ST PAUL, Minn.–St. Jude Medical, Inc., (NYSE:STJ) announced today that Mark D. Carlson, M.D., has been appointed chief medical officer and senior vice president, Clinical Affairs, of St. Jude Medical’s Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Division, effective Nov. 13.

With more than 25 years of experience in patient care, public policy development and cardiac research, Dr. Carlson is widely considered one of the foremost experts in cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Carlson recently chaired the Heart Rhythm Society task force that developed policy recommendations regarding post market surveillance of medical device performance.

In this new role, Dr. Carlson will be responsible for coordinating clinical studies that investigate new and existing cardiac devices and therapies and will be St. Jude Medical’s chief liaison to the medical community.

“As a physician who has worked closely with patients and industry stakeholders in helping to promote superior care, research, education and sound public policy, Dr. Carlson will provide St. Jude Medical with important insights and perspective,” said Michael J. Coyle, president of St. Jude Medical’s Cardiac Rhythm Management business. “He appreciates the need to deliver and communicate about technology that can truly improve lives. We are delighted that Dr. Carlson has agreed to become part of the St. Jude Medical team.”

Dr. Carlson, 51, most recently served as professor of medicine and associate vice president for government relations at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, he served on the Medical Devices Dispute Resolution Panel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has served on Medicare advisory committees. Dr. Carlson also recently chaired the Health Policy Committee of the Heart Rhythm Society, and chaired the Policy Conference on Pacemaker and ICD Performance sponsored by the Heart Rhythm Society and the FDA, as well as chairing its subsequent task force which developed the recently published policy recommendations on these issues.

In 2003, Dr. Carlson worked as a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow on the staff of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch on legislation and issues including the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, the Cord Blood Stem Cell Act, and medical liability litigation reform.

Dr. Carlson received his M.D. from the University of Kansas and received a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University. He trained in cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at Harvard Medical School. His research on arrhythmias has resulted in more than 150 publications.

Dr. Carlson is a member of the American College of Cardiology/Heart Rhythm Society National Cardiac Data Registry Implantable Defibrillator Registry Committee. He is also a board member of the Heart Rhythm Foundation and a board member of the American Heart Association Cleveland Division.

Dr. Carlson offered the following comments, “In this role, I look forward to having an opportunity to influence the science, patient care and health policy in the electrophysiology field. Having served on an independent panel of physicians for St. Jude Medical, I have long-respected the integrity and innovation of St. Jude Medical’s people and products.”

“The addition of Dr. Carlson will bring added strength and leadership to St. Jude Medical’s accomplished CRM Clinical Affairs department, and his extensive experience will provide great value in not only clinical trial design and execution, but also on the health policy side,” said Eric S. Fain, M.D., executive vice president for development and clinical/regulatory affairs of St. Jude Medical’s CRM division.

About St. Jude Medical

St. Jude Medical is dedicated to making life better for cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients worldwide through excellence in medical device technology and services. The Company has five major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiac surgery, cardiology and neuromodulation. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., St. Jude Medical employs approximately 11,000 people worldwide.

CRM/Software Industry Veteran Will Capitalize on Onyx’s 2006 Momentum to Execute on Company’s Post-Acquisition Vision

INDIANAPOLIS & SEATTLE–M2M Holdings Inc., a leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the enterprise, today announced that Pete Strom will join the company to become the general manager of Onyx Software Corporation (Onyx), a business unit of M2M Holdings Inc. and worldwide leader in CRM and process management software for mid- and large-size enterprises. Strom will take over for Acting General Manager Tom Millay, who will return to his previous role as vice president of sales and marketing for M2M Holdings.

“We’re thrilled to have Pete join our team,” said Jeff Tognoni, CEO of M2M Holdings. “After achieving a number of important milestones in its first five months as a division of M2M Holdings, Onyx will begin 2007 under the leadership of an experienced software industry veteran with deep CRM market familiarity.”

