Category: AJAX

IDC Predictions 2010 and the Product Configuration Landscape

* The proliferation of mobile devices is going to make untethered sales and product configuration a critical requirement for more companies than ever before.

* AJAX and optimized XML on private networks are going to be the foundation of distributed order management systems that can manage varying levels of product order complexity. Think scalability of production process, from assemble-to-order through engineer-to-order.

* The pervasiveness of cloud computing and virtualization is going to be a catalyst for product configuration strategies being used for standard products too.

Feb 19, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Predictions for 2010: Product Configuration Achieves its Selling and Profit Potential

Bottom line: Quoting and product configuration technologies, systems and processes are getting more responsive to company’s unmet selling and services needs. As a result, quote-to-order and quote-to-cash strategies are going to be the most profitable in 2010 they have been in years.

Jan 02, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Audi A4 Configurator Created Using Microsoft Surface Debuts at Frankfurt Auto Show

Bottom line: BMW and Audi’s innovative approaches to product configuration in an economic downturn illustrate how making products personal can accelerate sales no matter what the economic conditions are.

Oct 03, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post

Fighting Fear of Change in Your Channels with Product Configuration

New product introductions open up the door for resellers to speak with their customers and clients, and also give them more of a base to deliver solutions from. At Cincom we’re seeing manufacturers move much more aggressively into selling build-to-order products as part of their new product introductions. There is more of a focus on how to tailor products that were assemble-to-order and make them build-to-order or configure-to-order so they can match the needs of resellers’ customers. This is particularly true in industrial plant and equipment, where this trend is becoming pervasive.

Aug 08, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post

Why Product Configuration Strategies Fail

Whether it is the culture of the company slowing killing new ideas and resisting change or the lack of focus on getting systems and processes integrated together, product configuration strategies fail. For some it is the lack of adoption in channels, and for others, the lack of enough flexibility in the actual product configuration apps being able to scale to meet new product needs.

Jul 23, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post

Making an Impact Begins With Scalability

Louis Columbus
Cincom Systems
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, presented recently at the Stanford Technology Ventures ProgramSpotlight on Scalability. Her insights into how to make an impact with your business based on scaling key processes, from sales channels, to service, to content delivery, are well worth listening to. Below is a 4 minute video excerpt of a [...]

Jun 21, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post

Winning the Tug-of-War Over Data In Channel Management Strategies

Louis Columbus
Cincom Systems
The proliferation of programming languages including AJAX, XML and the resulting growth of Web Services is revolutionizing the development of channel management applications.
With the integration capabilities of AJAX for example, Mash-Ups can quickly be created, integrating two or more data sets to provide a richer client experience than ever before.
Taken together, all of [...]

Jun 01, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post