I planned to listen in on the telebriefing this afternoon but never received my email instructions from Entrust.
Consequently, tonight I browsed through both the entrust.com and entrust.net sites to see what I missed. I found both sites to be poorly organized. In several places, information was referenced and then not available where it was referenced.
Anyway, I grew frustrated and decided to drop a note to Investor Relations. Problem was, I couldn't find an email address for IR anywhere on the site. So instead, I fired off an email to the President, John Ryan, and a several others at Entrust.
Well, within 15 minutes I had a response from John Ryan assuring me the issues I had identified would be addressed within a few days.
My email and his reply are shown below:
Rick, thank you for your comments, it is not due to lack of respect for our customers or shareholders, but probably lack of sleep that has cause these challenges. I can ensure you that we will immediately address all of your concerns to ensure that Web site it "the best in the industry" that is what we pride ourselves on.
Please feel free to take us up on a "re-test" in the next few days, and I hope we will exceed your expectations. If not, feel free to email me again, I very much value your time and input.
Thanks,
John A. Ryan
President & CEO
www.entrust.com
Entrust Technologies
One Preston Park South - Suite 400
4975 Preston Park Blvd.
Plano, TX, 75093
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 1999 11:29 PM
Subject: entrust.com and entrust.net web sites
Hello Everybody,
I recently purchased stock in Entrust, so it is as a shareholder that I'm writing to tell you that Entrust's (and Entrust.net's) websites are poorly organized and extremely difficult to navigate. Point 3 below specifically explains why you are getting this email.
Being that you are a technology company, not to mention an Internet
technology company, I would have thought that you would have wanted your website to be a showcase - something that would let us public know that you really have a knack for the net.
I'll give you some examples of what I tried to do this evening to help you understand why I'm so frustrated. Did I mention I was a shareholder?
1. First, I thought I'd check out Entrust.net because I missed the briefing this afternoon (see GRIPE below following signature). I browsed around the entrust.net and read about "Understanding SSL and digital certificates". Jumping out at me, nicely laid-out in blue, was a note encouraging me to "refer to the White Paper titled The Concept of Trust in Network Security, available on the Entrust Technologies Web site at entrust.com".
So I jump to entrust.com. Guess what? No links anywhere to whitepapers - none that I can find anyway. Finally, I notice the Search button, none to obvious at the top of the page. I search for "whitepaper" and "whitepapers". Nothing. Finally, I try "white paper" and find the paper mentioned on the second page of the search listing.
Not very intuitive in my opinion.
2 After obtaining the whitepaper, I returned to the entrust.com home page to learn about "secure email" at
entrust.com.
I get to the Secure E-Mail Solutions page and see something about
"Entrust/Express", "Entrust/Unity" and "Entrust/Web Connector". None of these names mean anything to me and I don't feel like hunting around to figure it all out. I use Outlook 98 and Eudora.
Aha, up in the right corner I see a nice little insert titled, "Solutions for:" and Outlook and Eudora are both listed. I think, "perfect, I'll find what I need there".
Wrong. The insert is just a picture - no links - total dead space. I'm left high and dry without the information I'm looking for. I still don't know how to incorporate security into my email.
3. I decide I should send an email to Investor Relations and let them know what I've encountered. After all, there must be thousands of investors like me that are trying to get a better understanding of Entrust and Entrust.net vis-a-vis Verisign and other PKI players.
I go back to the home page, hunt around looking for an link to Investor Relations. It's got to be there I figure, this is a public company. Finally I find it, tucked away under the Corporate drop-down.
So I get to the Investor Relations page at
entrust.com - but no email
address! Take a look. It seems like the website is just for show - it's up, it's there, it's done, let's get on with other things.
I hunt all over the Investor Relations pages. Nothing. Finally, I see the Contact link at the top of the window. Surely there must be an email address for Investor Relations there. Nope. Hence, I resort to sending this email to mailto:pr@entrust.com and the rest of
you.
This visit has left me feeling that Entrust doesn't really care about
people's perceptions when visiting the website. Undoubtedly this is not the case, but scarier still, is the possibility that this company just doesn't get it with respect to the web. Your website is designed like a brochure but it needs to be more. I invested in Entrust because I think you have a more complete solution than Verisign and I don't think their service agency approach can hold up in the long-run. However, as a leader in PKI who is moving into the Internet, I believe you should be more concerned about web users, especially those visiting Entrust.net.
My visit was disappointing and has made me question my investment in
Entrust. I can only cringe to think how other, less experienced web-visitors may leave feeling. Their money may end-up in Verisign.
Sincerely,
Rick Escher
GRIPE. Tuesday night I registered for the webcast that was supposed to take place Wednesday between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM EDT. Following registration there was a message saying I would be notified by email with instructions for participating in the webcast. Guess what? I NEVER RECEIVED AN EMAIL. Had I got the email, I wouldn't have had to go poking around www.entrust.net tonight and you probably wouldn't be getting this email. |