Indeed, Onyx has achieved a number of accomplishments since becoming part of the M2M Holdings family of companies, including making a return to profitability and posting strong third-quarter results, delivering the controlled release of architecture-rich Onyx Version 6.0, communicating a refined strategic vision to customers and other key stakeholders of the business, and launching an aggressive M&A strategy with M2M Holdings’ recently-announced agreement to acquire KNOVA Software.

Strom joins Onyx with more than 20 years of consulting, sales, and sales management experience in the software industry—including a seven-year tenure at Onyx itself, serving in the roles of regional vice president of sales and vice president of business development. While at Onyx, Strom grew sales by more than 500 percent, helped close the largest financial transaction in the company’s history, and established strategic partnerships with technology and service providers to create short- and long-term revenue opportunities.

“I’m 100 percent on board with Onyx’s vision to meld an aggressive acquisition program; strong financial performance; high-fit solutions; and productive, lasting customer relationships into a value proposition that is unmatched by other CRM vendors,” said Strom. “I’m looking forward to joining Onyx again and working with the Onyx team to take these strategic objectives to the next level.”

Prior to joining Onyx as general manager, Strom served as vice president of sales for Avamar Technologies, where he helped drive 300 percent revenue growth for the data protection software company. Strom also has served in sales management and consulting roles for a number of leading companies throughout his career, including: Answersoft, a provider of computer-telephony integration software; the CASE tools division of Texas Instruments Software; Multitrack Software Development Corporation, a company delivering project management software to IT organizations; and Project Software & Development Inc., a provider of project management software for the aerospace and defense industry. Strom also holds a B.S. degree from Pacific Lutheran University.

About M2M Holdings Inc.

M2M Holdings Inc. is dedicated to becoming a valued business partner by helping each and every customer continuously improve business processes over time. Toward this mission, M2M Holdings invests in the people, processes, technology and tools needed to provide its customers with a unique combination of customer care; product fit; a broad range of consulting, IT and business services; and industry expertise. M2M Holdings serves more than 4,300 customers worldwide and across a variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, financial services, health care, contact center, high tech, and local government. Battery Ventures VI L.P. and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners jointly own M2M Holdings, whose primary assets are Onyx Software Corporation, a worldwide leader in customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the enterprise, and Made2Manage Systems Inc., an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services company.

Match.com Customer Frontman Tapped to Drive CRM for $100k+ Jobs Website

NEW YORK–TheLadders.com, the world’s leading $100,000+ jobs website, announced today that Michael McCurdy has joined the company as Director, Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In this role, McCurdy will oversee all customer touch point communications.

Prior to TheLadders.com, McCurdy was Director of CRM at Match.com. While there, he was responsible for customer communications across the core Match.com brand and its offshoot Chemistry.com. Before joining Match.com, McCurdy held a variety of management positions at Sabre Holdings, and prior to Sabre, he held posts at ADP, Volvo Finance North America and TIG Insurance.

“I’ve always been proud of our excellent e-mail marketing skills here at TheLadders.com, but since the day I met Michael, it was clear he is the best e-mailer on the planet. I say if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,“ said Marc Cenedella, CEO of TheLadders.com. “That’s why I am so very happy to have Michael’s extraordinary skills coming to TheLadders.com. He will help us spread our message of an easier, faster, less painful, shorter $100k+ job hunt to every corner of the globe.”

“TheLadders.com provides second-to-none customer service of any online business I’ve ever seen,” said McCurdy. “Marc Cenedella and the management team at TheLadders.com make it a priority to create an ‘our team wins’ atmosphere for all employees and encourages both personal and professional growth. This is a place where the culture isn’t just talked about, but lived daily in the actions of every employee who works here.”

McCurdy earned his Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Dallas and completed his undergraduate work at Dallas Baptist University where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration. McCurdy and his family currently reside in McKinney, Texas and are in the process of relocating to New York City, home of TheLadders.com headquarters.

