Yesterday`s launch of the ECnet Channel Partner Program sees an important addition to the business mix of the commerce service provider (CSP), by enabling service providers (SP`s) to increase their business offering to their customers, in order to meet the broad demand which they are facing to provide electronic commerce services.
Ultimately the partnership provides Internet Service Organisations (ISO`s) with an increased revenue stream and allows them to avoid having to make a major investment in electronic commerce infrastructure - that is provided by ECnet.
Paddy Gray, marketing director of ECnet (www.ecnet.co.za), feels that the Channel Partner Program is designed to foster close working partnerships between ECnet and select ISO`s who are interested in implementing secure electronic commerce solutions.
"ECnet provides fully automated ordering and fulfilment management capability, with online connectivity to banks. Our channel partners become authorised specialists in the commerce-enabling process by utilising the commerce services and expertise provided by ECnet," says Gray.
To ensure the highest level of service within the channel, partners are required to undergo a defined level of initial sales and technical training. The sales training begins with an overview of Internet commerce and takes a specific look at market opportunities, requirements for success and positions the ECnet solution.
Technical training is in-depth, giving an insight into architecture and system integration. Broken into three modules, the curriculum begins with a close look at how to use the systems` architecture. The second part, the business module, shares best practices and guidelines to follow when building an effective commerce-enabled Web site. The final part, the integration module, is focussed on tailor-making commerce enablement for a specific merchant`s business.
"The ECnet training will go a long way towards integrating commerce enablement in the design approach of our partners. It will certainly lay the foundation for a new service offering for them. But, naturally, we have to accept that there will be times when our partners will get stuck with the technicalities. What is more, we expect them to keep pushing at the boundaries of current applications of the software. We want them to try things we, from our more technical perspective, have never thought about. And then we want to help them create the solutions that are truly creative, yet operationally are hassle free," says Gray.
It is for this reason that the support package forms the cornerstone of the ECnet Channel Partner Programme. It is designed to go beyond fairly distant traditional support and is aimed at fostering teamwork between two teams of specialists around specific challenges.
Leon Strydom CEO of HyperTech, an ECnet Channel Partner, says "After much research, both nationally and internationally, we found ECnet`s commerce solution to be stable and it offers an attractive amount of flexibility. ECnet`s solution has been successfully tested in the market-place and has proven to be dependable and secure with a host of options, available to us as a Channel Partner, wishing to implement such solutions for our clients."
"To ensure that the full commercial benefit of the partnership is realised, ECnet also provides its` partners with marketing support. But the most enduring incentive of all, I believe, will be the partnership itself with all the intrinsic values that it brings to all the parties involved," says Gray
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ECnet
ECnet, the first commerce service provider (CSP) in South Africa, is the only CSP to be directly connected onto the South African banking network, with links to four of South Africa`s major banks. ECnet has enjoyed a strong relationship with Standard Bank and ABSA since mid 1997 and recently signed an agreement with First National Bank.
ECnet is one of the four companies within PQ Africa`s Electronic Commerce Division. The division incorporates the capabilities of Q Data Internet, QEDI, ECnet and SACA.
ECnet enables companies or merchants to easily conduct business over the Internet, without the associated complexity. ECnet provides an outsourced service which offers merchants secure Internet-based transaction processing as well as providing comprehensive customer service facilities to merchants and buyers throughout the World Wide Web.
ECnet provides a complete transaction management service including: complete order management, on-line customer service, security, record-keeping, flexible purchasing and payment models, shipping calculation, as well as secure transaction processing.
A vast range of South African merchants have been enabled by ECnet to conduct electronic commerce over the Internet using ECnet`s back-office transaction management processing services. The list of merchants can be found in ECnet`s shopping directory, which can be found on ECnet`s Web site: www.ecnet.co.za.
Being part of PQ Africa, ECnet is well equipped to enhance the clients` electronic business operations providing a fully-fledged electronic commerce solution.
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