What struck me was the inference (intentionally or otherwise) that CRM for a big company was different to CRM for smaller companies. The talk was very informative, however, whilst the case study being presented had undoubtedly achieved the business objectives, it struck me as odd that you might approach a small business implementation differently.

In the enterprise space, a lot is made of a product’s scalability and the level of integration that can be achieved. Whilst sometimes relevant - far more important is a thorough understanding of the problems you are trying to address.

Statistics show that more than 80% of CRM projects fail. I personally believe this is due more to insufficient knowledge (of the business processes) than a poor choice of software.

The concept that an Enterprise Class CRM solution is somehow different to a small business CRM solution conveniently ignores the simple reality that; the most scalable, expensive and complex software package will deliver little business benefit if you don’t have a clear understanding of what you need it to do. Conversely, if you have a thorough and detailed understanding of how your business works and what you need to do to make it more efficient, the simplest and least expensive of solutions MAY be all you require.

The magic ingredient is KNOWLEDGE, knowledge of your business; how it works; how to make it work better; faster; more profitably and effectively. Ironically, CRM systems were originally sold as Knowledge Management systems, maybe that drew too much attention to the fact you actually need KNOWLEDGE in order to achieve success.

When we blogged about the new client/server model of MIGTurbo CRM 2, we gave a hint as to how we see users interacting with the product. This post discussed how the database server was “hidden” behind the MIGTurbo application server. But if the user cannot connect to the MIGTurbo database directly, how can they use MIGTurbo?

MIGTurbo CRM 2 brings with it a comprehensive API for extending the product both at the server level, and at the client-level. Using this API, we can provide secure access to MIGTurbo data using nothing more than a server URI, a username and a password. We’re going to include two “clients” out of the box.

MIGTurbo CRM 2.0 Silverlight Client

The MIGTurbo CRM product demands a rich user interface that is a pleasure to use, as it is often the key component on a user’s desktop. We were keen on retaining a web user interface, but we didn’t want to find ourselves working around the complexities of web pages and utilitising toolkits that were stretching the web experience to its limit. We developed a number of mock-ups using web page-based user interfaces but felt that we still lacked the killer customisation and user-driven experience we required. Until we created a mock-up in Microsoft Silverlight.

Microsoft Silverlight is a rich internet application (RIA) platform that allows development of web experiences that combines the mashing together of web data and technologies and a rich user experience. While it is implemented in much the same way as Adobe Flash, it is actually a richer and more comprehensive platform. Silverlight brings with it a subset of the .NET Framework, building on existing APIs such as WCF and WPF. Much of the code between server and client can be shared, and using the Microsoft stack, we were able to create an attractive and extensible user interface on business data. We’ve remained loyal to our user interface, too, as you’ll see in upcoming screenshots.

Using Silverlight, it is also possible to “install” MIGTurbo locally. This “out of browser” experience creates an icon in your Start Menu that behaves in most ways as if the software was installed locally on your own machine. This reduces the gap to the server, but it is important to note that MIGTurbo will continue to run in all the major browsers on the Windows platform (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) and also the Apple Mac platform.

Silverlight remains amongst the most secure application platforms available on the internet today. It also is not standing still. The upcoming release of Silverlight 4 promises interoperability with desktop applications, webcams and more. Rumours abound of Silverlight appearing on mobile devices being announced in the MIX10 event from the newly rebranded Windows Phone to Symbian devices. If you’re in doubt, check these trends out for people investigating Silverlight as opposed to ASP.NET on Google.

MIGTurbo CRM 2.0 Office Client

Not all users will need to use MIGTurbo for their day-to-day work. And not all users work in a web browser silo to fulfil their function. That is why MIGTurbo CRM 2.0 will extend the successful Outlook Toolbar add-on to provide more functionality direct from Microsoft Office.

Users of our Outlook Toolbar have seen how integrating with MIGTurbo and MIGTurbo DocuMentor has made their job dealing with items in their inbox much easier, especially when relating communication back to clients, respondants and candidates. We’re building on this functionality to dig deeper into MIGTurbo, providing features from across the product including any plug-ins. The MIGTurbo toolbar will appear in Microsoft Outlook and will also soon appear in Microsoft Word and Excel. You won’t be far from MIGTurbo, whatever your role may be.

