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.

Intranet teams

I posted on our company site about intranet teams.

I still feel quite strongly about this, I think a truly special company should be able to find a way to let the most talented people have a talented team to draw upon without imposing bureaucracy.

It is just based on practical experience - if we resource our talented people we do well, if we leave the without resources they get frustrated.

Simple really!

Claromentis Direction and R&D

I have been involved with a number of discussions and blogs recently and I wanted to draw a few of these together.

Some of our clients are getting very interested in our latest intranet application - Project Manager - and others are asking what our direction is.

The answer is that yes - Project Management is a very natural addition to our framework, because we can leverage so much that a collaboration framework like Claromentis already brings to the table. Actually we are even trying to establish a community to establish where the project management software industry is going, and what we should include - you can see a sneak preview on our project collaboration software site - it should be launched over the summer.

However the main company focus is on launching Claromentis 6.0 - a truly innovative corporate web 2.0 platform that is open source extendable and true to all of our values. The work in progress is really exciting and innovative - I look forward to sharing it with you over the next few months.

Innovation Lab for corporate 2.0

The announcement we made at Claromentis on the Innovation lab based on corporate applications from web 2.0 is really exciting.

Personally the most interesting side of this for me is how involved our existing customers will want to be in this process. We already know some of the largest will be a key part of the process, and equally we will accept that many are not ready to embrace any kind of web based innopvation within their core collaboration systems. It will be great to use the lab for those clients that want top participate and experiment especially in the visualization of user connectivity part.

I will also be curious as to whether there is a clear difference between our US and UK customers in the degree to which they are keen participants in this process. We have always stated that in general terms our US clients are 1 - 2 years ahead of the UK customers in their adoption of forward looking technologies - this will be a real test of this idea!