News/Press Releases		Features		Event Calendar

PA e-Comm News February 28

ADVERTISERS OF THE WEEK

The FBI is investigating a recent computer hacking incident in which as many as eight million credit card numbers may have been stolen from an Omaha company, Data Processors International, that processes transactions involving Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Financial Services for merchants. The incident has been reported as a system intrusion by an unauthorized outside party. 

Silicon Valley remains one of the most important technology centers on Earth. From chipmakers to auction giants, the Valley is still home to many of the high-tech industry's standard-bearers; but, does it still make sense for companies to stay in the Northern California hot spot, where the cost of living is among the highest in the U.S.? There certainly is an enormous pool of technology talent in the region and for some global companies the proximity to the important and fast-growing markets in the Asia-Pacific region are important. Although Silicon Valley rents have plummeted from their peak, they still hover about 150% of the adjacent regions. The cost of doing business in Silicon Valley recently helped convince consumer electronics maker Nikon to locate a manufacturing facility near Phoenix, Arizona, rather than in the Valley. The region's unemployment rate, which hovered near zero at the peak of the boom, has ballooned to 7%, while office vacancy rates have soared to more than 20% in 2002. 

Oracle has forged a handful of new technology partnerships in an effort to build support for its new e-mail server software, like its alliances with Symantec, Scansoft, Brightmail, Legato Systems, Mailshell and others to make their file and e-mail management systems compatible with the Oracle Collaboration Suite. The Oracle Collaboration Suite is a set of applications for managing data generated by e-mail, electronic files, calendars, voice mail and search systems. The introduction of the product five months ago was Oracle's entrée into the so-called collaboration software area, a billion-dollar market dominated by IBM's Lotus products and Microsoft's Exchange e-mail server software. Oracle is counting on these partnerships to enhance the file and storage management, content security, virus protection and antispam capabilities. In fact, Oracle has announced a new release of the software and is promoting it as an alternative for companies that use Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 and are facing the prospect of paying for upgrades as Microsoft phases out support for the previous release of the Exchange Server, version 5.5. Analysts viewed the raft of new partnerships as a sign of Oracle's commitment to developing and marketing the new product. Some analysts predict that only a few companies will switch from IBM and Microsoft products to Oracle Collaboration Suite in the short term, because in general companies are making fewer investments in new information technology systems with the uncertain economic forecasts. 

Online shoppers increasingly expect excellent site design, service and fulfillment, according to a recent survey of 2002 holiday season shoppers conducted by AMR Research. Among customers who purchased gifts online this year, 20% had what they described as a "bad experience" and do not plan to return to those sites. The report contends that losing customer satisfaction through the online channel can damage more than e-commerce revenues, with more than 60% of those surveyed indicating that they patronize the same retailers online and off and thus, a bad experience in one channel can negatively impact customer loyalty through all channels. CRM tools like live chat can help with high-end products, such as furniture or high-tech equipment, however, with low-end retail products, it is the site's navigability and usability that count, because customers of those retailers have very short attention spans and will not avail themselves of customer service even if it is available. Chat also can help with customer retention when technical support is needed. Fewer online customers are looking for a price break through a retailer's Web site, according to the survey. Although the vast majority of respondents used the Internet to research products, just 20% ranked low price as their reason to make a purchase online; however, 35% said they wanted to avoid the hassle of in-store shopping and nearly 15% sought to streamline their to-do lists through one-stop shopping. If price no longer rules, then good customer service is gaining ground.

Tablet PCs were designed as simple digital composition books; but the first real-world models are anything but simple. With various units sporting multigigabyte hard drives, laptop-class weights and price tags as high as $3,000, some of today's tablets resemble the old Compaq Luggable. Hefty, clunky and lacking some crucial features like optical drives, these devices may not seem like world-changers. Will tablet PCs find their market, or should users wait for the next generation of devices? In a nutshell, tablets are a new class of computer, alongside desktops and notebooks. Most run a new Microsoft operating system called Windows XP Tablet Edition, a superset of Windows XP. Tablet hardware breaks down into two categories: "convertibles," which feature an attached keyboard that can swing out of the way; and "slates," which more or less resemble a heavy legal notepad. Acer and Toshiba have shipped models in the first category, while NEC, Fujitsu, Viewsonic, Motion Computing, Xcera and Gateway all ship models in the latter category. Compaq's TC1000 series is somewhere in between. Like conventional computers, most Tablet PCs feature Intel processors -- the relatively slow Mobile Pentium chips. Thinner models, especially the slates, often lack an optical drive (CD or CD-RW/DVD) as an accessory. Given that convertible Tablet PCs look a lot like laptops, and that some slates are as heavy as a lightweight notebook while lacking top-of-the-line features, one might wonder why anyone would buy a tablet PC. The answer is that there are four main reasons to make such a purchase: lightweight form factor, rotatable display, pen or touch input, and a growing number of special software programs. What marketers call "form factor" has to do with the ability to cradle these devices like a notepad, which makes slates less obtrusive in meetings than notebooks. For their part, convertibles have a swiveling hinge so the keyboard can be hidden, making them more appropriate for walking and working and a user can swivel the display from portrait to landscape on a tablet, and use a special stylus which lets vertical market employees, such as UPS drivers, collect signatures, while architects and contractors can make on-the-spot notes while walking around. Many feel that tablets are where the industry is heading. 

