r\nThere are different approaches and tools that you can use to develop a chatbot. Depending on the use case you want to address, some chatbot technologies are more appropriate than others. In order to achieve the desired results, the combination of different AI forms such as natural language processing, machine learning, and semantic understanding may be the best option.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Chatbot_Development.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":4105,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/microsoft.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Luis.ai","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"luisai","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"<p>Language Understanding (LUIS) is a machine learning-based service to build natural language into apps, bots, and IoT devices. Quickly create enterprise-ready, custom models that continuously improve.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Benefits:</span></span></p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Add natural language to your apps</span></p>\r\n<p>Designed to identify valuable information in conversations, LUIS interprets user goals (intents) and distills valuable information from sentences (entities), for a high quality, nuanced language model. LUIS integrates seamlessly with the Azure Bot Service, making it easy to create a sophisticated bot.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Quickly build a custom language solution</span></p>\r\n<p>Powerful developer tools are combined with customizable pre-built apps and entity dictionaries, such as Calendar, Music, and Devices, so you can build and deploy a solution more quickly. Dictionaries are mined from the collective knowledge of the web and supply billions of entries, helping your model to correctly identify valuable information from user conversations.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Always learning and improving</span></p>\r\n<p>Active learning is used to continuously improve the quality of natural language models. Once the model starts processing input, LUIS begins active learning, allowing you to constantly update and improve the model.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Enterprise-ready, available worldwide</span></p>\r\n<p>The service is ready to be deployed in commercial applications and can scale with enterprise quality and performance. The service meets international compliance standards, supports 13 languages and available worldwide, making it highly accessible around the world.</p>","shortDescription":"A machine learning-based service to build natural language into apps, bots, and IoT devices. Quickly create enterprise-ready, custom models that continuously improve.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":7,"sellingCount":12,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Luis.ai","keywords":"","description":"<p>Language Understanding (LUIS) is a machine learning-based service to build natural language into apps, bots, and IoT devices. Quickly create enterprise-ready, custom models that continuously improve.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span s","og:title":"Luis.ai","og:description":"<p>Language Understanding (LUIS) is a machine learning-based service to build natural language into apps, bots, and IoT devices. Quickly create enterprise-ready, custom models that continuously improve.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span s","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/microsoft.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":4106,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":103,"title":"Chatbot Development"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":842,"title":"Chatbot Development","alias":"chatbot-development","description":"A chatbot is a piece of software that conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Such programs are often designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner, although as of 2019, they are far short of being able to pass the Turing test. Chatbots are typically used in dialog systems for various practical purposes including customer service or information acquisition. Some chatbots use sophisticated natural language processing systems, but many simpler ones scan for keywords within the input, then pull a reply with the most matching keywords, or the most similar wording pattern, from a database.\r\nThe term &quot;ChatterBot&quot; was originally coined by Michael Mauldin (creator of the first Verbot, Julia) in 1994 to describe these conversational programs. Today, most chatbots are accessed via virtual assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, via messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger or WeChat, or via individual organizations' apps and websites. Chatbots can be classified into usage categories such as conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat), analytics, communication, customer support, design, developer tools, education, entertainment, finance, food, games, health, HR, marketing, news, personal, productivity, shopping, social, sports, travel and utilities.\r\nBeyond chatbots, Conversational AI refers to the use of messaging apps, speech-based assistants and chatbots to automate communication and create personalized customer experiences at scale.\r\nThe process of building, testing and deploying chatbots can be done on cloud-based chatbot development platforms offered by cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers such as Oracle Cloud Platform SnatchBot and IBM Watson. These cloud platforms provide Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Backend as a Service for chatbot development.\r\nSome Companies like Microsoft Azure and AARC are currently providing their Bot Engines through which chatbot Platforms or Software can be developed.","materialsDescription":"New tools designed to simplify the interaction between humans and computers have hit the market: Chatbots or Virtual Assistants. In banking, chatbots and virtual assistants are some of the industry’s newest tools designed to simplify the interaction between humans and computers.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a chatbot?</span>\r\nA chatbot is artificial intelligence (AI) software that can simulate a conversation (or a chat) with a user in natural language through messaging applications, websites, mobile apps or through the telephone.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why are chatbots important?</span>\r\nA chatbot is often described as one of the most advanced and promising expressions of interaction between humans and machines. However, from a technological point of view, a chatbot only represents the natural evolution of a Question-Answering system leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP). Formulating responses to questions in natural language is one of the most typical examples of Natural Language Processing applied in various enterprises’ end-use applications.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How does a chatbot work?</span>\r\nThere are two different tasks at the core of a chatbot:\r\n<ol><li>user request analysis</li><li>returning the response</li></ol>\r\nUser request analysis: this is the first task that a chatbot performs. It analyzes the user’s request to identify the user intent and to extract relevant entities.\r\nThe ability to identify the user’s intent and extract data and relevant entities contained in the user’s request is the first condition and the most relevant step at the core of a chatbot: If you are not able to correctly understand the user’s request, you won’t be able to provide the correct answer.\r\nReturning the response: once the user’s intent has been identified, the chatbot must provide the most appropriate response for the user’s request. The answer may be:\r\n<ul><li>a generic and predefined text;</li><li>a text retrieved from a knowledge base that contains different answers;</li><li>a contextualized piece of information based on data the user has provided;</li><li>data stored in enterprise systems;</li><li>the result of an action that the chatbot performed by interacting with one or more backend application;</li><li>a disambiguating question that helps the chatbot to correctly understand the user’s request.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">In what is the benefit of chatbots?</span>\r\nChatbot applications streamline interactions between people and services, enhancing the customer experience. At the same time, they offer companies new opportunities to improve the customer's engagement process and operational efficiency by reducing the typical cost of customer service.\r\nTo be successful, a chatbot solution should be able to effectively perform both of these tasks. Human support plays a key role here: Regardless of the kind of approach and the platform, human intervention is crucial in configuring, training and optimizing the chatbot system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Which chatbot application is right for you?</span>\r\nThere are different approaches and tools that you can use to develop a chatbot. Depending on the use case you want to address, some chatbot technologies are more appropriate than others. In order to achieve the desired results, the combination of different AI forms such as natural language processing, machine learning, and semantic understanding may be the best option.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Chatbot_Development.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":778,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Surface_Laptop.jpg","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Surface Laptop","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-surface-laptop","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"Surface Laptop provides the perfect blend of texture, subtle details, and clean, elegant lines — plus the luxurious touch of our Signature Alcantara® material-covered keyboard.\r\nThe perfect balance of portability and performance.\r\nYou don’t have to choose between power and traveling light. At just 2.76 pounds, Surface Laptop gives you an ideal balance of both, plus all-day battery life.\r\nA stunning screen that responds to your touch.\r\nExperience faster, more natural navigation on the vibrant 13.5” PixelSense™ Display with immersive touchscreen. Enjoy more space for your ideas with an edge-to-edge display and ultra-thin bezel.\r\n\r\n","shortDescription":"Microsoft Surface Laptop is designed for Windows 10 S — streamlined for security and superior performance.2 Applications are delivered via the Windows Store, ensuring that they’re Microsoft verified.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":13,"sellingCount":10,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Surface Laptop","keywords":"Laptop, Surface, touch, your, plus, perfect, balance, with","description":"Surface Laptop provides the perfect blend of texture, subtle details, and clean, elegant lines — plus the luxurious touch of our Signature Alcantara® material-covered keyboard.\r\nThe perfect balance of portability and performance.\r\nYou don’t have to choose betw","og:title":"Microsoft Surface Laptop","og:description":"Surface Laptop provides the perfect blend of texture, subtle details, and clean, elegant lines — plus the luxurious touch of our Signature Alcantara® material-covered keyboard.\r\nThe perfect balance of portability and performance.\r\nYou don’t have to choose betw","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Surface_Laptop.jpg"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":779,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1034,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Coco_Framework.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Coco Framework","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-coco-framework","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"Coco achieves this by designing specifically for confidential consortiums, where nodes and actors are explicitly declared and controlled. Based on these requirements, Coco presents an alternative approach to ledger construction, giving enterprises the scalability, distributed governance and enhanced confidentiality they need without sacrificing the inherent security and immutability they expect.\r\nLeveraging the power of existing blockchain protocols, trusted execution environments (TEEs) such as Intel SGX and Windows Virtual Secure Mode (VSM), distributed systems and cryptography, Coco enables enterprise-ready blockchain networks that deliver:\r\n\r\n<ul><li>Throughput and latency approaching database speeds.</li><li>Richer, more flexible, business-specific confidentiality models.</li><li>Network policy management through distributed governance.</li><li>Support for non-deterministic transactions.</li></ul>\r\nBy providing these capabilities, Coco offers a trusted foundation with which existing blockchain protocols can be integrated to deliver complete, enterprise-ready ledger solutions, opening up broad, high scale scenarios across industries, and furthering blockchain's ability to digital transform business.\r\nWe have already begun exploring Coco’s potential across a variety of industries, including retail, supply chain and financial services.\r\nWhether a customer is designing an end-to-end trade finance solution, using blockchain to ensure security at the edge or leveraging Enterprise Smart Contracts to drive back office efficiencies, Coco enables them to meet their enterprise requirements. Microsoft is the only cloud provider that delivers consistency across on-premises and the public cloud at hyperscale while providing access to the rich Azure ecosystem for the wide range of applications that will be built on top of blockchain as a shared data layer.\r\nAn open approach\r\nBy design, Coco is open and compatible with any blockchain protocol. Microsoft has already begun integrating Ethereum into Coco and we’re thrilled to announce that J.P. Morgan Chase, Intel and R3 have committed to integrating enterprise ledgers, Quorum, Hyperledger Sawtooth and Corda, respectively. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to exploring integration opportunities with other ledgers in the near future.\r\n","shortDescription":"Microsoft Coco Framework is an open-source system that enables high-scale, confidential blockchain networks that meet all key enterprise requirements—providing a means to accelerate production enterprise adoption of blockchain technology.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":14,"sellingCount":10,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Coco Framework","keywords":"Coco, blockchain, that, with, distributed, Microsoft, across, existing","description":"Coco achieves this by designing specifically for confidential consortiums, where nodes and actors are explicitly declared and controlled. Based on these requirements, Coco presents an alternative approach to ledger construction, giving enterprises the scalabil","og:title":"Microsoft Coco Framework","og:description":"Coco achieves this by designing specifically for confidential consortiums, where nodes and actors are explicitly declared and controlled. Based on these requirements, Coco presents an alternative approach to ledger construction, giving enterprises the scalabil","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Coco_Framework.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1035,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":5,"title":"Security Software","alias":"security-software","description":" Computer security software or cybersecurity software is any computer program designed to enhance information security. Security software is a broad term that encompasses a suite of different types of software that deliver data and computer and network security in various forms. \r\nSecurity software can protect a computer from viruses, malware, unauthorized users and other security exploits originating from the Internet. Different types of security software include anti-virus software, firewall software, network security software, Internet security software, malware/spamware removal and protection software, cryptographic software, and more.\r\nIn end-user computing environments, anti-spam and anti-virus security software is the most common type of software used, whereas enterprise users add a firewall and intrusion detection system on top of it. \r\nSecurity soft may be focused on preventing attacks from reaching their target, on limiting the damage attacks can cause if they reach their target and on tracking the damage that has been caused so that it can be repaired. As the nature of malicious code evolves, security software also evolves.<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \"></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Firewall. </span>Firewall security software prevents unauthorized users from accessing a computer or network without restricting those who are authorized. Firewalls can be implemented with hardware or software. Some computer operating systems include software firewalls in the operating system itself. For example, Microsoft Windows has a built-in firewall. Routers and servers can include firewalls. There are also dedicated hardware firewalls that have no other function other than protecting a network from unauthorized access.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Antivirus.</span> Antivirus solutions work to prevent malicious code from attacking a computer by recognizing the attack before it begins. But it is also designed to stop an attack in progress that could not be prevented, and to repair damage done by the attack once the attack abates. Antivirus software is useful because it addresses security issues in cases where attacks have made it past a firewall. New computer viruses appear daily, so antivirus and security software must be continuously updated to remain effective.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Antispyware.</span> While antivirus software is designed to prevent malicious software from attacking, the goal of antispyware software is to prevent unauthorized software from stealing information that is on a computer or being processed through the computer. Since spyware does not need to attempt to damage data files or the operating system, it does not trigger antivirus software into action. However, antispyware software can recognize the particular actions spyware is taking by monitoring the communications between a computer and external message recipients. When communications occur that the user has not authorized, antispyware can notify the user and block further communications.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Home Computers.</span> Home computers and some small businesses usually implement&nbsp; security software at the desktop level - meaning on the PC itself. This category of computer security and protection, sometimes referred to as end-point security, remains resident, or continuously operating, on the desktop. Because the software is running, it uses system resources, and can slow the computer's performance. However, because it operates in real time, it can react rapidly to attacks and seek to shut them down when they occur.