E-business company e.com institute has made its initial foray into the world of online upgrade centres, with the development of Symantec South Africa`s upgrade site.
With the launch of the site, at www.upgradenow.co.za/symantec, e.com institute has become the first online representative of Symantec`s upgrade products.
Cassim Parak, joint MD at e.com institute, says the launch of the site allows the company to take Symantec`s product range available to end user customers via an Internet interface without the need to drive to a destination to purchase the software.
"We have built a web site dedicated to the provision of information on Symantec upgrade products," he adds. "It will be populated with the most current range of upgrade software."
The enhancements for Symantec customers are wide-ranging and primarily means that they can purchase upgrades as soon as they are developed or be aware of forthcoming new releases
Parak says this is especially important when it comes to mission-critical products like anti-virus software.
"With more sophisticated viruses appearing all the time, the anti-virus software sometimes needs modification, and in order to keep customers protected, Symantec releases quick upgrades.
"Traditionally, these would have taken weeks to get to the customer, but we now have the ability to deliver product to a customer`s doorstep or PC within two to five days. We are also looking at electronically downloadable product in the near future," he says.
The development of the site was done using Microsoft Active Server Pages and a SQL Server database. Not only is the site linked to a generic site called upgradenow.co.za/symantec, but also to online technology superstore etenga. Although customers can go in via different ways, they will find themselves in a common interface with a common shopping basket.
Security on the site is integrated at three levels with VeriSign, Conclave and CyberSource.
VeriSign OnSite is the first integrated PKI managed service, delivering best-of-breed enterprise PKI functionality and contractually guaranteed processing services to support the widest range of intranet, extranet, VPN and e-commerce applications.
The functionality of Conclave is almost boundless. Everything from an ICSA certified firewall, to VPN and Extranet capabilities give Conclave a strong, scalable range of features. So rather than attempting to use multiple products from various vendors, the integrated power of Conclave has been implemented.
CyberSource provides mission critical reliability and a suite of merchant controlled, real-time eCommerce services, including payment processing, global tax calculation, Internet fraud screening, distribution control,
fulfillment messaging and more.
Parak says that as a reference site, the logic and technology that they used to create the Symantec site will certainly enhance e.com institute`s opportunities with other companies looking for similar solutions.
Share
e.com institute
E-business company e.com institute was set up by John Berry, Cassim Parak and Paul Yammin in April 1999.
Backed up by a team of highly experienced technical and development resources, e.com institute will focus on developing and marketing e-business solutions and establishing an e-commerce trading platform for open and closed communities within consumer and business segments.
Offering a totally integrated, secure, end-to-end e-business solution which includes development, infrastructure, secure payment processing, customer service and strong security skills, e.com institute takes a holistic view of e-business.