According to a recent Gartner study, banks offering online banking services must come up with new applications if they are to remain competitive in the future. The study reported that in 2003 online bill payment will grow in popularity and the market may grow by close to 38% to 40 million users. Gartner also expects banks to lower prices and create incentives for online banking customers. Online bill payment is an effective customer retention strategy and consumers that pay bills through their bank online are twice as likely to stay with their bank because of the trouble of setting up online payments with another bank. Gartner suggests bank consider discounts and free trial online banking services in an effort to attract and retain customers and maybe even offer value-added features such as customer self-service, automatic enrollment, bundling of automated payment plans and a user interface that does not impose bank preferences on the customer. 
 

PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The following is a listing of recently published technology procurement opportunities with various governmental entities. We hope our readers take the opportunity to investigate these postings and increase their business:

DOT - Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA)
Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
70--Computer Hardware and Technical Support
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOT/RSPA/VNTSC/DTRS57-03-Q-80066/listing.html

NASA - George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
Procurement Office
D--UNIFIED NASA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES (UNITES) Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/NASA/GMSFC/POVA/PS31-J-60000-B/listing.html

NASA - Johnson Space Center
Office of Procurement
A--INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MISSION INTEGRATION CONTRACT Modification 03 http://www.eps.gov/spg/NASA/JSC/OPDC20220/9-BG-79-2-78P-a/listing.html

NASA - Johnson Space Center
Office of Procurement
A--ISS CARGO MISSION CONTRACT
Modification 02 http://www.eps.gov/spg/NASA/JSC/OPDC20220/9-BG-38-2-80P-a/listing.html

NASA - Glenn Research Center
Office of Procurement
A--RECONFIGURABLE TRANSCEIVER, SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO TECHNOLOGY FOR SPACE COMMUNICATIONS Modification 02, Modification 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/NASA/GRC/OPDC20220/RFI-TRANSCEIVER/listing.html

USAF - Air Education and Training Command
Lackland AFB Contracting Squadron
U -- Microsoft Windows 2000 Courses 
Modification 03, Modification 02 
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AETC/LackAFBCS/F41636-03-T-C163/listing.html

USAF - Air Education and Training Command
Altus AFB Contracting Squadron
Z -- Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) Contract Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AETC/AAFBCS/Reference-Number-
FQ441930550100/listing.html

USAF - United States Air Force Europe
USAFE Contracting Squadron
D -- Turkey Communications (TurkComm)
Special Notice 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/USAFE/ROB/Reference-Number-
F61521-03-TURKCOMM/listing.html

USAF - Air Force Materiel Command
AFRL - Eglin Research Site
A -- Area Dominance (AD) Munition Technology Development Program Modification 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLERS/MNK-PRDA-03-0004/listing.html

USAF - Air Combat Command
HQ AIA
R -- Engineering and Technical Support Services II (ETSS II) Modification 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/ACC/HQAIA/F41621-03-R-0002/listing.html

DON - Office of Naval Research
ONR - A--Naval Force Sustainment Science and Technology
Naval Force Sustainment Science and Technology 01, Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DON/ONR/ONR/SS-03-001/listing.html

ODA - Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Acquisition Services, Arlington
D -- Defense Cash Accountability System (DCAS)
Solicitation 02, Synopsis, Solicitation 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/ODA/DFAS/Arlington/MDA220-03-T-0012/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-NCR
70 -- General-purpose information technology equipment Solicitation 01, Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DTN/Reference-Number-DWHPR34032/listing.html

NEWS & NOTES is a service of the PA e-Commerce Association. Please forward this e-mail to anyone else who might be interested in the content or in learning more about the Association. Remember to visit our website @ www.paecomm.org. or give us a call at 800-497-0809.

Newsletter Archives