Sustainability & CRM: Pombriant Think Forward 2010 Awards

Denis Pombriant is perhaps the only CRM guru/analyst/thought leader that I know who has the uncanny ability to look at the world through not just the typical micro lens that many of us peer through but also through a macro lens. He can expand concepts and place the complex matrix of human interrelationships in a context that can locate the greater forces that work to affect that matrix.

Thus, his release yesterday of the ThinkForward awards for 2010 - an award for those companies in the IT world that have developed sustainable business models via the reconfiguration of their processes, changes in their policies, etc.

Here's how he describes it:

"Today the world is changing again and we see many new business challenges whose solutions the technology industry will surely create. In the face of financial crisis, recession, market maturity and skyrocketing energy costs today’s businesses are being summoned again to think about the future. Many front office solution providers have already begun the process. They have devised business solutions that build profitability into front office business processes by making them more sustainable. The Beagle Research Group ThinkForward award is our recognition of their efforts."

What puts this award in a class of its own is the criteria, which are not typical of most awards.

1. Business process innovation - "Winners in the Business Process category show a strong ability to help their front office customers to support repeatable and interconnected business processes that foster improved customer relationships."
2. Cost containment - Denis looked beyond simple labor savings here including travel reduction - say via virtual summits etc.
3. Customer as a resource - These are companies that not only invested in getting customer input but made it available to the appropriate front office departments.

These criteria are unique and it took unique companies to win it.

Some of the winning companies:

1. Salesforce.com
2. Unisfair
3. Zuora
4. Communispace
5. Cloud9Analytics

I won't tell you the rest or provide his descriptions. But pay attention to this award. This is Year 1 and because Denis Pombriant is putting it out, they are sustainable.