SAN MATEO (04/03/2000) - LOOKING TO CAPITALIZE on the fast-growing infrastructure requirements of e-business ventures, industry stalwarts this week at Internet World in Los Angeles will tout all-in-one services.
GTE Internetworking, IBM Corp., and Cisco Systems Inc. plan to detail a partnership to offer a program combining hosting, hardware, and applications.
The Hosted E-Commerce program is a bundled e-business solution created from GTE Internetworking's (GTEi's) managed hosting services, IBM' s WebSphere Commerce Suite, and Cisco' s networking infrastructure. The service is designed to facilitate rapid deployment of an e-commerce Web site for midsize and large enterprises, according to sources.
The program will let customers opt for different levels of support. For example, GTEi's consulting arm, which specializes in Web hosting, will be available to help with equipment implementation and deployment.
Additionally, the lessons learned by e-businesses during the holidays have spawned a rash of products and services for merchandise comparison and transaction fulfillment, as will be evidenced at the show.
GoShip will address the shipping needs of businesses by offering a real-time display of different carrier delivery options during an online transaction.
Just before the completion of a transaction, GoShip will let the business choose from a variety of shipping alternatives via a pop-up window.
For consumers who cannot find what they are looking for at the time and price they would like, AllPlaza.com will unveil its price comparison software, which compares the services and prices at dot-com companies with those of brick-and-mortar and mom-and-pop stores. Company officials said AllPlaza. com hopes to remind people that stores still exist that have not yet made the transition to the Internet.
Delano Technology will launch a CRM (customer relationship management) suite called Customer Velocity, a set of inbound and outbound marketing and messaging applications integrated with its E-business Interaction Suite.
ShopAssured will address the fears of security-wary consumers with its browser plug-in that can display the e-commerce record of a given Web site. Listing complaint histories, background reports, contact information, purchase protection insurance, and other pertinent business information, the ShopAssured product also offers alternative sites.
InfoWorld Reporters Stephanie Sanborn and Geneva Sapp contributed to this article.