Data Strategy articles from February 2006

Data Strategy archives from February 2006

Only convergence can combat old turf wars.
February 8, 2006... Now that many of the arguments have been won in the boardroom - and the head of data's apparently sitting comfortably next to the finance director, IT director and company chairman at the top table - one of the few remaining barriers appears...

Experian snaps up ClarityBlue for #85m.
February 8, 2006... Experian has continued its ambitious growth strategy with the #85m purchase of ClarityBlue - the company with clients including 02, Barclaycard, BSkyB and Orange. ClarityBlue, which is to trade as ClarityBlue, an Experian Company, will...

IN BRIEF: Tesco adds details to disabilities register.
February 8, 2006... Tesco has become the largest retailer to provide full details of its disabled and special access facilities through the nationwide access register directenquiries.com. To join the register, Tesco underwent the largest access assessment of...

Nestle switches stock-taking line.
February 8, 2006... Food and drinks giant Nestle UK has appointed IT specialist Davidson- Richards to improve the stock control for its main factory shop, following a three-way competitive tender against Uniware and incumbent supplier MCR. Davidson-Richards...

Middlesbrough FC in Venue Solutions deal to boost data.
February 8, 2006... Middlesbrough FC is consolidating its data to improve the effectiveness of sales and marketing strategies and boost revenues at the Riverside Stadium on both match-days and non-match-days. The Premiership club has signed a deal to...

Pendragon Marhaus adds Conduit to consultancies.
February 8, 2006... Business data specialist Conduit has been purchased by integrated marketing services group Pendragon Marhaus. The move follows talks about a potential joint venture to develop new ways of generating sales in the business-to-business arena....

IN BRIEF: Mazda sets up 13m-strong 'suspect pool'.
February 8, 2006... Mazda is overhauling its customer acquisition strategy by setting up a 13 million-strong prospect database. The company has briefed EHS Brann Discovery to construct a 'suspect pool' of UK-based drivers. It will serve as a base from which...

ER opt-outs rise due to pre-ticking.
February 8, 2006... The number of people choosing to opt out of the Electoral Roll (ER) has risen by 3 per cent - to 32.1 per cent - over the past 12 months, according to Equifax. Following a detailed analysis of over 45 million ER records, the Equifax...

Broadsystem expands with Ebiquita takeover.
February 8, 2006... Customer communication specialist Broadsystem is to purchase Ebiquita, the data cleansing and acquisition firm, which went into administration at the end of last year. The acquisition of the company's assets, which is going through for...

IN BRIEF: Avis implements SPSS Clementine.
February 8, 2006... Car rental firm Avis Europe is looking to improve customer insight by employing SPSS' Clementine software. The package allows users to complete a wide range of statistical analysis across customer records and transactional data. Avis will...

Ex-Identex chief opens data shop.
February 8, 2006... A new data-processing company is being launched in the UK by a former Identex director. Global Data Processing is the brainchild of ex-Identex bureau production director Mark Saunders. It will provide services including name and address...

PRODUCT & SERVICE NEWS: Experian boosts offer in FootFall purchase.
February 8, 2006... Experian has bolstered its retail offering by purchasing FootFall - a company that specialises in customer-counting technology and retail information. Founded in the West Midlands in 1991, Footfall has offices in 11 countries, including...

PRODUCT & SERVICE NEWS: SAS introduces Promotion Optimisation plan.
February 8, 2006... Business intelligence software firm SAS is launching SAS Promotion Optimisation to help retailers manage revenue and margins throughout the entire merchandise lifecycle. The company, whose clients include many of the UK's top retailers -...

PRODUCT & SERVICE NEWS: 8el launches call monitoring tool.
February 8, 2006... Networking specialist 8el has launched CallWatch Interactive, an advanced billing analytics tool that it claims empowers communications managers to make faster, better informed decisions regarding their voice networks. Available as part of...

PRODUCT & SERVICE NEWS: Oracle bolsters financial software.
February 8, 2006... Oracle has updated two financial software packages - the Internal Controls Manager and Financial Consolidation Hub - to help to prevent firms from breaking regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley. Part of the Oracle E-Business Suite 11i, the...

