IBM Hosts Firstwave’s CRM Package
Aiming to deliver Internet-native customer relationship management (CRM) software to small and medium businesses, CRM software provider Firstwave Technologies (NASDAQ: FSTWC) and IBM Global Services (NASDAQ: IBM) announced today a partnership to offer an ASP-based CRM solution.
By partnering with IBM Global Services, Firstwave addresses the concerns of potential customers who are uncomfortable with lesser-known hosting providers. “Savvy customers today are looking for a cost effective and risk averse CRM proposition,” said Richard Brock, president and CEO of Firstwave.
“Firstwave's certification process in our hosted/ASP environment went extremely quickly, an excellent representation of what good Web-based solutions are all about,” said William J. Grady, III, program director, eSourcing, IBM Global Services.
Firstwave's eCRM Suite is built specifically for the Internet and is designed to be more flexible, scalable and faster than options based on client-server technology. The combination of optimum speed over the Internet coupled with less-rigid server requirements makes it ideal for use in an ASP environment, both from a hosting and end-user perspective, IBM and Firstwave said in a joint statement released today.
“In the past, people have had two choices, use a Web-based solution ‘as-is' or purchase a CRM solution, have it customized for their needs, and implemented internally,” Brock said. “The latter is usually a very lengthy and expensive process. Firstwave has introduced a third option. Firstwave eCRM combines the benefits of the Internet, the rapid deployment and anytime-anywhere access to CRM information, with features usually only available through user-owned, client-server CRM solutions.”
IBM is included on ASPnews Top 20 Infrastructure Provider list.
