Home Blog Page 5817

Infor Reports European Retail Growth

Recent Successes Combine with New Technology Investment to Boost Innovation

Infor, a leading provider of business applications specialized by industry and built for the cloud, announced at ShopTalk Europe in Copenhagen, significant momentum for its European retail business. Infor’s retail applications for human capital management, converged commerce, merchandizing, demand management, enterprise asset management, supply chain management, deep analytics and risk and compliance, have contributed to 15 new or expanded relationships in 2017 throughout Europe.

Infor Retail is a suite of applications designed to support core operations, management teams, on-the-go district managers, and employees in a revolutionary new way that takes advantage of the latest consumer and business technologies: mobile, social, and cloud.

New European wins include Chausport (part of JD Sports Fashion Plc), New Look, MVideo and Direct Wines. Direct Wines, the world’s largest direct-to-home wine merchants, has implemented Infor Retail Demand Management to help it to better understand customer segments and drive more accurate forecasts and higher sales and margins.

“We have been using Infor Retail Demand Management for a while and upgraded to the latest release.  We can see additional benefits coming from our partnership with Infor Retail as we look to bring our businesses onto a single platform for campaign, offer and assortment planning. The three-year commitment we’ve just made will enable us to continue to grow as a business and exploit the platform to its full potential,” said David Ives, Group CIO of Direct Wines.

Also in Europe, Chausport has chosen Infor CloudSuite Fashion to integrate the functions of the distributor’s information system: from purchases to inventory management and logistics to the management of its stores’ supplies. The solution will also cover the delivery of products bought by the customers through Ecommerce.

Dominique Dambre
Dominique Dambre

Dominique Dambre, Project Sponsor at Chausport, said, “We aim to move from being a multi-channel player to an omni-channel distributor, which requires us to opt for a single management platform with a centralized database. Among the solutions we evaluated, Infor was able to demonstrate to us that the Infor CloudSuite Fashion solution is able to cover all the essential functions from back and front office, and to integrate them while taking into account our company’s specialities.”

With Infor, retailers are able to exploit the opportunities of huge recent investment in retail technology.  This means customers can quickly scale operations through science and predictive tools that help get ahead of consumer demands, and allow users to stay agile and fight digital disruption.

Jason Berry
Jason Berry

“We have made consistent and aggressive investments in retail and it is clearly reaping rewards. From the acquisitions of the likes of Starmount and Predictix to partnerships with Whole Foods and DSW, we have turned our industry focus full force onto retail.  The net result has been disruptive and immediate across Europe. But we are not resting on these laurels.  We are now already turning our attention to demand management and addressing the inventory issues that plague the industry, combining machine learning and artificial intelligence with a wider network perspective that will separate Infor and deliver truly next generation capabilities to today’s progressive retailer,” said Jason Berry, European vice-president, Infor Retail.

Oracle Cloud Platform Innovates to Power Big Data at Scale

New Artificial Intelligence, Data Lake And Data Integration Capabilities Accelerate Business Insights, Enabling Customers To Drive Better Business Outcomes From Data

Oracle announced three major enhancements to Oracle Big Data Platform Cloud. The new services deliver critical capabilities essential to Big Data projects, and enable customers to simplify and accelerate data-driven business outcomes while making it easier for them to leverage adaptive intelligence in their own applications and services.

Big Data projects are critical to innovation, but can be challenging to execute due to complexity and the gap in skills required to coordinate all the necessary pieces. To help customers address these issues and more easily manage the entire Big Data lifecycle, Oracle is announcing integrated Big Data services in Oracle Cloud Platform.

“Big Data initiatives are an important part of growing an organization, but the process is still complex and challenging for everyone involved,” said Greg Pavlik, senior vice president and CTO, Oracle Cloud Platform. “By delivering an end-to-end, unified platform that simplifies and accelerates Big Data analytics projects in the cloud, we are minimizing challenges and helping customers increase their rate of success. Our vision is to empower our customers to analyze any type of data from any source for everyone.”

Onvia Agrees To Be Acquired By Deltek

Deltek To Pay $9.00 Per Share. Transaction Valued At Approximately $70 Million

Onvia the leading provider of sales intelligence and acceleration technologies for businesses selling to the public sector,  announced that it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Project Diamond Intermediate Holdings Corp, the parent entity of Deltek, and Deltek, the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for government contractors, professional services firms and other project-based businesses.  Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, Project Diamond Intermediate Holdings Corp will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Onvia common stock for $9.00 per share in an all-cash tender offer.  The purchase price represents a 100% premium to Onvia’s last closing stock price of $4.50.  The value of the transaction, which was unanimously approved by Onvia’s Board of Directors, is approximately $70 million.

