ACQUISITIONS: "THE COMMUNITY IS THE REAL
ASSET".(Company Business and Marketing)
Back in 1987, Pat Sullivan created an elegantly simple DOS-based
contact manager called Act! It took Sullivan six years to grow Act! into
a $15 million product, with versions for Windows and the . . .
THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF SUPPORT.(technical support)(Industry Trend or
Event)(Brief Article)
This survey, our fifth annual report on tech support salaries in
the PC software industry, reflects survey data supplied by 200 software
support organizations with a total of 9,217 support . . .
VARIABLES: REVENUES, ORGANIZATION SIZE, PRODUCT PRICE,
LOCATION.(Industry Trend or Event)(Statistical Data Included)
* Annual revenues: Pretty consistently, larger software companies
pay their support employees at the top end of the salary scale--and, in
general, larger companies also get higher productivity from . . .
CUSTOMER SERVICE REP.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief
Article)
"Answers routine service questions; routes calls to
technicians."
Customer service reps typically handle first-level customer
contacts that don't require diagnostic skills or training, such . . .
SUPPORT TECHNICIAN.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief
Article)
"Provides first-level solutions, primarily over the
phone."
At most software companies, the task of handling unescalated
telephone calls is an entry-level job with relatively high . . .
FIELD SUPPORT TECHNICIAN.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief
Article)
"Provides on-site service, primarily for enterprise
products."
PC support is typically provided over the telephone, but many
high-end software companies also provide on-site services, usually . . .
SENIOR SUPPORT TECHNICIAN.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief
Article)
"Answers escalated calls; may function as a group or team
leader."
Most support organizations have developed career paths that reward
experience, in-depth product knowledge, certification, or a . . .
ANALYST/PROJECT MANAGER.(Product Information)(Brief
Article)
"Manages major business activity; usually has no direct
reports."
In addition to traditional department managers, many support
organizations have specialists who manage such areas as . . .
DEPARTMENT MANAGER.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief
Article)
"Manages day-to-day activity of a single support center
staff."
Most support organizations have at least one "inside"
manager who oversees ongoing operations, including such tactical areas
as . . .
SENIOR SUPPORT EXECUTIVE (vice president or director
level).(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
"Coordinates activities and budgets of multiple support groups
or sites. Meets regularly with senior corporate management and key
customers."
More than half the companies in this year's survey . . .
l 2000 TECH SUPPORT SALARY SURVEY.(Industry Trend or
Event)
For many software companies, the Internet has been the catalyst for
fresh thinking about traditional tech support jobs, and one indirect
result seems to be a modest rise in support salaries. In the . . .
WEB STORE MARKETING TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS.(Industry Trend or
Event)
For a while, the notion of selling software over the Internet
seemed pretty radical. Will customers actually buy this way? What about
channel conflict? The technology? Piracy? Credit card fraud? . . .
QUOTES.
CITRIX chief executive Mark Templeton on the economics of data
center outsourcing: "The industry average is one systems
administrator for every 50 PC users. Our customers report a ratio of one
to . . .
UPSHOT.COM (www.upshot.com).(Company Business and
Marketing)
Remote connectivity is a hot feature for salespeople and other
mobile workers, so it's not surprising that the Web has become an
attractive platform for sales force automation vendors. . . .
TIMEBILLS (www.timebills.com).(Company Business and
Marketing)
For most Web companies, customer acquisition is the killer expense.
TimeBills.com founder Bill O'Farrell has a simple solution: Attract
customers by giving away an entry-level service, then migrate . . .
SALESLOGIX CORP. (www.saleslogix.com,
www.interact.com).(SalesLogix Sales Information System)(Product
Announcement)
This summer, SalesLogix Corp. rolled out a new subscription-based
version of its flagship product, a salesforce automation system that
costs customers $595-$2,000 per desktop for the original . . .
MICROSOFT (www.microsoft.com).(Product Announcement)
Predictably, the press and analyst community jumped all over
Microsoft's Nov. 9 announcement of Microsoft Office Online, a
subscription version of Office 2000 that runs remotely over a . . .
MARKETSOFT (www.marketsoft.com).(Product Announcement)
In May, MarketSoft simultaneously launched two versions of its new
eLeads lead-management system--a perpetual-use license (basic price,
$100,000) and a hosted subscription service (basic price, . . .
INTUIT (www.intuit.com).(Product Announcement)
Intuit senior vice president Jim Heeger is also focused on the
small business segment, but Heeger faces a different challenge than most
ASP startups: His goal is to find subscription services that . . .
HOTOFFICE TECHNOLOGIES (www.hotoffice.com).(Product
Information)
What does it take to crack the small business market? HotOffice, a
developer of a hosted "all-in-one productivity, communications and
collaboration tool for small business," has been wrestling . . .
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