Deutsche Telekom has selected US software developer BEA Systems Inc’s Tuxedo OLTP software as the basis for its push into e-commerce transaction services, closing a deal with the San Jose, California-based ISV for products, services and support for over 20 projects over a five-year period.
The deal, announced yesterday at the Gartner Group’s Symposium/Itxpo 99 event in Cannes, France, involves the German incumbent’s IT services arm, DeTeCSM GmbH, which will develop a series of products based on the BEA software.
Examples cited by the companies included a work management application targeting specifically the cable industry, enabling it to administer equipment, as well as the installation, delivery and maintenance processes. The system planned will make it possible for technicians to view work schedules, plans and other related documents online.
Also planned is the development of an interactive interface to a cable subscriber management system, using BEA’s WebLogic Server software. This product will initially be offered in an intranet version for internal users, then subsequently in an internet version for the general public.
Neither side was prepared to specify the exact financial terms of the deal, which BEA described as a multi-million dollar, multi-year strategic software agreement. It is clearly of great importance to BEA in the process of transforming itself from a middleware ISV to a purveyor of e-commerce enabling systems. For Deutsche Telekom the deal represents a further step in its expansion into e-commerce, already underway with its offering, together with German e-commerce software developer Intershop AG, of a service for setting up basic e-commerce sites.
