Compiled by Mark Balestra
Gartner Institute, an independent organization dedicated to the improvement and advancement of the Information Technology industry's workforce, announced this week the availability of E-Business Fundamentals, a certification program that consists of a training course, available at over 96 training sites worldwide, and a certification exam, available at Prometric testing centers worldwide. The program, created for both IT and business professionals, is designed to meet a critical need in the marketplace for all contributors to e-business projects, ranging from programmers to sales professionals to business strategists, to have a common, measurable understanding of e-Business vocabulary, technology, project roles and responsibilities, and strategy.
The program is recommended for IT project managers involved in e-business projects; individuals
previously involved in enterprise resource planning or electronic data interchange projects; business
analysts planning to transition into e-business projects; marketing or sales professionals who need a greater understanding of e-business concepts and technologies; and management, finance and supply chain professionals who will participate in or oversee e-business services.
The three-day course provides an overview of e-business from theory to implementation; teaches leading business models, core business processes and principal drivers and issues that impact the growth and success of e-business; and identifies the key enabling technologies, such as meta-tag, encryption, and middleware, that support successful e-business projects.
For more information, visit www.gartnerinstitute.com.
If you've got a thirst for e-business knowledge and you're anchored within a reasonable distance to London, you'll want to check out the IT conference lineup at www.smiconferences.co.uk. Upcoming events include "Effective Software Pricing & Licensing," "Intranets, Extranets & Corporate Portals," "Tax on the Internet" and "Effective Email Marketing Strategies." If you're only concerned with interactive gaming events, a sports betting conference, "Online Sports Gambling" will be held June 7-8.
E-business is huge, online travel booking is huge, so it makes perfect sense to market the heck out of a flight booking service that's geared toward the business traveler. One such service is Biztravel.com. The company provides a patent-pending booking engine that finds ranks and recommends travel services based upon customer preferences to provide efficient and convenient travel planning. The service is designed to give travelers "the highest degree of personal power and control over their travel plans." Biztravel.com maintains detailed travel profiles about each of its members and automatically recommends travel itineraries to match stated preferences, such as lowest price, closest to desired schedule, preferred carrier and the desire to maximize frequent flyer miles. It also offers time and money-saving features that integrate seamlessly with digital communication devices such as paging travelers one hour before a departure. Business travelers can ensure that they receive credit for every mile earned through the site, and they can also find travel news, opinions, advice, weather forecasts, restaurant guides, driving instructions and street maps. You can get learn more and sign up by visiting www.biztravel.com.
Major airlines are also recognizing the demand for booking business trips online. This week, Delta Air Lines announced plans to launch a travel website dedicated to serving the needs of the small business
traveler by providing online access to comprehensive air, car, and hotel bookings. The new site, called MYOB Travel (Mind Your Own Business Travel), is designed to make it easy for small businesses to take advantage of one-stop travel solutions. The site, expected to launch this summer, will target businesses that have between five and 50 travelers.
Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications firm, demonstrated its new generation of Internet-based phone technologies in Hong Kong last week, and those in the Net betting biz should be interested in some of the things that lie ahead. One is a handheld device that enables the holder to access and pay for services. With it, music, games or movie tickets can be purchased. Additionally, a "wireless wallet" is being developed with Visa that will allow shopping and access to services including personal banking and on-line trading of stocks. A gadget called a pulse locator will make it possible to maintain a mobile phone book that can track down contacts when within calling range. Ericsson says there will be 600 million users of mobile Internet phones by 2004.
Neoware Systems, Inc., a developer and marketer of information appliances based upon embedded versions of the Linux and Windows operating systems, has introduced a new product, called Eon - The Anything BoxTM, that it has dubbed "the first customizable Linux information appliance specifically designed for business-to-business applications." The company's partners and end customers can tailor the software for a variety of B2B applications and configurations including Web kiosks, routers, firewalls, cash registers, thin clients, e-mail stations and security devices. The product is bundled with Neoware's new NeoLinux operating system, which is a small, secure, centrally managed version of the industry-standard Red Hat Linux distribution designed specifically for information appliances. Neoware President and CEO Michael Kantrowitz says that the product is targeted at applications where customers need a "low-cost, highly managed information appliance that is net-connected." The new tool can be configured with software and add-in hardware for a wide variety of environments. Eon - The Anything Box is available immediately, with pricing beginning at $499. For more information or to order the product, visit www.neoware.com.
QuickTake.comSM, an online, do-it-yourself survey tool, yesterday introduced a new wireless capability that allows individuals to download real-time survey results anytime, anywhere Palm VII service is available. The new technology enables decision-makers to access real-time Digital OpinionsTM in a fast, cost-effective way. Further information is available at www.quicktake.com.
Frost & Sullivan puts on an annual event modeled to teach business persons how to keep up with the rapid changes of today's global economy. The Marketing Research Conference & Exhibition, scheduled for June 6-7 in Las Vegas, will focus on harnessing the vast amount of information available through online research to hone their skills business development, marketing and sales. Speakers from Alta Vista, Apple, Cisco Systems and Dell among others will discuss the changing landscape of market research and how it plays a vital role in the development of marketing activities both nationally and abroad in the global marketplace. Attendees will learn about the latest Internet marketing techniques that have cut research
time in half. Speakers will demonstrate the best ways to sample customers for surveys and apply the results to real world actions. Online registration is at www.frost.com/conferences/MRT.
At a press conference today at the Spring Internet World conference, 26 companies announced that they have formed an international advocacy group to promote the responsible and beneficial use of technology for personalizing consumer and business relationships. Based in Massachusetts, the Personalization Consortium will provide a forum for discussion of personalization technology and will develop guidelines for its application to marketing practices that respect consumer privacy. It will address the development of standard industry practices, sponsor research, educate the public about personalized marketing, and work with other advocacy groups to formulate and ensure the responsible use of personalization technology. The first project of the consortium is a survey of more than 4,500 Web users about consumer attitudes regarding online privacy and retailers' use of customer information on the Internet. The survey found that privacy issues are important to consumers but do not outweigh convenience. The consortium has drafted initial objectives for ethical information and privacy management, which include the following guidelines for evolving personalization technology:
- Fair access by individuals to their personal information
- Responsible linkage of online and off-line information
- Redress provisions for individuals to change information
- Criteria for "opt-in" and "opt-out" privacy options
- Templates to standardize the disclosure of consortium members' privacy policies to consumers
The consortium has also proposed a four-point privacy monitoring and assurance program for members that exceeds the limitations of existing early stage self-regulatory efforts:
- Free distribution of a self-assessment mechanism for members to gauge the degree of consumer protection and compliance with stated privacy practices and policies
- Independent verification/audit of members' privacy and security policies
- Mechanism for resolving disputes by a trusted third party
- Education and awareness program for members and the public.
Information on the Personalization Consortium is available at www.personalization.org.
IBM recently announced the availability of its ViaVoice Pro Elite voice recognition software, the
first-to-market continuous speech recognition software to include a headset-free microphone. The new product gives computer users greater freedom to interact with their computers in quiet environments. Users can talk their way around the Web, navigate the desktop and create documents by voice--all without having to wear a headset microphone. ViaVoice Pro Elite is available through CompUSA stores nationwide.
Finally, a little blurb of interest to Flash developers: Electric Rain, Inc.(R) is taking orders for its new 3D vector graphics software, Swift 3D. This standalone design tool creates 3D imagery and animation for direct use with Macromedia(R) FlashTM software. The retail price is $139.00. For more information, visit www.erain.com.