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Network Security.</span> When several computers are all on the same network, it's more cost-effective to implement security at the network level. Antivirus software can be installed on a server and then loaded automatically to each desktop. However firewalls are usually installed on a server or purchased as an independent device that is inserted into the network where the Internet connection comes in. All of the computers inside the network communicate unimpeded, but any data going in or out of the network over the Internet is filtered trough the firewall.<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is IT security software?</span></h1>\r\nIT security software provides protection to businesses’ computer or network. It serves as a defense against unauthorized access and intrusion in such a system. It comes in various types, with many businesses and individuals already using some of them in one form or another.\r\nWith the emergence of more advanced technology, cybercriminals have also found more ways to get into the system of many organizations. Since more and more businesses are now relying their crucial operations on software products, the importance of security system software assurance must be taken seriously – now more than ever. Having reliable protection such as a security software programs is crucial to safeguard your computing environments and data. \r\n<p class=\"align-left\">It is not just the government or big corporations that become victims of cyber threats. In fact, small and medium-sized businesses have increasingly become targets of cybercrime over the past years. </p>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What are the features of IT security software?</span></h1>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Automatic updates. </span>This ensures you don’t miss any update and your system is the most up-to-date version to respond to the constantly emerging new cyber threats.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Real-time scanning.</span> Dynamic scanning features make it easier to detect and infiltrate malicious entities promptly. Without this feature, you’ll risk not being able to prevent damage to your system before it happens.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Auto-clean.</span> A feature that rids itself of viruses even without the user manually removing it from its quarantine zone upon detection. Unless you want the option to review the malware, there is no reason to keep the malicious software on your computer which makes this feature essential.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Multiple app protection.</span> This feature ensures all your apps and services are protected, whether they’re in email, instant messenger, and internet browsers, among others.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Application level security.</span> This enables you to control access to the application on a per-user role or per-user basis to guarantee only the right individuals can enter the appropriate applications.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Role-based menu.</span> This displays menu options showing different users according to their roles for easier assigning of access and control.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Row-level (multi-tenant) security.</span> This gives you control over data access at a row-level for a single application. This means you can allow multiple users to access the same application but you can control the data they are authorized to view.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Single sign-on.</span> A session or user authentication process that allows users to access multiple related applications as long as they are authorized in a single session by only logging in their name and password in a single place.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">User privilege parameters.</span> These are customizable features and security as per individual user or role that can be accessed in their profile throughout every application.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Application activity auditing.</span> Vital for IT departments to quickly view when a user logged in and off and which application they accessed. Developers can log end-user activity using their sign-on/signoff activities.</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Security_Software.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1546,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/data-warehouse.jpg","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Azure Data Warehouse","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"azure-data-warehouse","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"<p>Create a single center for all your data, be it structured, unstructured or streaming data.&nbsp;Provide work of such transformational decisions, as functions of business analytics, reports, the expanded analytics and analytics in real time.&nbsp;To easily get started, take advantage of the performance, flexibility, and security of Azure's fully managed services, such as SQL Azure and Azure Databricks.</p>\r\n<h2>Get rid of worries</h2>\r\n<h2><br /><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Built-in advanced security features include transparent data encryption, auditing, threat detection, integration with Azure Active Directory and virtual network endpoints.&nbsp;Azure services correspond to&nbsp;more than 50 industry and geographic&nbsp;certifications and are available worldwide in&nbsp;42 regions&nbsp;to store your data wherever your users are located.&nbsp;Finally, Microsoft offers financially secured service level agreements to spare you any hassle.</span></h2>","shortDescription":"Azure Data Warehouse - is a modern data storage from Microsoft","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":2,"sellingCount":19,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Azure Data Warehouse","keywords":"","description":"<p>Create a single center for all your data, be it structured, unstructured or streaming data.&nbsp;Provide work of such transformational decisions, as functions of business analytics, reports, the expanded analytics and analytics in real time.&nbsp;To easily ","og:title":"Azure Data Warehouse","og:description":"<p>Create a single center for all your data, be it structured, unstructured or streaming data.&nbsp;Provide work of such transformational decisions, as functions of business analytics, reports, the expanded analytics and analytics in real time.&nbsp;To easily ","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/data-warehouse.jpg"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1549,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":24,"title":"IaaS - storage"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":789,"title":"IaaS - storage","alias":"iaas-storage","description":"IaaS is an abbreviation that stands for Infrastructure as a Service (“infrastructure as a service”). This model provides for a cloud provider to provide the client with the necessary amount of computing resources - virtual servers, remote workstations, data warehouses, with or without the provision of software - and software deployment within the infrastructure remains the client's prerogative. In essence, IaaS is an alternative to renting physical servers, racks in the data center, operating systems; instead, the necessary resources are purchased with the ability to quickly scale them if necessary. In many cases, this model may be more profitable than the traditional purchase and installation of equipment, here are just a few examples:\r\n<ul><li>if the need for computing resources is not constant and can vary greatly depending on the period, and there is no desire to overpay for unused capacity;</li><li>when a company is just starting its way on the market and does not have working capital in order to buy all the necessary infrastructure - a frequent option among startups;</li><li>there is a rapid growth in business, and the network infrastructure must keep pace with it;</li><li>if you need to reduce the cost of purchasing and maintaining equipment;</li><li>when a new direction is launched, and it is necessary to test it without investing significant funds in resources.</li></ul>\r\nIaaS can be organized on the basis of a public or private cloud, as well as by combining two approaches - the so-called. “Hybrid cloud”, created using the appropriate software.","materialsDescription":" IaaS or Infrastructure as a service translated into Russian as “Infrastructure as a service”.\r\n&quot;Infrastructure&quot; in the case of IaaS, it can be virtual servers and networks, data warehouses, operating systems.\r\n“As a service” means that the cloud infrastructure components listed above are provided to you as a connected service.\r\nIaaS is a cloud infrastructure utilization model in which the computing power is provided to the client for independent management.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference from PaaS and SaaS?</span>\r\nFrequently asked questions, what distinguishes IaaS, PaaS, SaaS from each other? What is the difference? Answering all questions, you decide to leave in the area of ​​responsibility of its IT specialists. It requires only time and financial costs for your business.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Who is responsible for what?</span>\r\nIn the case of using IaaS models, a company can independently use resources: install and run software, exercise control over systems, applications, and virtual storage systems.\r\nFor example, networks, servers, servers and servers. The IaaS service provider manages its own software and operating system, middleware and applications, is responsible for the infrastructure during the purchase, installation and configuration.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why do companies choose IaaS?</span>\r\nScaling capabilities. All users have access to resources, and you must use all the resources you need.\r\nCost savings. As a rule, the use of cloud services costs the company less than buying its own infrastructure.\r\nMobility. Ability to work with conventional applications.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS_storage.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1550,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Azure-Virtual-machines.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Azure Virtual Machines","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"azure-virtual-machines","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"<p>Supporting Linux, Windows Server, SQL Server, Oracle, IBM, SAP and other platforms, Azure virtual machines provide the flexibility of virtualization for a wide range of computing solutions.&nbsp;All current-generation virtual machines include load balancing and autoscaling.&nbsp; <span style=\"color: #505050; font-family: 'Segoe UI', SegoeUI, 'Segoe WP', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;\"><br /></span>Azure Virtual Machines - is a proposal that includes various solutions, from an inexpensive B series to virtual machines with the latest GPU optimized for machine learning.&nbsp;It is designed to perform any workloads within any budget.</p>","shortDescription":"Azure Virtual Machines - is a computing service from Microsoft","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":12,"sellingCount":5,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Azure Virtual Machines","keywords":"","description":"<p>Supporting Linux, Windows Server, SQL Server, Oracle, IBM, SAP and other platforms, Azure virtual machines provide the flexibility of virtualization for a wide range of computing solutions.&nbsp;All current-generation virtual machines include load balancing","og:title":"Azure Virtual Machines","og:description":"<p>Supporting Linux, Windows Server, SQL Server, Oracle, IBM, SAP and other platforms, Azure virtual machines provide the flexibility of virtualization for a wide range of computing solutions.&nbsp;All current-generation virtual machines include load balancing","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Azure-Virtual-machines.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1551,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":26,"title":"IaaS - computing"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":786,"title":"IaaS - computing","alias":"iaas-computing","description":"Cloud computing is the on demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to describe data centers available to many users over the Internet. Large clouds, predominant today, often have functions distributed over multiple locations from central servers. If the connection to the user is relatively close, it may be designated an edge server.\r\nInfrastructure as a service (IaaS) are online services that provide high-level APIs used to dereference various low-level details of underlying network infrastructure like physical computing resources, location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup etc. A hypervisor, such as Xen, Oracle VirtualBox, Oracle VM, KVM, VMware ESX/ESXi, or Hyper-V, LXD, runs the virtual machines as guests. Pools of hypervisors within the cloud operational system can support large numbers of virtual machines and the ability to scale services up and down according to customers' varying requirements.\r\nTypically IaaS involve the use of a cloud orchestration technology like Open Stack, Apache Cloudstack or Open Nebula. This manages the creation of a virtual machine and decides on which hypervisor (i.e. physical host) to start it, enables VM migration features between hosts, allocates storage volumes and attaches them to VMs, usage information for billing and lots more.\r\nAn alternative to hypervisors are Linux containers, which run in isolated partitions of a single Linux kernel running directly on the physical hardware. Linux cgroups and namespaces are the underlying Linux kernel technologies used to isolate, secure and manage the containers. Containerisation offers higher performance than virtualization, because there is no hypervisor overhead. Also, container capacity auto-scales dynamically with computing load, which eliminates the problem of over-provisioning and enables usage-based billing.\r\nIaaS clouds often offer additional resources such as a virtual-machine disk-image library, raw block storage, file or object storage, firewalls, load balancers, IP addresses, virtual local area networks (VLANs), and software bundles.\r\nThe NIST's definition of cloud computing defines Infrastructure as a Service as:\r\n<ul><li>The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications.</li><li>The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).</li></ul>\r\nAccording to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the most basic cloud-service model is that of providers offering IT infrastructure — virtual machines and other resources — as a service to subscribers.\r\nIaaS-cloud providers supply these resources on-demand from their large pools of equipment installed in data centers. For wide-area connectivity, customers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (dedicated virtual private networks). To deploy their applications, cloud users install operating-system images and their application software on the cloud infrastructure. In this model, the cloud user patches and maintains the operating systems and the application software. Cloud providers typically bill IaaS services on a utility computing basis: cost reflects the amount of resources allocated and consumed.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Cloud Computing Basics</span>\r\nWhether you are running applications that share photos to millions of mobile users or you’re supporting the critical operations of your business, a cloud services platform provides rapid access to flexible and low cost IT resources. With cloud computing, you don’t need to make large upfront investments in hardware and spend a lot of time on the heavy lifting of managing that hardware. Instead, you can provision exactly the right type and size of computing resources you need to power your newest bright idea or operate your IT department. You can access as many resources as you need, almost instantly, and only pay for what you use.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">How Does Cloud Computing Work?</span>\r\nCloud computing provides a simple way to access servers, storage, databases and a broad set of application services over the Internet. A Cloud services platform such as Amazon Web Services owns and maintains the network-connected hardware required for these application services, while you provision and use what you need via a web application.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Six Advantages and Benefits of Cloud Computing</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Trade capital expense for variable expense</span>\r\nInstead of having to invest heavily in data centers and servers before you know how you’re going to use them, you can only pay when you consume computing resources, and only pay for how much you consume.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Benefit from massive economies of scale</span>\r\nBy using cloud computing, you can achieve a lower variable cost than you can get on your own. Because usage from hundreds of thousands of customers are aggregated in the cloud, providers can achieve higher economies of scale which translates into lower pay as you go prices.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Stop guessing capacity</span>\r\nEliminate guessing on your infrastructure capacity needs. When you make a capacity decision prior to deploying an application, you often either end up sitting on expensive idle resources or dealing with limited capacity. With cloud computing, these problems go away. You can access as much or as little as you need, and scale up and down as required with only a few minutes notice.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Increase speed and agility</span>\r\nIn a cloud computing environment, new IT resources are only ever a click away, which means you reduce the time it takes to make those resources available to your developers from weeks to just minutes. This results in a dramatic increase in agility for the organization, since the cost and time it takes to experiment and develop is significantly lower.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Stop spending money on running and maintaining data centers</span>\r\nFocus on projects that differentiate your business, not the infrastructure. Cloud computing lets you focus on your own customers, rather than on the heavy lifting of racking, stacking and powering servers.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Go global in minutes</span>\r\nEasily deploy your application in multiple regions around the world with just a few clicks. This means you can provide a lower latency and better experience for your customers simply and at minimal cost.