Data Strategy articles from June 2006

Data Strategy archives from June 2006

Why Mickey and Pluto hold key to 'dirty data'.
June 20, 2006... Much like personal cleanliness, if you ignore data hygiene you not only risk creating a rather nasty stink, it's also a sure-fire way of losing friends and alienating people. Data cleansing is one of the areas we're often accused of...

Alterian expands with Dynamics Direct buy.
June 20, 2006... Alterian has acquired one of the world's leading email marketing software providers, Dynamics Direct, to bolster its UK operation. Based in Los Angeles, Dynamics Direct's customer base includes Euro RSCG Worldwide and Vertis, as well as...

Misuse of information doubles in five years.
June 20, 2006... Data owners are being warned to police the use of business lists more thoroughly, on the back of a study revealing that misuse of the information has doubled since 2001. The statistic came out of research commissioned by the DQM Group, which...

CACI snaps up Sophron Partners.
June 20, 2006... CACI has acquired one of Europe's leading customer management consultancies, Sophron Partners, for an undisclosed sum. Established in 1996, Sophron has a large, established team of practitioners, each with at least ten years' industry...

Experian software to reveal current account switchers.
June 20, 2006... Experian is launching Current Account Switcher to help banks and building societies to anticipate movements in their customer base. The product is designed to allow banks to improve customer retention and cross-selling opportunities, while...

Parcelnet picks Sanderson to establish Unity solution.
June 20, 2006... Parcelnet, a division of mail order giant Otto Group, has appointed IT software and services supplier Sanderson to install its Unity mail order fulfilment solution. The company, which provides home delivery and fulfilment services for a...

Screwfix in bid to enhance sales.
June 20, 2006... Screwfix Direct, the UK's leading direct supplier of tools and materials for the trade, has invested in a new software suite to enhance its sales performance on a day-to-day basis and build key accounts. Vecta, which has installed its...

Hearts FC system to give centralised view.
June 20, 2006... Heart of Midlothian FC is implementing an enterprise-wide venue management system, from Venue Solutions Holdings, to give the club a centralised view of corporate sales, community and customer services programmes. The scheme, called...

Alliance & Leicester turns to SPSS tool.
June 20, 2006... Alliance & Leicester has appointed predictive software specialist SPSS to bolster its use of data. The financial services organisation will use its predictive analytics solutions for all credit-risk management activity. Simon Baum, director...

Conduit takeover sees Willcocks go.
June 20, 2006... Data services company Conduit has parted company with managing director Steve Willcocks, as a result of its recent takeover by marketing services group Pendragon Marhaus. Willcocks leaves without a job to go to, but a spokesman for...

Global DM unveils service to identify defunct firms.
June 20, 2006... Global DM, the international database marketing company, has launched what it claims is the first international business suppression service, called Global Business Suppression Service (GBSS). Initially covering the UK, US, Australia, and...

UKChanges links with Capscan for data tool.
June 20, 2006... Data-cleansing specialist UKChanges has secured a partnership with Capscan, one of the leading suppliers of UK domestic and international addressing software, to provide a branded version of its Web-based data- cleaning tool, Direct Connect...

Maconomy gives 'X' software boost.
June 20, 2006... Maconomy, a leading provider of business solutions for professional service companies, has upgraded its project management software, dubbed Maconomy X. The system is designed and developed specifically for management, engineering and...

InfoQuest introduces high-volume database.
June 20, 2006... InfoQuest is launching a major high-volume lifestyle database, Lifestyle at Home. The file, to be managed by Caspian List & Data Management, introduces 5.327 million data-rich consumer records that have been sourced from a continuity...

Unica solution maximises value from Internet activity.
June 20, 2006... Unica is launching a Web analytics tool for firms seeking to get more value out of Internet activity and improve the cross-channel experience of their customers and prospects. Affinium NetInsight links users' Web activity with their...

Market Location risk tool aids B2B.
June 20, 2006... Market Location is launching a risk assessment tool to help firms boost the effectiveness of their business-to-business marketing, by targeting only those firms that are financially secure. Dubbed Risk Locator, the product provides access...

Mardev launches e-prospect system.
June 20, 2006... Mardev is launching an online database that lets businesses download prospects for lead generation activity. CustomerSearch.net allows companies to run unlimited searches to refine their prospect market, but only pay for those names they...

UK firms failing the address change test.
June 20, 2006... They say that moving house is one of life's most stressful events. Having moved last June, I agree. The experience has, however, given me a good insight into how the industry handles address changes, and it's not a pretty sight. We...

LETTER: Business intelligence needs reseller support.(Letter to the editor)
June 20, 2006... After a few lean years, the rush to embrace out-of-the-box business intelligence (BI) tools is creating a reseller feeding frenzy. The development of predefined cubes provides users with immediate visibility across key areas, such as finance...

LETTER: IT Web support hasn't a hope without EAM tools.(Letter to the editor)
June 20, 2006... Marketers are increasingly turning away from their traditional methods and using the Internet for campaigns. So why are IT directors failing to keep these applications performing well? Most IT departments address the problem of Web...

Companies need to focus their vision.
June 20, 2006... The single customer view (SCV) has become something of a stock phrase for businesses which either have or are working towards one. The ease with which it is slipped into parlance belies the difficulty some companies seem to be still having in...

FEATURE: Search and deploy.
June 20, 2006... With vendor-led enterprise search solutions rapidly removing the need to outsource customer transactional data, legislative pressures could soon force the issue higher up the business agenda. David Reed explains Fifteen years ago, the...

DATA CLEANING: Airing dirty data.
June 20, 2006... While data owners and users are busy squabbling about who is responsible for suppressing lists, more and more embarrassing blunders are being made public news. Clearly, reform is needed. By Emma Rubach Data hygiene issues still dog the...

GB Group's 4C-UK to predict home moving.
June 20, 2006... Businesses will now be able to predict when their customers are planning to move house, with the launch of a new data source from GB Group, gathered from partners involved in the final stages of the conveyancing process. The product,...

Blueprint warns against 'oven ready' solutions.
June 20, 2006... Experts at Blueprint Performance Management claim many firms are seduced by software vendors' claims that their BI solutions will work 'straight from the box'. Blueprint senior consultant Jonathan Freeland explains/ "While vendors are...

UK firms 'losing billions to sub-standard information'.
June 20, 2006... Inadequate business data is costing the UK more than #2bn a year, leading to poor decisions that wreak havoc with competitiveness and profitability, according to a study of British bosses. When asked about decision-making effectiveness, 85...

CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT: Going to great measures.
June 20, 2006... Measuring your company's profitability is a crucial task, but the ways in which it can be done may seem limitless, making many companies think twice about trying. By David Reed If you take an equilateral triangle and place smaller...

CASE STUDY: Spinning the wheel.
June 20, 2006... Nissan faced the tough task of keeping customers loyal throughout long buying cycles. But, with insight@tmw on board, it launched a winning strategy With long repurchasing cycles, customer retention in the automotive industry is...

Legal column: Spencer Davis answers pressing legal questions.
June 20, 2006... Online advertising presents a number of worldwide opportunities for brand owners. But there are a variety of legal and regulatory issues, with the laws regulating online content differing from country to country. Q Does online advertising...

Segmentation making a monkey of branding.
June 20, 2006... 'Give a dog an ill name and hang him.' So goes the proverb which suggests that having a bad reputation affects the way you're perceived. Yet we all have ill names that we privately use for friends, neighbours, colleagues or celebrities; it's...