Euralliance's Uses CNET Channel's DataSource™ as its Single Source of Structured and Up-to-Date Product Information

Groupe Euralliance's Solutions Informatiques, the number one IT service provider network in France, was the first client to use DataSource when the product was launched in France. The group has been using this CNET Channel service since the end of1998. By using DataSource, Euralliance's provides its network partners and end customers with fast and easy access to product data from hardware manufacturers, software publishers and distributors.

Euralliance's network has been leveraging the DataSource service for four years, enriching their database with the up-to-date product information datafeed. The data are used for two target audiences: for in-house teams-- Sales, technical consultants and purchasing via the Euralliance Database-- and for outside customers, who access data via a customized extranet.

"The DataSource service provides structured and granular product information which may be used by end customers when entering search criteria, category by category, criteria which are shared by all of the products present in the database," commented Jean-Pierre Leconte, CEO of Euralliance's. "Previously, sales and purchasing had to obtain the product technical characteristics by phone, or by browsing through endless manufacturer websites, an unstructured approach that resulted in considerable loss of time and energy."

Use of the company-wide intranet Euralliance's Database, enables in-house staff in the Euralliance's network to have access to one single source of information when looking for pertinent product data: including availability, price, technical features and options.

Euralliance's recovers references directly from the major distributors, equipment manufacturers and software publishers. Once the raw data sheets have been collected, they are sent to CNET Channel, which uses its Transactive Product Data™ (TPD) technology to transform the information into structured, standard manufacturer-independent data, which may then be added to its industry-wide product database. In parallel, the data is being completed by supplementary information from various sources, including availability (stock) and price. The TPD format enables customers to offer an enhanced purchase environment, which is multilingual, multi-vendor and exhaustive, for a cost far lower than that of most in-house data management systems.

DataSource offers a number of key advantages to Euralliance's

• Through use of the DataSource service, product information datafeeds provide immediate access to structured, comprehensive and up-to-date technical characteristics.
• DataSource provides product information, which fully, effectively and consistently describes relevant technical characteristics. This allows end users to compare products, and make informed choices, adding or modifying their online order on Euralliance's.
• Extranet. DataSource facilitates data merging (or "mapping") between product information and sales data, the latter originating in part from distributors, especially in terms of availability and stock, contributing to a streamlined and highly efficient process.
• Euralliance's sales teams have thus been freed up to concentrate on their core business -- selling -- instead of being bogged down in tracking and maintaining product data.

Main advantages

DataSource, an integrated solution, offers possibilities to:

• Attract and retain more business by focusing on customer centric issues
• Improve quality and increase sales by streamlining critical processes
• Improve productivity of sales staff
• Enhance brand image by adhering to new and effective technology
• Better meet customer requirements
• Position Euralliance's strategically in highly competitive markets
• Provide central, external e-commerce platform support to enterprises having extended multi-site, multi-service, multi-client footprints (providing true added value for Purchasing and CIOs-- who are often deluged with multiple and sometimes confusing  sources of feedback from a variety of corporate entities)

Technical information at a significantly higher quality level

In order to meet end-user requirements, and to quickly absorb the never-ending flow of product spec updates, a very high level of technical detail is required. For each article processed, atomic & granular product attributes and values, as well as ready-to-publish components, may have from 50 to 100 lines of technical specifications.

The DataSource service includes the initial datafeed to the product catalog, as well as maintenance and regular updates of each product reference. Via Internet datafeeds, TPD data are stored locally on client premises, where they are added to the Enterprise database.

"Previously, in order to collect product information, Euralliance's sales teams had to browse through the equipment manufacturers' and software publishers' sites. It was difficult to link up to distributors, obtain street and wholesale prices, and stock availability," declares Euralliance's Mr. Leconte. "By using the DataSource service from CNET Channel, Euralliance's sales teams can spend more time on their core business processes, and thus create more added value: focusing on sales rather than on administrative tasks. The time we save is devoted to getting to know our customers better, being more proactive and dealing with customer "projects"-- rather than just customer "orders"."

About Euralliance's Network

Groupe Euralliance's Solutions Informatiques (www.euralliance.com) provides services in IT architecture, integration and deployment, engineering and maintenance. With 42 sales and technical sites in France, the group is the number one local IT service provider. This network, with headquarters located in Limoges, France, employs 1750, including 680 engineers and technicians.