Two US firms better known for application development and management have hauled themselves onto the e-commerce bandwagon. Walker Interactive Systems Inc, headquartered in San Francisco, has integrated its financial applications with the front-end from Commerce One Inc, the Walnut Creek, California-based internet procurement site developer. Compuware Corp meanwhile goes further, offering a three-stage package of website development, legacy system integration and supply chain linking, to target the high end and compete with the likes of IBM.
Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Compuware has spent more than a year pushing into services, and e-commerce is a natural next step, considering its 11,000 services staff. The firm is confident that its range of services, taking customers from the original decision to sell online to managing a full system, is what will win it market share against the big names. Not to be outdone, Walker promises many more partnerships with front-end firms, but is coy about speaking about deals in the pipeline.
