E-commerce services and infrastructure provider, CommerceSWITCH, is set to go live with the local version of the Salesmation.com sales and marketing application service provider (ASP) offering.
US-based software and services firm Salesmation provides organisations with a set of tools for establishing and maintaining personalised electronic relationships with their customers. The locally hosted solution -- details of which can be found at salesmation.co.za -- is particularly well suited to small and medium organisations that wish to capitalise on online marketing opportunities.
Says Phillip De Bruin: "Organisations in SA are starting to recognise the vital role that technology can play in helping them to acquire and retain customers. However, small and medium businesses have been at a disadvantage because of the high costs of purchasing, implementing, and maintaining electronic marketing automation software and the related infrastructure.
"Salesmation.co.za, as a complete solution that brings together hosted applications and a full suite of professional services, gives these organisations the ability to outsource their e-communication initiatives, or manage their own campaigns in a secure Web-based environment without needing to make hefty up-front investments in software or IT infrastructure."
The Salesmation offering provides traditional businesses and dot-coms with an e-communications platform that allows them to gather and harness customer information and deliver rich-media marketing material to their customers using e-mail or the Web.
The package also provides enterprises with comprehensive, real-time tracking and reporting feedback, giving them the ability to automatically retarget ongoing communication cycles, and measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.
The Salesmation set of tools includes e-mail marketing management, campaign planning and execution, campaign message management, and campaign analysis. Customers can rent these tools individually, or as a complete suite.
Says De Bruin: "The pricing for rental of these applications ranges between R450 and R20 000 a month depending on the complexity of the solution and the modules the customer opts for. Typically, our contracts run between three and 36 months, and are structured with a set of strict service level agreements to protect the interests of the customer."
The new offering complements CommerceSWITCH`s Saqqara catalogue management and electronic product content system, which is also offered as a subscription-based hosted application.
According to De Bruin, both of these ASP offerings are best suited to companies with a turnover of between R10 million and R500 million a year.
"Outsourcing the development, operation and maintenance of new age applications is the best way for companies to ensure e-business success while avoiding the high costs and lost time and opportunities associated with establishing IT infrastructure and implementing complex applications," De Bruin adds.
"Making use of an ASP allows customers to get to market with flexible new e-business applications in quick time, while freeing them from the headaches associated with keeping up to date with the latest releases of the products they are using."
The CommerceSWITCH solutions are hosted at the company`s data centre. This secure, redundant infrastructure is built on Compaq servers running Windows 2000 and SQL 2000 database with RAID 45 storage.
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