Microsoft to Buy Nokia’s Mobile Unit: Emergence of a Third Player in the Mobile Market?

While the Windows Phone is at the number two position (behind Android) in some markets that Apple has not cared to target aggressively, Microsoft has not tasted big success in the mobile market. Tech pundits have given good reviews about Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system, but it has always seemed that Bill Gates came to the smart mobile party a little too late. As Apple and Android dominate the global mobile market with over 90% of market share, the chances of a third player entering the field and competing with these two mobile giants have gotten slimmer and slimmer.

A Quick Glance at Nokia & Microsoft’s Relationship

When Nokia threw its lot with Microsoft and started manufacturing smartphones that run the Windows 7 and 8, many felt that it was a suicidal move. Samsung, one of Nokia’s biggest competitors in the mobile manufacturing, choose Android OS to run its best mobiles and emerged as one of the biggest forces in the mobile market. Nokia was unable to accomplish similar goals using Windows operating system: it dumped Symbian and used Windows 7 operating system for all its top-tier handsets, but was unable to compete with the iPhone or Android devices.

Just a few years back Nokia was respected as the most powerful mobile manufacturer; today, it is not even one of the top three mobile manufactures. Microsoft too suffered from the fact that none of the mobile manufacturers using its operating system could come up with a series of successful handsets. Technology experts and bloggers have expressed one idea since a long time: Microsoft and Nokia are a good fit and by closely partnering with each other, they can emerge as a force to reckon with. By preparing to buy Nokia’s mobile unit, Microsoft has done what many hoped that it would.

Has Microsoft found the Missing Piece of the Mobile Puzzle?

In a purchase that is set to complete by 2014, Microsoft has agreed to buy Nokia’s mobile unit, and it will also buy Nokia’s patents and mapping services in a non-exclusive agreement. The company will pay $ 7.2 billion in cash. The deal is a lifesaver for Nokia, a company that is steadily falling behind its competitors Samsung and Apple. It can also help rejuvenate Microsoft’s mobile image and help the company manufacture flagship mobile handsets that are specifically created for Windows 8.

While Apple has the iPhone and Android has Samsung’s popular devices that can showcase the best features of the mobile operating system and attract customers, Microsoft doesn’t yet have such a hit device for Windows 7 or 8. While people have not dumped PCs or Windows, Microsoft needs to find its way in a world where people are spending less time on PCs and more time on tablets and smartphones. With this deal, Microsoft doesn’t just get the capability to manufacture mobile, but also gets the skills and patents to create a slew of innovative devices that can help its mobile operating system find its feet in a competitive market.

Through the deal with Nokia, Microsoft has all the ingredients that go on into the making of a powerful and effective smartphone ecosystem: a well-conceptualized mobile operating system, devices that are specifically made for the operating system and an app store. Only time will tell if Microsoft has found the missing piece of the puzzle, but if you are a mobile app owner or a developer, the possibility of a third player giving competition to the existing market leaders is exciting.

Impact on Mobile App Development

Microsoft is the only company that has the wherewithal and background to compete with Apple and Android. Nokia still has a huge fan-following in emerging smartphone markets like India, and this will empower Windows 7 and 8 phones to conquer huge chunks of such markets. Just as Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility patents enabled the search giant to manufacture its own devices and safeguarded the future of its operating system, Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s mobile unit will help the company compete more aggressively in the mobile market.

It is notoriously difficult to foretell future in the dynamic mobile market, but the news indicate that Microsoft is going to do all it can to thrive in the world of smart mobiles. We can expect to see a surge in the number of developers building mobile apps for Windows. Also, if the Windows Phone OS gets a bigger market share over the next two years (and it is likely that we will see at least some rise), developers who build apps only for Apple and Android will start building apps for Microsoft as well.

Ready for a Resurgent Windows Phone Operating System?

In the current scenario, most businesses and developers are either building only Apple apps, or they build app for Android and Apple. If Microsoft succeeds in becoming the third player in the mobile market, apps that are already popular on its app store will be the biggest winners. By creating an innovative application Windows Phone OS now, or by creating a Windows Phone version of your existing app, you can profit from a world that has three major mobile operating systems.

