A recent study from the crowdsourced software review service G2 Crowd revealed  Nimble and Workbooks.com topped the customer satisfaction rankings, with both receiving 98%.

The Grid for CRM analyzed roughly 1,700 ratings and reviews of more than 150 CRM systems. Of the 27 products qualified. G2 Crowd rated CRM systems based on data sourced from product reviews shared by G2 Crowd users and data aggregated from online sources and social networks.

Larry Ellison has stepped aside as Oracle CEO, ending his 37-year reign as head of the company. He will be replaced in that role by co-presidents Safra Catz and Mark Hurd. Both will take the title of CEO and Ellison will stay on as Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer.

All manufacturing, finance, and legal functions will continue to report to Catz, one of Silicon Valley’s highest ranking female executives. Catz was thought to be Ellison’s heir apparent until Hurd joined the firm in 2010 after resigning as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, following allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a female contractor.

In addition to launching a CRM at its INBOUND 2014 event, HubSpot added a number of new features to its marketing platform, including enhanced attribution and revenue reporting, campaign wizard and a content calendar. These upgrades come as the company prepares to launch its IPO.

“Our ultimate goal since we started HubSpot has been to help companies and agencies worldwide grow their business with inbound marketing,” Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot’s Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, told attendees at INBOUND 2014. “The product launches represent massive leaps in what’s possible for marketers with HubSpot’s platform, and include features that will help marketers worldwide fundamentally transform the buying experience e for their prospects, customers, and leads.”

SoMedia Networks, a video production solutions provider, announced its integration with Oracle Marketing AppCloud. The integration is designed to provide users with on-demand video production capabilities along with video analytics.

Scalable Video for Oracle Eloqua is positioned as a service to enable users to order custom video content and receive it on an estimated 14-day turnaround. The video content can then be embedded into Oracle Eloqua landing pages and email campaigns. In addition, marketers can use the video analytics feature to enhance lead scoring, nurturing and ROI measurement.

While the role of content continues to mature, many marketers are just beginning to discover its true value — primarily in the data they can obtain through prospects’ interactions with content and its ability to enhance engagement through multiple channels.

At Marketo’s Marketers First virtual event, roughly 20,000 marketing professionals attended sessions throughout the day, highlighting best practices for content marketing, data analytics and social media. A recurring theme was that content needs to build trust and should not be used primarily as a sales tool.

At its INBOUND 2014 event, HubSpot unveiled a sales platform that includes a free CRM as well as Sidekick, a sales acceleration product designed to provide sales reps with context about prospects and customers to improve sales productivity.  This move comes as the company prepares to launch its IPO. 

The HubSpot CRM is currently in public beta for hundreds of HubSpot customers, and will be more widely available — starting with a broader group of HubSpot's 11,500 customers — in 2015. Sidekick, which is currently available, can be used as a stand-alone product or integrated with CRMs, including HubSpot’s new CRM platform and Salesforce.

Oktopost, a B2B social media marketing platform, announced it has joined the Act-On Developer Network. The partnership includes full integration into the Act-On marketing automation platform, designed to help boost social lead conversions.

The integration is positioned as a way for marketers to bridge the gap between social media and the bottom line, allowing users to credit specific social media campaigns for generating or nurturing prospective buyers and measure ROI.

Vocus Marketing Suite, the marketing business unit of Vocus, has been rebranded as OutMarket and will operate as an independent company. This move takes place four months after Vocus was acquired by private equity firm GTCR.

Prior to the rebranding, OutMarket underwent several enhancements, including tools that offer social customer tracking capabilities. The platform also includes an updated consulting program that is positioned to provide advice on marketing best practices, content and campaign optimization.