Friday, May 6, 2011
Reports Order
One of the goals I had for this meeting was to confirm that there is no way for us to have the order of our (Global) Reports list be in number order, rather than by "Type" as they are now, where they are basically grouped by table: COS vs Contact vs Opportunity, etc. Julia and I talked with Chris Lau, Pivotal Program Manager and Keith Fatula of Solutions Consultant, CDC Software, who Leo Lau (Director Product Mgmt..and super nice guy) claimed were the ones to ask, and they both confirmed that at this time it is not doable at this time. I also asked if any of their other clients are displaying report listings other creative ways like on separate tabs, etc. and they said that they were not aware that they were. Both suggested we enter the ability to control report order as a suggestion for future system enhancements.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Final Comments
I think the conference was very informative. We really had some great one-on-one discussions with CDC Staff and I was really glad that I was able to get a lot of excellent contacts at CDC, who would know me if I contacted them with questions. In addition, Kathy and I gave Vrahram requested feedback on how they did with the conference and how to improve future conferences. They plan to offer a conference each year going forward. They also plan a program for every 4 weeks to include webinars/events on the Roadmap. Scott Monroe said that we should ask our account rep if we would like a personalized roadmap presentation.
Met with Vrahram
We had a meeting with Vrahram after the conference today and discussed the following:
1) As for the 75 licenses. What we have are mobile licenses, which are for handheld. We don't want to have to deploy a mobile server to activate. He told me he is going to meet with the CEO tonight and will get approved a one for one exchange on the mobile licenses to regular connected licenses. He said he could not do dollar-for-dollar on it, but that he would get it done tonight and would send us an addendum.
2) As for the report parameter drop-down issue with reports that was being handled by Jumana Selek. She was able to reproduce in their system with the info that I had sent them. They have identified it as a bug and are currently working on rolling out a fix for it. Vrahram is following up with R&D and will have a turn around time for us by Friday.
3) As for the hand vs. magnifying glass/one-click vs. two-clicks issue. Vrahram said that he would talk to R&D and find out what Business Objects had to say and give us a final response by Friday. He doesn't think they are going to be able to get a fix out of Business Objects in a timely manner for us, but I asked him if he could have their best Crystal Expert dedicated to us next week to get these reports edited in a way that gives the reports acceptable functionality if we are going to have to edit them individually object-by-object and he said that he would.
1) As for the 75 licenses. What we have are mobile licenses, which are for handheld. We don't want to have to deploy a mobile server to activate. He told me he is going to meet with the CEO tonight and will get approved a one for one exchange on the mobile licenses to regular connected licenses. He said he could not do dollar-for-dollar on it, but that he would get it done tonight and would send us an addendum.
2) As for the report parameter drop-down issue with reports that was being handled by Jumana Selek. She was able to reproduce in their system with the info that I had sent them. They have identified it as a bug and are currently working on rolling out a fix for it. Vrahram is following up with R&D and will have a turn around time for us by Friday.
3) As for the hand vs. magnifying glass/one-click vs. two-clicks issue. Vrahram said that he would talk to R&D and find out what Business Objects had to say and give us a final response by Friday. He doesn't think they are going to be able to get a fix out of Business Objects in a timely manner for us, but I asked him if he could have their best Crystal Expert dedicated to us next week to get these reports edited in a way that gives the reports acceptable functionality if we are going to have to edit them individually object-by-object and he said that he would.
Mobile or Handheld?
I spoke with Alex Kwain, who is a Senior Solutions Consultant. He specializes in the iPhone/iPad development. I have his contact info if we have further questions, but the following are the available solutions for iPhone/iPad for Pivotal.
1) The have the Pivotal Wireless, which is a legacy app. This is not device specific and can use any browser. The forms are very simple.
2) Pivotal Handheld (this is the demo we had) -- This app is resident. Stored on the device. Is used offline and then synced when reconnected. It works with iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.
3) *New* tablet based or wireless iPad app. Look and feel of apple apps. Demo looked pretty slick. We can have Vrahram arrange to have Alex come demo this for us. Can have role based dashboards. No cube necessary, right into database.
4) New technology being demo'd doesn't have a code name, but we jokingly were calling it Elvis. This is a 3G solution that uses Safari and Thin Client. Strictly for iPad. This is not priced yet.
1) The have the Pivotal Wireless, which is a legacy app. This is not device specific and can use any browser. The forms are very simple.
2) Pivotal Handheld (this is the demo we had) -- This app is resident. Stored on the device. Is used offline and then synced when reconnected. It works with iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.
3) *New* tablet based or wireless iPad app. Look and feel of apple apps. Demo looked pretty slick. We can have Vrahram arrange to have Alex come demo this for us. Can have role based dashboards. No cube necessary, right into database.
4) New technology being demo'd doesn't have a code name, but we jokingly were calling it Elvis. This is a 3G solution that uses Safari and Thin Client. Strictly for iPad. This is not priced yet.
Thin Client
Q: Does the Thin Client run side-by-side wit the client version?
A: If you mean can a user run both versions, the answer is Yes. The same user can run both clients because they run through a different set of channels and have a different API set. If you mean, can we run them both on the same server, the answer is No. The Thin Client will require it's own client server.
A: If you mean can a user run both versions, the answer is Yes. The same user can run both clients because they run through a different set of channels and have a different API set. If you mean, can we run them both on the same server, the answer is No. The Thin Client will require it's own client server.
Features and Enhancements planned for SP9
Jenny Peng, VP of Engineering told me that she would email me the official list, however, here are some highlights of Service Pack 9:
1) A lot of the focus of SP9 was given to rolling out Visual WorkFlow and integrating it into the system.
2) Compatibility with Exchange 2010
3) Enhancement to Outlook 2010 Integration making it possible to change panels on forms and hide task pane. Will be enhanced to remember state for sizing and personalization of appointments and tasks and minimizing of links sections. Will also allow for some client side programming for outlook integration.
4) Search Criteria to be sorted alphabetically or sorted in a specific order.
5) Additional support for SharePoint 2010
Scott Monroe told me that we could talk to our Business Manager to arrange a sit down to review backlog of enhancement requests. I believe he said that they have over 700 that they are currently prioritizing.
1) A lot of the focus of SP9 was given to rolling out Visual WorkFlow and integrating it into the system.
2) Compatibility with Exchange 2010
3) Enhancement to Outlook 2010 Integration making it possible to change panels on forms and hide task pane. Will be enhanced to remember state for sizing and personalization of appointments and tasks and minimizing of links sections. Will also allow for some client side programming for outlook integration.
4) Search Criteria to be sorted alphabetically or sorted in a specific order.
5) Additional support for SharePoint 2010
Scott Monroe told me that we could talk to our Business Manager to arrange a sit down to review backlog of enhancement requests. I believe he said that they have over 700 that they are currently prioritizing.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Driving CRM Results - conversations that matter
This was a discussion about emotional intelligence given by Bill Benjamin, CEO of the Institute for Health & Human Potential. He discussed defining star performers by IQ, Technical Skills, and EQ. IQ was actually a reverse predictor for success as was technical skills. What was a better predictor was EQ. Self Awareness of emotional management, emotional connection, and personal leadership. He explained that smart people fail for the following reasons: if they cannot connect on a personal level, if they have the inability to manage relationships, and if they have the inability to manage change. Interesting session.
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