Would you like to explore this idea further? Get in touch with us and tell us about your mobile app idea. We would love to discuss it with you! 

What’s New in Update 2 of Visual Studio 2012

April 4, 2013, Microsoft officially released Update 2 of Visual Studio 2012. It includes several new features and bug fixes in Update 1 which was released in November, 2012. Let's check out the new features and their contributions in software development market in terms of Better Application Life Cycle and Business Application Development.

Better Application Lifecycle – Update 2 has been released with better agile development and quality enablement capability.

1. Agile development has been made flexible and easy with the ability to tag, filter and share work items and customize Kanban boards

2. Quality Enablement to drive quality through Test Case Management with an ability to administer, execute and review test cases along with the following benefits

• Better Windows Store app Unit Testing support for Windows Phone 8 apps and  asynchronous code
• UI testing for Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7, extended cross-browser support
• Facility to view and edit test cases in a test plan from TFS Web Access in a way that needs no installation on the system being tested and works non-Windows platforms
• Better support for web and load testing for SharePoint applications

Business Application Development – This includes a line of business development, Windows store development and developer experience features

1. Line of business development is focused around

• Creating cross-browser, HTML-based mobile & web apps using LightSwitch that provides the right fit and finish to get your application running quickly
• Publish business apps to a SharePoint2013 app catalog
• Support for Sketchflow, WPF and Silverlight for better designing and coding of desktop applications
• PhoneTools to enable unit testing as well as build and deploy workflows of Windows Phone

2. Developer Experience contains a host of improvements in the IDE that help provide better and productive developer experience such as

• Improved code map debugger integration that gives a visual representation of codes to identify issues quickly
• Improved HTML Visual Profiler to diagnose UI issues while developing Windows store apps
• Integrated Windows App Certification Kit to test app for submitting in the Windows Store

Besides the above enhancements, Update 2 of Visual Studio also includes ASP.NET and Web Tools. Thus a separate download is not required. Over and above these enhancements, one can see huge improvements since the bugs in the previous iteration have been fixed.

It is said that Update 2 is a cumulative release that envelops all the features of Update 1 allowing one to directly install Update 2 without installing Update 1.

Cygnet Infotech is excited to explore the Update 2 features and looks forward to make a difference in the development environment with Update 2 of Visual Studio 2012.

[Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2797912]

Dynamics CRM - Dec 2012 Update

With its Customer Relationship Management software, Microsoft makes enterprise management simple. This software attempts to connect and streamline the Marketing, Sales and Customer Service department in your organization. Started to suit the basic Customer care requirements, Microsoft Dynamics CRM software brings more convenience and edge with each new update it has to present. And so is the case with the December 2012 Update.

Some of the noteworthy additions in the CRM Software in the December 2012 update are:

Predefined Configuration of Sales & Service Process

Based on your industry, old customer base, sales history and priorities of actions, you can now predefine steps of lead generation and customer service. Each stage can consist of as many steps as you find appropriate to efficiently close a sales cycle, thus increasing productivity.

Compatibility with MS Office 2013

The upgraded CRM also facilitates the latest upgraded MS Office 2013, to get the best of documentation, calculations and analysis in MS Office as well as synchronization of emails in Outlook.

Add-on Browsers and Mobiles

Along with the latest Google Chrome and Mozilla in Windows PC, this CRM Software is compatible with Safari and Mozilla in Macintosh and with Safari on Apple iPad tablets. Such flexibility is of great convenience to sales persons, especially while traveling.

Skype Embedded

The December update has come with an inbuilt Skype support. Now you can easily connect and collaborate with your customers. The user can directly make outbound Skype to Skype as well as Skype to phones from the CRM software only.

Collaborate

This latest update enables you to collaborate all your date pertaining to a customer, services availed, sales person attending the client and all the pertaining stakeholders information at one point, hence, not only avoiding duplication of data, but also making lead generation and followup throughout the complete sales cycle a very easy and efficient task. Moreover, Skype and Yammer add-ons allows one to maintain a social contact and presence conveniently feasible. Exchanging data, making presentations and group conferences are a cake walk with such streamlining.

