When he was asked if Big Data is just a buzzword, a marketing tool vendors use to sell more software to CFOs, Justin Borgman, the founder and chief executive officer of Hadapt, a data-analysis software vendor, answered honestly: "Yes. It's an excuse to sell you more stuff." However, he added, "it's stuff you'll eventually need."

You can love CRM as a discipline, but don't have any illusions about its ability to survive in the cruel world. The reality is that customer relationships are fragile things; they need the right environment to flourish and be profitable.

In July 2009, Airbus became the first commercial aircraft manufacturer to announce plans to employ permanent radio frequency identification tags on parts for its A350 XWB aircraft. Approximately 3,000 serialized, replaceable, repairable parts with a limited lifespan were covered. To date, the company has received and successfully tested its RFID tagged parts as the first A350 XWB aircraft make their way through the production process. Now, Airbus is the first aircraft manufacturer to expand the permanent tagging of selected parts across its entire fleet.

Smartphones may be among retailers' strongest allies this holiday season, according to Deloitte's annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends.

There's a lot of hype about companies moving to the cloud, but are they actually doing it? Cloud adoption is not as rapid as some providers might lead you to think, but TEC data shows that interest in cloud computing is picking up.

Canadian luxury leather goods retailer Danier Leather is piloting a radio frequency identification system at three of its Toronto-area stores, intended to ensure that products are replenished on the sales floor as they are sold to customers, as well as reduce the number of labor hours related to counting inventory.

DeltaTRAK, a cold chain, environmental monitoring and food safety management solutions provider, has introduced the Cold Chain Vaccine Monitoring Card.

Customer relationship management has had a great impact on the social media revolution. Or was it the other way around? Of the many types of software solutions catering to businesses, CRM software has been the most attuned to the rise of social platforms.

Project management offices fail to help most companies reduce IT cost or improve performance, according to new research from The Hackett Group Inc. In fact, companies with high utilization of PMOs see materially higher IT costs while also failing to deliver projects with higher ROI or better on-time and on-budget performance. The research also found that companies have significantly reduced their use of PMOs over the past three years, in part due to their inability to positively impact performance.

Achieving breakthrough improvements in sustainable packaging is more difficult than simply substituting one material for another. In fact, for many, the mere mention of the term can bring to mind flimsy plastic water bottles and noisy chip bags, designs with laudable intent but a high potential for detracting from the customer experience, according to a Deloitte report called "Thinking Outside the Box: Throw Away Your Current Approach to Packaging."