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Types of Cloud Computing</span>\r\nCloud computing has three main types that are commonly referred to as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Selecting the right type of cloud computing for your needs can help you strike the right balance of control and the avoidance of undifferentiated heavy lifting.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_IaaS_computing.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":3344,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Cloud_App_Security.jpg","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Cloud App Security","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-cloud-app-security","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"Microsoft Cloud App Security is a multimode Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB). It provides rich visibility, control over data travel, and sophisticated analytics to identify and combat cyberthreats across all your cloud services.\r\nMicrosoft Cloud App Security natively integrates with leading Microsoft solutions. It is designed with security professionals in mind—providing simple deployment, centralized management, and innovative automation capabilities.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">FEATURES:</span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Discover and control the use of Shadow IT</span>\r\nIdentify cloud apps and services used by your organization. Assess their risk levels and business readiness of &gt;16,000 apps against &gt;70 risk and start managing them to ensure security and compliance.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Protect your sensitive information anywhere in the cloud</span>\r\nUnderstand, classify and protect the exposure of sensitive information at rest, or leverage out-of-the box policies and automated processes to apply controls in real-time - across all your cloud apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Protect against cyberthreats and anomalies</span>\r\nDetect unusual behavior across cloud apps to identify ransomware, compromised users or rogue applications, analyze high-risk usage and remediate automatically to limit the risk to your organization.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Assess the compliance of your cloud apps</span>\r\nAssess if your cloud apps meet relevant compliance requirements including regulatory compliance and industry standards. Prevent data leaks to non-compliant apps, and limit access to regulated data.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Cloud App Security provides rich visibility, control over data travel, and sophisticated analytics to identify and combat cyberthreats across all your cloud services.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":0,"sellingCount":10,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Cloud App Security","keywords":"","description":"Microsoft Cloud App Security is a multimode Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB). It provides rich visibility, control over data travel, and sophisticated analytics to identify and combat cyberthreats across all your cloud services.\r\nMicrosoft Cloud App Securit","og:title":"Microsoft Cloud App Security","og:description":"Microsoft Cloud App Security is a multimode Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB). It provides rich visibility, control over data travel, and sophisticated analytics to identify and combat cyberthreats across all your cloud services.\r\nMicrosoft Cloud App Securit","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Cloud_App_Security.jpg"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":3345,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":95,"title":"Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":832,"title":"CASB - Cloud Access Security Broker","alias":"casb-cloud-access-security-broker","description":"A cloud access security broker (CASB) (sometimes pronounced cas-bee) is on-premises or cloud-based software that sits between cloud service users and cloud applications, and monitors all activity and enforces security policies. A CASB can offer a variety of services, including but not limited to monitoring user activity, warning administrators about potentially hazardous actions, enforcing security policy compliance, and automatically preventing malware.\r\nA CASB may deliver security, the management or both. Broadly speaking, &quot;security&quot; is the prevention of high-risk events, whilst &quot;management&quot; is the monitoring and mitigation of high-risk events.\r\nCASBs that deliver security must be in the path of data access, between the user and the cloud. Architecturally, this might be achieved with proxy agents on each end-point device, or in agentless fashion without requiring any configuration on each device. Agentless CASB allows for rapid deployment and delivers security on all devices, company-managed or unmanaged BYOD. Agentless CASB also respects user privacy, inspecting only corporate data. Agent-based CASB is difficult to deploy and effective only on devices that are managed by the corporation. Agent-based CASB typically inspects both corporate and personal data.\r\nCASBs that deliver management may use APIs to inspect data and activity in the cloud to alert of risky events after the fact. Another management capability of a CASB is to inspect firewall or proxy logs for the usage of cloud applications.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is CASB?</span> A Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is a policy enforcement point that secures data &amp; apps in the cloud and on any device, anywhere.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between security and management?</span> Security is preventing risky events from happening, management is cleaning up after high-risk events.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Shadow IT?</span> Cloud applications used by business users without IT oversight, also known as unmanaged apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are managed apps?</span> Cloud Applications that are managed by IT, e.g.Office 365.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the types of CASB?</span> Three types of Cloud Access Security Broker\r\n<ul><li>a) API-only CASB offer basic management</li><li>b) multi-mode first-gen CASB offer management &amp; security</li><li>c) Next-Gen CASB deliver management, security &amp; Zero-Day protection.</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a forward proxy?</span> A proxy where traffic must be forwarded by the end-point Such proxies requires agents and configuration on client devices.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a reverse proxy?</span> A proxy where traffic is automatically routed, requiring no agent or configuration on the end-point.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is AJAX-VM?</span> Acronym for &quot;Adaptive Javascript and XML- Virtual Machine.&quot; AJAX-VM virtualizes cloud apps on the fly so they can be proxied without agents. Reverse-proxy CASB are brittle without AJAX-VM and break frequently with app changes.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the types of CASB architecture?</span> There are three types of CASB architecture: API-only, forward proxy, and reverse proxy. Some CASB are API-only, others API and forward proxy. Next-Gen CASBs offer all three with AJAX-VM.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is CASB encryption?</span>&nbsp; Encryption/decryption of data prior to upload/download to a cloud application.\r\n <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is searchable encryption?</span> An encryption system that combines full encryption with a clear-text index to enable search and sort without compromising encryption strength.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is tokenization?</span> Obfuscation by encoding each input string as a unique output string.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is agentless MDM?</span> Mobile security for BYOD that does not require agents. Easy to deploy and has no access to personal data or apps, thereby preserving user privacy.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_CASB.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":3090,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Project.jpg","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Project","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":2,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-project","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"<p>Microsoft Project is a project management system and a way to optimize portfolio management, which allows you to plan and control project activities of organizations.</p>\r\n<p>Compared with other similar programs, the MS Project is considered the most common and &ldquo;easy&rdquo; to refer to the initial level of project management software with a classic standard office interface. In the single-user and small solutions market, the software product takes about 80% (about 20 million people use it).</p>\r\n<p>It is believed that as an integrated set of methods, processes and tools for planning and monitoring projects, MS Project is more often used in the implementation of relatively small project ideas. However, the existence of several paid options - basic, professional and advanced - when choosing the most complete functionality allows you to significantly expand the capabilities of the program compared to the basic version.</p>\r\n<p>Another focus of the \"detuning\" is the specialization of the product. Among such software, Primavera is popular, which is widespread in the field of engineering and construction projects as a means of calendar-network planning, which allows to take into account financial, material and labor resources in medium and large projects. Basecamp software cloud tool is considered the main competitor in the segment of ultra-light management decisions. At the same time, Microsoft has also been offering a cloud version of its product since 2013.</p>\r\n<p>In addition to the cloud application, several products are available under the Project brand:</p>\r\n<ol>\r\n<li>Project Standard allows for individual planning for small projects.</li>\r\n<li>Corporate management is carried out with the help of a special platform, including:</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Project Server,</li>\r\n<li>the corporate version of Project Professional, where collaborative tools (Project Server and SharePoint Foundation / Server) are added to the capabilities of the Standard version,</li>\r\n<li>the technology of the web interface of the reporting of executives on the progress of tasks, for viewing project portfolios and other collaboration (Project Web Access).</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https://finswin.com/projects/instrumenty/microsoft-project.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">finswin.com/projects/instrumenty/microsoft-project.html</a></p>","shortDescription":"Microsoft Project is a project management system and a way to optimize portfolio management, which allows you to plan and control project activities of organizations.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":14,"sellingCount":14,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Project","keywords":"","description":"<p>Microsoft Project is a project management system and a way to optimize portfolio management, which allows you to plan and control project activities of organizations.</p>\r\n<p>Compared with other similar programs, the MS Project is considered the most common","og:title":"Microsoft Project","og:description":"<p>Microsoft Project is a project management system and a way to optimize portfolio management, which allows you to plan and control project activities of organizations.</p>\r\n<p>Compared with other similar programs, the MS Project is considered the most common","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Project.jpg"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":3091,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":81,"title":"Project and Portfolio Management"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":363,"title":"Project and Portfolio Management","alias":"project-and-portfolio-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Project Portfolio Management (PPM)</span> is the centralized management of the processes, methods, and technologies used by project managers and project management offices (PMOs) to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics. The objectives of PPM are to determine the optimal resource mix for delivery and to schedule activities to best achieve an organization’s operational and financial goals, while honouring constraints imposed by customers, strategic objectives, or external real-world factors. The International standard defines the framework of the Project Portfolio Management.\r\nPPM provides program and project managers in large, program/project-driven organizations with the capabilities needed to manage the time, resources, skills, and budgets necessary to accomplish all interrelated tasks. It provides a framework for issue resolution and risk mitigation, as well as the centralized visibility to help planning and scheduling teams to identify the fastest, cheapest, or most suitable approach to deliver projects and programs. Portfolio Managers define Key Performance Indicators and the strategy for their portfolio.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Pipeline Management.</span> Pipeline management involves steps to ensure that an adequate number of project proposals are not generated and not evaluated to determine whether (and how) a set of projects in the portfolio can be executed with finite development resources in a specified time. There are three major sub-components to pipeline management: ideation, work intake processes, and Phase-Gate reviews. Fundamental to pipeline management is the ability to align the decision-making process for estimating and selecting new capital investment projects with the strategic plan.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Resource Manager.</span> The focus on the efficient and effective deployment of an organization’s resources where and when they are needed. These can include financial resources, inventory, human resources, technical skills, production, and design. In addition to project-level resource allocation, users can also model ‘what-if’ resource scenarios, and extend this view across the portfolio.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Change Control.</span> The capture and prioritization of change requests that can include new requirements, features, functions, operational constraints, regulatory demands, and technical enhancements. PPM provides a central repository for these change requests and the ability to match available resources to evolving demand within the financial and operational constraints of individual projects.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Financial Management.</span> With PPM, the Office of Finance can improve their accuracy for estimating and managing the financial resources of a project or group of projects. In addition, the value of projects can be demonstrated in relation to the strategic objectives and priorities of the organization through financial controls and to assess progress through earned value and other project financial techniques.\r\n<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Risk Management.</span> An analysis of the risk sensitivities residing within each project, as the basis for determining confidence levels across the portfolio. The integration of cost and schedule risk management with techniques for determining contingency and risk response plans, enable organizations to gain an objective view of project uncertainties.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What’s the difference between Project Management and Project Portfolio Management?</span>\r\nProject management is focused on an individual project, making sure it achieves its objectives and adheres to cost schedule baselines and performance standards. Project portfolio management, on the other hand, takes into consideration all the projects within a portfolio. The primary objective here is to select and maintain the appropriate mix of projects and to assess the costs, risks, and returns of running these projects in relation to how they match with organizational goals. Simply put, project management is about doing the project right, project portfolio management is about doing the right projects.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What Problems Can Project Portfolio Management Address?</span>\r\nProject Portfolio Management helps companies avoid project overload and work on projects that are not aligned with the ultimate vision. In other words, project portfolio management helps companies to work towards their goals without getting sidetracked by too many shiny pennies (ie. projects that appear to be enticing but actually drain their resources for little return).\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How does Project Portfolio Management help with new product development?</span>\r\nProject Portfolio Management supports companies in assessing, evaluating and ranking new product ideas before they become projects, so that time, money and human resources can be spent working on projects that support strategic objectives. This becomes increasingly important and relevant for companies that receive dozens if not hundreds of project proposals.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the key elements of successful portfolio management?</span>\r\nGoals, objectives, governance, approval processes and monitoring portfolio performance.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Project_and_Portfolio_Management.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1044,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/microsoft.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Analytics solution","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":2,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-system-center-virtual-machine-manager-analytics-solution","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"The Virtual Machine Manager Analytics solution comes with some built-in reports with preconfigured data visualizations so you can easily get started with frequently used queries, such as:\r\n\r\n<ul><li>Distribution of failed jobs across VMM instances to easily scope down the broken instances.</li><li>Distribution of failures over time to find sudden spikes, and to help with correlating the cause and failures.</li><li>Distribution of failed jobs and errors to help with identifying the most error-prone jobs and the cause.</li><li>Distribution of the job runtime across different runs to identify the sluggish and error-prone jobs.