Click on the dotted line

AristaSoft puts network equipment sales in ASP mode AristaSoft is a unique entity in the communications realm because it is trying to employ one prominent industry trend to fuel another: It is using the application service provider model to stimulate the growth of start-up network equipment vendors.

Last week, AristaSoft added another element to that approach with the introduction of an application that provides sales quotation management, product configuration, pricing and forecasting services to those manufacturers.

The company's Interactive Sales Center will be woven with other AristaSoft offerings that address functions such as enterprise resource planning, order management, financial analysis and customer service. AristaSoft's aim is to compile a package of business process applications specific to the needs of high-tech equipment developers - particularly those that rely on contract manufacturers for their output.

That customer focus is an important part of AristaSoft's distinction. Where other ASPs may direct their offerings at any company looking to offload its IT operations, AristaSoft designs its specifically for the high-tech technology developer niche.

AristaSoft's ISC solution addresses the front end of a high-tech equipment developer's sales process, from price quote through custom product configuration to actual order. The application allows sales representatives, channel partners such as contract manufacturers and potential equipment buyers to interact during the process. It also helps automate and simplify portions of the process by inserting data such as product forecasting and quotation information from centralized databases.

"This is unique to next generation network companies because their quotation process is fairly complex," said Edward Zou, product marketing manager for AristaSoft. "In addition, many of our customers are looking at building their sales operations very rapidly, so finding talent and training is challenging."

Another challenge the inhabitants of AristaSoft's customer niche face is the level of sales process automation and online order management that entities such as Cisco Systems have achieved, Zou said.

"Cisco has set the baseline," he said. "Our customers' customers are expecting the same kind of response times and order accuracy."

One industry analyst agreed that Cisco's efforts have set the bar higher for start-up equipment developers, especially those lacking the resources for their own sales process management systems.

"The problem AristaSoft's particular customers have is that the standard in their industry is Cisco," said Lisa Williams, an analyst for The Yankee Group. "You have to be able to look all the way back to the contract manufacturer and find out whether something can be done. That's an expensive proposition if you have to do it yourself."

Mayan Networks, a developer of Sonet-based optical edge products, is AristaSoft's first customer for the new application. Since July, Mayan has used the ISC in conjunction with other AristaSoft functions that aid functions such as financial and customer service operations.

"They wanted to put the whole infrastructure in place before they started shipping," said Lorenzo Martinelli, AristaSoft's vice president of marketing. "The moment they started taking orders, they started going very quickly."

That kind of all-in-one approach to business process functions is a prime example of the kind of assimilation AristaSoft aims to provide high-tech equipment manufacturers, Martinelli said.

"Where a lot of companies have failed is in integration," he said. "They might be able to take orders but not fill them, for example. When a company comes to us, the value is not the individual pieces but the fact that we can tie them all together."

Indeed, being able to address all of equipment developers' concerns outside of its core technology development efforts is precisely how AristaSoft is attempting to embody the ASP model, Zou said. "If they were to buy just one application, they would still have to have an IT infrastructure to support it," he said.