Fishbowl Pipeline: A Big Step Closer to Consistent Customer Satisfaction in the Cloud

As I've opined previously here and elsewhere, I believe that inventory management is a critical element of making customers happy and keeping businesses agile and competitive, especially in "the mobile, social cloud." One of the companies that I think gets this better than most is Fishbowl, makers of the popular Fishbowl Inventory solution. Well, in response to widespread customer requests, the company has announced Fishbowl Pipeline Contact Manager.

It's Web-based, and it integrates directly with Fishbowl Inventory 2012. So users of that solution can add Pipeline Contact Manager's features immediately, with no re-entering of customer information required. Sales people can track tasks, leads and opportunities seamlessly and get the information they need to close deals in real time from anyplace they can get online.

And not to get too geeky, but Fishbowl Pipeline Contact Manager also supports an application programming interface (API) compliant with the widely used Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). This technology forms the heart of most of the popular Web services in use today, as well as their abilities to interoperate. What all of that means is that Fishbowl Pipeline Contact Manager not only works with Fishbowl Inventory but should be relatively painless to integrate with other Web-based applications and services as your business needs and goals expand. Think of it as a kind of "future-proofing."

Superior customer care requires the ability to deliver what the customer wants, when and where the customer wants it. By integrating core customer relationship management (CRM) features with its market-leading Fishbowl Inventory solution, Fishbowl is empowering companies with limited budgets and IT expertise to deliver "enterprise-class" customer care and fulfillment. And as it has done so successfully with Fishbowl Inventory, Fishbowl is offering Pipeline Contact Manager at "SMB-friendly" pricing.

Given the laser-like focus of Fishbowl management on helping their customers to succeed, I fully expect Fishbowl Pipeline to become the Fishbowl Inventory of CRM solutions. That is to say, an offering that rapidly gains broad user adoption and high levels of user satisfaction.

Not that I have any strong feelings about any of this…but I obviously do. And if customer satisfaction matters to your company, and it does, you should, too. And you should check out Fishbowl's solutions and ways of doing business. Drop'em an e-mail at VIP@fishbowlinventories.com. I think you'll be impressed and motivated to learn more.

Oracle's New SaaS Offerings: The Last Nail in the Coffin for "Bits on Disks?"

What a difference two weeks, 10 months, some acquisitions, and an economic downturn can make.

Two weeks ago, I opined in this space that Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems could soon result in some new SaaS offerings. And last June, Larry Ellison was widely quoted as saying SaaS offerings weren't profitable enough -- although he was also widely reported as expecting that to change.

Well, it's changed, at least according to today's Oracle-related news stories. They seem to indicate that Oracle is planning to launch several (maybe seven?) new SaaS offerings really soon, according to stories in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required for full access), at VNUnet, and elsewhere. And I believe'em.

Since that June 2008 conference call with Larry Ellison, Oracle's launched a new release of its CRM On Demand solution, and Oracle Sourcing On Demand, a SaaS tool for supply management. And its Oracle On Demand Web site claims 4.5 million end users.

Oracle is serious about SaaS. And that means all the other SaaS and cloud computing solution vendors had better get ready for some aggressively serious competition. This should benefit users in terms of broadening choices and perhaps creating opportunities for advantageous contractual negotiations. But it is likely to get rough for those solution developers and providers without deep pockets, loyal, evangelical customers, or both. Such vendors are likely to be acquired by Oracle, acquired by some other larger and more stable vendor, or to disappear. Which won't be good for those users who've bet their companies' competitive agility on those vendors without sufficient protection, as I've discussed here previously.

Given Oracle's latest and anticipated SaaS moves, Microsoft's continually evolving SaaS/cloud strategy, and everything Salesforce.com and its partners do, the next 12 to 18 months could be the most interesting and challenging for SaaS and cloud computing users and vendors since...well, since the last 12 to 18 months.

So, as I advised two weeks ago, stay tuned. And feel free to let me know your thoughts, hopes, fears, and plans in response to all of this, if any. And you might consider reducing or eliminating as many long-term commitments to and investments in traditional software licenses as practical for your organization's particular needs. While the future of SaaS and cloud computing is roiling, the future for most traditionally licensed "bits on disks" seems certain -- and limited at best.