The following forces and information technology (IT) trends will continue to shape 2013:

1. Cloud Computing
While cloud computing is becoming mainstream, hybrid cloud–on-premises configurations (a.k.a., “software plus services” and “connected services”) remains the reality for cloud integration and federated cross-cloud security issues. Organizations are increasingly looking to hybrid cloud architectures as a way to have a more dynamic computing architecture over time. Read the rest of this entry »

Social media provides data to the enterprise on how its customers are interacting. Even though most decision makers understand that gathering and analyzing this data is important, it’s not always easy to know how.

Astute Solutions was founded in 1995 to offer call center and issue management software, which later became a full customer service solution. The acquisition of RealDialog from LiveWire Logic in 2006 added knowledge management to the offering. In 2010, Astute acquired Gamma Engineers for its social media management technology. This has evolved into today’s Astute Social Relationship Management (SRM) solution, with the ambition to offer functionality not just for managing social data, but for using the results in the cross-channel customer relationship activities of a company. Read the rest of this entry »