“We are extremely pleased with this transaction, which we believe is a winning proposition for all of our stakeholders,” said Van Skilling, Chairman of Onvia, and Russ Mann, CEO of Onvia.  “The transaction represents a substantial cash premium to our stockholders and follows a robust process and comprehensive review of strategic alternatives undertaken by our Board of Directors earlier this year.”

Russ Mann
Russ Mann

“Further,” said Mann, “Deltek is a large and highly regarded firm in the enterprise software and solution space for project-based businesses, with complementary product and services offerings to Onvia’s.  As part of Deltek, we intend to focus on innovating and expanding our data and product offerings, which will benefit our customers, employees and partners.”

Oracle NetSuite Helps Shiftgig Make the Future of Work a Reality

Oracle NetSuite, one of the world’s leading providers of cloud-based financials / ERP, HR, Professional Services Automation (PSA) and omnichannel commerce software suites, announced that Shiftgig, the mobile technology platform that connects businesses with high-quality, vetted hourly workers on demand, has streamlined its business with NetSuite OneWorld. Since going live on NetSuite OneWorld in 2015, Shiftgig has been able to manage its mission-critical business processes including financials with advanced billing support, reporting, and multi-subsidiary management for its three subsidiaries in the US.

Founded in Chicago in 2012 as a job board for workers in the service industry, Shiftgig recognized a greater opportunity in serving the market for hourly workers that, as a whole, has a labor pool of 70 million in the US alone. The company saw rapid growth when it shifted its focus to offer a mobile app for people seeking flexible work opportunities with the businesses that needed help. It now provides over 30,000 on-demand workers access to available shifts with over 2,300 client companies in 14 US markets and handles approximately 100,000 transactions a month in NetSuite.

Changing the Way Work Gets Done in the Cloud

Shiftgig was intent on finding a software platform that could reliably handle its two biggest transactions — billing and payroll. NetSuite’s cloud-based system was able to immediately meet those needs without significant upfront investments in hardware or IT staffing.

In addition, NetSuite’s flexible platform enabled Shiftgig to meet its sophisticated client reporting requirements, broken out by event, shift and venue, as well as across schedules, reducing the time to compile reports from three hours to just 30 minutes. Shiftgig can now send out automated notifications for past-due accounts across its 2,300 clients, which previously had to be done manually.

The company has also realized efficiencies in financial consolidation. With NetSuite OneWorld, what once took hours consolidating financials across its three subsidiaries can now be done in minutes and the company can easily add subsidiaries as it expands. With support for 190 currencies, 20 languages, automated tax calculation and reporting in more than 100 countries, and customer transactions in more than 200 countries and territories NetSuite OneWorld provides a platform for Shiftgig to continue to grow.

Jack Murphy
Jack Murphy

“NetSuite OneWorld helps ensure we have more efficient processes around client billing and consolidation for our subsidiaries,” said Jack Murphy, Vice President of Finance at Shiftgig.

Brainshark’s Chief Readiness Officer to Discuss Sales Coaching Best Practices at CEB Sales and Marketing Summit

Sales Enablement Leader to Also Give Attendees a Sneak-Peek Demo of Upcoming AI Innovations for Its Video Coaching Solution

Brainshark, Inc., delivering SaaS-based sales enablement and readiness solutions, today announced that its Chief Readiness Officer, Jim Ninivaggi, will be a featured speaker at the CEB Sales and Marketing Summit, occurring Oct. 17-19, at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The event – designed to help companies better adapt to critical changes facing B2B sales teams today – will draw more than 1,200 senior sales and marketing executives. Brainshark will also demonstrate its award-winning sales training and coaching solutions, along with upcoming artificial intelligence (AI)-powered sales innovations, at booth #25.

Details about Ninivaggi’s session include:

  • Title: “Perpetual Sales Readiness: The New World of ‘Always-On’ Learning for Sales”
  • When: Tuesday, Oct. 17, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. PT
  • Highlights: As sales leaders seek to improve their teams’ knowledge, skills and results, it’s important to foster an always-on learning environment. This session will provide ideas to help sellers prepare for more effective buyer interactions through video coaching as part of a perpetual learning model, with formal and informal elements to drive mastery. In addition to exploring the history and evolution of sales coaching, Ninivaggi will also share a glimpse into the not-so-distant future – where video, AI and machine learning will converge to augment and guide coaching efforts, and create competitive advantages.

