Microsoft acquires Parature

If there is one module of Microsoft Dynamics CRM that always leave me with the bitter taste of I wish I could, is the service module.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I reckon the service module provides good value, and I have deployed Dynamics CRM solution around this module in past which clients were happy with; but Dynamics CRM isn’t a full fledged service management system such like Remedy or Peregrine. The problem is that it doesn’t have much space for growth, particularly for organisations willing to provide service level agreements (SLAs) slightly more complicated than the default, over-simplistic examples.

The good news is that Microsoft announced today the acquisition of Parature; a customer self-service company based in Virginia, USA. Parature provides a bunch of products and services around service and support including a customer self-service platform, multi-channel customer service and social customer service.

Bring your own BS to work

Bring Your Own Device (or BYOD) is a trend that really started a little more than a couple of years ago, but I have noticed a significant hype in the overuse of the term in 2013. The concept is nice and I agree it does make sense… If you run a small, hipster company and you have long brainstorming sessions with your R&D team at your local Starbucks. The concept of BYOD for the enterprise is absurd, to say the least. And here is why.

2014: Goodbye marketing hypes, welcome reason

2014 is finally here, and there is a lot of talk about on what to expect in the IT and technology sector for this year. Yet, I was hoping that we could take a break from marketing hypes, fads and other coolhunting nonsense that the media insisted on talking about in the past year. In this post I cover two topics that are at the top of my hype list: BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and big data. Read more >>

Big data – bad, bad data!

Ah, big data! Cloud computing is so 2012! Last year’s [2013] buzzword was big data, and there is a lot of use (and misuse) of it in the media. Consequently there are a lot of organisations interested in the subject and how it can help them improve their businesses. The problem is, the vast majority of people that I came across who talk about big data have little to no merit to discuss the subject.

Last year I read two articles in particular, both the cover of important international publications, on the subject of big data. One article was the cover of Foreign Affairs, and the other the cover of VEJA. While both articles have their merits, they also helped to perpetuate a lot of misconceptions, which I am tackling in this post.