User Interface

The all new interface systematically guides you step by step through the complete orientation and acquaintance with the new CRM Software to perfection.

The updated version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM December 2012 is strategically upgraded keeping the enormity of data in mind and with a clear focus on developing a software with a business acumen. Above mentioned were some of the major reasons for upgrading to CRM 2012. Though, there are numerous small and big changes which you might come across while exploring the upgraded software.

Write to us at inquiry@cygnet-infotech.com about your requirements and get bespoke solutions for MS Dynamics CRM.

xRM - The Future of CRM

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as we know it are the sets of tools and processes that enable organizations to reach out to prospects, communicate with them, make them customers and retain them as long term relationships.  

Dynamics CRM from Microsoft is one such enterprise solution that provides CRM functionality. However Dynamics CRM goes much beyond simple CRM. 

With the ability to define new industry specific entities and the ability to determine various custom relationships between entities, Dynamics CRM allows extending CRM functionality to 3rd Parties like suppliers, vendors, assets, franchises, employees, re-sellers and many others. 

We found a nice video to share on xRM and its possibilities.

Reasons for Migrating to Dynamics CRM 2011

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a powerful customer relationship management system that gives users the capabilities to easily create and maintain customer interactions and get a clear view of pre-sales to post-sales activity automating sales, marketing and customer services functions. Dynamics CRM has been through many upgrades since its launch. The latest upgrade was seen in the year 2011 in which Microsoft launched the beta version of Dynamics CRM and thus it is now known as Dynamics CRM 2011.

The latest version of Dynamics CRM envelops next-generation features and enhancement and is specially developed for both Cloud and On-Premise deployments. Besides, Dynamics CRM 2011 has many other feature enhancements which forms strong reasons for businesses to switch towards it. 

Here’s a quick highlight of these new features of Dynamics CRM 2011

Dashboards: Dashboards provides a great way of locating essential information They give ‘Live CRM’ content which can be used to create multiple sets of visual charts and graphs which helps in taking better decisions.

Intuitive User Interface: The new CRM has intuitive user interface similar to OutLook which help employees easily adopt the new system and get acquainted with the functions without spending on training.

Contextual Ribbon: The integration of Contextual Ribbon makes it easier for users to perform tasks with a few clicks. Users can also personalize views, create custom dashboards and set up fonts as per their requirements through this intuitive feature.

SharePoint Integration: Dynamics CRM 2011 also comes with SharePoint integration which allows users to easily access data stored in SharePoint server from within the CRM giving a more connected experience. Moreover by installing Dynamics CRM List Component, the users can view, manage and share documents in CRM with the same appearance and behavior as stored in SharePoint.

Marketplace: The integration of Marketplace with new CRM helps users to discover new applications and services directly from the CRM making it easier for users to find solutions.

Integration with Office Applications: Dynamics CRM 2011 is also integrated with other applications such as Silverlight, Azure and Visual studio which gives more opportunities to Developers to build applications and lower overall development costs.

Auditing: Auditing in Dynamics CRM 2011 allows organization to track changes, maintain security, check history of records and comply with the rules.

Along with the above enhancements, Dynamics CRM 2011 offers several other benefits which are not available in CRM 4.0.

For End-User	For Analysts	For Developers
Advanced User- Customization	Visualization  of Comprehensive Reports/Activities	New Form Designer
Improved Outlook Integration	Flexible Definition of Goals & KPIs	Field level Security

All the above benefits instill strong basis for organizations to migrate to CRM 2011 if they are still using the Non-Microsoft CRM or older version of Dynamics CRM.

Cygnet Infotech provides Dynamics CRM Migration Services for businesses to migrate from their existing CRM system to a new and improved Dynamics CRM 2011. It offers different packages for business to migrate depending upon their current version and requirements. If you are looking to migrate to Dynamics CRM 2011, ask for a quote or download our brochure to view different packages.