About TheLadders.com:

TheLadders.com is the world’s largest online service catering exclusively to the $100k+ job market. Our job is to make the search for senior talent and senior positions quick and effective. With access to the most $100k+ job leads in one place, senior level professionals can get to the next step in their careers faster. Top recruiters value the ability to quickly and easily connect with so much qualified talent in the sales, marketing, finance, HR, legal, tech and operations industries. Founded in 2003 by Marc Cenedella, TheLadders.com has grown into the largest specialty employment website with over 1,200,000 members and 25,000 recruiters.

SAN MATEO, Calif.–Enkata, a leading provider of on demand performance and talent management solutions, today announced the appointment of Rodney Dabagian as chief financial officer. Dabagian brings over 20 years of finance and operations experience to Enkata, and will be providing financial leadership in determining the company’s strategic business direction and aligning the financial strategies to match.

“We are delighted to be joined by an industry veteran such as Rodney; his commitment to the company is a testament to the strength of the performance and talent management space,” said David Stamm, President and Chief Executive Officer, Enkata. “Rodney’s strong background in financial and strategic planning will be invaluable with Enkata’s continued momentum and growth.”

Dabagian most recently served on the board of a private hand-held communications device company, and on the finance committee for a U.S. Senate re-election campaign. He has held the position of CFO at Oblix, Inc, a software developer of security software which was acquired by Oracle, and Vivace Networks, a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) switch developer for the telecommunications industry that was acquired by Tellabs, Inc. Dabagian also served as vice president of finance for Clarify, a leader in the customer relationship management (CRM) software industry, where he helped steer the company toward strong financial results and an approximate $4B acquisition by Nortel Networks. Prior to Clarify, he was the corporate controller of Onstream Networks, a manufacturer of wide area network (WAN) access devices that was acquired by 3Com. Dabagian has also served in financial management roles at companies such as Hyperion and Aspect Communications.

“I look forward to working with Enkata during this exciting time,” said Rodney Dabagian, Chief Financial Officer, Enkata. “The performance and talent management space is burgeoning, as companies seek to run their contact centers more efficiently and effectively. Enkata is well-positioned to grow with the market, and I am thrilled to be a part of its momentum.”

About Enkata

Based in San Mateo, Calif., Enkata is a leading provider of performance and talent management solutions for customer facing employees. Offered on demand, Enkata is the only solution that combines employee performance management, analytics, and operational reporting powered by its Smart Metrics. Enkata’s solution enables large service operations to increase their profitability and boost the productivity of their employees. Today, leading Global 2000 companies rely on Enkata to better manage the performance of their employees.

Harry E. Gruber Resigns as Kintera CEO, Continues to Serve on Kintera Board of Directors

SAN DIEGO–Kintera^® Inc. (Nasdaq:KNTA), the leading provider of software as a service (SaaS) to the nonprofit and government sectors, today announced that its board of directors has unanimously named Richard N. LaBarbera as chief executive officer, effective immediately. LaBarbera was also elected as a member of the board of directors. He has served as the Company’s chief operating officer since February 2006 and as Kintera president since February 2007. LaBarbera’s focus will be on creating value for all Kintera stakeholders, growing Kintera’s business and furthering client loyalty.

Industry visionary and Kintera co-founder Harry E. Gruber has resigned as Kintera CEO, but will continue to serve as a member of the Company’s board of directors. Gruber co-founded Kintera to provide world-class technology to the nonprofit community, enabling organizations to raise more money, reach more people and run more effectively. He has been a pioneer in helping nonprofits leverage the power of the Internet to achieve their mission, and greatly contributed to society’s acceptance of the Internet as a viable means to donate and get involved.

“We thank Harry for the contributions he has made during his tenure at the Company, and look forward to the insight and expertise he will provide while serving on Kintera’s board of directors,” said Alfred R. Berkeley, III, chairman of Kintera’s board of directors. “Rich LaBarbera brings to Kintera a strong record of successfully driving effective business operations and managing for profitable growth. I look forward to the success we fully expect will be forthcoming.”

