In the traditional model, CRM is a system of record: it tracks customer information and contact history, manages the sales pipeline, and enables detailed analysis of sales performance and customer data.

FORBES: From Customer Management To Customer Engagement

There are mashups that let you see which products are selling best on eBay , that help manage the sale of foreclosed property through a network of real estate agents, or merge sales information with data mining from analysis firm Business Objects .

FORBES: The Business Mash

Rojas wanted the job because it involved systems and data analysis, rather than sales.

FORBES: Getting A Job Out Of College: Three True Stories and Some Tips

The story started in reports from structured data about sales and ended in the analysis of unstructured documents.

FORBES: A Vision for Unifying Access to Data and Documents

There are many online and offline marketing and advertising strategies to increase awareness of your site, but to drive sales and profits, you must use expert data analysis, up-to-the-minute SEO analysis, and aggressive conversion optimization testing.

FORBES: 3 Ways to Monetize Large Ecommerce Sites

Privately held companies in the U.S. are more profitable now than in the last decade despite slowing sales growth this year, according to a recent preliminary analysis of data from Sageworks Inc.

FORBES: Gut check: Profitability up despite slowing sales growth

An analysis comparing Wal-Mart Stores' (nyse: WMT - news - people ) same-store sales growth to consumer spending data dating back to January 2004, compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, actually shows a negative correlation between the two.

FORBES: Wizardry At Wal-Mart

The analysis examined restaurant servings and traffic from market-research firm NPD Group Inc. and publicly available sales data from the restaurant chains.

WSJ: Low-Calorie Items Fuel Restaurant Sales