E-Commerce Blog

Apple hosted another new product circus last week, and as usual, some investors sat with itchy trigger fingers on the “buy” and “sell” buttons. When CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad Jan. 27, Cupertino’s share prices shot up to $207.88, up $1.94, or less than one percent, from the previous day’s close of $205.94. Apple’s prices have been sliding since, closing on Monday at $194.73. January has been a tumultuous month for Apple. After its stock prices peaked at $215.04 Jan. 19, they went on a roller-coaster ride.

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A Wild, Wild Week for Apple

What exactly is cloud computing? The question just doesn’t go away, and as the year starts, SugarCRM has just released a white paper — “The Sugar Open Cloud” — offering its definition and its argument for why its vision is superior. I am not sure about either. Full disclosure: I like SugarCRM and have a lot of respect for what they are trying to do. The idea of open source CRM is very appealing and can be very successful — like open source operating systems, open encyclopedias and open source Web servers like Apache.

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The Cloud Is Not a Place

What are the top trends for the coming year? Every business process will go through intense compression and digitalization; a new wave of educational programs will sweep the executive corridors; new methodologies will be required to pitch for any serious business game plan; creating solid credibility will be the biggest business challenge; Google will be indispensable; a solid global name will be crucial; new retail processes will replace traditional advertising; the traditional work week will vanish; intense frugality will spread; and boardrooms will dance to one tune.

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The 2010 World Order: Lateralized, Trillionized, Infotoxicated …

During a five hour event at its Redwood Shores corporate headquarters, Oracle executives, including CEO Larry Ellison and Co-Presidents Safra Catz and Charles Phillips, applauded the completion of Oracle’s purchase of Sun Microsystems and outlined their strategy for the new acquisition for a media and analyst audience. The event marked the end of one of IT’s longer running melodramas. Sun’s devolution from technology mover and shaker to asset grab bag qualifies as one of the industry’s strangest trips.

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Oracle’s Cloudy Plans to Make Sun Shine

Practically every business has a dirty little secret: It’s called customer attrition. Rarely can a company claim someone as a customer for life. There will always be pressure from the competition — and as a result, there will always be customer attrition. Certainly, businesses do everything they can to retain their current base, but retention isn’t enough. It’s essential for any organization to continuously grow revenue. From moving van companies to travel agents to software providers, every business struggles to obtain the most valuable of assets: customer leads.

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Outsourcing Lead Generation: Who Do You Trust?