LaBarbera joined Kintera from Echopass Corporation, a leading provider of CRM software as a service and advanced call center solutions that integrate with partners such as Salesforce.com and RightNow^® Technologies. He served as chief operations and services officer at Echopass.

LaBarbera, a Silicon Valley veteran, has played a significant role in developing operational efficiencies in numerous corporations. He previously served as president of Niku Corporation, an enterprise software company now part of Computer Associates that addresses client needs for CRM, portfolio management, resource and project management, and IT management and governance. In addition, LaBarbera served as senior vice president of the enterprise solutions division at Sybase, Inc., which was responsible for approximately $800 million of Sybase revenue. He also served in executive roles at Siemens Nixdorf/Pyramid, Octel Communications, Amdahl, Storage Technology Corporation and IBM. He received an MBA from Georgia State University.

“I’m excited to be at the helm of such a dynamic company, and am focused on creating value for Kintera’s clients, employees, shareholders and the community,” said LaBarbera. “Harry Gruber has established the technology foundation necessary to be successful in the nonprofit sector. I now look forward to leading the company to realize its potential and driving the business to profitability.”

Kintera will be announcing its normally scheduled fourth quarter and fiscal year 2006 financial results on Thursday, March 29, 2007 after market close.

About Kintera, Inc.

Kintera^®, Inc. (Nasdaq:KNTA) provides an online solution to help nonprofit organizations deliver The Giving Experience™ to donors – including providing convenience, financial transparency, feedback about the social impact of their gifts, and a sense of belonging and appreciation.

More than 15,000 accounts in the nonprofit, government and corporate sectors use Kintera’s “software as a service” innovations, including the Friends Asking Friends^® fundraising program and Kintera Sphere™, an enterprise-grade software platform that provides a secure, scalable and reliable system for social constituent relationship management (CRM), enabling organizations to drive all interactions based on comprehensive knowledge of constituents. Additionally, Kintera FundWare^® provides award-winning financial management software developed for nonprofit organizations and governments.

NORCROSS, Ga.- I.B.I.S. Inc. announced today the addition of industry veteran Douwe Bekaert to its management team. Bekaert will lead I.B.I.S’ rapidly expanding Microsoft Information Worker (IW) Practice, centered on Microsoft Office and CRM Solutions for mid- and upper mid-market enterprises. Bekaert’s background, which combines hands-on Microsoft Application Architecture with Project Management, will bring direct experience and solid leadership to the new role.

I.B.I.S.’ Information Worker (IW) practice delivers comprehensive solutions which increase employee productivity and efficiency via the strategic use of business intelligence through the creation of intelligent information (work) flows, automating business processes, utilizing communications, searching, and publishing relevant data to information portals. The IW practice leverages Microsoft’s Office Server system, CRM, Business Intelligence and SharePoint product lines, among others.

Bekaert moved to Atlanta in 1998 to join (then) Extreme Logic, a premier Microsoft solution provider, as an Enterprise Architect developing custom applications for customers such as Peachtree Accounting, Wachovia and Ryder. He later assumed roles in Project and Consulting Management, leading both large- and smaller scale projects focused around business intelligence and helping to run the Atlanta practice. In early 2003 when Hewlett-Packard acquired Extreme Logic, Bekaert assisted in the management and operation of the Americas Consulting Division.

“We are thrilled to have Douwe on board with I.B.I.S,” said Andy Vabulas, CEO of I.B.I.S. Inc. “We truly believe in the tremendous business value of IW solutions, and Douwe is the right person to drive this initiative at I.B.I.S. His experience in both Development and Management brings value to the role, and to our firm.”

About I.B.I.S., Inc.

Founded in 1989, and headquartered in the high tech corridor of Atlanta’s Technology Park, I.B.I.S., Inc. (www.ibisinc.com) is a leading enterprise business solution provider for companies seeking to gain a competitive advantage through Microsoft technology solutions.