PRODUCT & SERVICE NEWS: Alterian expands on Marketing Suite offer.
February 8, 2006... Alterian has added three new features to its Marketing Suite database product. The first is the Alterian Selection Planner, a segmentation tool designed to help clients develop marketing campaigns from multiple lists, each of which may...

PRODUCT & SERVICE NEWS: Mardev adds fresh IT info to DecisionMaker.
February 8, 2006... Business information specialist Mardev has bolstered its DecisionMaker database with additional IT data. The database, which holds details of over 5 million senior business professionals, has been topped up with information from a range of...

PRODUCT & SERVICE NEWS: Redcats merges buyer information.
February 8, 2006... Experian has created a database management solution specifically tailored to the needs of home shopping giant Redcats. The solution, which is called Prospectvue, aims to slash the time it takes to deploy Redcats' direct marketing...

We can't keep shirking our responsibilities.
February 8, 2006... I believe that more marketers are starting to understand that holding customer data is a privilege, and realising that this data's safety and security must be ensured at all times - both for the good of the company and the good of the...

LETTER: Data owners need to sell insight as well as lists.(Letter to the Editor)
February 8, 2006... Your feature on declining mail volumes and the potential impact on prospect data sales raises an interesting quandary for the industry (DS December/January). Commodity purchasing and seemingly low response rates are an increasing threat. Could...

LETTER: Nice to know that data sales people are neutral.(Letter to the Editor)
February 8, 2006... So, how should we interpret this month's big news that Experian has bought Clarity Blue (see News, page 5)? When I initially heard this, I was concerned as to how this would affect Clarity Blue's independence. I referred back its most...

Information explosion.(Company Profile)
February 8, 2006... This year is likely to witness a number of major software launches - most importantly, the arrival of an all-encompassing analytics suite. By David Reed With signs of a gentle recovery in the economy, the opportunities are growing for...

TELEMARKETING: Dial and error.
February 8, 2006... To counter the escalation in TPS registrations, cold prospectors need to adopt a more scientific approach. After all, consumer attitudes and behaviour are not always aligned. By David Reed Blame it on BT, or Kitchens Direct, or silent...

SINGLE CUSTOMER VIEW: Take a good look.
February 8, 2006... Amassing data on your customers will not provide a mirror image of them. But a blurred impression is better than none at all, argues David Reed Achieving customer data integration, or a single customer view (SCV), has been high on the...

CASE STUDY: Vehicle for change.
February 8, 2006... Vehicle remarketing firm BCA turned to Kardex to implement a system whereby customers are guaranteed essential V5 documentation when they need to sell Every vehicle in the UK requires a V5 registration document from the date of its first...

Media Logistics case fuels spammer threat.
February 8, 2006... UK firms are being warned to ensure email marketing campaigns comply with EU law, or face the threat of legal action, after a company was sued for flouting spam legislation. Media Logistics has been forced to make a #300 out-of-court...

ICO creates HR guide to Data Protection Act.
February 8, 2006... The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has released a new guide to help businesses ensure they do not flout the Data Protection Act when giving references for former employees. The guide also includes best practice recommendations to...

Marketers 'ignorant' of data laws.
February 8, 2006... Two-thirds of the UK's direct marketers - many companies' guardians of data - believe they have an insufficient understanding of current data legislation, according to new research by Alterian. Only 33 per cent of respondents felt they...

DATA CLEANING: Clean and present danger.
February 8, 2006... With shortsighted commercial concerns often undermining data management best practice, companies must make stark choices if they are to maintain data integrity and keep consumers onside. Patrick Dye reports Just a decade ago, the...

Legal column: Peter Wainman answers legal questions.
February 8, 2006... Mills & Reeve's Peter Wainman answers pressing legal questions With recent advances in global communication and the rise of outsourcing to cheaper shores, data managers are increasingly responsible for ensuring that transfers of data...

Vendors must learn to serve data practitioners.
February 8, 2006... Are you being served? No, I am not about to embark on an innuendo-laden discussion about Mrs Slocam's pussy, but how software applications support data practitioners. Put simply, most systems are not fit for the purpose. The reason is...