Outsourcing predictions for 2008
It has been a dynamic year in the IT outsourcing industry. The Indian rupee rose to record levels, while the US dollar declined against most major currencies, impacting global IT service providers and customers alike. Merger and acquisition activity went into high gear (with the exception of poor Affiliated Computer Services, which tried - and failed - to go private for the second time). The consolidation activity was most notable for the inroads Indian providers made into the US market by buying local providers..... Read about Outsourcing predictions...

How Mature Is B2B Lead Management?
Lead management process maturity pays off big time. Business-to-business (B2B) firms that fall into the top tiers of our Lead Management Maturity Model enjoy better sales follow-up rates and close a higher percentage of marketing-generated leads. But only a fraction of firms have achieved peak performance. B2B marketers must benchmark their lead management processes in order to define a realistic road map for process improvement..... Read about B2B Lead Management..

Case Study: Can White Papers Boost Google AdWords Performance?
Marketers have long used incentives to get their target audience to take action. With print ads, that may be some give away to get the reader into a store. With direct mail, perhaps free shipping to get the recipient to pick up the phone and place an order. For e-marketing campaigns, white papers are an excellent and frequently used vehicle to get a web site visitor to fill out a form. E-mail marketers often use the promise of a topically focused white paper to incent the reader to click through to their web site where their offering - and white paper - can be presented more fully......Read about Google AdWords...

India Vision 2020
Every country needs a vision statement which stirs the imagination and motivates all segments of society to greater effort. It is an essential step in building a political consensus on a broad national development strategy, which encompasses, inter-alia, the roles and responsibilities of different agents in the economy, such as Central, State and local government, the private corporate sector, the small and tiny sector, people’s organisations etc. It must identify the potential risks and bottlenecks and their possible solutions in order to mobilise efforts in a focussed manner.... Read about India opportunities..

The Technology Strategies for Integrated Business Planning Benchmark Report
Aberdeen research finds that the top 5 pressures for improving S&OP processes are rising customer order fill rate expectations, better return on net assets, shrinking profit margins, customer retention pressures and extended lead-times due to global sourcing. However, current S&OP processes are failing to alleviate many of these pressures. While a majority of companies report that S&OP has helped improve forecast accuracy and improved cross-departmental communication, most companies have failed to see improvements in profit-related metrics like gross margin and customer retention......Read about Technology Strategies for Integrated Business Planning..

Report: Outsourcing to grow in life sciences industry
The life sciences industry will see much more outsourcing overseas and domestically in 2008 as it focuses on reducing expenses to keep expanding, according to a new report. Both pharmaceutical giants and emerging biotechnology companies will likely rely on the practice for everything from research and development to clinical trials and manufacturing, according to IDC's Health Industry Insights in Framingham, Mass. The conclusion is one of the firm's many predictions for the industry in 2008....Read about biotech sector..

The Business Case for Integrated Demand Generation
Imagine you’ve been asked to give a Board of Directors presentation clearly explaining marketing’s impact under your leadership. It’s painfully clear that your job – and reputation – are now at stake. You could win them over… or you could lose their confidence. Can you make a persuasive case that your marketing investments are paying off?.As competition intensifies and growth expectations increase, B2B marketers are under pressure to deliver measurable results and clearly demonstrate the value they provide.........Read about Integrated Demand Generation...

Managing the Hidden Costs of Electronic Commerce: Leveraging EDI Investments
For many companies that have implemented Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) over the past five years, the costs associated with implementation are something of a mystery. In a survey commissioned by Extol International Inc., and conducted by Larstan Business Reports with over 700 EDI user organizations from the manufacturing, business services, distribution and food industry sectors, only half of respondents (51%) reported that their implementation costs were easily predictable.....Read about Managing E-Commerce Costs..

Advanced Media Server System
Omneon Video Networks develops and markets an advanced media server system that consists of specialized hardware and software components connected by various networking technologies. Omneon deploys a building block approach in the design of its servers. This approach ensures that a system will exactly match a customers needs in terms of real-time channel count, media format types, IP connectivity, storage capacity, overall bandwidth and redundancy......Read about Advanced Media Server System..