Boost Content & Collaboration Capabilities with Cygnet’s SharePoint Implementation Services

Corporate documents, presentations, charts, emails, spreadsheets and other content are the lifeblood of any organizations’s internal and external communication. These corporate information when not found or shared easily can slower organization's growth, drive process inefficiencies and lead to poor decision-making. Thus, there requires efficient collaboration of information which brings appropriate agility, fluidity and engenders quick turnaround.

Microsoft SharePoint is that one tool which bestows organization with collaboration powers to ensure they have access to corporate information as and when required, that they are not over-writing or duplicating other’s work and they can share information with security provisions. SharePoint helps organization in accelerating processes, optimizing information flow and fosters better decision making without much training beforehand. The best part is that it can be integrated with other Microsoft applications which allow employees to work more productively and effectively. Due to all these capabilities, SharePoint is catching up fast and enterprises are gearing up to implement SharePoint for their daily operation and communication.

To assist organizations in their SharePoint implementation efforts, Cygnet offers SharePoint implementation services. These services enable organizations to easily and quickly adopt SharePoint which helps them lower the cost and time of deployment and adoption without interrupting the organizational work process. It comes in various packages uniquely designed to suit the requirements and size of different businesses.

All the above packages offers right assistance to client's SharePoint implementation requirements which help them embrace the system more effectively and also helps in utilizing its core capabilities to the optimum level and maximize the benefits accrued from it.

Clients can engage in any of the above packages and  achieve potential ROI with improved productivity, communication, collaboration and content management capabilities.

Download the Brochure to find out more about Cygnet’s SharePoint implementation, migration and integration services.

OR

Meet us at GITEX2012, where we will demonstrate our expertise in SharePoint and other technology offerings.

Jump Start Your Dynamics CRM with Cygnet’s Service Packages

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is designed to automate Sales, Customer services and Marketing functions. It offers a complete solution to drive measurable improvements across all customer management processes. It is built on the secure and scalable .Net platform integrating directly with different applications of Microsoft such as Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. which helps users to work comfortably and automate all their sales and marketing processes at clicks of buttons. It offers proven ways to make customer interactions more productive and profitable with improved lead generation and closing rates. Organizations looking for ways to manage their sales, marketing campaigns and customers effectively can certainly implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM in their business and give wings to their customer management capabilities.

Cygnet Infotech as a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner offers expert Dynamics CRM implementation services.  It is experienced and qualified to assist businesses in their complete Dynamics CRM implementation needs depending on the requirements and size of operation. Cygnet offers both On Premise and On Cloud Implementation services that are fully tested to accelerate the delivery of tailored and easy-to-use Dynamics CRM system, each of which includes following:

On Premise Implementation	Online Implementation
Installation & Deployment	Sign-up and Registration Process
Business Settings Configuration	CRM Outlook Client Installation Setup and Documentation
CRM Email Router Settings	Microsoft Dynamics CRM Best Practices Documentation
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Best Practices Documentation	Data Migration Service
Data Migration Service	Javascript Creation
Configure CRM for Claims & Internet Facing Deployment	Creation of Custom Entities
Administrator and End User Training	Creation of Workflow Rules
Post Implementation Technical Support	Administrator and End User Training
	Post Implementation Technical Support

Both these implementation services are offered on fixed cost basis to clients leveraging best practices and rapid deployment techniques that includes:

• Aligning the needs of the key stakeholders
• Implementing an organizational change management plan to avoid chaos and resentment among users and stakeholders
• Defining an appropriate data governance framework for customer, product and pricing
• Re-engineering organizational interfaces and business processes to enable team selling
• Initial data loading into the CRM application
• Designing effective and appropriate integration with other systems
• Keeping all the moving parts in line with the goal of a successful CRM roll-out through the guidance of experienced Microsoft Dynamics CRM Project Managers and consultant
• Developing Automation and Workflow processes that meet critical business requirements
• Designing and implementing best-of-the-breed CRM customizations and integration architectures

Following the above process, Cygnet addresses client’s complete Dynamics CRM implementation needs which enable them to jump start an effective customer, leads and campaign management which help them in accelerating and enhancing their customer services.

