Arvato Digital Services (a Bertelsmann company) is a leading provider of integrated solutions that include every step of the value chain, from post-production, replication, fulfillment and distribution/supply chain management, to financial services, and electronic software distribution. The company provides a comprehensive range of services and solutions in the IT/high-tech, games, video, and audio sectors. Over the past 50 years, Arvato's global footprint has grown to include 18 countries on five continents and over 8000 employees.
Arvato's Duncan facility supports Intuit (Tax & accounting software); Canon (Cameras & Printers), Reebok (apparel); HP (Software drivers); Apple (Gift Cards); Pinnacle (Video editing software and hardware); Quark (desktop software) and SMBE (Music) In 2008 alone, the facility shipped 3.5M orders for 30M units to retail stores and direct to consumers.
May 5, 2009
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Arvato Digital Services
112 Hidden Lake Circle
Duncan, SC 29334
$35 Registration Fee
Open to CSCMP members and non-members alike.
Space is limited to the first 25 people, so register today!
Register: http://tiny.cc/CSCMPTour
Sometime in the near future, Apple is going to announce that a billion little apps have been download for use on its iPhone and iPod touch platforms. As of yesterday, about 945 million apps had been download. That translates to about 31 apps per iPhone/iPod touch out there. As it crosses the billion-apps mark, the company is showing that once again it has been able to take an existing, mundane business and turn it on its head. It panned a lead mine and struck gold. When the company took on the seemingly moribund music downloads business and turned it into a constantly clanging cash register, its detractors often bemoaned its autocratic ways and tight control of the iPod ecosystem. Apple, nevertheless, changed consumers’ behavior from downloading music on Napster to actually paying for it, and in the process, it became the largest digital downloads retailer.
Something similar is going on with mobile apps and the iPhone/iPod touch ecosystem. Apple certainly isn’t the first company to have apps for its platform — that honor goes to Palm, which ruled the PDA planet, thanks to its thousands of developers. Nokia, Microsoft and RIM have had developers writing clever apps for their Symbian, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry operating systems.
But neither the handset makers, the carriers, or even the OS vendors were able to create a user experience that allowed us to browse, search and download the app that really mattered. Perhaps they didn’t care enough — so long as the mobile industry maintained its status quo. Mike Rowehl, a mobile industry insider, writes:
The entire system was deadlocked cause no one with the power to was really interested in shaking it up. We kept getting fed excuse after excuse justifying the general lack of forward progress on all fronts. But then something comes along that makes it easy, often profitable, and frequently even fun to develop for mobile again. Apple has exposed the fact that the lack of progress in mobile wasn’t something inherent in the system. That someone with the right motivation can really shake things up and get the train moving again.
Since Apple’s iTunes for apps, almost everyone has jumped on the App-store bandwagon. RIM just announced its very competent App World store for BlackBerry. Microsoft is cooking one up, and Nokia has Ovi. Google has its Android Market. Every carrier is cooking up its own version of the app store. The current app store market is no different from the digital music download business in 2005. The market confusion helped Apple eventually become the dominant player, with Amazon presenting the only viable challenge.
Ask mobile app developers, and an overwhelming number are going for iPhone platform first, everything else later. Rowehl writes:
I’ve developed for just about every platform, and I know the ecosystem extremely well. It’s not that I’m blind to everything else. I know everything else that’s out there, and because of that I’ve chosen to develop for iPhone.
He’s not alone, as I pointed out earlier. According to some reports, Nokia’s Ovi store is being ignored by developers, even though Nokia ships many millions of smartphones every month. It seems folks at Nokia are aware of the problem at hand, though I’m not sure they quite get the extent of the apathy among developers. Earlier this month, when I met Anssi Vanjoki, executive V-P of markets at Nokia, the discussion unsurprisingly shifted toward Apple’s iPhone and the developer momentum.
“There is momentum with other platforms, which is good for the industry, as developers are now thinking about developing for mobile devices,” Vanjoki said. “But the situation is not static, and when products like N97 come to market, lots of people will develop for Nokia. We have to show volume, ease of development and show them (developers) the money.” Nokia clearly has its work cut out for it, if developers like Rowehl are any indication.
From a consumer perspective, what really matters to me is the long-tail of apps that are easy to find, download and install. I may have given up on AT&T’s iPhone, but I have not given up on the iPhone platform. Why? Because of the applications.
On my iPod Touch, I have three dozen apps installed, only a handful of them (like Facebook, NetNewsFire and Last.fm) that are free. Some are part of my daily work and play life: Sonus Controller, MLB.com At Bat, Plusmo’s Mobicast, Evernote, Skype and Truphone. There are others that are indispensable to me: iBP, Weight Track and Blood Sugar. Prior to downloading these apps, I recorded my daily blood pressure, weight and glucose levels on a piece of paper, entering the data into a spreadsheet later and mailing it to my doctor every month. These obscure apps aren’t likely to be on the top 10 anytime soon, but they are on my top 10.
