Thingamy – part 2 – CRM v.2.0

John, I think that would be precisely what thingamy does, anything is a flow... writing a letter is a result of something (task following another)... as long as the flow have options for loops and branches you will get a "riverbed" instead of a "pipe" and allow for human creativity even as the "riverbed" takes the flow to the ocean :)

The issue re "free-flowing" discussions would be - is a structured flow too much, shall we - as Dennis suggests - go for more ad-hoc solutions type "social software"?

Well, if you think about it, somebody starts a thread, one comments and it goes back until the thread dies... still a one-event-follows-the-last in a loop (with branch-in for others to join of course), thus possible in a structured flow... I think... hmmm... will think more...

Is this where social media comes in?

Anything that improves the moribund and discredited CRM world is to be welcomed, but it must must must facilitate ongoing follow-up.

Dennis, guess the most extreme of extreme would be instant :)

XP is a lot about "frequent releases" and using user feedback - well then creating in front of the user's eyes for instant feed-back and near-instant tweaks must be pretty much as close to XP nirvana you could get?

:D

David: hmmm...where's the innovation in provding a me-too solution except in the price?

Sig: instant or extreme programming or both?

Got me thinking there Dennis... actually been tinkering on the side with a blog solution using the "thingwork" multiple-tags-choice method (http://thingamy.com/thingwork/).

A blog interface is quite like a document-production-and-organising thing anyway, use the thingamy as the core, have file upload, slap thingwork on top... hmmm... and of course RSS and trackback - always useful for all purposes!

Ah, yes, it'll be there in some form... :)

Dennis,
I think linking the blog or wiki to CRM to make a more interactive 2.0 solution is a great idea, but I would do it with standard CRM functionality. I think Thingamy comes in to it's own kind of like Excel, where I need a supplementary application or functionality which is either too expensive or too complex to achieve with existing, off the shelf apps. I think (hope) it is going to be a great way of tying together standard modules to provide a whole solution. With the CRM component, we are adopting the approach of partnering/linking with an open source solution which has all of the right functionality, and the added benefit that there is no licence or subscription fee barrier to allowing everyone in the practice/organisation access.

Depends on how you want to define 'Web 2.0' - I'm interested in the notion of innovation inside business so for me it doesn't just have to be AJAXy etc. It merely has to change the rules for business - which is why I like the Winweb approach. They'll morph the apps to be more attuned to the current thinking but only where it makes sense.

Just a bit further on Web 2.0 stuff - Ismael over at IT|Redux has a list of "Web 2.0" apps he's dogfooding (see http://itredux.com/blog/category/office-20/ ), but he's still using Salesforce.com for CRM, which he admits doesn't fit the principle, but that there is nothing out there to supplant it yet. Do I smell an opportunity?

Addictive, isn't it? That's the sort of mashup that I can see Thingamy doing well.