</li></ul>\r\nThese are just a few examples of the possibilities with Virtual Machine Manager Analytics. Because the solution is open-source, we are looking forward to contributions from the community for other data visualizations.\r\nFurther, the data from System Center Virtual Machine Manager can be combined with several features in OMS for compelling use cases, including:\r\n<ul><li>Bring together the jobs data from multiple VMM instances to a single OMS workspace. With a view, now you can keep an eye on job details for all your VMM instances together.</li><li>Configure your OMS alerts with VMM jobs information to raise notifications for completion or failure of VMM jobs, and inform the appropriate teams.</li><li>Correlate VMM job data with other events in OMS log analytics for faster troubleshooting of failures. You can easily identify the possible causes of sudden failures on a VMM machine by correlating the VMM job logs with information from solutions like Change Tracking and Hyper-V management solutions.</li><li>Use Azure Automation runbooks with VMM job data to help enable automatic remediation for known or frequent issues.</li></ul>","shortDescription":"Virtual Machine Manager Analytics is an open-source solution that can be included in your OMS workspace. This solution brings in the job data of your on-premises VMM instances to the log analytics in OMS. VMM admins can then use this versatile platform to construct queries for searching the relevant data and creating data visualizations.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":7,"sellingCount":14,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Analytics solution","keywords":"with, jobs, data, failures, Distribution, instances, Manager, from","description":"The Virtual Machine Manager Analytics solution comes with some built-in reports with preconfigured data visualizations so you can easily get started with frequently used queries, such as:\r\n\r\n<ul><li>Distribution of failed jobs across VMM instances to easily sc","og:title":"Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Analytics solution","og:description":"The Virtual Machine Manager Analytics solution comes with some built-in reports with preconfigured data visualizations so you can easily get started with frequently used queries, such as:\r\n\r\n<ul><li>Distribution of failed jobs across VMM instances to easily sc","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/microsoft.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1045,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":2,"title":"Virtual machine and cloud system software","alias":"virtual-machine-and-cloud-system-software","description":" A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based computer that exists within another computer’s operating system, often used for the purposes of testing, backing up data, or running SaaS applications. To fully grasp how VMs work, it’s important to first understand how computer software and hardware are typically integrated by an operating system.\r\n&quot;The cloud&quot; refers to servers that are accessed over the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centers all over the world. By using cloud computing, users and companies don't have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines.\r\nThe cloud enables users to access the same files and applications from almost any device, because the computing and storage take place on servers in a data center, instead of locally on the user device. This is why a user can log into their Instagram account on a new phone after their old phone breaks and still find their old account in place, with all their photos, videos, and conversation history. It works the same way with cloud email providers like Gmail or Microsoft Office 365, and with cloud storage providers like Dropbox or Google Drive.\r\nFor businesses, switching to cloud computing removes some IT costs and overhead: for instance, they no longer need to update and maintain their own servers, as the cloud vendor they are using will do that. This especially makes an impact on small businesses that may not have been able to afford their own internal infrastructure but can outsource their infrastructure needs affordably via the cloud. The cloud can also make it easier for companies to operate internationally because employees and customers can access the same files and applications from any location.\r\nSeveral cloud providers offer virtual machines to their customers. These virtual machines typically live on powerful servers that can act as a host to multiple VMs and can be used for a variety of reasons that wouldn’t be practical with a locally-hosted VM. These include:\r\n<ul><li>Running SaaS applications - Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS for short, is a cloud-based method of providing software to users. SaaS users subscribe to an application rather than purchasing it once and installing it. These applications are generally served to the user over the Internet. Often, it is virtual machines in the cloud that are doing the computation for SaaS applications as well as delivering them to users. If the cloud provider has a geographically distributed network edge, then the application will run closer to the user, resulting in faster performance.</li><li>Backing up data - Cloud-based VM services are very popular for backing up data because the data can be accessed from anywhere. Plus, cloud VMs provide better redundancy, require less maintenance, and generally scale better than physical data centers. (For example, it’s generally fairly easy to buy an extra gigabyte of storage space from a cloud VM provider, but much more difficult to build a new local data server for that extra gigabyte of data.)</li><li>Hosting services like email and access management - Hosting these services on cloud VMs is generally faster and more cost-effective, and helps minimize maintenance and offload security concerns as well.</li></ul>","materialsDescription":"What is an operating system?\r\nTraditional computers are built out of physical hardware, including hard disk drives, processor chips, RAM, etc. In order to utilize this hardware, computers rely on a type of software known as an operating system (OS). Some common examples of OSes are Mac OSX, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Android.\r\nThe OS is what manages the computer’s hardware in ways that are useful to the user. For example, if the user wants to access the Internet, the OS directs the network interface card to make the connection. If the user wants to download a file, the OS will partition space on the hard drive for that file. The OS also runs and manages other pieces of software. For example, it can run a web browser and provide the browser with enough random access memory (RAM) to operate smoothly. Typically, operating systems exist within a physical computer at a one-to-one ratio; for each machine, there is a single OS managing its physical resources.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Can you have two or more operating systems on one computer?</span>\r\nSome users want to be able to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on one computer, either for testing or one of the other reasons listed in the section below. This can be achieved through a process called virtualization. In virtualization, a piece of software behaves as if it were an independent computer. This piece of software is called a virtual machine, also known as a ‘guest’ computer. (The computer on which the VM is running is called the ‘host’.) The guest has an OS as well as its own virtual hardware.\r\n‘Virtual hardware’ may sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but it works by mapping to real hardware on the host computer. For example, the VM’s ‘hard drive’ is really just a file on the host computer’s hard drive. When the VM wants to save a new file, it actually has to communicate with the host OS, which will write this file to the host hard drive. Because virtual hardware must perform this added step of negotiating with the host to access hardware resources, virtual machines can’t run quite as fast as their host computers.\r\nWith virtualization, one computer can run two or more operating systems. The number of VMs that can run on one host is limited only by the host’s available resources. The user can run the OS of a VM in a window like any other program, or they can run it in fullscreen so that it looks and feels like a genuine host OS.\r\n <span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What are virtual machines used for?</span>\r\nSome of the most popular reasons people run virtual machines include:\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Testing</span> - Oftentimes software developers want to be able to test their applications in different environments. They can use virtual machines to run their applications in various OSes on one computer. This is simpler and more cost-effective than having to test on several different physical machines.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Running software designed for other OSes</span> - Although certain software applications are only available for a single platform, a VM can run software designed for a different OS. For example, a Mac user who wants to run software designed for Windows can run a Windows VM on their Mac host.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Running outdated software</span> - Some pieces of older software can’t be run in modern OSes. Users who want to run these applications can run an old OS on a virtual machine.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Virtual_machine_and_cloud_system_software.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1575,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Dynamics_365.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Dynamics 365","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":1,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-dynamics-365","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Sales</span></p>\r\n<p>Empower sellers with insights to personalize relationships, predict customer needs, and increase sales.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Retail</span></p>\r\n<p>Create personalized shopping experiences that unify digital, in-store, and back office operations.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Customer Service</span></p>\r\n<p>Exceed customer expectations across self and assisted support with empowered agents that deliver personalized experiences.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Field Service</span></p>\r\n<p>Serve customers better through proactive maintenance, predictive scheduling, and first-time fix.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation</span></p>\r\n<p>Deliver customer projects on-time, within budget, and become a trusted advisor.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations</span></p>\r\n<p>Modernize your business operations across finance, manufacturing, and supply chain to drive new growth.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Talent</span></p>\r\n<p>Attract the right people and seamlessly onboard, engage, and grow your talent.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Adobe Marketing Cloud</span></p>\r\n<p>Deliver personalized experiences throughout your marketing and sales engagements at scale with Dynamics 365 and Adobe.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Marketing</span></p>\r\n<p>Increase demand by automating tasks from multi-channel campaigns to events with an application built on the same platform as Dynamics 365 for Sales.</p>\r\n","shortDescription":"Microsoft Dynamics 365 is unified CRM and ERP capabilities — modern, intelligent cloud applications that help move your business forward.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":19,"sellingCount":0,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Dynamics 365","keywords":"","description":"\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Sales</span></p>\r\n<p>Empower sellers with insights to personalize relationships, predict customer needs, and increase sales.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Retail</span></p>\r\n<p>","og:title":"Microsoft Dynamics 365","og:description":"\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Sales</span></p>\r\n<p>Empower sellers with insights to personalize relationships, predict customer needs, and increase sales.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Dynamics 365 for Retail</span></p>\r\n<p>","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Dynamics_365.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1576,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":3,"title":"CRM"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":71,"title":"CRM - Customer Relationship Management","alias":"crm-customer-relationship-management","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Customer service</span> is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees &quot;who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest&quot;. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback.\r\nA <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">customer support</span> is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. These services even may be done at customer's side where he/she uses the product or service. In this case it is called &quot;at home customer services&quot; or &quot;at home customer support.&quot;\r\nRegarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed technical support. \r\nCustomer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means, such as kiosks, Internet sites, and apps.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM </span>(Customer Relationship Management) is an approach to manage a company's interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.\r\nOne important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.\r\nCRM helps users focus on their organization’s relationships with individual people including customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers.\r\nWhen people talk about customer relationship management system, they might mean any of three things: \r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as Technology</span>: This is a technology product, often in the cloud, that teams use to record, report and analyse interactions between the company and users. This is also called a CRM system or solution.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Strategy</span>: This is a business’ philosophy about how relationships with customers and potential customers should be managed.&nbsp; </li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">CRM as a Process</span>: Think of this as a system a business adopts to nurture and manage those relationships.</li></ul>\r\n<br /><br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Why is CRM important?</span></h1>\r\nCRM management system enables a business to deepen its relationships with customers, service users, colleagues, partners and suppliers.\r\nForging good relationships and keeping track of prospects and customers is crucial for customer acquisition and retention, which is at the heart of a CRM’s function. You can see everything in one place — a simple, customizable dashboard that can tell you a customer’s previous history with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.\r\nGartner predicts that by 2021, CRM technology will be the single largest revenue area of spending in enterprise software. If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. For forward-thinking businesses, CRM is the framework for that strategy.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the benefits of CRM?</span></h1>\r\nBy collecting and organising data about customer interactions, making it accessible and actionable for all, and facilitating analysis of that data, CRM offers many benefits and advantages.<br />The benefits and advantages of CRM include:\r\n<ul><li>Enhanced contact management</li><li>Cross-team collaboration</li><li>Heightened productivity</li><li>Empowered sales management</li><li>Accurate sales forecasting</li><li>Reliable reporting</li><li>Improved sales metrics</li><li>Increased customer satisfaction and retention</li><li>Boosted marketing ROI</li><li>Enriched products and services</li></ul>\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the key features of most popular CRM software programs?</span></h1>\r\nWhile many CRM solutions differ in their specific value propositions — depending on your business size, priority function, or industry type — they usually share some core features. These, in fact, are the foundation of any top CRM software, without which you might end up using an inferior app or an over-rated address book. So, let’s discuss the key features you need to look for when figuring out the best CRM software for your business.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Contact management</span>. The best CRM solutions aren’t just an address book that only organizes contact details. It manages customer data in a centralized place and gives you a 360-degree view of your customers. You should be able to organize customers’ personal information, demographics, interactions, and transactions in ways that are meaningful to your goals or processes. Moreover, a good contact management feature lets you personalize your outreach campaign. By collecting personal, social, and purchase data, it will help you to segment target audience groups in different ways.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reporting and dashboards</span>. These features of customer relationship management allow you to use analytics to interpret customer data. Reporting is very useful if you want to consolidate disparate data and churn out insights in different visualizations. This lets you make better decisions or proactively deal with market trends and customer behavioral patterns. The more visual widgets a CRM software has, the better you can present reports. Furthermore, a best customer relationship management software will generate real-time data, making reporting more accurate and timely. Reporting also keeps you tab on sales opportunities like upsell, resell, and cross-sell, especially when integrated with e-commerce platforms.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lead management</span>. These features let you manage leads all the way to win-loss stage. They pave a clear path to conversion, so you can quickly assess how the business is performing. One of the main three legs that comprises the best client relationship management software (the other two being contact management and reporting), lead management unburdens the sales team from follow-ups, tracking, and repetitive tasks.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Deals and tasks</span>. Deals and tasks are closely associated with leads. Deals are leads at the negotiation stage, so it’s critical to keep a close eye on their associated tasks for a higher chance of conversion.