Datacentrix and Sterling Commerce have established a local joint venture, Commerce Centre of Southern Africa (CCSA), to provide an e-commerce backbone for businesses with transaction-heavy e-commerce requirements.
The group says that while the IT industry has been guilty of misinformation and "smoke and mirrors", about R25 million has been spent on the venture, which is fully operational with offerings that are ready to implement.
Datacentrix holds 70% of CCSA, while Paranet (which is 19% owned by Southern Bell`s Sterling Commerce and 81% by ParaRede), owns 30% of the venture.
Paranet`s Goncalvo de Spinola says business-to-business e-commerce in SA is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years, turning over $9.8 billion in 2004.
CCSA is a value-added service provider, which the group says provides a level of service beyond those provided by value-added networks, virtual private networks or Internet service providers. However, it does complement those services at the same time.
"Commerce Centre offers electronic business integration solutions consisting of e-business community management, e-business process integration, e-business communications infrastructure and e-sourcing."
De Spinola says CCSA is part of a truly global network. Lisbon Stock Exchange-listed ParaRede has more than 1 000 customers in 12 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa, while Sterling Commerce has 50 000 customers in 18 countries.
The alliance, which operates in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, has set up an e-marketplace portal - an online exchange where organisations and their communities come together to conduct commerce, access content, and collaborate to improve business performance.
Among its services is the integration of companies` business processes with their own and their partners` e-marketplaces.
Commerce Centre already hosts an Africa-wide logistics services trading community, and is in the pilot phase of the roll-out of a fast-moving consumer goods product catalogue for EAN SA, the local chapter of the international supply chain standards body, EAN.
CCSA works closely with alliance partners such as local VANs, VPNs, IT software and service providers, and consulting houses to create e-commerce communities.
Sterling has entered alliances with vendors such as SAP, Baan, PeopleSoft, Accpac, Commerce One and Microsoft, and these alliances also apply in SA.
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