InfoStreet’s web-based StreetSmart suite adds CRM and sales force automation; gateway security firm IronPort opts for Click Commerce to push supply chain data to CRM; and Hong Kong-based CDC Corporation ups its offer for CRM pioneer Onyx Software.
InfoStreet announced the addition of customer relationship management and sales force automation to its StreetSmart web application suite. To help build adoption of the CRM component, the company said CRM would be free until October 31, 2006.
Features of the new CRM component include a shareable contact database, access control, and complete customer history tracking, all of which would be expected by a business CRM user. InfoStreet also said information can be grouped by stage, geography, industry, or custom-created groupings.
Security appliance maker IronPort tapped Click Commerce to feed its CRM application. Click Commerce provides on-demand supply chain management solutions, and will work with IronPort to integrate information from the supply chain into its existing infrastructure.
Click Commerce executive VP Nancy Koenig said in a statement that for companies with “complex sales channels, CRM solutions do not provide the necessary tools to support business partners’ sales efforts.”
Onyx Software had agreed in early June to be acquired by privately held M2M Holdings. The all-cash transaction would be worth $4.80 per share, and CEO Janice Anderson wrote in a letter to clients “the transaction is the right decision for our customers.”
However, Bloomberg News has reported CDC, which operates the China.com website, has now offered $4.85 per share in cash, or $5 per share in cash and stock, for Onyx.
The software company is weighing its options. In April, Onyx retained Piper Jaffray and Co. to act as financial advisor. Ditching M2M in favor of CDC would cost Onyx $4.5 million plus 5 percent of the winning bid, the report noted.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