<br />CRM software tools should also let you track both deals and tasks in their respective windows or across the sales stages. Whether you’re viewing a contact or analyzing the sales pipeline, you should be able to immediately check the deal’s tasks and details. Deals and tasks should also have user permissions to protect leaks of sensitive data. Similarly, alerts are critical to tasks so deadlines are met. Notifications are usually sent via email or prominently displayed on the user’s dashboard.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Campaign management</span>. Solid CRM software will integrate this feature to enable marketing processes from outreach concept to A/B testing to deployment and to post analysis. This will allow you to sort campaigns to target segments in your contacts and define deployment strategies. You will also be able to define metrics for various channels, then plow back the insights generated by post-campaign analytics into planning more campaigns.<br />Recurring outreach efforts can also be automated. For instance, you can set to instantly appropriate content to contacts based on their interest or send tiered autoresponders based on campaign feedback.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Email management</span>. By integrating with popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, CRM solutions can capture email messages and sort important details that can be saved in contacts or synced with leads. They can also track activities like opened emails, forwarded emails, clicked links, and downloaded files. Emails can also be qualified for prospecting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Social media management. </span>Popular CRM systems feature an integrated social media management where you can view different social media pages from the CRM’s interface. This is a convenient way to post, reply on, and manage all your pages. Likewise, this feature gives you a better perspective on how customers are interacting with your brand. A glean of their likes and dislikes, interests, shares, and public conversations helps you to assess customer biases and preferences. Customers are also increasingly using social media to contact companies; hence, a good CRM should alert you for brand mentions.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Mobile access</span>. With more users accessing apps via mobile devices, many vendors have been prioritizing mobile-first platforms. Emergence Capital Partners study found over 300 mobile-first apps so far and CRM is definitely one their targets. Many CRM solutions have both Android and iOS apps. Mobile access works in two ways to be highly appreciated: accessing data and inputting data while on location. Field sales with the latest sales information on hand may be able to interest prospects better. Conversely, sales reps can quickly update deals across the pipeline even as they come off a client meeting.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/CRM_-_Customer_Relationship_Management.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":826,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Skype_novoe_pokolenie.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"The next generation of Skype","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":1,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"the-next-generation-of-skype","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"The next generation of Skype will be available on devices with Android and iOS in June 2017. Versions for Windows and Mac will be released by the end of 2017.\r\nNew Skype made a group of chat more personalized with color settings, add-ons and bots. With the \"Search\" panel in the spotlight. New Skype feature: Highlights. The main features allow you to create a highlight of your day with photos and videos so you can share everyday moments.&nbsp;","shortDescription":"Skype is software for making individual and group voice and free video calls, sending messages and files to other Skype users.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":8,"sellingCount":4,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"The next generation of Skype","keywords":"Skype, with, 2017, generation, next, will, features, allow","description":"The next generation of Skype will be available on devices with Android and iOS in June 2017. Versions for Windows and Mac will be released by the end of 2017.\r\nNew Skype made a group of chat more personalized with color settings, add-ons and bots. With the \"Se","og:title":"The next generation of Skype","og:description":"The next generation of Skype will be available on devices with Android and iOS in June 2017. Versions for Windows and Mac will be released by the end of 2017.\r\nNew Skype made a group of chat more personalized with color settings, add-ons and bots. With the \"Se","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Skype_novoe_pokolenie.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":827,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":56,"title":"Web Conferencing Applications"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":367,"title":"Web Conferencing Applications","alias":"web-conferencing-applications","description":" Web conferencing is the common name for technology and tools for online meetings and real-time collaboration. Web conferencing allows you to conduct online presentations, collaborate on documents and applications, view websites, videos, images.\r\nWeb conferences, as a rule, are Internet services that require the installation of a client program on each participant’s computer. Some services also provide access to a web conference via a browser using flash, java or a special plug-in.\r\nServices for web conferencing can include features and tools such as screen sharing (screen sharing or individual applications), whiteboard (interactive whiteboard), the ability to show web presentations, co-browsing (the ability to synchronously browse web pages), tools for annotations, monitoring the presence of participants, text chat, integrated VoIP communication, video communication, the ability to change the leader, the ability to give control over the mouse and keyboard, meeting moderation tools, feedback collection tools (on example, polls), tools for scheduling and inviting participants, the ability to record the progress of a web conference.\r\nOften, web conferencing is used with Internet services for audio and video calls (for example, Skype) or they provide conference calling via a regular telephone.","materialsDescription":" What is the first thing that strikes you when we look at businessmen who are trying to establish communication with each other online? All of them require: “Give more opportunities for web conferencing!”. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the WebRTC technology is gaining the favor of an increasing number of small and medium-sized businesses.\r\nA recent study conducted by Software Advice showed that more than half of employees in small businesses prefer web conferences, noting their efficiency and usability. The advantages are especially noticeable in comparison with communications via telephone or the use of special applications. However, the benefits of web conferencing do not end there - according to the study, they not only increase the speed and quality of online meetings, but also provide a lot of opportunities for collaboration. In addition, and this is obvious, they reduce travel costs.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Speed ​​and quality come first.</span>\r\nIt is worth noting that now small and medium businesses are almost gone from the use of communication hardware and use desktop computers and mobile devices. Despite the fact that audio and video conferences are still very popular (they are used by 45% and 50% of users, respectively), web conferences are actively replacing them. Judge for yourself - according to statistics, every third user selects them as a means of communication after the first experience of use.\r\nThe main reason for such a rapid growth in popularity is the speed and quality that web conferencing users provide. According to respondents, the main advantage of web conferences is the ability to organize a meeting much faster than before. Now there is no need to spend time on installing special applications like Skype or similar - any communication systems using any third-party programs are a thing of the past. Also worth noting is the ability to connect to the web conference literally in one click.\r\nMore than 40% of the people surveyed showed dissatisfaction with the tedious procedure of entering authorization data, noting the simplicity and convenience of connecting to the WebRTC web conference. All you need is access to the Internet!\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">We work in a team</span>\r\nIt is no secret that the use of web conferencing significantly reduces the company's travel expenses. After all, booking tickets, searching for hotels and meeting places can result in a decent amount, which will seriously hurt the company's income. Using web conferences, you get the opportunity to arrange business meetings, even with overseas partners, without leaving your office. But that's not all! Web conferencing offers a range of tools to overcome language barriers. For example, in the field of healthcare, videoconferencing has been used to establish consultations between doctors and patients from completely different countries. With the help of online translators and other special features of web conferences, people can get the necessary help from qualified foreign specialists.\r\nDo not forget that web conferencing is not only a convenient way to hold a video call. You can arrange trainings for your team using file transfer and document display functions, as well as conduct job interviews without wasting time.\r\nIt is interesting to note that small and medium-sized businesses share their product samples with prospective clients using web conferences, turning them into a powerful marketing tool. This brings the business to a fundamentally new level, allowing the company to take a leading position in its industry!","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Web_Conferencing_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":5957,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Remote_Desktop.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Remote Desktop","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-remote-desktop","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)</span> is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer over a network connection. The user employs RDP client software for this purpose, while the other computer must run RDP server software.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Features:</span></p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Access remote PCs running Windows Professional or Enterprise and Windows Server</li>\r\n<li>Access remote resources published by your IT admin</li>\r\n<li>Connect remotely through a Remote Desktop Gateway</li>\r\n<li>Rich multi-touch experience supporting Windows gestures</li>\r\n<li>Secure connection to your data and applications</li>\r\n<li>Simple management of your connections from the connection centre</li>\r\n<li>High-quality video and audio streaming</li>\r\n<li>Connect from your phone or use Continuum for Phone</li>\r\n</ul>","shortDescription":"Use the Microsoft Remote Desktop app to connect to a remote PC or virtual apps and desktops made available by your admin. The app helps you be productive no matter where you are.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":13,"sellingCount":7,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Remote Desktop","keywords":"","description":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)</span> is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer over a network connection. The user employs RDP client sof","og:title":"Microsoft Remote Desktop","og:description":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)</span> is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer over a network connection. The user employs RDP client sof","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Remote_Desktop.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":5958,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":136,"title":"Remote Desktop Software"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":878,"title":"Remote Desktop Software","alias":"remote-desktop-software","description":"The term remote desktop refers to a software or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely on one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a server), while being displayed on a separate client device. Remote desktop applications have varying features. Some allow attaching to an existing user's session (i.e., a running desktop) and &quot;remote controlling&quot;, either displaying the remote control session or blanking the screen. Taking over a desktop remotely is a form of remote administration.\r\nRemote access can also be explained as remote control of a computer by using another device connected via the Internet or another network. This is widely used by many computer manufacturers and large businesses' help desks for technical troubleshooting of their customers' problems.\r\nRemote desktop software captures the mouse and keyboard inputs from the local computer (client) and sends them to the remote computer (server). The remote computer in turn sends the display commands to the local computer. When applications with many graphics including video or 3D models need to be controlled remotely, a remote workstation software that sends the pixels rather than the display commands must be used to provide a smooth, like-local experience. HP Remote Graphics Software is one such remote workstation solution.\r\nRemote desktop sharing is accomplished through a common client/server model. The client, or VNC viewer, is installed on a local computer and then connects via a network to a server component, which is installed on the remote computer. In a typical VNC session, all keystrokes and mouse clicks are registered as if the client were actually performing tasks on the end-user machine.\r\nThe target computer in a remote desktop scenario is still able to access all of its core functions. Many of these core functions, including the main clipboard, can be shared between the target computer and remote desktop client.\r\nA main use of remote desktop software is remote administration and remote implementation. This need arises when software buyers are far away from their software vendor. Most remote access software can be used for &quot;headless computers&quot;: instead of each computer having its own monitor, keyboard and mouse or using a KVM switch, one computer can have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and remote control software, and control many headless computers. The duplicate desktop mode is useful for user support and education. Remote control software combined with telephone communication can be nearly as helpful for novice computer-users as if the support staff were actually there.\r\nSince the advent of cloud computing, remote desktop software can be housed on USB hardware devices, allowing users to connect the device to any PC connected to their network or the Internet and recreate their desktop via a connection to the cloud. This model avoids one problem with remote desktop software, which requires the local computer to be switched on at the time when the user wishes to access it remotely. (It is possible with a router with C2S VPN support, and Wake on LAN equipment, to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection with the router over the Internet, if not connected to the LAN, switch on a computer connected to the router, then connect to it.)\r\nRemote desktop products are available in three models: hosted service, software, and appliance.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is Remote Desktop Software?</span>\r\nRemote Desktop Software is a tool that uses Virtual Network Computing (VNC) to allow one computer to remotely access and control another computer over an internet/network connection.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How does Remote Desktop Software Work?</span>\r\nRemote Desktop Software uses a client-server model to connect to and control a computer remotely:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Server:</span> The server is a remote device that is being controlled.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Client:</span> The client is the local device used to control the server.</li></ul>\r\nThe server's UI is displayed on the client monitor which enables the client to control the server via keyboard and mouse inputs. These inputs are executed in the server's environment, and the UI is updated in the client's display accordingly.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Why is Remote Desktop Software used?</span>\r\nRemote desktop software is a tool that allows you to use the remote desktop feature seamlessly. It is used mainly for the following purposes:\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Troubleshooting:</span> IT Admins are on call 24/7 and a remote access tool helps them save time and effort by allowing them to fix issues remotely within a few minutes.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Help Desk:</span> Help Desk technicians' primary responsibility is to resolve any issues that customers might face while using their product, and this more often than not involves taking remote control of their customers' devices. Work from home: People that work from home often need to remotely connect to and use their corporate devices for various purposes.</li><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Personal use:</span> You can remotely access a computer at your home when you're on the move, to access files or personal documents you may require urgently.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/remote.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":2144,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Advanced_Threat_Analytics.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-advanced-threat-analytics","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"<p>Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) is an on-premises platform that helps protect your enterprise from multiple types of advanced targeted cyber attacks and insider threats by using information from multiple data-sources in your network to learn the behavior of users and other entities in the organization and build a behavioral profile about them and by leveraging ATA's proprietary network parsing engine to capture and parse network traffic of multiple protocols.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Get peace of mind all day with advanced threat protection</span></p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Detect threats fast with behavioral analytics</span></p>\r\n<p>No need to create rules, fine-tune, or monitor a flood of security reports with self-learning and advanced, ready-to-analyze intelligence.