Stories about: AMR Research

Hoping to spark sales as companies put the squeeze on capital spending, Microsoft said Thursday that new customers of its Dynamics ERP and CRM applications in some parts of the world can apply for zero-percent, 36-month financing.

Saving money is of paramount importance for CIOs in today's economy, and renegotiating contracts with IT vendors may be one of the best ways to chop expenses.

Microsoft added Internet marketing features to its Dynamics CRM Online product on Monday, the first in a series of updates set for the on-demand software, which launched earlier this year.

I'm writing about Aspen Technology today not because you are likely to ever need its software (unless you own an oil refinery) but because the way the company allows its customers to purchase its smorgasbord of software applications is unique -- so much so that you may want to consider putting a little pressure on your vendors to consider the same.

Here's an interesting strategy for a new software company: create applications that place you squarely in the competitive sights of Google and Microsoft, bypass venture capital funding, and rebuff an acquisition offer from Salesforce.com, the surging software as a service (SaaS) company that delivers its products over the Web.

Major deals struck without competitive bidding raise eyebrows, whether they take place at a public company or a government agency. But "sole sourcing," as it is called in the enterprise, can often be the best way to go, especially for multi-year deals well upwards of $10 million.

The official rollout on Tuesday of IBM's Lotus Symphony suite of productivity applications along with the launch yesterday of the official beta version of Acrobat.com from Adobe has all the experts asking the same well-worn questions: Now that Adobe, IBM, and Google all have skin in this game, is Microsoft Office under siege yet? And which online offering comes closest to being a viable alternative?

On the Web site of mega research firm Gartner lives a section titled IT Budget Optimization, which, among other things, offers for sale 20 research papers on strategies for cutting IT expenses.

HP said Tuesday morning that it has signed a deal to acquire IT outsourcer EDS for US$13.9 billion, or US$25.00 per share.

Hewlett-Packard is in advanced talks to acquire IT services company Electronic Data Systems in a deal that would give it more competitive muscle against worldwide services market leader IBM.

Installing SAP applications is no picnic. Employees who are capable of deploying and maintaining SAP software are in high demand and practically form a whole profession by themselves.