This is possible using the MIGTurbo CRM 2 API. We’re already starting to hear expressions of interest on how our clients can utilise this API for themselves to extend our existing user interfaces and build entirely new ones for their own specific purposes. The API is secure and uses the Microsoft stack so will be readily portable onto desktop, web and portable devices.

These posts discuss features of MIGTurbo CRM 2. While we have every confidence that these features will appear and work as discussed, these blog posts do not represent a final product specification. We will release final product specifications at launch.

With the development of version 2 of MIGTurbo, we soon realised that we needed to revitalise the MIGTurbo branding to reflect both the major leap in technology and the potential present in the new version.  After all, this is our first full version upgrade with a completely new code base (we’re not using a single line of code from the previous 1.x versions).

The first thing we needed to address was the MIGTurbo logo itself.  The logo had undergone a slow and gradual evolution over the years, but essentially stayed the same square white and blue badge as it was in our first release in 2002.  For the new version we wanted to illustrate the solidity and adaptability of the software, but at the same time hint at how easy MIGTurbo is to use.  After much discussion we agreed on replacing the badge with a glassy sphere.  The shape of a sphere is simple, smooth and efficient, and making it look like glass gives it an impression of being heavy and solid whilst at the same time being transparent and clear.  The name MIGTurbo was also moved out of the logo and placed alongside to make it easier to read.  In addition, the abbreviation ‘CRM’ was added to clarify the purpose of the product.

With the logo now in place, we moved on to the supporting branding.  For the last couple of years we’ve been using our ‘Blue sky’ concept together with the tag line ‘Simply a better way…’ which has served us well.  This would not work with our new logo however; a different concept was needed.  The fact that MIGTurbo is business critical for many of our clients gave the idea that MIGTurbo is like the DNA of a business; a centra-lised carrier of  information necessary for everyday operation.  That resulted in the tag line ‘MIGTurbo - The DNA of your business’.  That, in turn, gave us the concept of DNA strands and we tried out several different backdrops based on that idea until we finally settled on a multi strand swoosh sprinkled with bubbles representing DNA base pairs.

The end result is a brand that feels modern and fresh but still distinctly business-like.  We are rather pleased with it.  What do you think?

We are planning to integrate the new branding on our Twitter channel and our MIGTurbo web site.

This post is part of a MIGTurbo CRM 2 series that will highlight the key improvements and features in the new product that we’ll be running over the next few months. You can also follow our Twitter account @migturbo for regular updates on progress.

Events over the past year have highlighted how important innovation is to the health of the major economies. It will be interesting to see how many businesses take the oportunity to replace or even review their business processes in 2010. With worries about inflation surfacing and the associated pressure on wage settlements those that do will invariably be in a stronger position to capitalise on any upturn in business confidence later this year.

Google Latitude: I know it looks like I'm traveling on Quarterbridge Road, I'm actually at work in Circular Road. Honest!

The other day one of my colleagues misplaced his mobile phone.  He went through the same procedure we all go through: checking his pockets, his desk, his car and his home, dialing his mobile number to see if he could hear it ringing.  He also tried to backtrack were he’d been that day to figure out where he could have left it.  In the end it turned up safely, tucked behind a sofa cushion, but it got me thinking: isn’t there an application that would be able to track where your phone is?  And display it on a map on a web page for you to see?

Last year, Google released Latitude - part of the Google maps for your phone. Although I’ve had Google maps on my Nokia for some time now, I’ve never gotten around to try out the Latitude service, but the incident with my colleagues phone triggered a revisit.

Said and done. I fired up Google Maps on my Nokia phone and activated the Latitude feature, and was greeted by a login prompt.  Obviously, you’ll need to have an Google account to use their Latitude service, so I tried to log in using my account details.  Several failed attempts later my account had been locked.  I double checked my login details by logging in on my desktop PC, which oddly enough worked flawlessly.  45 frustrating minutes later  (which included trying to set up a new account and then realising I already had a gmail account from years back) I was up and running.

Now, my phone is equipped with a GPS sat-nav chip so it will try to connect with outer space to verify my position, but even if it doesn’t (or the reception is poor) Google Maps and Latitude will use the mobile phone signal to triangulate your approximate position.  And sure enough, after a few minutes I could track my phone’s position on the Google Latitude map in my desktop browser.

