Des Moines-based ecfirst.com is gaining momentum with its Linux and Java™-based eStore.
Des Moines: Like many businesses, WHO-TV was ready to jump on the electronic-commerce bandwagon. Its management wanted to develop a link from WHO's Web site where consumers could shop online.
To oversee the project, WHO selected ecfirst.com, a new Des Moines-based Internet consulting and e-business solutions company.
Ecfirst.com helped WHO develop and run its new online shopping mall called Shop13, which was introduced to consumers last month.
The virtual mall features a variety of products and services. For maximum convenience, shoppers can browse the site by product area or business type.
Allen Nguyen and Uday Om Pabrai, co-owners of ecfirst.com, are hoping the launch of a Linux and Java™-based engine called eStore will lure more clients.
The eStore is designed to provide cyber-store hosting and management services, and can be used by Internet and application service providers.
WHO president and general manager Bob Allen likes the simplified manageability and reliability of the product. Unlike many of its competitors that require costly server side components, eStore offers prefabricated templates to design an online store, and gives customer the tool needed for full customization.
J.R. Ewing, e-Business generator for ecfirst.com, says eStore is encapsulated into an all-in-one compact appliance that taps directly into the internet. A business can simply purchase the appliance, run the software and begin offering e-Business hosting services to prospective cyber merchants. "This," says Ewing, "can be accomplished for literally a fraction of the time and cost of developing similar technology."
"If companies are working to get an e-commerce Web site up and selling products, they don't want it done in six months or six weeks; they wanted it up yesterday."
But building a good e-commerce site is no small task.
That's where ecfirst.com comes in. "We offer an understanding of how to do business over the Internet," says Nguyen.
Customers of ecfirst.com can set up a store in a matter of minutes and can sell online in a half-hour -- hundreds of hours quicker than typical e-commerce site development time.
Ewing says ecfirst.com customers range from mom and pop retailers to Fortune 500 companies. The company has even entered the International marketplace. It's working with clients in the Middle East and India, and is considering expansion into Europe. In addition, it has an IBM business partner and a Sun Microsystems developer partner.
There are two options offered by ecfirst.com. One is a turn-key hardware/software solution for $3,500 to $4,500. The other is a product labeling solution that includes a licensing fee still under negotiation. The product labeling solution, according to Nguyen, allows companies to use their name, rather than crediting ecfirst.com.
"We use a lot of the same technology other companies have, like Linux and Java," says Nguyen.
Linux and Java are favorites of many companies in Silicon Valley and on the East Coast. But in Des Moines, ecfirst.com is one of the first to specialize in Linux-based product development, according to Ewing.
Linux acceptance has been slower in Des Moines because of the city's conservative ways. Many local are in "wait and see" mode.
Some problems have restrained the mass adoption of Linux. For one, some believe it doesn't work well with desktops. There's also not much backing by major software vendor, nor is there much in the way of service and support system. Others express legal cultural concerns.
Still Linux has attracted some big users. The Cadent Corp., the world's largest franchiser of hotels, including Day Inn and Ramada, announced last year that it installed Linux in about 4,000 hotels to run its management software.
For ecfirst.com, Linux seemed a logical choice. Duke Tackle, ecfirst.com's product architect, says Linux's open standard is the next wave in technology. "It enables us to offer end-to-end e-Business services, including strategic consulting, planning, enterprise system architecture, Web-based application development and customer management solutions," he says.
Last year, almost 49 million households were online. By 2002 that number should zoom to 116.3 million, according to Jupiter Communications. As a result, Web commerce should explode from $2.6 billion in sales in 1997 to $37.5 billion in 2002. Analysts predict Web retail will piggyback onto the explosive growth of online audience.
"Ecfirst.com is going to be part of the action," says Ewing
