Netscape joint venture focuses on training for Net commerce

Netscape?s resellers and its direct selling arm partners are rushing to learn how to sell the first internet commerce products from the vendor?s spin-off operation, Actra.

Actra ? a joint venture set up between electronic data interchange (EDI) service provider GE Information Services (GEIS) and Netscape ? recently launched its Cross Commerce range, to be sold through Netscape?s existing channels.

Paula Cappello, senior marketing director at Actra, said Netscape?s salesforce had been undergoing intensive training about Actra?s software.

?Netscape?s European salesforce has been training last week at Actra,? she said.

?We expect the natural addition of systems integrators when customers ask them to put our products in.?

Cappello said Actra will provide business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions over the internet.

?Most corporates have implemented EDI for ledgers and they need a bridge for those to the internet, protecting their legacy investment.?

GEIS and its OEMs will also sell Actra?s tools. The company is aiming to beat its competitors to market with a way for corporates to conduct high-volume business online and therefore save vast amounts of money compared with using manual or EDI methods.

Cappello said Actra?s pricing was designed to encourage high-volume use over the internet.

Actra combines Netscape?s Merchant System technology along with GEIS? experience and services in EDI to provide its Cross Commerce range of tools, which were announced last month.

The company?s largest European customer is Torget, the Swedish mail delivery service.