So, does it work?  Yes, in so far as your phone will be tracked and shown on a map - both in your desktop browser and on your phone itself.  It also has the added feature of adding friends to be able to track their whereabouts in relation to your own.  A history list of locations is also stored for you to review.

But, at least for me, it doesn’t work particulary reliably. It’s constantly showing my phone to be several miles from where it actually is, or just as ‘Somewhere in the Douglas area’.  That’s not going to help me find my phone!  In the end, I opted to disable Latitude for the simple reason that it was constantly connecting to the network with annoying inteference noises in any closeby speakers or headphones. Also, it was running my battery to the ground.

For now, I’ll just have to rely on the old proven methods mentioned earlier to find my lost phone - the future is getting closer, but it’s not quite here yet.

Over the past year, we’ve been hard at work developing the new evolution of our key business intelligence product, MIGTurbo 2.0. MIGTurbo is a successful CRM product running in many client sites both on and off the island. During its lifetime, we’ve come to understand what our users want and how they work. One aspect we have come to learn is how users configure their servers.

A key trend that has developed in the last 5 years is virtualisation. Virtualisation allows companies to extract more efficiency out of their existing hardware platform by creating virtual instances of servers running on the same physical hardware. If implemented well, this can result in benefits such as:

• efficiencies in leveraging under-used CPU cycles by planning and scheduling server activity accordingly
• separating server processes to provide a layer of protection from configuration issues when processes compete for finite resources
• provides redundancy and an additional backup strategy to maximise uptime and reduce maintenance costs

Having virtualisation in mind when working on MIGTurbo 2.0, we were able to re-architect MIGTurbo to work well within both virtualised and existing physical environments. A key change we have made to this new version is to extract the “engine” of MIGTurbo from an IIS-hosted application to a self-contained server process. This allows MIGTurbo to operate independently of IIS and its configuration for its core operation, and providing a host for autonomous activities such as workflow, caching, index building and security services.

A key benefit for us is that as MIGTurbo develops, we can decide whether features are user-oriented, or system-oriented. System-oriented features such as security indexes can be built and maintained on the server at no cost to the user’s experience.

This positions MIGTurbo in the ideal position for businesses of just about any size. From a one-man business with a server in the corner to an organisation with thousands of users across different sites, MIGTurbo has a deployment model that will work.

The diagram below illustrates a typical “top-end” installation.

MIGTurbo Server deployment

The diagram shows three servers managing the MIGTurbo installation. These can be independent physical boxes, some or all of them could be virtualised on a single box, or different processes can be brought on to the same box as required by the company and available on the existing infrastructure. The Web Server continues to be the “point of contact” for MIGTurbo users who will fire up their browsers in the usual manner to interact with the software. Using the new API, new user interface clients can be created which interact with the web server or directly with the MIGTurbo server engine itself, for added performance.

A final benefit to this is that it moves the sensitive raw data further away from the end user. In a security conscious organisation, firewalls can be implemented between each server to maximise the security of the SQL Server databases used to store business critical and highly sensitive data. We’ve also used secure communications between the client and various components of MIGTurbo to further increase security. The diagram below shows that MIGTurbo maintains a secure database even when deployed over the internet using a DMZ configuration:

MIGTurbo working within a DMZ firewall

Moving the MIGTurbo engine out of IIS also allows us to provide additional functionality that would otherwise have been difficult from within the security-restricted context of IIS. Services such as instrumentation using Windows Performance Monitors can be created to allow real-time monitoring of MIGTurbo performance along with other functions that require deeper interaction with the operating system. Configuration is also made easier as IIS dependencies are reduced to only those services required to support the user interface.

Profiling MIGTurbo using Windows Performance Monitor

We believe that this change will form an important platform to allow us to take MIGTurbo to a new level. MIGTurbo has been growing with your business since v1.8, now it can grow with your IT hardware policy to maximise performance for individual users.

These posts discuss features of MIGTurbo CRM 2. While we have every confidence that these features will appear and work as discussed, these blog posts do not represent a final product specification. We will release final product specifications at launch.

