Walker release of e-2 b2b applications provides an opportunity to be a "change agent for collaborative commerce" say analysts
Walker Interactive has released e-business 2.0 (e-2), its next generation of e-procurement, e-revenue and e-insight applications. e-2 extends the functionality of companies` business processes and enables collaborative commerce among suppliers, customers and employees.
The release of this new capability has created excitement in the industry: "With proven technology and products available today, Walker has a great opportunity to become a change agent for companies undergoing the e-business transformation process in order to capitalise on advanced applications like online procurement and electronic bill presentment and payment," said Albert Pang, eCommerce software research manager at IDC.
"The new e-business applications from Walker should help companies make that transition much more quickly than if they had to develop on their own or rely on client-server vendors still seeking to Web-enable their products." concluded Pang.
e-2 builds on Walker`s track record of providing companies including AT&T, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Florida Power and Light, Lincoln National, Food Lion, UCLA and United Airlines with sophisticated financial analysis, procurement and billing automation software, capable of handling hundreds of thousands of transactions and users simultaneously.
"We listened to our market and are delivering products today that help our customers interact and conduct business both inside and outside their organisations, easily and efficiently," said Paul Lord, President of Walker. "With e-2, a company turns its customers, suppliers and employees into close collaborators and finally realises the benefits of collaborative commerce across the supply and demand chains," Lord added.
The most significant enhancement in e-2 is a series of Web-based collaborative applications, or `portlets,` that allow users both outside and within the enterprise to access vital company information. These portlets deliver powerful, "frictionless" e-processes that reduce costs, increase collaboration and drive more profitable revenue.
The four portlets introduced by Walker include:
e-supplier - allows a company`s suppliers to serve themselves, thus reducing costs to all parties. Using the portlet, the supplier securely reviews payment and dispute information, checks invoices, and reviews their supplier scorecard in terms of on-time deliveries, quantity, accuracy and pricing. The supplier also, with the proper authority, updates the catalogue with new prices and other necessary information.
e-buyer - facilitates corporate purchasing so corporate employees purchase the items they need from authorised suppliers. Simply stated, e-buyer provides an easy Web shopping cart for all users. Additionally, the employees check the status of previous requests to see if they have been approved, ordered or rejected.
e-customer - allows a company`s customers to see billing information such as balance due, credit limit, and details of the last statement. Customers also review statistics on their payment history, as well as resolve disputed invoices. Additionally, customers have the opportunity to request a credit limit review and to supply updated financial statement information.
e-care - distributes important information about an organisation`s customers to all employees, giving them easy access to data on customer financial information such as payments made, outstanding invoices, credit limit and similar data. Additionally, employees can use e-care to help them manage customer exceptions.
These portlets work straight out of the box, requiring minimal effort from IT departments to integrate them into existing applications. The Walker portlets are completely designed for Web users utilising the most modern and open technologies - Java, Enterprise Java Beans and XML - running in IBM`s WebSphere environment on multiple platforms.
Walker
Walker Interactive Systems, Inc, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a leading, global provider of e-business solutions for the enterprise. The Walker family of e-business applications and vertical industry solutions, combined with integration and consulting services, is used by Global 2000 organisations in industries including banking and financial services, retail, transportation and utilities. Information about Walker is available at http://www.walker.com.
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