| Abstract: | Supply chain software provider Sterling Commerce takes steps toward integrating its disparate products and adopting a vertical go-to-market strategy. |
| Keywords: | inquiry-to-cash selling and fulfillment, selling and fulfillment processes |
When Bob Irwin took over as president and CEO of Sterling Commerce at the end of 2006 following the sudden, unexpected death of his predecessor, Samuel Starr, the company was perhaps best known for its IT infrastructure products, such as value-added network and secure file transfer offerings. While the AT&T subsidiary had begun to invest in supply chain, warehouse management, order management, and electronic commerce products, its applications — many obtained through acquisitions — were, for the most part, positioned as unintegrated, best-of-breed, point products.
Eight months later, under Irwin's direction, Sterling has begun to change all that. At its recent annual Customer Connection user conference in Denver, the company said it has refashioned its disparate applications into an integrated suite that addresses the bulk of manufacturers' inquiry-to-cash selling and fulfillment processes. Irwin, in an interview with Managing Automation, also described the company's plans to replace its traditional horizontal marketing approach with one that concentrates on vertical industries — including manufacturing — and to augment Sterling's line of applications, possibly through additional acquisitions.
It's all part of a plan, Sterling officials say, to transform the company into a growth-oriented provider of software suites that can compete head-to-head with larger vendors, such as SAP AG and Oracle Corp. While Sterling will continue to offer multiple product lines, including value-added networks, and file transfer and integration tools, the company's greatest growth opportunity will come from its recently released Selling and Fulfillment Suite, particularly the portion that focuses on the marketing, lead management, and e-commerce processes, Irwin says.
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