As Apple’s latest TV spots for the iPhone say, “There is an app for pretty much everything.” With nearly a billion downloads, you can say that again. To all the other contenders, good luck catching up.
(*) 945 million apps divided by 30 million iPod touches and iPhones. via Gigaom
By Jeffrey M. Kaplan
E-Commerce Times
04/10/09 4:00 AM PT
The role of the channel will certainly change in the face of the rapidly evolving on-demand services market. However, there's still room for channel outfits to operate. User organizations of all sizes still need help with myriad decisions, such as evaluating and selecting the rapidly expanding array of SaaS providers and cloud computing vendors, writes E-Commerce Times columnist Jeffrey M. Kaplan.
One of the misconceptions of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and broader cloud computing market is that these new Web-based services will "disintermediate" the channel because of their simpler, more user-friendly solutions, and direct sales and delivery business models.
While there is no question that the role of the traditional channel will be significantly impacted by the rapidly evolving on-demand services market, there is still plenty of room for innovative channel organizations to operate. There are also plenty of opportunities for new channel partners to succeed.
Traditional value-added resellers (VARs) and systems 
By eliminating the complexities of deploying software and systems, reducing the need to extensively customize these solutions and systems, and lowering the costs of operating them, SaaS and cloud computing take a big bite out of all the marginal costs which historically represented the primary profits of traditional VARs and SIs.
However, there are still lots of modifications which VARs and SIs can make to today's basic SaaS solutions, as well as reconfigurations they can make to the basic cloud computing services, to justify their role as these markets grow and mature.
User organizations of all sizes still need help evaluating and selecting the rapidly expanding array of SaaS providers and cloud computing vendors. They need help catering these services to the specific business and technical needs of their organizations. They need help integrating third-party solutions to the basic SaaS application or cloud computing functionality. They need help optimizing their performance. They also need help changing their business processes and training their people to effectively utilize their on-demand services.
SIs can also migrate their skills into the cloud computing environment by becoming proficient at aggregating a broad assortment of elements offered by a variety of Web-based and traditional vendors to meet the needs of specific customers. One company making a name for itself in this realm is Appirio, which is helping enterprises pull together the resources available on Salesforce.com's (NYSE: CRM) 
Force.com, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Engine, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Facebook platforms.
As SaaS solutions mature technologically, they are becoming more pliable and viable as development platforms for third parties to build their own applications to meet the unique needs of specific industries. For instance, Veeva Systems (formerly Verticals On-Demand) is using Salesforce.com's Force.com platform to build applications that cater to the needs of specific target markets, starting with the pharmaceutical
Focusing on the Channel
Until recently, most SaaS and cloud computing vendors put limited effort into building a vibrant channel network because they were primarily focused on winning a solid base of customers who could demonstrate the viability and scalability of their on-demand services. This meant that they had to dedicate most of their efforts at selling their solutions and supporting their customers directly.
Now that the leading SaaS and cloud computing vendors have proven that their services are reliable, scalable, secure and generate tangible business benefits, they can focus more of their energies on establishing solid channel relationships.
In fact, given today's economic climate, it is imperative that the on-demand service vendors create a viable channel model to survive because they cannot afford the costs of a direct sales and support business in mission-critical application areas, which require considerable customer hand-holding.
NetSuite recently teamed up with HP (NYSE: HPQ) to educate HP's vast network of 15,000 VARs in the U.S. about the opportunities, benefits and support requirements associated with SaaS in general and NetSuite's solutions in particular. NetSuite has also expanded its third-party developer program to attract and more fully support ISVs who want to resell its solution.
Intacct has been focusing its channel efforts on accounting firms. Although it has had some success encouraging these firms to resell its SaaS-based financial management solution, it has been a slow process winning over these relatively conservative firms. In an attempt to overcome this challenge, Intacct entered into an agreement this week to sell its SaaS solution through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and its subsidiary CPA2Biz. This agreement gives Intacct access to 350,000 AICPA members in over 45,000 member CPA firms. It also represents an important endorsement for both Intacct and the broader SaaS/cloud computing industry, by making the AICPA/CPA2Biz a major reseller of on-demand services.
There are lots of other examples of innovative channel arrangements in the SaaS and cloud computing industry. For instance, AmEx has been utilizing Concur's SaaS-based expense management solution for a number of years, and Amazon's EC2 services are a key component of a growing number of SaaS offerings.
So, the channel is far from dead in the SaaS and cloud computing marketplace. It is just being forced to think and behave differently. via ecommercetimes
The digital distribution push picks up more steam as Microsoft brings its host of available Xbox LIVE Arcade titles to Amazon! You can now purchase Xbox LIVE Arcade redeem codes from Amazon via the Xbox LIVE store. The store also includes Microsoft Points codes and subscription codes. This is the first time that consumers will be able to obtain redeem codes (online game code as they call it) for Xbox LIVE Arcade games.
Perhaps the best thing about this venture is the fact that all prices are listed in dollars and not the fancy points. So you can actually buy what you want without fear of having leftover points in your account. I’m not sure how the transfer of codes will work but knowing that bit of information is worth it. It sucks having 50 or 60 Microsoft Points left from a transaction.
