Interesting ....
July 23, 2002:
Intuitive Web Interface Highlights Firstwave’s eCRM Suite v.8
In a sweeping revamp of the ‘look and feel’ of its flagship product, Firstwave® Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSTW) has introduced version 8.0 of its eCRM Suite, a powerful, web-based, strategic customer relationship management (CRM) solution for companies that want to enjoy the benefits of CRM without all of the hassles.
firstwave.net
OK, so FSTW now has a really spiffy and intuitive user interface.
But, not intuitive enough, I guess.
September 16, 2002:
knoa Corporation ("knoa Corp") builds products to connect people to their technology. knoa's Client and Server platform provides a patented software suite that delivers intelligent data that makes other software applications intuitive. "
firstwave.net
First of all, for one application to make another application intuitive is a pretty good trick. Just tracking and capturing mouse movements and keystrokes doesn't make an application intuitive. Just providing that data in a usable format doesn't make an application intuitive. It takes a person who is experienced at User Interface design, and who understands the business processes wherein an application will be used. Only a person of that caliber can design a system so that anybody who uses the application will know intuitively what their next action should be.
If I understand knoa's solution, it enables somebody (a developer, presumably) to take input data captured during a prior product usage and feed it to the application at appropriate times under specific conditions ... essentially guiding the user along the way.
[Side note: it's common practice to tie disparate applications together via utilities that capture the output of one application, massage it with a scripting language (like REXX, for instance), then feed it to another application. But, I don't think that's the capability that is being discussed here.]
I can see that working for highly repetitive applications, like call centers where the customer service rep works from a script. And, it would make sense if there is a specific set of reports or queries to run every day (just about any basic scripting tool could do that)
But, how does that work within an application like CRM where what the user does next is dependent on customer data, and a mental process? Does knoa's "patent pending" technology have a way to read minds?
Perhaps knoa will only be used within FSTW's call center application?
But, that's not how the PR reads.
"A major hitch in CRM initiatives is getting the end-users to use the system. knoa's real-time, intuitive training solutions make the user experience easier and more enjoyable thus increasing the user acceptance rate. This cuts the learning curve tremendously and allows our clients to see a more immediate return on their CRM investment."
Does this PR mean that FSTW is just going to add an automated training tool to their market basket?
If so, I wonder whether they're going to make that available with Version 8's fancy new intuitive interface, or the new .NET version? Since V8 is so intuitive, maybe training isn't necessary. So, this is only for the .NET version? That must mean that the .NET version is a step backward? [That's a joke, son ... laugh!]
I also wonder what kind of revenue sharing arrangements were made. Is FSTW acting as a reseller of knoa's product, thus getting commissions for installations that choose the "knoa option"? Or will FSTW physically embed knoa's technology within FSTW's application, in which case it would make more sense that FSTW pay knoa a license fee.
Questions, questions, questions.
Without knowing the answers to those questions, how could anyone come up with a reasonably accurate projection of the impact this "strategic partnership" has on FSTW's bottom line?
Just rely on analysts, I guess.
I wonder how many analysts understand what this "strategic partnership" is all about?
Regards,
TED |