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Adapt as fast as your attackers</span></p>\r\n<p>Rely on continually updated learning that adapts to the changing nature of your users and business.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Focus on only important events</span></p>\r\n<p>Review the attack timeline for a clear and convenient view of suspicious activity or persistent threats.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reduce false positive fatigue</span></p>\r\n<p>Receive alerts only after suspicious activities are contextually aggregated and verified.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Prioritize and plan for next steps</span></p>\r\n<p>Get recommendations for investigation and remediation of each suspicious activity.</p>","shortDescription":"ATA is an on-premises platform to help you protect your enterprise from advanced targeted attacks by automatically\r\nanalyzing, learning, and identifying normal and abnormal entity behavior.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":1,"sellingCount":20,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics","keywords":"","description":"<p>Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) is an on-premises platform that helps protect your enterprise from multiple types of advanced targeted cyber attacks and insider threats by using information from multiple data-sources in your network to learn the behavior of","og:title":"Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics","og:description":"<p>Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) is an on-premises platform that helps protect your enterprise from multiple types of advanced targeted cyber attacks and insider threats by using information from multiple data-sources in your network to learn the behavior of","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Advanced_Threat_Analytics.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":2145,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":30,"title":"UEBA - User and Entity Behavior Analytics"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":465,"title":"UEBA - User and Entity Behavior Analytics","alias":"ueba-user-and-entity-behavior-analytics","description":"Developments in UBA technology led Gartner to evolve the category to user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA). In September 2015, Gartner published the Market Guide for User and Entity Analytics by Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Avivah Litan, that provided a thorough definition and explanation. UEBA was referred to in earlier Gartner reports but not in much depth. Expanding the definition from UBA includes devices, applications, servers, data, or anything with an IP address. It moves beyond the fraud-oriented UBA focus to a broader one encompassing &quot;malicious and abusive behavior that otherwise went unnoticed by existing security monitoring systems, such as SIEM and DLP.&quot; The addition of &quot;entity&quot; reflects that devices may play a role in a network attack and may also be valuable in uncovering attack activity. &quot;When end users have been compromised, malware can lay dormant and go undetected for months. Rather than trying to find where the outsider entered, UEBAs allow for quicker detection by using algorithms to detect insider threats.&quot;\r\nParticularly in the computer security market, there are many vendors for UEBA applications. They can be &quot;differentiated by whether they are designed to monitor on-premises or cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) applications; the methods in which they obtain the source data; the type of analytics they use (i.e., packaged analytics, user-driven or vendor-written), and the service delivery method (i.e., on-premises or a cloud-based).&quot; According to the 2015 market guide released by Gartner, &quot;the UEBA market grew substantially in 2015; UEBA vendors grew their customer base, market consolidation began, and Gartner client interest in UEBA and security analytics increased.&quot; The report further projected, &quot;Over the next three years, leading UEBA platforms will become preferred systems for security operations and investigations at some of the organizations they serve. It will be—and in some cases already is—much easier to discover some security events and analyze individual offenders in UEBA than it is in many legacy security monitoring systems.&quot;","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is UEBA?</span>\r\nHackers can break into firewalls, send you e-mails with malicious and infected attachments, or even bribe an employee to gain access into your firewalls. Old tools and systems are quickly becoming obsolete, and there are several ways to get past them.\r\nUser and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) give you more comprehensive way of making sure that your organization has top-notch IT security, while also helping you detect users and entities that might compromise your entire system.\r\nUEBA is a type of cybersecurity process that takes note of the normal conduct of users. In turn, they detect any anomalous behavior or instances when there are deviations from these “normal” patterns. For example, if a particular user regularly downloads 10 MB of files every day but suddenly downloads gigabytes of files, the system would be able to detect this anomaly and alert them immediately.\r\nUEBA uses machine learning, algorithms, and statistical analyses to know when there is a deviation from established patterns, showing which of these anomalies could result in, potentially, a real threat. UEBA can also aggregate the data you have in your reports and logs, as well as analyze the file, flow, and packet information.\r\nIn UEBA, you do not track security events or monitor devices; instead, you track all the users and entities in your system. As such, UEBA focuses on insider threats, such as employees who have gone rogue, employees who have already been compromised, and people who already have access to your system and then carry out targeted attacks and fraud attempts, as well as servers, applications, and devices that are working within your system.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the benefits of UEBA?</span>\r\nIt is the unfortunate truth that today's cybersecurity tools are fast becoming obsolete, and more skilled hackers and cyber attackers are now able to bypass the perimeter defenses that are used by most companies. In the old days, you were secure if you had web gateways, firewalls, and intrusion prevention tools in place. This is no longer the case in today’s complex threat landscape, and it’s especially true for bigger corporations that are proven to have very porous IT perimeters that are also very difficult to manage and oversee.\r\nThe bottom line? Preventive measures are no longer enough. Your firewalls are not going to be 100% foolproof, and hackers and attackers will get into your system at one point or another. This is why detection is equally important: when hackers do successfully get into your system, you should be able to detect their presence quickly in order to minimize the damage.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">How Does UEBA Work?</span>\r\nThe premise of UEBA is actually very simple. You can easily steal an employee’s user name and password, but it is much harder to mimic the person’s normal behavior once inside the network.\r\nFor example, let’s say you steal Jane Doe’s password and user name. You would still not be able to act precisely like Jane Doe once in the system unless given extensive research and preparation. Therefore, when Jane Doe’s user name is logged in to the system, and her behavior is different than that of typical Jane Doe, that is when UEBA alerts start to sound.\r\nAnother relatable analogy would be if your credit card was stolen. A thief can pickpocket your wallet and go to a high-end shop and start spending thousands of dollars using your credit card. If your spending pattern on that card is different from the thief’s, the company’s fraud detection department will often recognize the abnormal spending and block suspicious purchases, issuing an alert to you or asking you to verify the authenticity of a transaction.\r\nAs such, UEBA is a very important component of IT security, allowing you to:\r\n1. Detect insider threats. It is not too far-fetched to imagine that an employee, or perhaps a group of employees, could go rogue, stealing data and information by using their own access. UEBA can help you detect data breaches, sabotage, privilege abuse and policy violations made by your own staff.\r\n2. Detect compromised accounts. Sometimes, user accounts are compromised. It could be that the user unwittingly installed malware on his or her machine, or sometimes a legitimate account is spoofed. UEBA can help you weed out spoofed and compromised users before they can do real harm.\r\n3. Detect brute-force attacks. Hackers sometimes target your cloud-based entities as well as third-party authentication systems. With UEBA, you are able to detect brute-force attempts, allowing you to block access to these entities.\r\n4. Detect changes in permissions and the creation of super users. Some attacks involve the use of super users. UEBA allows you to detect when super users are created, or if there are accounts that were granted unnecessary permissions.\r\n5. Detect breach of protected data. If you have protected data, it is not enough to just keep it secure. You should know when a user accesses this data when he or she does not have any legitimate business reason to access it.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_User_and_Entity_Behavior_Analytics.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":5746,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/microsoft.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Teams","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-teams","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"Invite everyone you work with to chat, meet, call, and collaborate all in one place, no matter where you are.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Chat from anywhere</span>\r\nShare your opinion, and your personality. Send gifs, stickers, and emojis in a group chat or in one-to-one messages.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Meet from anywhere</span>\r\nInstantly go from group chat to video conference with the touch of a button. Teams of 10 or 10,000 can meet in one place, no matter how many places they’re in.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Call from anywhere</span>\r\nNever yell “who just joined?!” ever again. Use Teams calling, Phone System, Calling Plan, or Direct Routing to take the stress out of conference calls.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Collaborate from anywhere</span>\r\nNever do that frantic, searching-for-files thing ever again. In Teams you can access, share, and edit Word docs, PowerPoint, and Excel files in real time.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Features:</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Meetings.</span> Meet with teams of 10 or 10,000. Host audio, video, and web conferences with anyone inside or outside your organization or go big with live events.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Calling.</span> Make clear and reliable calls. Combine Teams with Phone System, Calling Plan, and Direct Routing for business calling on a global scale.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Devices.</span> Be seen and heard wherever work takes you. Use Teams devices for more intelligent meeting and calling experiences.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Apps and workflows.</span> Make Teams work for you. Add your favorite Microsoft and third-party services or build custom apps for your unique business needs.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Firstline Workers.</span> Maximize the impact of your Firstline Workforce. Empower all workers with new scheduling and shift management features.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Healthcare.</span> Provide the best care possible with help from Microsoft Teams. Collaborate and coordinate in a simple, secure way with chat, video, voice, and healthcare tools all in one hub.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Security and compliance.</span> Microsoft Teams is designed with IT in mind, providing management capabilities for collaboration, meetings, callings, and apps in one place with simple administration.","shortDescription":"Microsoft Teams! Work remotely without feeling remote.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":6,"sellingCount":11,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Teams","keywords":"","description":"Invite everyone you work with to chat, meet, call, and collaborate all in one place, no matter where you are.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Chat from anywhere</span>\r\nShare your opinion, and your personality. Send gifs, stickers, and emojis in a group chat","og:title":"Microsoft Teams","og:description":"Invite everyone you work with to chat, meet, call, and collaborate all in one place, no matter where you are.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Chat from anywhere</span>\r\nShare your opinion, and your personality. Send gifs, stickers, and emojis in a group chat","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/microsoft.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":5747,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[{"id":109,"title":"Instant messaging"}],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":495,"title":"Instant Communications Applications","alias":"instant-communications-applications","description":" Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission over the Internet. A LAN messenger operates in a similar way over a local area network. Short messages are typically transmitted between two parties, when each user chooses to complete a thought and select &quot;send&quot;. Some IM applications can use push technology to provide real-time text, which transmits messages character by character, as they are composed. More advanced instant messaging can add file transfer, clickable hyperlinks, Voice over IP, or video chat.\r\nNon-IM types of chat include multicast transmission, usually referred to as &quot;chat rooms&quot;, where participants might be anonymous or might be previously known to each other (for example collaborators on a project that is using chat to facilitate communication). Instant messaging systems tend to facilitate connections between specified known users (often using a contact list also known as a &quot;buddy list&quot; or &quot;friend list&quot;). Depending on the IM protocol, the technical architecture can be peer-to-peer (direct point-to-point transmission) or client-server (an Instant message service center retransmits messages from the sender to the communication device).\r\nBy 2010, instant messaging over the Web was already in sharp decline, in favor of messaging features on social networks. The most popular IM platforms, such as AIM, closed in 2017, and Windows Live Messenger was merged into Skype. Today, most instant messaging takes place on messaging apps which by 2014 had more users than social networks.\r\nInstant messaging is a set of communication technologies used for text-based communication between two or more participants over the Internet or other types of networks. IM–chat happens in real-time. Of importance is that online chat and instant messaging differ from other technologies such as email due to the perceived quasi-synchrony of the communications by the users. Some systems permit messages to be sent to users not then 'logged on' (offline messages), thus removing some differences between IM and email (often done by sending the message to the associated email account).\r\nIM allows effective and efficient communication, allowing immediate receipt of acknowledgment or reply. However IM is basically not necessarily supported by transaction control. In many cases, instant messaging includes added features which can make it even more popular. For example, users may see each other via webcams, or talk directly for free over the Internet using a microphone and headphones or loudspeakers. Many applications allow file transfers, although they are usually limited in the permissible file-size.\r\nIt is usually possible to save a text conversation for later reference. Instant messages are often logged in a local message history, making it similar to the persistent nature of emails. ","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is instant messaging used for?</span>\r\nInstant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission over the Internet. A LAN messenger operates in a similar way over a local area network. Short messages are typically transmitted between two parties when each user chooses to complete a thought and select &quot;send&quot;.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What kind of protocols are used in instant messaging applications?</span>\r\nTwo of the main protocols used for instant messaging in the market today are WebSocket and XMPP.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is the difference between texting and instant messaging?</span>\r\nText messaging, or simply &quot;texting,&quot; is a cellular phone service typically limited to 160 characters, whereas instant messaging is usually a computer session with longer message size. Both text messaging and instant messaging are often called just plain &quot;messaging.&quot;\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the key features of instant messaging?</span>\r\nThe exchange of text has long been the chief function of instant messaging, but it is now one feature of many. The ability to insert images and emojis into messages is now standard in many clients, as are file transfers. Facebook Messenger even enables users to send money via IM.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Instant_Communications_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":634,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_SQL_Server.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft SQL Server","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":4,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-sql-server","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which may run either on the same computer or on another computer across a network (including the Internet).\r\nMicrosoft markets at least a dozen different editions of Microsoft SQL Server, aimed at different audiences and for workloads ranging from small single-machine applications to large Internet-facing applications with many concurrent users.","shortDescription":"Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":3,"sellingCount":4,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft SQL Server","keywords":"Microsoft, computer, applications, different, with, Server, software, editions","description":"As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which may run either on the same computer or on another computer across a network (including the Internet).