Neo world order: global alliance for Neocase CRM applications

From collaborative customer operations specialists Neocase Software, today came the announcement of a pair of related news items. Neocase representatives firstly announced their Neocase Alliance Program, established in the hope of assisting partners in effectively marketing and selling its customer operations software. The first deployment partners are BridgeBuilder, DynLink and Quilogy.

In a concomitant announcement, Neocase announced the U.S. release of its new version of flagship product Neocase. Neocase 10 promises to “[take] customer service to a new level by giving customer service agents the power to access expertise anywhere within a company or to collaborate with external partners for tailored case resolution.” Neocase 10 supports full multi-tenancy, allowing multiple VARs and their customers secure hosting while also permitting independent work on a shared server infrastructure.

Company estimates have 50 percent of the offering initially selling alongside Microsoft CRM, with that figure eventually dropping to 20 to 30 percent. Through the agreement, Neocase can take advantage of a flexible delivery model enabling them to market Neocase 10 as a stand-alone licensed application via their on-demand service model or as a bundled offering with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. With Neocase 10, VAR and integration partners can work with customers to deploy a web-based on-demand offering. Additionally, under both the standard licensed and on-demand models, the partner continues to own and manage customer relations, while receiving Neocase customer service.

“The VAR retains the customer relationship, we provide the on-demand capability,” Neocase CEO Herve Pluche explained. “[O]ur unique program enables partners to participate in and benefit from the industry shift to software as a service while continuing to deliver the value and expertise required for effective customer deployments,” said Pluche. A perpetual software license for the product carries a cost of about $1,500 per seat plus a 20 percent annual maintenance fee. DynLink president Elizabeth Harr Bricksin, President of DynLink is confident her firm can benefit. In press material, Bricksin said that “With its focus on improving customer support operations through a collaborative approach, Neocase brings a clearly differentiated offering to the mid-market, and we’re already seeing strong interest in Neocase solutions from our customers.”

The Neocase Alliance Program promises partners with a wide range of exclusive benefits including flexible delivery models (i.e. on-demand, licensed or bundled with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0); superior deals on pricing, depending on delivery model and work sharing; training services; customer support services; professional services; marketing support; and sales support. Neocase also offers a training program.