I.B.I.S., Inc. is a full-service consultancy providing business transformation solutions related to Microsoft Dynamics ERP, SCM, and CRM application systems, Information Worker, and Application Development Services as well as Microsoft infrastructure products. I.B.I.S., Inc. is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, a Microsoft Dynamics Inner Circle Partner, and a two-time winner of Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding Partner of the United States award. I.B.I.S. is one of a select group of companies worldwide with five Gold Certified Microsoft Competencies. I.B.I.S. has more than 300 customers throughout the U.S. and Caribbean.

Company Plans Nationwide Expansion of Consulting Unit to Automobile Dealers

NOVATO, Calif.–iMagicLab, the nation’s fastest growing CRM, Internet sales and Inventory software system for automobile dealers, is pleased to announce that Tom Harsha has joined the firm as its new Director of Training. iMagicLab’s DealerTrainer unit will advise, train, measure and monitor dealer performance across a wide spectrum of proprietary metrics designed to increase conversion and customer satisfaction. Mr. Harsha is a known industry pioneer who has created systematic processes that have been time tested to survive and excel in the highly competitive vehicle marketplace yet allow for an ease of use necessary in an industry known for staff turnover. Mr. Harsha will report directly to Keith Latman, iMagicLab’s Chief Software Architect, and be based out of the firms Ohio offices.

“I’ve often said that dealers with good process and management don’t need technology to sell cars. Tom Harsha has a proven track record of instilling process that sticks and improving performance in dealerships that have everything from antiquated software to absent management,” said Keith Latman, Chief Software Architect of iMagicLab “When we set out to build our DealerTrainer consulting unit there really was only one person I wanted to run that critical department. I worked for two years to get the best trainer in America and I could not be more pleased to have Tom on our team.”

iMagicLab’s DealerTrainer consulting unit only has one mission: Help dealers sell cars. Under Mr. Harsha’s stewardship this national organization will modernize dealer policies and procedures, keep them in compliance with DoNotCall and other national privacy legislation and help move their operations into the Internet age.

“As a successful independent consultant I have spent the past 10 years helping dealers use, not fear, the changes that the marketplace and the Web have brought to the space,” said Tom Harsha, new Director of Training for iMagicLab. “In today’s competitive environment there can be no substitution for good communication, clear perceptions and solid technology. As manufacturers move toward parity in quality and style the skills of the dealership are more on display than ever before. Never before in our business has the finest technology been married to the most proven training product, it’s an exciting company to be part of and I look forward to rolling some units.”

About iMagicLab

iMagicLab is the fastest growing customer relationship management software company aimed at the expansive automobile retailing marketplace and is an approved solution for most of the major automobile manufacturers in the United States. The company creates customer relationship software, internet lead management solutions, inventory management systems, service retention, lead generation, websites, DeskLog, AutoPencil and eBay auction services specifically for the automobile retailing industry.

Mary Pilecki at Forrester just published Turning Pricing Optimization Into Relationship-Based Pricing (subscription required) about using pricing optimization as part of a financial services institution’s relationship strategy.

The summary of the document says:

Consumers are beginning to look at their financial services institutions (FSIs) for a better deal - one based on the value and longevity of their relationship. Some FSIs are engaged in price optimization, but no one has successfully evolved that technology into the idea of dynamically pricing new products and services based on the customer’s profitability. FSIs will need to implement this pricing technique in order to remain competitive, and those that do it first could gain significant market share. The steps to getting there include an enterprise focus on customer centricity, a collaborative technology partner, and development of a pricing center of excellence.

Mary notes that people not being rewarded for their relationships with their FSIs and complain that banks don’t know them well (indeed bank customers want to be sold too more by their banks and FSIs). As a result customers negotiate and shop around and from the banks point of view this is risking the customer relationship.

Not only does this mean, as she notes, that pricing should be managed to maximize the value of the relationship it also means you must make those decisions at the point of interaction so that customers don’t go off and check out competitors while they wait for your price to come back. She also notes that there is little or no cross-Line of business consideration and that only credit pricing is really considered by many - there is not much consideration of variable pricing for other products (something about which I have blogged before - pricing in banking). To resolve this she recommends, as do I, that everything should feed through a pricing engine. To do this I recommend an approach like this:

* Focus on the pricing decision made for a product and a customer as a specific operational decision

As distinct from saying the decision is a strategic one as to how to price a product line.

