Netscape Communications Corp, announcing a new pricing structure yesterday, promised more support for its 2,800 worldwide reseller base in a renewed attempt to counter Microsoft and IBM’s Lotus Corp. Pricing is based on the intranet SuiteSpot servers, 3.1 Standard Edition and the higher-end SuiteSpot professional Edition. Available this quarter and in the fourth quarter respectively, a 50-user license costs $3,500 and $4,750. Critics say this is the third price change in six months, but Netscape maintains that SuiteSpot pricing is significantly cheaper than either Microsoft or Lotus. It claims that Microsoft charges double for a 50-user SuiteSpot equivalent; and that Lotus’ system is four times more expensive. A new volume purchasing program is designed specifically for resellers. They can offer volume-based pricing from 100 seats, down from the previous 500, and customers may buy across product lines and over time. There is 50/50 split currently between direct and indirect sales, and Netscape wants to see more business go through third parties – achieving the dual benefits of pleasing the resellers and reducing its own cost base. It will funnel business leads of less than 500 seats through the Netscape Solution Expert reseller program and it promises to work more closely resellers to sell to large enterprise customers.
