CATP: News Wire
April 28, 1999 09:03
Cambridge Technology Partners Bring WStore's Technology
Reselling E-Business Live in Only Five Months
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 1999--
Built by Cambridge and Powered by Microsoft Commerce Technologies, WStore Pursues European
Leadership in Online Reselling
Today at Gartner Group's Internet and Electronic Commerce Expo 1999 (iEC Expo '99), Cambridge
Technology Partners unveiled details of its client partnership with WStore, a venture-funded
computer hardware and software products distributor and reseller based in France. WStore,
wstore.com, intends to establish itself as the leading Internet-only reseller in Europe.
The combination of Cambridge's award-winning Internet consulting services and Microsoft Corp.'s
leading platform and Internet technology enabled WStore to bring its Digital Economy business
model live in under five months.
WStore's rapid, successful launch of its ground-breaking e-business is a testament to the power
and potential of the Cambridge and Microsoft strategic alliance, formed in December 1998. As part
of this alliance, Cambridge is collaborating with Microsoft to build solutions that utilize Internet
technology and advanced architectures to create electronic businesses and sophisticated online
commerce communities for clients and their partners. Cambridge is also a member of Microsoft's
new Commerce Alliance announced yesterday at iEC Expo '99.
"Building a business based solely on the Internet is something only a handful of companies have
done, " said Patrice Laureau, CEO, WStore. "To meet our aggressive launch plans and business
goals, we needed a set of partners who understood and could bring a virtual business model to life.
Cambridge and Microsoft were able to apply the right approach, skill set and technologies - all at
Internet speed."
The Cambridge and Microsoft solution deployed for WStore is enabling the online reseller to rapidly
expand its business in France and meet its aggressive business goals for 1999. WStore is also
building a rollout strategy across Europe, targeting to launch sites in UK and Germany by July. The
system allows WStore to use the Internet for competitive advantage over traditional resellers by
providing customers - both businesses and consumers - with the ability to buy merchandise directly
from the site and by offering direct access to real-time information on pricing, product information,
inventory status (verifying product availability every 15 minutes), and delivery status.
The Internet-enabled system also optimizes the information flow throughout WStore's digital value
chain, fostering close communication and collaboration between different areas of the enterprise
including, finance and customer support, as well as manufacturing, distribution and transportation,
which are outsourced to a warehouse and distributor. The systems' efficiency also enables WStore
to offer the most competitive pricing for PC-related products.
"WStore exemplifies the types of solutions that Cambridge excels at delivering- those that drive the
Internet throughout a client's value chain to help them gain competitive advantage in the Digital
Economy," said Fergal Mullen, vice president of Cambridge's Interactive Solutions service line in
Europe. "Our expertise in building e-businesses, combined with our strategic Microsoft alliance,
uniquely positions Cambridge to help clients respond rapidly to the competitive pressures and
market shifts that are driving the need for e-business solutions."
Cambridge's Interactive Solutions service line has won a leadership position in the industry by
helping clients rapidly transform their businesses to win in the digital economy. Cambridge has won
multiple industry awards, and its robust strategy capability and strength in developing innovative,
state-of-the-art electronic commerce and e-business solutions was recognized by Forrester
Research in the October "Grading the Transactive Content Integrator" report. (For reprints of this
report go to www.ctp.com/forrester-TCIs.)
The Cambridge-built system is scalable enough to support WStore's fast-growing product offerings.
WStore currently offers more than 10,000 products and is on schedule to add two new brands with
hundreds of new products per month. Today, WStore's customer site services include search,
compare, guarantee, and complementary products. Future services will include configuration,
software licensing, and download updates.
The first release of WStore was rolled out by the Cambridge team in 5 months. The WStore site is
based on the latest Microsoft technologies including Windows NT Server 4.0, Site Server 3.0
Commerce Edition, and SQL Server. Cambridge programmed the back-office entirely in HTML,
allowing the business to be run by a single person who can easily control contracts, billing and
invoices and margins with a single mouse click.
About the Microsoft-Cambridge Strategic Alliance
In December 1998, Cambridge Technology Partners and Microsoft formed a strategic alliance
designed to speed the adoption and deployment of innovative, mission-critical solutions that rapidly
deliver business value and competitive advantage to enterprise customers worldwide.
Through the alliance, Cambridge delivers scalable, replicable solutions based on the Microsoft
enterprise platform, with emphasis on electronic commerce/e-business, customer loyalty, data
warehousing and investment trading platforms. Cambridge also is working with customers to rapidly
develop and deploy customized next-generation applications using Microsoft COM+ technology and
the Microsoft Visual Studio development system.
Cambridge delivers the Microsoft-based solutions via its hallmark fixed-time/fixed-price
methodology. This approach lowers costs and risks for enterprise customers, reduces the time of
deployment, increases the solution's reliability and speeds the delivery of business value.
About Cambridge Technology Partners
Cambridge Technology Partners is an international management consulting and systems integration
firm. Founded in 1991, Cambridge provides end-to-end business solutions for Global 2000
organizations seeking to capitalize on competitive advantages offered by the new economy.
Cambridge has 55 offices and more than 4,400 employees worldwide. Cambridge on the Web:
ctp.com.
CONTACT: Cambridge Technology Partners
Fran Kelly, (617) 374-8525
fkelly@ctp.com
or
Elizabeth Brewer, 31 20 575 4552
ebrewe@ctp.com |