\r\nMic","og:title":"Microsoft SQL Server","og:description":"As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which may run either on the same computer or on another computer across a network (including the Internet).\r\nMic","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_SQL_Server.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":635,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":239,"title":"Relational Database Management Systems","alias":"relational-database-management-systems","description":" Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a DBMS designed specifically for relational databases. Therefore, RDBMSes are a subset of DBMSes.\r\nA relational database refers to a database that stores data in a structured format, using rows and columns. This makes it easy to locate and access specific values within the database. It is &quot;relational&quot; because the values within each table are related to each other. Tables may also be related to other tables. The relational structure makes it possible to run queries across multiple tables at once.\r\nWhile a relational database describes the type of database an RDMBS manages, the RDBMS refers to the database program itself. It is the software that executes queries on the data, including adding, updating, and searching for values.\r\nAn RDBMS may also provide a visual representation of the data. For example, it may display data in a tables like a spreadsheet, allowing you to view and even edit individual values in the table. Some relational database softwareallow you to create forms that can streamline entering, editing, and deleting data.\r\nMost well known DBMS applications fall into the RDBMS category. Examples include Oracle Database, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2. Some of these programs support non-relational databases, but they are primarily used for relational database management.\r\nExamples of non-relational databases include Apache HBase, IBM Domino, and Oracle NoSQL Database. These type of databases are managed by other DMBS programs that support NoSQL, which do not fall into the RDBMS category.\r\nElements of the relational DBMS that overarch the basic relational database are so intrinsic to operations that it is hard to dissociate the two in practice.\r\nThe most basic features of RDBMS are related to create, read, update and delete operations, collectively known as CRUD. They form the foundation of a well-organized system that promotes consistent treatment of data.\r\nThe RDBMS typically provides data dictionaries and metadata collections useful in data handling. These programmatically support well-defined data structures and relationships. Data storage management is a common capability of the RDBMS, and this has come to be defined by data objects that range from binary large object (blob) strings to stored procedures. Data objects like this extend the scope of basic relational database operations and can be handled in a variety of ways in different RDBMSes.\r\nThe most common means of data access for the RDBMS is via SQL. Its main language components comprise data manipulation language (DML) and data definition language (DDL) statements. Extensions are available for development efforts that pair SQL use with common programming languages, such as COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language), Java and .NET.\r\nRDBMSes use complex algorithms that support multiple concurrent user access to the database, while maintaining data integrity. Security management, which enforces policy-based access, is yet another overlay service that the RDBMS provides for the basic database as it is used in enterprise settings.\r\nRDBMSes support the work of database administrators (DBAs) who must manage and monitor database activity. Utilities help automate data loading and database backup. RDBMS systems manage log files that track system performance based on selected operational parameters. This enables measurement of database usage, capacity and performance, particularly query performance. RDBMSes provide graphical interfaces that help DBAs visualize database activity.\r\nRelational database management systems are central to key applications, such as banking ledgers, travel reservation systems and online retailing. As RDBMSes have matured, they have achieved increasingly higher levels of query optimization, and they have become key parts of reporting, analytics and data warehousing applications for businesses as well. \r\nRDBMSes are intrinsic to operations of a variety of enterprise applications and are at the center of most master data management (MDM) systems.<br /><br />","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">What are the advantages of a Relational Database Management System?</span></h1>\r\nA Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a software system that provides access to a relational database. The software system is a collection of software applications that can be used to create, maintain, manage and use the database. A &quot;relational database&quot; is a database structured on the &quot;relational&quot; model. Data are stored and presented in a tabular format, organized in rows and columns with one record per row.\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Data Structure.</span> The table format is simple and easy for database users to understand and use. Relational database management software provide data access using a natural structure and organization of the data. Database queries can search any column for matching entries.</li></ul>\r\n<dl></dl>\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Multi-User Access.</span> RDBMS database program allow multiple database users to access a database simultaneously. Built-in locking and transactions management functionality allow users to access data as it is being changed, prevents collisions between two users updating the data, and keeps users from accessing partially updated records.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Privileges. </span>Authorization and privilege control features in an RDBMS allow the database administrator to restrict access to authorized users, and grant privileges to individual users based on the types of database tasks they need to perform. Authorization can be defined based on the remote client IP address in combination with user authorization, restricting access to specific external computer systems.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Network Access.</span> RDBMSs provide access to the database through a server daemon, a specialized software program that listens for requests on a network, and allows database clients to connect to and use the database. Users do not need to be able to log in to the physical computer system to use the database, providing convenience for the users and a layer of security for the database. Network access allows developers to build desktop tools and Web applications to interact with databases.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Speed.</span> The relational database model is not the fastest data structure. RDBMS software advantages, such as simplicity, make the slower speed a fair trade-off. Optimizations built into an RDBMS, and the design of the databases, enhance performance, allowing RDBMSs to perform more than fast enough for most applications and data sets. Improvements in technology, increasing processor speeds and decreasing memory and storage costs allow systems administrators to build incredibly fast systems that can overcome any database performance shortcomings.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Maintenance. </span>RDBMSs feature maintenance utilities that provide database administrators with tools to easily maintain, test, repair and back up the databases housed in the system. Many of the functions can be automated using built-in automation in the RDBMS, or automation tools available on the operating system.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Language.</span> RDBMSs support a generic language called &quot;Structured Query Language&quot; (SQL). The SQL syntax is simple, and the language uses standard English language keywords and phrasing, making it fairly intuitive and easy to learn. Many RDBMSs add non-SQL, database-specific keywords, functions and features to the SQL language.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Relational_Database_Management_Systems.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":392,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Exchange.png","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Microsoft Exchange","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":11,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"microsoft-exchange","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaboration with document sharing Add enhanced archiving, security, and compliance features <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Online</span> Exchange is available as a standalone hosted service from Microsoft. You can also get Exchange as part of an Office 365 plan that includes Office apps, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Exchange Server 2016</span> Increase productivity and keep your business information safe, while maintaining the control you need. <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Other Exchange products</span> Exchange Online Archiving Exchange Online Protection Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Exchange Online Kiosk Exchange for government agencies","shortDescription":"Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web.","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":true,"bonus":100,"usingCount":20,"sellingCount":2,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Microsoft Exchange","keywords":"Exchange, Online, Microsoft, Office, with, Protection, email, more","description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati","og:title":"Microsoft Exchange","og:description":"Work smarter, anywhere Microsoft Exchange lets you accomplish more with a rich, business-class email experience on phones, tablets, desktops, and the web. Enjoy enterprise email capabilities with bigger and more reliable mailboxes Experience better collaborati","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Microsoft_Exchange.png"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":393,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":271,"title":"Messaging Applications","alias":"messaging-applications","description":" Messaging apps (a.k.a. &quot;Social messaging&quot; or &quot;chat applications&quot;) are apps and platforms that enable messaging, many of which started around social networking platforms, but many of which have now developed into broad platforms enabling status updates, chatbots, payments and conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat).\r\nSome examples of popular messaging apps include WhatsApp, China's WeChat and QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Korea's KakaoTalk, Google Hangouts, Blackberry Messenger, Telegram, and Vietnam's Zalo. Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, along with Instagram and Twitter's direct messaging functions.\r\nMessaging apps are the most widely used smartphone apps with in 2018 over 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 843 million monthly active users of QQ Mobile.\r\nOnline chatting apps differ from the previous generation of instant messaging platforms like the defunct AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger, in that they are primarily used via mobile apps on smartphones as opposed to personal computers, although some messaging apps offer web-based versions or software for PC operating systems.\r\nAs people upgraded in the 2010s from feature phones to smartphones, they moved from traditional calling and SMS (which are paid services) to messaging apps which are free or only incur small data charges.\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Messaging apps each have some of the following features:</span></p>\r\n<ul><li>Chat</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>One-on-one chat</li><li>Group chat</li><li> Broadcast lists</li><li>Chatbots (including &quot;bot in group chats&quot;)</li><li>&quot;Smart replies&quot; (suggested replies to incoming messages provided by Google's Reply platform )</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Calls</li></ul>\r\n<ol><li>Voice calls</li><li> Video calls</li></ol>\r\n<ul><li>Audio alerts (on Line)</li><li>File sharing</li><li>Games</li><li>&quot;Mini Programs&quot; (e.g. WeChat Mini Program)</li><li>News discovery (e.g. Snapchat Discover)</li><li>Payments or mobile wallet, e.g. WeChat Pay which processes much of the Chinese mobile payment volume of US$5 trillion (2016)</li><li>Personal (cloud) storage</li><li>Push notifications</li><li>Status updates (WhatsApp Status, WeChat Moments)</li><li>Stickers</li><li>Virtual assistant, e.g. Google Assistant in Google Allo</li></ul>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Unlike chat rooms with many users engaging in multiple and overlapping conversations, instant messaging application sessions usually take place between two users in a private, back-and-forth style of communication.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">One of the core features of different messaging apps is the ability to see whether a friend or co-worker is online and connected through the selected service -- a capability known as presence. As the technology has evolved, many online messaging apps have added support for exchanging more than just text-based messages, allowing actions like file transfers and image sharing within the instant messaging session.</p>\r\n<p class=\"align-left\">Instant messaging also differs from email in the immediacy of the message exchange. It also tends to be session-based, having a start and an end. Because application message is intended to mimic in-person conversations, individual messages are often brief. Email, on the other hand, usually reflects a longer-form, letter-writing style.<br /><br /><br /></p>","materialsDescription":"<h1 class=\"align-center\"> <span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">What is instant messaging software?</span></h1>\r\nCompanies use instant messaging software to facilitate communication between their staff members who may be located in different places and countries. Popular websites such as Facebook offer instant chat services for free. Good quality messenger application solutions provide useful features such as video calling, web conferencing, and VoIP. Advanced platforms offer IP radio, IPTV, and desktop sharing tools. Large enterprises have greater communication needs and therefore they typically invest in installing an internal IM server to serve their thousands of employees.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal; \">Why people use Messaging Apps?</span></h1>\r\n<ul><li>Real-time text transmission</li><li>Conveniency</li><li>Records of a chat history</li><li>Easy for multitasking</li><li>Operating anytime anywhere using the WiFi or Mobile Network operators</li><li>Stickers</li></ul>\r\nCommunication is an essential component of any business: interaction with external or internal customers, end users, employees. A good communication platform is vital to stay connected with the employees and broadcast information fast and efficiently. Thousands of people support the escalation from IM to other ways of communication, such as group chat, voice calls or video conferencing.<br />Depending on the purpose of use we can separate popular messenger nto those with business needs or for corporate use, such as Slack, Hangouts, Flock, Stride and those for everyday communications like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and others.\r\n<h1 class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">How messaging apps can benefit your business?</span></h1>\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"></p>\r\nHeads bowed, shoulders hunched over glowing screens—we all might be a little guilty of smartphone addiction, and mobile usage is only increasing. We’re in constant communication with one another, and over the past few years messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have become commonplace. Of the 10 most globally used apps, messaging apps account for 6.\r\nWith consumer messaging apps on the rise, businesses have begun to connect with customers on yet another channel. According to Gartner, “By 2019, requests for customer support through consumer mobile messaging apps will exceed requests for customer support through traditional social media.”\r\nServing up customer support through customer messaging software can deepen your brand’s relationship with customers. On the customer side, messaging apps provide an immediate way to connect with your business and get a response.\r\n<p class=\"align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Here are three ways your business can benefit from connecting with customers over consumer messaging apps:</span></p>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unrestricted communication.</span> No matter where they are in the world, messaging apps offer your customers unrestricted communication options. Unlike SMS, which often incurs charges, your customers can still reach out privately via messaging apps and receive a timely response without worrying about cost. That means happier customers, and happy customers mean a happy bottom line for your business.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Move customer queries from public to private. </span>Giving your customers an easy option to reach your business privately not only decreases their likelihood of publicly tweeting a complaint, it also offers a space to exchange sensitive information, like delivery details. With a more private outlet for customer interactions, your business can thoroughly help customers while simultaneously saving brand face.</li></ul>\r\n\r\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Increase first contact resolution with chatbot integrations.</span> According to Gartner, artificial intelligence is a top trend for 2017. With the help of chatbots, your business can better manage workflows and automatically respond to customer requests via messaging. Chatbots can help point customers to the right information, helping them self-serve and ultimately allowing your support agents to focus on the issues that require a human touch. </li></ul>\r\n\r\n","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Messaging_Applications.png"},{"id":273,"title":"Team Collaborative Applications","alias":"team-collaborative-applications","description":" Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them&quot;.\r\nThe worldwide team collaborative applications market continues to accelerate as collaboration becomes a key component of the future of work in a digital enterprise. The market is growing in revenue, leveraging IT integrations to both bridge functions and the enterprise. The market continues to move to the cloud and emphasizes usage across devices.