MOCA Delivers Data

The PSR Harvesting tool is part of MOCA's Vortex online project management system. It is slated to officially launch March 11, according to the distributor, which designed the tool.

PSR Harvesting gives MOCA solution providers access to customer data captured from their monthly Sun productivity status reports and services agreements back to 1998. The data will expose missed sales opportunities for solution providers, such as upgrades, maintenance, licensing agreements and tech refreshes.

MOCA executives said they believe the tool becomes particularly useful when solution providers electronically match up those opportunities with current Sun promotions, end-of-life products and services opportunities.

For example, if a solution provider discovers a customer is due for a Sun UltraSPARC II upgrade, he or she can search the data-mining tool to find out if Sun is offering any promotions for the product before approaching the customer.

"Our experience with it so far has been great," said Tim Baldwin, co-founder and COO of Peoria, Ill.-based eServ and a MOCA Advisory Council member who previewed PSR Harvesting. "It really kind of gives us the whole Amazon.com thing." E-tailer Amazon was an early adopter of internal data-mining tools that revealed customers' buying patterns the company could capitalize on with selective e-mails and marketing campaigns.

Baldwin said small and midsize solution providers sometimes lack the infrastructure to electronically track sales data. eServ anticipates dramatic savings in sales and marketing costs with PSR Harvesting by being able to narrow its focus to customers with a greater potential. Baldwin said MOCA is "really coming around" with new online sales tools that are easy to use.

"PSR Harvesting is something we've been wanting to offer our resellers for quite a while now," said Laura Schurr, director of marketing at MOCA. "They are really pumped up about it."

Although it's too soon to offer specific numbers, MOCA believes the tool will have a "significant" impact on its overall sales.

MOCA is currently experiencing "a second dip" in Sun sales, resembling a "W" on its financial charts, and the distributor is hoping to come out of it soon, said Schurr. The company did not provide specific sales figures.

eServ has seen its sales grow 25 percent year over year from 2000 to 2001, said Baldwin. And the company is forecasting "even bigger" growth for 2002, he said.

"We're excited about moving forward," Baldwin said, adding that he believes Sun is a leader in the Unix market. "I'm proud to sell the product."