Comprehensive FirePond Application Suite Deployed at KLA-Tencor.Business/Technology Editors WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2000 Success with FirePond Sales Leads A sales lead is the identity of a person or entity potentially interested in purchasing a product or service, and represents the first stage of a sales process. The lead may have a corporation or business associated with the person(s). to Company's World-Wide Implementation of Integrated E-Business Sales and Marketing System FirePond, a leader in integrated e-business sales and marketing solutions, today announced that KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : KLAC), a major San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , CA semiconductor equipment manufacturing company, expanded its customer relationship management strategy beyond its successful implementation of the FirePond Sales interactive selling solution. The company recently deployed the FirePond Application Suite to exploit the value of integration between its existing FirePond Sales module with other modules in the suite. To extend the power of its Web-based FirePond Sales module, KLA Tencor KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) is a semiconductor company which manufactures inspection equipment for wafers and reticles. KLA Tencor headquarters is in San Jose and offices are in Milpitas. KLA-Tencor was formed in May 1997 when KLA Instruments and Tencor Instruments merged. used the FirePond Process Server, a process oriented o·ri·ent n. 1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia. 2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality. b. A pearl having exceptional luster. 3. middleware Software that functions as a conversion or translation layer. It is also a consolidator and integrator. Custom-programmed middleware solutions have been developed for decades to enable one application to communicate with another that either runs on a different platform or comes from a that acts as an intelligent trigger of transaction-driven processes, to link special customer purchase requests to appropriate divisions throughout the company for automated and expedient ex·pe·di·ent adj. 1. Appropriate to a purpose. 2. a. Serving to promote one's interest: was merciful only when mercy was expedient. b. approvals. For instance, if KLA-Tencor's worldwide direct sales force wants to offer anything besides a standard product -- whether a customized hardware configuration, extended warranty The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. options, or a non-standard training package -- the account manager needs only to enter his request into the system. The request then gets routed to the appropriate people in various departments for review and subsequent approval. Because the company specializes in such sophisticated and highly configurable equipment, they are also using the Process Server to collect and respond to specific customer requirements in a more automated fashion. This enables much faster turn around on customized proposals for unique hardware, software and integration requests. Furthermore, KLA-Tencor will be capturing this information in a database, thus providing much more comprehensive visibility of these special customer requirements. The company expects this improved forecast on custom items to yield reduced manufacturing cycle times and higher production efficiency. "FirePond has clearly impacted the speed and accuracy of our selling process. With the launch of the FirePond Application Suite, we knew it was time to initiate an integrated e-business strategy," says Frank Brienzo, VP of Business Operations Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets , KLA-Tencor. "It's critical for us, given our complex product offering and a very targeted customer base. We must establish very close, long term customer relationships. FirePond gives us the technology foundation to improve the productivity of our selling process." In February 1999, KLA-Tencor began its relationship with FirePond to help its direct sales organization better react to market opportunities, enhance the speed of creating customized customer solutions and increase order accuracy and timeliness. The system has already increased KLA-Tencor's order accuracy and completeness levels by over 30 percent. The company began by mapping its business processes to its existing implementation of FirePond Sales using the Process Server to automate traditionally complex order review approval processes. The integrated modules went live in January 2000 with additional stages of implementation through the second quarter of 2000. KLA-Tencor is currently in the planning stages for future opportunity management and e-business initiatives. "KLA-Tencor's implementation illustrates how valuable it is to have a single, consolidated view of customers and the ability to drive that information into the corporation for strategic use," said Klaus Besier, FirePond CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "Although having one piece of the customer relationship management solution is valuable, it does not realize its full potential until linked to the rest of the organization." About FirePond Based in Waltham, Mass., FirePond (www.firepond.com) is a leading provider of integrated e-business sales and marketing solutions that enable companies to optimize their customer relationships and maximize the effectiveness of their Internet-based and traditional sales channels. The FirePond Application Suite allows companies to merge their e-commerce selling, customer relationship management, and channel management strategies on a single, Internet-based platform. FirePond's solutions provide the foundation for next generation e-business sales and marketing initiatives at some of the world's largest companies, including GM, Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Shield A US not-for-profit health care insurer that is a reimbursement intermediary for physicians. Cf Blue Cross. of Minnesota, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, ADP (1) (Automatic Data Processing) Synonymous with data processing (DP), electronic data processing (EDP) and information processing. (2) (Automatic Data Processing, Inc., Roseland, NJ, www.adp. , IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and Hitachi. About KLA-Tencor KLA-Tencor is the world leader in process module control solutions for semiconductor manufacturing and related industries. Headquartered in San Jose, CA, the company has sales and service offices around the world. An S&P 500 company, KLA-Tencor is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol KLAC. FirePond and FirePond products are trademarks of FirePond, Inc. All other product or company names are the properties of their respective owners. |
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