\r\nThe total worldwide team collaborative applications market grew at 24.7% year over year, up from 21.5% growth the previous year. Growth was powered by the adoption of solutions that made working together more agile and seamless and favored solutions with integrations that centralize work, assets, and communications, including messaging and chat. In short, applications that made it easier to get work done by bringing content, context, and communications in a single place.\r\nFeeling the pinch to produce more with less, organizations have turned to collaborative applications to streamline workflow and engage employees, partners and, increasingly, customers. They are discovering new paths to productivity, a better digital user experience (UX), and loyalty. Companies are developing a new way to work together and across their workforce and the sales continuum. A more technology-savvy and digitally connected workforce is empowering and accelerating this trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) is more common across collaborative solutions and almost expected by employees to automate repetitive tasks. Increasingly, machine learning (ML) and AI will generate new forms of value from conversations, meetings, and other content assets.\r\nMake no mistake, the majority of the lead vendors in this space are heavily invested in the future of work and want to be either your future workspace — where work actually is done — or an application that integrates to facilitate better and more productive results with a better-engaged workforce.","materialsDescription":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is groupware?</span>\r\nCollaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987) wrote: &quot;Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.&quot;\r\nEven further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupware; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, &quot;intentional group processes plus software to support them.&quot; Later in their article they went on to explain groupware as &quot;computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hyperspace.&quot; Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply a single system.\r\nIn the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and big companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992) wrote then: &quot;If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere.&quot; In 1999, Achacoso created and introduced the first wireless groupware.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What are the levels of groupware?</span>\r\nGroupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collaboration:\r\n<ul><li>Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A phone call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.</li><li>Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers that discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainstorming or voting are examples of this.</li><li>Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has to contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to the unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: collaborative management.</li></ul>","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Team_Collaborative_Applications.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]},{"id":1420,"logoURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Azure_Resiliency.jpg","logo":true,"scheme":false,"title":"Azure Resiliency","vendorVerified":0,"rating":"2.00","implementationsCount":0,"suppliersCount":0,"supplierPartnersCount":272,"alias":"azure-resiliency","companyTitle":"Microsoft","companyTypes":["vendor"],"companyId":163,"companyAlias":"microsoft","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Business continuity with data resiliency</span>\r\nBuild applications on Azure to take advantage of high availability, disaster recovery, and backup on Azure’s global network. Build redundancies at the virtual machine (VM), datacenter, and regional levels based on your business needs. And stay compliant with your country’s or region’s legal and regulatory requirements respective of the location of your data.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Achieve High Availability faster in the cloud</span>\r\nAs soon as you sign up, access the tools, the infrastructure, and the guidance you need to deploy your applications in the cloud. Support your most demanding mission-critical applications to build always-available sites cost-effectively. And take advantage of an SLA of up to 99.99 percent for your virtual machines.\r\nHigh-availability solutions\r\n<ul><li>Availability Zones</li><li>Availability sets</li><li>Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS)</li></ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Easy disaster recovery and backup</span>\r\nAzure Site Recovery, combined with geo-redundant storage, is natively available for disaster recovery. Protect against bad code, data corruption, and accidental deletion with cost-effective backup. Stay compliant with long retention times, maintain reliability through geo-replicated storage, and simplify your processes with automation.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Keep your applications up and running</span>\r\nHear from one of our customers about their resiliency experience building on Azure. Plus, our product team talks about our commitment to delivering a service that meets the needs of your resiliency strategy.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Availability Zones</span> is a high-availability offering that protects your applications and data from datacenter failures. Availability Zones are unique physical locations within an Azure region. Each zone is made up of one or more datacenters equipped with independent power, cooling, and networking. To ensure resiliency, there’s a minimum of three separate zones in all enabled regions. The physical separation of Availability Zones within a region protects applications and data from datacenter failures. Zone-redundant services replicate your applications and data across Availability Zones to protect from single-points-of-failure. With Availability Zones, Azure offers industry best 99.99% VM uptime SLA.\r\n","shortDescription":"Azure Resiliency is a comprehensive business-continuity solution build with confidence with high availability, disaster recovery, and backup","type":null,"isRoiCalculatorAvaliable":false,"isConfiguratorAvaliable":false,"bonus":100,"usingCount":12,"sellingCount":9,"discontinued":0,"rebateForPoc":0,"rebate":0,"seo":{"title":"Azure Resiliency","keywords":"","description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Business continuity with data resiliency</span>\r\nBuild applications on Azure to take advantage of high availability, disaster recovery, and backup on Azure’s global network. Build redundancies at the virtual machine (VM), data","og:title":"Azure Resiliency","og:description":"<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">Business continuity with data resiliency</span>\r\nBuild applications on Azure to take advantage of high availability, disaster recovery, and backup on Azure’s global network. Build redundancies at the virtual machine (VM), data","og:image":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Azure_Resiliency.jpg"},"eventUrl":"","translationId":1421,"dealDetails":null,"roi":null,"price":null,"bonusForReference":null,"templateData":[],"testingArea":"","categories":[{"id":46,"title":"Data Protection and Recovery Software","alias":"data-protection-and-recovery-software","description":"Data protection and recovery software provide data backup, integrity and security for data backups and it enables timely, reliable and secure backup of data from a host device to destination device. Recently, Data Protection and Recovery Software market are disrupted by innovative technologies such as server virtualization, disk-based backup, and cloud services where emerging players are playing an important role. Tier one players such as IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, EMC Corporation, Symantec Corporation and Microsoft Corporation are also moving towards these technologies through partnerships and acquisitions.\r\nThe major factor driving data protection and recovery software market is the high adoption of cloud-based services and technologies. Many organizations are moving towards the cloud to reduce their operational expenses and to provide real-time access to their employees. However, increased usage of the cloud has increased the risk of data loss and data theft and unauthorized access to confidential information, which increases the demand for data protection and recovery solution suites.","materialsDescription":" \r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold; \">What is Data recovery?</span>\r\nData recovery is a process of salvaging (retrieving) inaccessible, lost, corrupted, damaged or formatted data from secondary storage, removable media or files, when the data stored in them cannot be accessed in a normal way. The data is most often salvaged from storage media such as internal or external hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), USB flash drives, magnetic tapes, CDs, DVDs, RAID subsystems, and other electronic devices. Recovery may be required due to physical damage to the storage devices or logical damage to the file system that prevents it from being mounted by the host operating system (OS).\r\nThe most common data recovery scenario involves an operating system failure, malfunction of a storage device, logical failure of storage devices, accidental damage or deletion, etc. (typically, on a single-drive, single-partition, single-OS system), in which case the ultimate goal is simply to copy all important files from the damaged media to another new drive. This can be easily accomplished using a Live CD or DVD by booting directly from a ROM instead of the corrupted drive in question. Many Live CDs or DVDs provide a means to mount the system drive and backup drives or removable media, and to move the files from the system drive to the backup media with a file manager or optical disc authoring software. Such cases can often be mitigated by disk partitioning and consistently storing valuable data files (or copies of them) on a different partition from the replaceable OS system files.\r\nAnother scenario involves a drive-level failure, such as a compromised file system or drive partition, or a hard disk drive failure. In any of these cases, the data is not easily read from the media devices. Depending on the situation, solutions involve repairing the logical file system, partition table or master boot record, or updating the firmware or drive recovery techniques ranging from software-based recovery of corrupted data, hardware- and software-based recovery of damaged service areas (also known as the hard disk drive's &quot;firmware&quot;), to hardware replacement on a physically damaged drive which allows for extraction of data to a new drive. If a drive recovery is necessary, the drive itself has typically failed permanently, and the focus is rather on a one-time recovery, salvaging whatever data can be read.\r\nIn a third scenario, files have been accidentally &quot;deleted&quot; from a storage medium by the users. Typically, the contents of deleted files are not removed immediately from the physical drive; instead, references to them in the directory structure are removed, and thereafter space the deleted data occupy is made available for later data overwriting. In the mind of end users, deleted files cannot be discoverable through a standard file manager, but the deleted data still technically exists on the physical drive. In the meantime, the original file contents remain, often in a number of disconnected fragments, and may be recoverable if not overwritten by other data files.\r\nThe term &quot;data recovery&quot; is also used in the context of forensic applications or espionage, where data which have been encrypted or hidden, rather than damaged, are recovered. Sometimes data present in the computer gets encrypted or hidden due to reasons like virus attack which can only be recovered by some computer forensic experts.\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What is a backup?</span>\r\nA backup, or data backup, or the process of backing up, refers to the copying into an archive file of computer data that is already in secondary storage—so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is &quot;back up&quot; (a phrasal verb), whereas the noun and adjective form is &quot;backup&quot;.\r\nBackups have two distinct purposes. The primary purpose is to recover data after its loss, be it by data deletion or corruption. Data loss can be a common experience of computer users; a 2008 survey found that 66% of respondents had lost files on their home PC. The secondary purpose of backups is to recover data from an earlier time, according to a user-defined data retention policy, typically configured within a backup application for how long copies of data are required. Though backups represent a simple form of disaster recovery and should be part of any disaster recovery plan, backups by themselves should not be considered a complete disaster recovery plan. One reason for this is that not all backup systems are able to reconstitute a computer system or other complex configuration such as a computer cluster, active directory server, or database server by simply restoring data from a backup.\r\nSince a backup system contains at least one copy of all data considered worth saving, the data storage requirements can be significant. Organizing this storage space and managing the backup process can be a complicated undertaking. A data repository model may be used to provide structure to the storage. Nowadays, there are many different types of data storage devices that are useful for making backups. There are also many different ways in which these devices can be arranged to provide geographic redundancy, data security, and portability.\r\nBefore data are sent to their storage locations, they are selected, extracted, and manipulated. Many different techniques have been developed to optimize the backup procedure. These include optimizations for dealing with open files and live data sources as well as compression, encryption, and de-duplication, among others. Every backup scheme should include dry runs that validate the reliability of the data being backed up. It is important to recognize the limitations and human factors involved in any backup scheme.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Data_Protection_and_Recovery_Software__1_.png"},{"id":497,"title":"Backup and Recovery Reporting Software","alias":"backup-and-recovery-reporting-software","description":" Backup and recovery describes the process of creating and storing copies of data that can be used to protect organizations against data loss. This is sometimes referred to as operational recovery. Recovery from a backup typically involves restoring the data to the original location, or to an alternate location where it can be used in place of the lost or damaged data.\r\nA proper backup copy is stored in a separate system or medium, such as tape, from the primary data to protect against the possibility of data loss due to primary hardware or software failure.\r\nThe purpose of the backup is to create a copy of data that can be recovered in the event of a primary data failure. Primary data failures can be the result of hardware or software failure, data corruption, or a human-caused event, such as a malicious attack (virus or malware), or accidental deletion of data. Backup copies allow data to be restored from an earlier point in time to help the business recover from an unplanned event.\r\nStoring the copy of the data on separate medium is critical to protect against primary data loss or corruption. This additional medium can be as simple as an external drive or USB stick, or something more substantial, such as a disk storage system, cloud storage container, or tape drive. The alternate medium can be in the same location as the primary data or at a remote location. The possibility of weather-related events may justify having copies of data at remote locations.\r\nFor best results, backup copies are made on a consistent, regular basis to minimize the amount data lost between backups. The more time passes between backup copies, the more potential for data loss when recovering from a backup. Retaining multiple copies of data provides the insurance and flexibility to restore to a point in time not affected by data corruption or malicious attacks.","materialsDescription":" <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">What do Backup and Recovery mean?</span>\r\nBackup and recovery refer to the process of backing up data in case of a loss and setting up systems that allow that data recovery due to data loss. Backing up data requires copying and archiving computer data, so that it is accessible in case of data deletion or corruption. Data from an earlier time may only be recovered if it has been backed up.\r\nData backup is a form of disaster recovery and should be part of any disaster recovery plan.\r\nData backup cannot always restore all of a system's data and settings. For example, computer clusters, active directory servers, or database servers may need additional forms of disaster recovery because a backup and recovery may not be able to reconstitute them fully.\r\nToday, a great deal of data can be backed up when using cloud storage, which means archiving on a local system's hard drive or using external storage is not necessary. Mobile devices, in particular, can be set up using cloud technologies, allowing data to be recovered automatically.","iconURL":"https://old.roi4cio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/icon_Backup_and_Recovery_Reporting_Software.png"}],"characteristics":[],"concurentProducts":[],"jobRoles":[],"organizationalFeatures":[],"complementaryCategories":[],"solutions":[],"materials":[],"useCases":[],"best_practices":[],"values":[],"implementations":[]}],"suppliedProducts":[],"partnershipProgramme":{"levels":[{"id":395,"level":"Partner"},{"id":397,"level":"Silver"},{"id":399,"level":"Gold"},{"id":401,"level":"Distributor"}],"partnerDiscounts":{"Partner":"","Silver":"","Gold":"","Distributor":""},"registeredDiscounts":{"Partner":"","Silver":"","Gold":"","Distributor":""},"additionalBenefits":[],"salesPlan":{"Partner":"","Silver":"","Gold":"","Distributor":""},"additionalRequirements":[]}}},"aliases":{},"links":{},"meta":{},"loading":false,"error":null},"implementations":{"implementationsByAlias":{},"aliases":{},"links":{},"meta":{},"loading":false,"error":null},"agreements":{"agreementById":{},"ids":{},"links":{},"meta":{},"loading":false,"error":null},"comparison":{"loading":false,"error":false,"templatesById":{},"comparisonByTemplateId":{},"products":[],"selectedTemplateId":null},"presentation":{"type":null,"company":{},"products":[],"partners":[],"formData":{},"dataLoading":false,"dataError":false,"loading":false,"error":false},"catalogsGlobal":{"subMenuItemTitle":""}}