* Build analytic models for various aspects of the customer

- Propensity to buy
- Price sensitivity
- Lifetime value
- Credit Risk
- Retention Risk
- …

* Build some kind of decision model to show how these aspects interact and are constrained

* Offline, optimize the decisions based on this model to come up with the best rules for pricing for each customer segment

Do some what-if analysis and flex your constraints to see what the impact is of these changes. Come up with the best set of rules for pricing based on this modeling.

*Deploy these pricing rules into all the systems that need them, ideally using centralized decision management and decision services

This matches closely her notes on the use of business logic (rules), real-time analytics (or at least real time execution of analytics) and predictive modeling. She does not talk about adaptive control - the use of testing or multiple approaches for comparison - and I believe this is key as you won’t know for sure what impact changes in your pricing will have so you will need to track and manage different pricing approaches so you can compare them.

This focus on relationship-centric pricing is part of what I have called a focus on growth decisions and is very much in line with posts I have written before on aligning with customers.

This week I thought as a public service I would lay out the real cost of deploying a SaaS solution, starting with a look at two major SaaS providers, Salesforce.com and NetSuite, both of which offer CRM solutions. Pricing for Salesforce starts at $65 per user, per month for the Professional Edition and $125 per user, per month for the Enterprise Edition. Both packages include 1 GB of free storage. Beyond that, storage is $300 per year for each additional 50 MB — for the organization, not individual users.

HOUSTON–Houston-based Microsoft Gold Certified Partner The Rand Group, LLC (TRG), a leading business solution provider specializing in the integration and deployment of Microsoft solutions announces the official launch of a Microsoft Dynamics Customer Relationship Management (CRM) practice.

“Because Microsoft CRM can be integrated so tightly with other Microsoft business solutions and technologies, it’s very important to work with a Partner that understands Microsoft and their solutions,” said TRG president Ron Rand. Rand continues, “…The Rand Group has over three hundred Great Plains, Navision and Solomon clients who have been looking to integrate their sales, marketing and service teams.”

The Rand Group will also leverage its considerable expertise with Microsoft platform technologies; including data warehousing, business intelligence and business process automation technologies; to deliver complete business management solutions to meet clients needs. “The fact that we also develop custom solutions for our clients means that The Rand Group has the breadth of expertise to provide back-end process automation alongside our new CRM offering,” declared Tony Piperato, Director of Microsoft platform services and the new CRM practice manager at The Rand Group.

Certification in Microsoft CRM 3.0 is achieved by completing multiple Microsoft examinations including installation and configuration, application design, customization and integration with other products. The Rand Group has achieved this certification, which positions them as the premier Microsoft CRM 3.0 Partner in Houston and the entire Southeast Texas region.

ABOUT THE RAND GROUP, LLC

The Rand Group, LLC (TRG) is a professional services firm that assists middle-market organizations with deploying, utilizing and maximizing business technology investments. TRG combines business and technology resources to deliver solutions that improve efficiency and increase profitability. Teams of CPA’s, Microsoft certified system developers and Microsoft certified system engineers create solutions that produce results in the integration of capital and human resources.

TRG is the No. 1 Texas-based Microsoft combined Great Plains and Navision partner as ranked in Accounting Technology’s Value-Added Reseller (VAR) listing. TRG was also recognized as the fastest growing VAR by the publication for 2007. Based in Houston, TRG combines expertise in the areas of accounting, business process and information technology to deliver business solutions that maximize efficiency and create measurable results for clients’ technology investment.

TRG is recognized as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner giving them the highest level of achievement as a Microsoft Certified Partner. Less than 4% of Microsoft Partners have attained Gold Partner status. The Rand Group is the only Houston-based firm specializing in Navision to become a Gold Partner and one of the first Microsoft Business Solutions Partners ever to achieve the status.