If you are planning to give your business a Dynamics CRM advantage, Cygnet Infotech will help you in your endeavor by providing its Dynamics CRM implementation services.

Request a quote for your Dynamics CRM implementation requirements

Explore our complete Dynamics CRM implementation, migration and integration services at GITEX2012 from 14th to 18th October, 2012

Cygnet Develops an Enterprise Project Management Toolkit

To overcome challenges of prioritizing projects and managing resources, Cygnet Infotech has developed an Enterprise Project Management Toolkit on Microsoft Project Server 2010 with implementation and customization facilities.

Cygnet’s EPM Toolkit is focused to help project intensive businesses manage their project Lifecycle. It helps them in making better project management decisions by providing real-time visibility of all the relevant information. The solution helps determine the resources and skills required to accomplish a project which eventually helps in directing resources according to project complexity and importance.  In short, it helps project managers oversee, monitor and control various aspects of project to ensure better utilization of resources and funds.

Cygnet’s EPM Toolkit comprises Demand Management and Portfolio Management functions. Demand Management function lets project managers assess project requirements, availability of resources and funds which help standardize ways to manage supply of these requirements using best practices. On the other hand, Portfolio management functions help in meeting ROI goals along with tracking project progress.

Besides the above offerings, Cygnet’s Enterprise Project Management solution comes with Prebuilt Dashboards, Workflows and BI Reports which boost Enterprise project management activities by providing benefits which help project managers to

• Identify redundant work/projects and remove them
• Recognize and resolve issues and risks at the earliest stage
• Communicate project performance
• Measure performance using earned value
• Analyze, evaluate and compare alternative approaches
• Prioritize and select the portfolio with maximum return on investment
• Ensure projects and resources are aligned with corporate strategy
• Coordinate all resources and requirements of the projects
• Model alternatives and their consequences
• Centralize knowledge base sharing with real time data

By providing all the above benefits, Cygnet’s Enterprise Project Management Solution built on Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint gives business the right edge and control capabilities they need to successfully deliver projects on time, with intended quality, budget and design.

Organizations looking for a solution to manage their projects and gain the competitive can employ Cygnet’s EPM Toolkit.

Cygnet is exhibiting its EPM Toolkit in the coming GITEX2012 Exhibition. To view its demo at the event, email us at gitex@cygnet-infotech.com or register here.

Cygnet’s Inquiry Management Application on Dynamics CRM

With a view to help B2B professional services companies get vital updates and statistics on inquiries generated and render quick conversion, Cygnet has developed a robust Inquiry Management Application on Dynamics CRM.

The success of B2B marketing lies in effective lead management and lead nurturing. However, leads are said to be managed effectively only when the processes are accomplished in a cost-effective manner, generating better ROI.

Cygnet’s Inquiry Management Solution meets these requirements giving a clear picture of lead and opportunity status which helps to speed up the sales cycle.

Cygnet’s Inquiry Management Application built on Dynamics CRM includes modules such as custom dashboards, reporting, sales pipeline management and duplicate detection which caters to all B2B inquires management issues on single screen. The application is capable of performing multifarious functions giving a comprehensive picture of all phases included in the sales cycle.

Capabilities of Cygnet’s Inquiry Management Application

• Captures inquiries from multiple sources such as website forms, emails, inbound/outbound calls, landing pages, etc
• Automatically assigns inquiries to appropriate sales staff
• Provides complete reports of inquiries with status, conversion ratios and sales person performance
• Detects duplicate inquiries
• Manages quotations
• Sets up follow-up reminders
• Integrated Microsoft Outlook notifies the sales person for assigned inquiries
• Tracks progress of each inquiry
• Manages Roles and Access Rights as per authorization

With all these intuitive features, Cygnet’s Inquiry Management Application based on Dynamics CRM helps business in bridging gaps between sales and marketing. It endows B2B managers with truly qualified sales leads helping them improve ROI and ensuing increased win rates with fewer resources.

