On-demand crm solution

Microsoft is changing the name of its on-demand CRM (customer relationship management) offering to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, according to a company official. The product was previously called CRM Live.

As more companies toy with the idea of having their software applications run by on-demand hosting companies, applications giant SAP has no plans to enter the hosting market, the company's chief executive said Thursday. SAP's directors discussed their views on everything from the hosting of applications to merger strategies to competitors Microsoft and Oracle during a press briefing at their Palo Alto, Calif., office. SAP faces increased competition these days following Oracle's acquisition of former rival PeopleSoft and an increasingly ***

British Telecommunications and Siebel Systems have expanded their six-year partnership to enable BT to resell Siebel's OnDemand service to small and medium-size businesses in the United Kingdom. OnDemand is a Web-based product that is licensed to companies on a per-user, per-month basis, which means they can implement the customer relationship management (CRM) system without having to manage the hardware or software that is traditionally associated with business applications. The Siebel product is essentially a rebranded version of a CRM package made by UpShot, a company that was acquired by Siebel in October. UpShot was a direct competitor with Salesforce. ***