Family Learning Center

Posts Tagged ‘Management Application’

Smartsheet launches a spreadsheet-like way to manage sales

Smartsheet has already expanded its work management application with cool features like a way to crowdsource tasks. Now it’s adding a customer relationship management (CRM) service on top of that.

The goal of the Smartsheet Sales Pipeline Management app is to give small companies an easier transition from the tool many of them are using to track their sales leads — a spreadsheet. At some point, you’ll want something more sophisticated, but if you switch to a system like Salesforce.com, you’ll have to learn a whole new interface. With Smartsheet, on the other hand, you’re still storing your leads in a spreadsheet (er, a “Smartsheet”), but you can do more with them.

The Bellevue, Wash. company says its CRM tool has three major benefits. First, it’s easy to use — you can import your leads from a Google Spreadsheet with two clicks. The Google integration goes further, with the ability to log in using your Google account, attach Google Docs, import Google Contacts, and export your list back into Google Spreadsheets. Second, you can store everything else you need for the sale in your Smartsheet, such as related documents and emails. Third, you can use crowdsourcing to find new leads, where (using Smartsheet) you pay people small amounts of cash to find and type in other potential customers. This method should be much cheaper than buying a sales contact list.

Smartsheet chairman and co-founder Brent Frei comes from a CRM background, since he was previously co-founder and CEO at CRM company Onyx Software. On his blog, Frei says there are three trends that make his return to the CRM market a good move:

1. Simple CRM demand remains high
2. The Google Apps ecosystem needs 3^rd party small business applications
3. Google needs CRM solutions that make Google Apps more sticky

Smartsheet has raised more than $5.5 million in funding.

Read the whole story…

CA Picks Up NetQoS For $200 Million In Cash

IT management software company CA (Computer Associates) this morning announced that it intends to acquire privately-held NetQoS, a provider of network performance management and service delivery solutions, for $200 million in an all-cash transaction. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year, pending regulatory approvals.

If the deal goes through, it will be CA’s biggest acquisition in three years (since it bought Wily Technology for $375 million in January 2006).

According to the announcement, NetQoS’ solutions will extend CA’s capabilities in areas such as network and systems management, application performance management and cloud management.

Founded ten years ago, NetQoS has over 1,000 active customers worldwide, including many in the Fortune 100. With annual revenue of $56 million in 2008, NetQoS’ revenues have experienced a 58 percent CAGR over the past five fiscal years.

Both companies anticipate that the majority of NetQoS’ 250 employees will remain with CA. At the close of the transaction, NetQoS co-founder and CEO Joel Trammell will join the company as senior VP and general manager, and Dr. Cathy Fulton, NetQoS CTO and executive VP of Products, will join CA as senior VP of Software Engineering. Initially, NetQoS will operate as an independent entity within CA’s Infrastructure Management and Automation business unit and will report to Ajei Gopal.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Read the whole story…