Now that 2010 is upon us, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and bankers bonuses are re-appearing, and there is talk of ‘growth’, does that mean that we can cast aside the lessons of yesterday and throw caution to the wind?… I suspect not. Business will continue to be hard won, service will continue to be of paramount importance, and clients will continue to seek value for money.

Optimism is returning, over the past few months we have noticed that larger projects are returning to the table, but the same projects need to be cost justified.

The internet continues to play an important part, the more people search for value, the  more you need to be extolling the value of your products and services. Like it or not, the web is the preferred research mechanism for many. Social media, whilst I personally avoid it, is gaining ground, with the ‘youth’ market and many businesses adopting it wholesale. Like most technology there is both an upside and downside, however, it is undoubtedly a technology that is here for a while yet.

If you haven’t already done so, I suggest it is worth reviewing your web site content, keeping contact information up to date, review the services offered and make sure you have a recent news item (or blog posting) to impress upon visitors that you are still here!

Yesterday saw the Isle of Man section of the British Computing Society host a talk by Gabriel Karawani on Sharepoint and the benefits it can bring as a Document Management  solution. The BCS regularly host events such as this, which range from soft-skills to harder, technical topics. Overall, a wide mix that should suit most tastes.

As a regular attendee, I was keen to invite Charles down to the presentation to see how other people implement and use Microsoft SharePoint.

The presentation consisted of a fair chunk of marketing-speak, with a brief case-study thrown in. I found it interesting when Gabriel (the presenter) asserted that most people spend a lot of their day interacting with Microsoft Outlook. To this end, he demonstrated SharePoint as an add-on to the standard Outlook interface.

The question is, do people use Outlook because it is a reliable and effective interface for working with other applications such as document management, client management, etc., or because as Outlook is a de-facto business standard which leaves them feeling as if they no have other choice? The interface that was demonstrated felt a little clunky as a result.

What became clear from the presentation is that utilising SharePoint is hardly a case of  ”turn it on and go”. The product represents the foundations of what you could accomplish, given sufficient time and allocation of IT resources whether internally or externally.

When you put it alongside other, more feature complete, systems we deal with such as our own DocuMentor product which comes as part of MIGTurbo CRM, or the Laserfiche Document management solution, it becomes clear that businesses don’t necessarily work the way Microsoft think they do - or should. Nor do they have the resources required to “complete” the job.

We’ve had a number of discussions within the office about the MIGTurbo experience, and where it should lie. Should we leverage the existing power and user experience built around the Microsoft Outlook/Exchange product, or develop a product alongside it that itself would form the hub of a user’s day? The answer is a mix of these. What is key, however, is being able to draw on our experience with working with businesses to facilitate a working procedure that mirrors their business processes and requirements.

In moving forward, we’re certainly going to maintain our focus on the MIGTurbo CRM product as being the force mejeure behind many of our client’s businesses, but we will keep a keen eye on what infrastructure is already within the business, such as Microsoft Exchange for working with scheduling and communications and Microsoft SharePoint when working with documents. It seems to be a logical move to be able to provide users with the option of combining MIGTurbo with their existing infrastructure, which may have its own eco-system of plug-ins and processes essential to the business. MIGTurbo CRM 2 is certainly going to be an exciting product.

It’s quite ‘gob smacking’ when you work out the figures just how extensively our MIGTurbo CRM software is used. We were so proud of the fact that many of the current features have either been requested or suggested by our user base - we considered starting a marketing campaign based upon the notion that our clients ‘invented that’ - unfortunately another software company appears to have recently used that idea!

I think the answer to my question is there can never be enough testing just insufficient time!

Personally, I have never used the Outlook Diary, nor a diary in my mobile phone, personal organiser or any one of the many web based freebies! I used to use an A4 diary, until I tired of replicating information into my primary electronic diary - the one within MIGTurbo that is. Fortunately I can access this from any mobile phone or browser with an internet connection so I am usually always where I should be when I should.

Fortunately, there is a technology that enables you to synchronise all your different diaries within in a single diary of your choice.  iCalendar is a file-format that allows calendar items to be sent/received and used between different calendar programmes that support files with a .ics suffix .

So, now you know, if you’re ever asked how many diaries you need, your answer should be - only one!