B2B companies looking for ways to build stronger and effective marketing base for achieving quick sales turnaround can employ Cygnet’s Inquiry Management solution and lead forward in the path of earning, nurturing and retaining lifetime customer relationships.

Cygnet will be demonstrating this application in upcoming GITEX2012 Expo which is to be held in Dubai between 14^th and 18^th Oct, 2012.

Register to view Demo of Cygnet’s Inquiry Management Application in GITEX2012.

Cygnet Develops a Portal to Help Students in Searching Medical Schools

It has been a serious concern for medical students to find best medical schools which meets their requirements and preferences according to their grades and merits. Students as well as their parents do not have exposure to the right platform which can provide them complete information about schools, fees structure, location, admission procedure, etc. This is why students miss the right bus of expanding their knowledge and fulfilling their dream of joining best medical school.

With a thought of helping students in this regard, one of the Canada based entrepreneur (with an interest in IT services and products) decided to develop a portal which would integrate information of all medical schools based in USA and Canada. To develop this portal, the client approached Cygnet which joined hands with the client in his kind purpose of helping students find their dream medical school.

Cygnet thoroughly reckoned the requirement and moved in the direction of developing the desired portal for client by taking steps as mentioned below

• Engaged a team of analysts, designers, developers and software testers to work at every level of the project
• Utilized technologies like ASP.Net MVC 3.0, SQL Server, C#, JQuery, JSON, HTML 5 and CSS3
• Worked on searching for database of medical schools to integrate in the system along with database given by client
• .Net development team created solid information architecture by inserting 75 attributes and extensive search criterias
• Graphics team developed appealing UI of the portal by working in line with client’s requirement

Following the above steps, Cygnet’s team developed the portal which includes functions like

• Registration to help student in conducting search of medical schools according to their grades, requirements and preferences
• Save Search feature to help students and parents save previous searches for future reference and sharing
• Save Student Preference feature to save preferred criteria of students such as location, program, etc for searching medical schools
• Security feature to protect user’s information from misuse
• Wide number of variables and parameters to maximize on the specificity of the search result sets
• Custom Notes feature to track progress, reviews, blogs, special information, etc

Incorporating all the above features, Cygnet successfully completed the task of developing portal for searching medical schools within 5 months.

Looking at his desire to provide fast, stable and reliable medical school search engine accomplished just within 5 months, client heartily appreciated Cygnet‘s efforts by saying

“You have excellent employees who think very highly of the work they do in delivering quality products”

Cygnet is overwhelmed with such an appreciation from the client.  All the teams involved in the development of portal are very happy to help client in fulfilling his aim.

Have a project in mind? Let Cygnet help you with its expertise in various software development technologies.

Cygnet Develops Govt. Health Portal on SharePoint

When a UAE based national healthcare authority was looking for a solution to provide convenient healthcare services and facilities to people, Cygnet came up with a solution on SharePoint platform which addressed client’s precise requirements. The idea was to develop a healthcare portal which would connect all patients, healthcare professionals and related people to a common platform and provide easy access to healthcare services and facilities.

Cygnet developed the required solution using its expertise on Microsoft SharePoint Server, SharePoint Designer and Visual Studio. The team crafted a collaborative web-portal by migrating existing database from Oracle to SQL server and developed a Content Management Systems to cluster multiple sub-sites for enhanced performance of the main site (Portal).

The portal developed integrated complete healthcare system which allowed different parties to access the required information related to healthcare and improve the quality of public health all around. Along with a portal to connect with various healthcare services, this SharePoint Solution also included various aspects which benefited the client and his stakeholders in following ways:

• It offered a single collaborative platform for sharing information and taking up services which enhanced user’s utility and experience
• It offered access to various external parties like e-services providers (License renewal, online bill payments etc.)
• The CMS helped healthcare professionals to maintain their profile and view hospitals and healthcare related jobs
• It integrated Google Maps which allowed users to track information readily on locations of various healthcare units
• It allowed users to publish articles, upload videos, post jobs and share information related to healthcare industry thus eradicating connectivity distance with various parties
• It offered enterprise search facility to help people in carrying out search and set up search alerts on their requirements
• It included an e-commerce store which allowed users to browse health related products and purchase them through a secured payment gateway
• The portal was developed in English as well as Arabic to make it easy for local people to understand

