Whitehouse first to join new Clarus channel

Business-to-business procurement software vendor Clarus has appointed Whitehouse Consultants as its first UK reseller.

Business-to-business (B2B) procurement software vendor Clarus has appointed Whitehouse Consultants as its first UK reseller.

Steve Morse, channel sales manager at Clarus, said: "We have used the channel before in Europe quite successfully, so we know it works. Whitehouse has proven itself selling JD Edwards's enterprise resource planning products."

"It's a complex software that complements ours in the workspace. JD Edwards is an obvious starting point; our product is a very compelling story for a JD Edwards user," he added.

Jim Collings, alliances director at Whitehouse, said that the ability of Clarus software to integrate with the JD Edwards portfolio was key to the company's choice of partner. Whitehouse wanted the procurement software to match its current customer profile, but with the ability to scale upwards.

Market analyst IDC estimated that European B2B internet commerce will increase in value from Eu61bn in 2000 to more than Eu1.5tn in 2005.

However, Clarus claimed that it will stand out from the crowd. "There are two fundamental ways we differ from our competition," said Morse. "Many software vendors make users pay for each purchase using the software. Because we don't charge transaction fees, end users recoup their costs sooner."

He added that Clarus had a different focus from many of its competitors, in that it concentrates on the large and medium-sized enterprise market. "This space is particularly well served by the channel," he said.

Clarus is in talks with several other UK resellers and expects to sign up five or six by the summer.