During the event, Brainshark will also demonstrate its acclaimed solutions for sales training, coaching and content authoring – while giving attendees a preview of its cognitive analysis engine for coaching. This AI-driven solution complements Brainshark’s current coaching technology – capturing what reps say in their video-based “challenge” responses, determining how it was said (emotions and expressions conveyed, speaking rate, language complexity, etc.), and then quickly delivering unbiased analysis. With this technology, managers can zero in faster on reps’ areas for improvement, and better direct and scale their coaching efforts.

“The unfortunate reality today is that many reps – facing ultra-competitive selling environments, increasingly informed and empowered buyers, and rapidly evolving landscapes – simply aren’t delivering value in meetings with prospects,” Ninivaggi said. “The importance of effective preparation can’t be overstated. Today, that means combining people, process and technology to ensure reps are ready and continuously coached to mastery. Tomorrow, AI will also play an important and complementary role – aiding manual coaching from managers. Brainshark is at the forefront of these developments, committed to ensuring sales readiness and enabling teams to close more and bigger deals.”

Marketsmith Buys Back i.Predictus

Sole Female Ownership of Patented Marketing Tech Benefits All Clients

Marketsmith Inc., the nation’s fastest-growing, women-owned, data-driven integrated marketing agency, has repurchased all the remaining i.Predictus stock from its original investment team, bringing its ownership of the marketing software company to 100 percent.

Monica C. Smith
Monica C. Smith

“For a woman-owned software company to buy the majority of its stock back from investors in under three years is virtually unheard of,” notes MSI CEO Monica C. Smith. “Not only did we repay their initial stake, our backers received a return on their investment.”

Full ownership represents the culmination of incorporating the i.Predictus data service platform into Marketsmith’s unique I.P.Q. Approach, an acronym for Intelligent Predictive Quantifiable, for each of its clients.

Jill Draper
Jill Draper

“I.P.Q. is a never-ending loop of data ingestion and insights that combines the best of data science with human ingenuity,” notes Jill Draper, president, MSI.  “It is where science meets soul.”

I.P.Q., powered by the embedded i.Predictus tech stack, can predict future sales with 93 percent accuracy and has successfully run through more than $1Bn of MSI’s client media spend.

Draper notes that Marketsmith’s proprietary tools and technology stack give the agency the data and analytics to inform every decision, from strategy to media to creative.

“Smart marketing no longer exists without the right technology. That’s why our I.P.Q. Approach will be part of every client’s omnichannel strategy,” Draper says. “We believe it provides our clients with an edge they can’t get at a traditional media or creative shop.

I.P.Q. allows Marketsmith to have a competitive advantage no other media marketing agency has.  The quality of data analysis, combined with predictive outcomes is available to every client the day they sign with the agency.

“Marketsmith is the front-runner for all emerging brands that want to challenge and win in their respective markets,” emphasizes Draper. “We are fast becoming the market leader in real-time data visualizations, attribution and transformative media buying.

Oracle Partners Continue to Accelerate Success in the Cloud

New Oracle PartnerNetwork Program and Enablement Resources Provide Easier Access to Oracle’s State-Of-The-Art Cloud Platform

 Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), announced that the company continues to see strong cloud leadership and momentum across its 25,000-member strong partner program. Companies are increasingly looking to the cloud to stay competitive and enable business transformation. Since its launch in February 2016, more than 2,600 unique partners have joined the Oracle PartnerNetwork Cloud Program. Additionally, cloud resell revenue from partners increased 105 percent year over year.

Further helping customers and partners succeed in the cloud, OPN also announced the Oracle Cloud Excellence Implementer Program.

“Oracle continues to deliver the programs and enablement resources that help our partners to grow and thrive in the cloud,” said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president, Cloud Business Group, Oracle. “Through Oracle PartnerNetwork, we work in tandem with partners to provide customers with the solutions and services needed to take advantage of Oracle’s state-of-the-art cloud platform.”

With Oracle’s complete and integrated cloud, customers can choose their own personalized path for how they want to move to cloud and partners are a critical part of that journey. Nearly half of all partners in the OPN program today implement, develop and sell in the cloud with Oracle.