Through this solution, the client’s vision of bringing together people and healthcare professionals on common platform and access required healthcare services and information conveniently was appropriately met. This delighted the client who thanked the whole SharePoint team of Cygnet by saying

“Thanks a lot for your effort and the excellent work. I really appreciate your commitment and hard work. Keep up with this performance. Thanks and wish you all the best.”

Find out further details of the project here

Avail our SharePoint services

Cygnet Achieves Gold Competency in Business Intelligence

Cygnet makes its 2 in a row.

Following the achievement of Gold Competency in Portals and Collaboration, Cygnet has now extended its Microsoft expertise to Business Intelligence by earning a Gold competency.

A gold competency demonstrates Cygnet’s best-in-class expertise within Microsoft's marketplace. Earning a gold competency is evidence of the deepest, most consistent commitment to a specific, in-demand, business solution area, along with the distinction of being among only 1 per cent of Microsoft partners worldwide that have attained this outstanding degree of proficiency.

To achieve the gold competency in Business Intelligence, Cygnet completed the rigorous requirements including number of Microsoft Certified Professionals, passing the relevant sales and marketing exams, and customer references.

Earning this competency proves that Cygnet has the technical capability and resources to leverage software, tools and training for providing business intelligence solutions to enterprise clients.

Cygnet now has earned 3 Gold competencies and 5 Silver competencies which continue to show its commitment to Microsoft technologies.

Cygnet Achieves Gold Competency in Portals and Collaboration

Cygnet Infotech is proud to announce that it has achieved the Microsoft Partner GOLD competency for Portals and Collaboration.

A gold competency demonstrates Cygnet’s best-in-class expertise within Microsoft's marketplace. Earning a gold competency is evidence of the deepest, most consistent commitment to a specific, in-demand, business solution area, along with the distinction of being among only 1 per cent of Microsoft partners worldwide that have attained this outstanding degree of proficiency.

To achieve the gold competency in Portals and Collaboration, Cygnet completed the rigorous requirements including number of Microsoft Certified Professionals, passing the relevant sales and marketing exams, and customer references.

Earning this competency proves that Cygnet has the technical capability and resources to design and develop portals on internet, intranet and extranet along with the ability to deploy collaboration solutions using SharePoint.

Cygnet now has earned 2 Gold competencies and 6 Silver competencies which continue to show its commitment to Microsoft technologies.

Windows Phone 7 Demo on Android or iPhone

Are you one of those curious Android or iPhone mobile phone users who are itching to try out the new Windows 7 release? Well, worry not! Microsoft has released a cool demo that can be run on iPhone and Android phone without any issues.

With a tap or a swipe, you will be presented with a start up screen with the most commonly used services such as Messaging, Outlook, and Calendar etc. Once you have tested any one of the service’s demo, you can go back to the main screen to test another one. It is simple, interactive and certainly very user-friendly.

Some of the features that take Windows 7 mobile to the next level of communication are:

• Touch-Friendly user interface that is slick and elegant.
• With a tap and a drag, move the apps around.
• Easy synchronization of documents between your phone and PC.
• Access to Outlook mail application giving way to important features such as flagging important e-mails etc.
• Large and colorful live tiles can be used as shortcuts to frequently used apps and websites.
• Adding apps to Quick launch is as easy as it can get.
• A single people hub to show the ‘Recent’, ‘New’ and ‘What’s New’ happenings with your friends across social networking sites.
• The interface is elegant and extremely impressive. Usage of bold colors and clear font has made the overall display quality very high.

Though a lot of focus has been about the cool interface and its impressive look, the functionality aspect of Window 7 mobile is to be appreciated as well. With live tiles and several useful apps, Windows 7 mobile sure seems to be gaining the edge in the mobile market.

Look at the Windows 7 screenshots and demo