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To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (14349)	10/16/2002 5:09:12 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 57684

CRM Full Speed Ahead Kimberly Hill, www.CRMDaily.com Wed Oct 16, 1:20 PM ET Both software and hardware advances are making traditionally slow and patience-testing CRM applications lighter on their feet. Database optimization and data mining apps make searching faster and more effective. Powerful servers mean that systems can pump screens and data to users more quickly. For the IT executive looking to purchase or upgrade CRM modules, however, speed is not necessarily the answer. "Multitiered applications and the separation of business logic has made CRM applications more flexible and faster," Yankee Group analyst Sheryl Kingstone told CRMDaily.com. "But the software still needs to be more workflow-oriented to really support a day in the life of an employee." Capacity on the Cheap Deloitte Consulting senior manager Darci Moore told CRMDaily that the problem with slow CRM systems has not been so much a factor of technology as of cost. Housing enormous databases and running a super-fast server pool always has been possible for a price. "The capacity was always there," Moore noted, "but it was expensive." With the powerful, relatively low-cost server processors available today, companies are having a much easier time making a cost-benefit argument for hardware upgrades. "Demonstrating the ROI for better performance is easier now," she said. User Complaints However, some industry observers maintain that upgrading for the sake of speed alone will not calm IT executives' headaches -- or quell users' complaints. Along with slow screen loads and laborious database searches, users have roundly criticized the actual screens of CRM applications, calling them counterintuitive and inconsistent. Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff told CRMDaily that user interface is, in fact, one of his company's primary marketing points. "Our software looks a lot like Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN - news) or My Yahoo but gives you the power of Siebel," he asserted. And, while Benioff is infamous for the stink bombs he lobs at Siebel (Nasdaq: SEBL - news), he does have a point. "Usability -- or user interface -- is quite bad, frankly," Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR - news) research director Harley Manning told CRMDaily. "There are a lot of unhappy software users out there." ADVERTISEMENT Drowning in Data Kingstone told CRMDaily that some user complaints are indeed being eliminated by faster processors and the move away from traditional client-server applications. However, she warned that CRM vendors still have a long way to go to make their applications a positive part of harried employees' days. CRM applications still support companies that need to gather as much data as possible about customers and organize it efficiently, she said. So, even though many sales, marketing and customer service managers would say that they are drowning in data, Kingstone asserts that they need more. "Customer loyalty has gone bad," she said, "because management of customer information has been very difficult." Kingstone added that software vendors and system integrators have made great strides toward making the wealth of data companies own available to employees who need it. "Although processor power has increased and better databases have helped," she said, "we still have data design and workflow issues with CRM software." story.news.yahoo.com

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (14349)	10/17/2002 8:01:32 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 57684

SAP<SAPG.DE> drops '02 sales target, beats Q3 forecast, surges up 14% By James Mackenzie FRANKFURT, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Germany's SAP AG succumbed to the uncertain climate in global technology spending, dropping its 2002 sales forecast on Thursday despite posting third quarter results which beat analysts forecasts. But Europe's biggest software maker said it still expected to record an operating profit margin of at least 21 percent even if full year sales remained relatively flat compared with the previous year. The group, which previously forecast 5-10 percent growth in 2002 sales, said it would no longer provide a forecast for the full year due to the unpredictable market environment. Few analysts believed SAP could maintain its sales forecast given the current weak environment for technology spending and most expect flat sales growth for the year. Third quarter operating profit before expenses for stock-related employee compensation and acquisition costs climbed to 316 million euros ($310.4 million) from 201 million a year earlier, well above most analysts' forecasts, while sales were in line with expectations at 1.7 billion euros from 1.65 billion a year earlier. Software licence sales, a key measure of underlying growth, slipped to 435 million euros from 447 million a year earlier but were also ahead of the consensus forecast. A Reuters poll of 19 analysts forecast operating profit between 153 and 400 million euros at an average of 253 million euros. Forecasts for sales ranged between 1.6 and 1.832 billion euros ($1.57-1.79 billion) at an average of 1.7 billion. Forecasts for software licence sales ranged between 371 and 472 million euros at an average of 417 million. Like its rivals, SAP has been hit by a sharp slowdown in spending on information technology this year as confidence in economic recovery has crumbled. But the strong third quarter showing from the company adds to the relatively upbeat statement from information technology giant International Business Machines Corp <IBM.N> on Wednesday, which forecast a solid end to the year. SAP, which supplies business planning software to some 17,500 customers worldwide, has been cutting costs heavily to maintain profit in the face of the spending slowdown. AMERICAN, EUROPEAN SALES UP Sales in the key European and Americas regions rose in constant exchange rate terms, despite concerns about weak economic growth. Revenues in Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose 10 percent at constant currency rates to 913 million euros ($896.8 million), while sales in the Americas region were up 11 percent at 586 million euros, though without the exchange rate adjustment, sales in the region were down by four percent. The group also said it planned to buy back 100 million euros in stock over the next few months . It has already bought back 250 million euros worth of shares in 2002. SAP shares closed sharply lower on Wednesday after galloping ahead more than 40 percent in the week leading up to the results announcement as tech stocks across Europe bounced back from a headlong dive in September. But the stock is still down more than 60 percent since the start of the year and over two-thirds below the high for the year of 177.40 euros set in March. ((Frankfurt Newsroom +49 69 7565 1270, frankfurt.newsroom@reuters.com)) ($1=1.018 Euro) REUTERS * end of story *