Cloud-based marketing automation and CRM platform provider IgnitionOne has split from its holding company Dentsu in a management-led buyout. The buyout was backed by IgnitionOne employees, ABS Capital Partners and Persimmon Capital Partners.

Will Magiloff, CEO of IgnitionOne, said this newfound autonomy will allow the company to continue expanding its Digital Marketing Suite marketing platform and further increase its global presence. IgnitionOne has 325 employees in 13 offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Intercom, a start-up specializing in CRM software, has secured its first round of Series A funding.

Social+Capital Partnership spearheaded the $6 million Series A funding with assistance from Freestyle Capital and David Sacks, Founder and CEO of Yammer. This latest injection follows a seed round of $1.75 million dollars in 2012 from Freestyle Capital, 500 Startups and various other angel investors.

Microsoft is set to release the latest version of its Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform this fall that will focus on integrating its CRM with the MarketingPilot marketing solution it acquired last year. While many industry observers have speculated that Microsoft is shopping for a marketing automation vendor, this move could be an indication that the company will instead look to bolster its current marketing automation technology.

The company has not disclosed any precise details of the new features that will be available, but company officials noted that the changes will center around developing a personalized experience for consumers through improved marketing automation and mobile access.

Maximizer Services Inc, a provider of CRM solutions, partnered with HubSpot on the Maximizer CRM: HubSpot Connector, an integration of the HubSpot inbound marketing software with Maximizer CRM.

“Sales and marketing teams need to be working in close collaboration with clear transparency across the entire lead management process, from lead creation to lead nurturing to closed opportunities,” said Vivek Thomas, President of Maximizer Services Inc. “If your CRM isn't integrated with your online lead generation activities, you're missing out on valuable process efficiencies, potential sales growth and closed loop reporting.”

Since the announcement of Oracle’s plans to acquire marketing automation vendor Eloqua, marketers have been eagerly following Oracle’s next steps and what industry thought leaders had to say about the move. While a story on the Eloqua restructuring topped our Top 10 list for the first half, The Salesforce-ExactTarget mega-deal and Marketo’s IPO also captured a great deal of attention.

Readers also prepared for the year ahead by catching up with marketing automation predictions from executives at leading companies such as LeadMD, SiriusDecisions, DemandGen International, ANNUITAS and Raab Associates in our 2013 Marketing Automation Forecast report.

The demand funnel is evolving from the traditional cone to an hourglass-shaped model with a “lead management” funnel on top feeding an inverted “customer management” funnel below, according to David Lewis, CEO of DemandGen International. He presented this updated view of the demand funnel in a webinar titled: “It’s The End Of The Funnel As We Know It.”

“The top of the funnel should be as wide as possible, but so should the bottom,” Lewis said. “The acquisition stage is where the marketing automation takes the stage. CRM occurs in the lower funnel. This funnel symbolizes marketing and automation coming together.”

Even with the growing adoption of marketing automation, CRM and web analytics tools, most marketers are still challenged to clearly demonstrate the ROI of their campaigns. In a move to fill that gap, Left Brain DGA, one of the leading demand gen consultancies, has introduced MiDash, a marketing intelligence platform aimed at using historical data, predictive analytics and performance alerts to supplement the information available from marketing automation systems.

Founded in 2009, Left Brain DGA has developed the Left Brain Model, a framework for measuring marketing’s contribution to a demand generation program and to provide a structure for the lead nurturing and scoring activities that support this process. Left Brain Model user Lenovo was the winner of Eloqua’s 2012 Demand Generation Center of Excellence Markie Award for its collaborative go-to-market strategy, commitment to persona-based content and focus on metrics to drive campaign decisions.