I’m sure there are quite a few of you who shop at Amazon that will take advantage of this. I’m tempted to purchase a code myself to be honest to save myself the need to purchase another points bundle.
via unscripted360
Amazon.com Launches Xbox LIVE Store, Offering Customers Convenient Digital Access to Xbox LIVE Arcade Games, Subscription Cards, and Points Cards
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today launched the Amazon Xbox LIVE® Store beta, www.amazon.com/xboxlive : 
, offering customers the convenience to purchase and gift select Xbox LIVE games, subscription cards and Microsoft Points cards. Previously games were only available directly from the Xbox 360® console or xbox.com, making Amazon.com the first retailer to offer customers digital access to codes for
| |
“PC gamers have enjoyed the convenience of digital downloads on Amazon.com for some time. Now Amazon.com and Microsoft are bringing that same level of convenience to platform gamers by expanding the reach of the Xbox LIVE digital platform to millions of Amazon customers,” said Greg Hart, vice president of Video Games and Software for Amazon.com.
“This is an exciting day for Amazon.com customers, and we will continue to drive innovation that will provide our customers with the widest selection of video game platform downloads.”
“This partnership brings together two leading online brands – Xbox LIVE as the entertainment center of the living room and Amazon.com, a retailer that consumers rely on for great deals and wide selection,” said Christina DeRosa, general manager, Xbox LIVE Business. “With the overwhelming success of our existing Xbox LIVE Marketplace, it is clear that the 17 million active and engaged members of the Xbox LIVE community enjoy digital access to entertainment content. Now we’re happy to be extending our storefront to Amazon.com, a cutting-edge online retailer who is helping make digital distribution more mainstream.”
Through the Xbox LIVE Store, Amazon.com customers can easily buy Xbox LIVE Arcade games, subscriptions and Microsoft Points cards for themselves or friends and family. Points can be used to buy games in the Xbox 360 online Marketplace. The Amazon.com Xbox LIVE Store works on a code-redemption system where customers who purchase an Xbox LIVE product will immediately be able to view their Xbox LIVE code after purchase as well as e-mail that code to themselves or the recipient of the gift.
Additionally, this code will reside in the customer’s Your Games & Software Library so they can retrieve it at any time. This digital delivery mechanism eliminates both the waiting time for the customer as well as reduces the waste associated with shipping packaged games and points cards. Customers can leverage Amazon’s recommendation and personalization engine to learn about new games that they also may be interested in based on similar purchase histories of like-customers.
Xbox LIVE games, subscription cards and Microsoft Points cards are sold by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel; Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial.
Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com :
, www.amazon.co.uk : , www.amazon.de : , www.amazon.co.jp : , www.amazon.fr : , www.amazon.ca : , and www.amazon.cn : .As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, indebtedness, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
via PR insider
TORONTO, April 1 (Reuters) - Research In Motion (RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) is launching an online application store that will let users of its BlackBerry smartphones download software for everything from news and entertainment to travel and games.
Unlike the iPhone application store of rival Apple Inc (AAPL.O), which offers 70 percent of revenue from each piece of software to the developer of the software, RIM plans to offer 80 percent.
The rest of the revenue will be shared between RIM and wireless carriers, co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie said in an interview.
"We think that's a fair distribution of the economics," he said. RIM is expected to launch the online store this week.
The company's media-rich BlackBerry handsets, such as the Pearl, Curve, Storm and Bold models, are competing with Apple's popular iPhone for retail customers.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM has pushed aggressively to diversify its user base beyond the executives, lawyers, politicians and other professionals who use its BlackBerry phones to send wireless e-mail securely.
"I think we've firmly cut over to the broader consumer marketplace," Balsillie said.
Offering a slate of interesting and diverse smartphone software, from the practical to the entertaining, can sometimes mean the difference between keeping and losing a user.
That's because a user who has spent money on such software downloads may be reluctant to switch to a different device and have to pay for applications all over again.
RIM first announced plans for its software store last fall.
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is also working on a mobile phone software marketplace and has signed up partners such as Web music service Pandora, game publisher Electronic Arts (ERTS.O), and social networking site Facebook. It, too, plans to offer 70 percent of application revenue to software developers.
RIM is set to report earnings on Thursday after warning in February that its quarterly profit will come in at the low end of its forecasts. Still, it said it expects to add 20 percent more subscribers than the 2.9 million it earlier predicted.
It cited a variety of factors in the profit warning, including product mix, lowered channel inventory levels and a higher ratio of new subscriber sales to upgrades and replacement sales.
RIM shares have tumbled to about $45 on the Nasdaq from the year high of $148.13 they hit in June 2008. Analysts have expressed concern about the company's gross margins and its ability to maintain momentum amid a widespread recession.
Retail consumers have curbed spending, which may mean they are not willing to pay more for flashy new smartphones.
At the same time, corporations are trimming their budgets, which could prompt them to delay upgrading to newer BlackBerry models. (Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Peter Galloway) via reuters
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