The AOL, Time Warner merger was top IT news last week, with Bill Gates` resignation as CEO of Microsoft also making waves.

Simply having customer profiles on an organisation`s system is not enough, as the key to successful customer relationship management is the achievement of the "single view of the customer".

The first Booth`s Bites issue of 2000 covers the five weeks since 5 December, and includes highlights such as the demise of Infiniti and a host of financial results.

The Datatec Group - the official umbrella sponsor of Gauteng Cricket - `Pads up` for the cricket season with its regular Player of the Month awards. The awards are part of Datatec`s long and productive association and partnership with Gauteng Cricket.

Paul Booth summarises the groundbreaking events affecting the IT and telecommunications industries, highlighting local and international acquisitions, listings and market consolidation and forecasting trends for 2000.

Last week`s hot local IT news included the merger of Spicer and IQ Business Group as well as lots of financial results and new appointments.

There are many ways of approaching a customer relationship management (CRM) programme and these may differ depending on the CRM supplier, but there are some steps that should ideally be adhered to.

While the US Thanksgiving Day holiday made for a quiet IT week internationally, Dimension Data once again dominated the local news headlines.

When considering a change management programme, remembering the people factor and that hindsight is an exact science will highlight the necessity of such a programme.

This week saw a milestone IT event: the Dimension Data acquisition of the European networking parts of Comparex, making for the largest acquisition in the history of South African IT.

As the year 2000 looms ever closer, now is a good time to examine where the e-commerce boom is headed.

Once a company has realised that becoming customer-centric is vital to its future, it is important to ensure that the organisation`s key players understand the challenges and benefits of CRM.

The Microsoft trial as well as local financial results, including excellent year-end figures from ITI Technology, made IT headlines last week.