[2003-03-24] Marketing by the Numbers
"Conviction is the luxury of those sitting on the sidelines." This is what John Nash's imaginary boss said in the movie "A Beautiful Mind." For those of us who choose to play rather than watch, Measurement is the compass that guides us through our mistakes. What is your most important marketing tool? I would argue that your spreadsheet application should be high at the top of the list. In this day and age, running your marketing department without constant attention to the numbers is simply irresponsible.

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[2003-03-24] Dell to Challenge HP, IBM in Printer Market
Dell Computer is jumping into the printer market, launching several new models this week, which will challenge its entrenched hardware rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard .

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[2003-03-24] Unisys, Microsoft Tackle the Data Center
New and upgraded software from Unisys Corp., Microsoft Corp. and other vendors addresses the need to cut management costs and improve performance of data centers. The efforts are the latest steps in the trend to create data center systems that run, monitor and fix themselves.

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[2003-03-24] CRN Interview: Jeff Raikes, Microsoft
Jeff Raikes, group vice president of Microsoft's Information Worker Business Group, discussed the software vendor's product and channel plans with CRN Industry Editor Barbara Darrow at the company's recent Convergence 2003 show in Orlando, Fla.

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[2003-03-21] 3Com beams back to the enterprise
3Com is investing $160m (£102m) as well as assets and IP licences into a joint venture with Chinese networking vendor Hauwei. The move sees the networking giant embracing the enterprise market once more, after conceding the sector to Cisco in early 2000.

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[2003-03-21] Microsoft pushes collaboration in business apps
As expected, Microsoft Corp. is pushing out a series of enhancements to its business applications that will boost collaboration and integration capabilities among employees, customers and partners. This week at the Convergence 2003 customer conference here, the company's business solutions unit announced a new portal interface for its products and showcased upcoming technologies that will be part of its Microsoft Business Network Web-services-based collaboration framework.

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[2003-03-21] Microsoft Licensing 6 did cost businesses more
THE MUCH HATED licensing 6 deal from Microsoft raised hackles with thousands of firms around the world. Microsoft's scheme seemed to be demanding more money from companies just as they were starting to face tough times.

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[2003-03-21] Consulting and integration spending to rise
Businesses will have to spend more to stay competitive, predicts analyst. Businesses will soon have to start spending on consulting and integration to maintain competetiveness, according to research. A report by analyst organisation Yankee Group, What Will Happen Next in Consulting and Integration, predicts that revenues from IT professional consulting will rise six per cent in 2003.

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[2003-03-20] Your Board’s Approach To Its Responsibilities: Resting On Laurels Or Raising The Bar
The CEO is often in the role of challenging the board to fill its role and add value to the organization. This article is the third in a series intended to help the CEO think through the issues involved in developing a board to contribute meaningfully to the purpose, vision, strategy and development of the organization.

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[2003-03-20] The Price of Poor Partnerships
Alliances fail at an alarming rate. Consider these statistics from Accenture, a worldwide management and technology services organization:

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[2003-03-14] Internet Marketing - Doing It Like The Big Guys Do It
When I brainstorm with clients on how to improve their on-line businesses, one of the things I always ask myself is what are my struggling clients doing differently than the big on-line successes? That generally holds the key to them improving their businesses. Today I thought I would share with you some insights into what the "Big Guys" do that the struggling internet marketers usually don't. Some of these things may seem obvious. However, many people observe the obvious, realize what they need to do, and then do nothing. Those who succeed act upon their observations.

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[2003-03-05] Building Internal Trust - A Key Partnering Strategy
The events of late 2001 sent a tsunami over the collective psyche and economy in the United States and around the world. The most noticeable impact of this shock wave is that many people feel psychologically uncertain about the future. They are searching for dependability and reliability for their futures. Everyone wants and needs to feel a sense of trust about the stability of the people around them and the institutions for which they work. For many, the twin threats of terrorism and economic downturn have resulted in paralyzing fear and formless anxiety.

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[2003-03-04] Team Building for Positive Change
Team building isn’t a single event; it must be an ongoing process. In today’s tight job market, employees are less willing than ever to stay in unhappy situations, making it vital for managers to pay attention to the work environment. Teambuilding is effective in changing group dynamics, increasing team interaction and to foster a more productive work climate. Strategies that have been used to turn working groups and meeting attendees into highly interactive teams are presented below.

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