Intelligent Systems has begun using British company Tribeka`s software delivery system, SoftWide, to produce software titles for the on-demand or 'just in time` delivery of software products to retail stores.
Intelligent Systems MD Chris Roux says SoftWide is reinventing the software delivery market by manufacturing and supplying software for the PC, Macintosh, Linux, Pocket PC and Palm platforms without most of the traditional costs involved in distribution.
Roux says Tribeka has agreements with publishers to produce over 1 500 software titles under licence. These include word processing software, games, training programs, virus protection software and educational software, such as The Hutchinson Science Reference Suite, Tomb Raider 4 - The Last Revelation, The Collins Talking Dictionary and McAfee VirusScan 7.
"Unlike traditional retailers and distributors, SoftWide 'stock` is held as data. System manufactures are then able to burn the software to CD and print the manuals on site, according to the demand.
"Retailers can then order software when it is requested by the client or it can have more software delivered as stocks are depleted. SoftWide therefore enables retailers to hold a minimum amount of stock, purchasing more as the need arises."
Roux says that through using the SoftWide system, Intelligent Systems is now capable of generating the average title in four to six minutes.
"As the request for the title comes in, the licensing is obtained from Tribeka`s central control centre in the UK and is generated within four to six minutes. The standard system has four drives and can therefore manufacture around 40 titles per hour and can be configured to produce more or less according to retailer-specific requirements," he says.
Highlighting the recent spate of worms and viruses, Roux says the SoftWide system is ideal for providing anti-virus software on demand.
"The recent Blaster virus created a sharp and unpredictable increase in demand for anti-virus software in the UK. However, the stockless inventory of SoftWide enabled Tribeka to successfully fulfil customer demand without causing a strain on logistics or placing unreasonable pressure on suppliers."
Roux says Intelligent Systems plans to use the channel as well as deliver directly to the end-user online.
"Apart from using the channel, we will launch a local SoftWide Web site in the next couple of weeks through which the end-user will be able to buy titles directly off the Web site. We are also investigating the possibility of opening SoftWide retail stores in SA," he says.
UK SoftWide retail stores allow members of the public to view SoftWide`s range of software, test it at in-store terminals and have a copy printed for them while they wait, Roux says.
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