Recent Claromentis New Projects

A the end of a week which sees 4 new intranet and extranet software projects for Claromentis, a record, I think its interesting to reflect on just how different these 4 new clients are :

• An NHS hospital
• An oil field services company
• A stationery company
• One of the top 200 listed companies in the UK

That's one of the things that makes working for Claromentis so fascinating, not just our success but the variety of companies we work with around the world.

Email is where knowledge goes to die

I just love this quote, I found it on a 2003 blog, by Bill French, although I have no idea if it is the original source.

Why do I love it? Because it is eloquent, evocative and accurate. The concept is something I fight all the time.

Email has a lot of weird attributes - it is way to attention grabbing for the value it normally contains and it is so subject to abuse.

I try to work around the disadvantages of email - like promising myself I will only read it twice a day, have days where I try very hard not to send one. So far I think I have failed - email is killing my creativity, draining my time and is indeed a knowledge sink.

I still optimistically think that a stranger might actually one day send me one that's worth reading.

Intranet users - what type am I?

So I posted about the importance of establishing what kind of intranet user is asking even a simple question - and then I asked myself - what kind of intranet user am I?

I cant edit a server file
I can't design a VI

so 10 years after starting with Claromentis and I am still a simple user!

That's a little sad really...

Intranet Software Priorities

I wrote last month that it is quite remarkable how broad the functionality is in Claromentis Intranet Software. I did say that this is a very exciting space, and that is certainly true.

One problem it brings is how to decide on intranet software priorities - when the applications are so diverse how can you rationally decide whether a new feature in sales manager is more or less important that a completely unrelated feature in Project Manager - for example?

The answer cannot always lie with our clients - our standard approach is to ask them. But they each have different emphasis themselves on the importance of different intranet applications - according to their own business needs, the reasons they purchased Claromentis or for many other possible reasons.

We combine listening to customers with our own vision of where the intranet framework is going - a truly integrated set of business applications on top of an accurate information layer.

SO far we are doing I think a reasonable job in making what are actually difficult decisions on where to invest R&D.

Scope of Intranet Software

It is just remarkable how far intranet software has progressed in recent years.

We are really becoming a complete web based framework for companies to run their information portals and web based applications.

And with systems in place for procurement and partnerships we are seeing suppliers and joint venture companies access the system on an increasing basis.

The API is considerable and the latest applications, like project manager, are really far from the traditional scope of intranets.

It is an exciting space to be.

I am learning French!

As if I haven't got enough Blogs to post on, I have decided today to try to run a blog in French, to record my experiences as I try to improve my terrible grasp of the language.

For anyone who for whatever weird reason is interested - it is here.

Sales and lead management software that works

What I really like about the latest project management product from Claromentis, and the nature of the platform, is that it is just so incredibly useful for normal, sensible companies.

In my recent post on seamless integration between intranet applications I was really thinking more about the ease of use of the software. But what is really great is that these are applications that are right at the heart of almost every business.

What company doesn't want to efficiently manage leads, opportunities and projects in a single web based environment?

Yes they tie right in to the Claromentis 6.0 strap line of shout-collaborate-execute : but it just means so much more to our clients to put this in the practical context of lead-sale-project. Thats what drives their business, and a practical, scalable platform to make this efficient is really important - not just a nice to have.