Logistics software moves toward international trade

Logistics software designed by WIS:DOM Information Systems Inc., is getting in step with globalization, says Matthew Booher, company president.

Although he points to the 7 million transactions performed by the software package since 1994, Booher has watched as transport grows increasingly global and decided to boost the software's capacity to support not just domestic, but international logistics.

To make it happen, he as partnered with Griffin Transport Services Inc. of Sparks to form I8 Global

Technologies Inc. The venture is funded by the two privately held companies.

The redesigned software, says Booher, can trace a shipment all the way through, whether shipped to a distribution center, to a store, or to a consumer.

"And now, through a partnership with Griffin Transport, Wisdom is looking to track international shipping."

Russ Romine, president of Griffin, says, "Our intent is to integrate our capabilities to market software and

information systems to other third party providers."

He points to a potential $50 million market in small- to medium-sized users and says,

"We hope to capture less than 10 percent of that. It's a very big market; we're a medium-sized player in a multi-billion dollar industry; there's room for everyone."

I8 Global Technologies makes marketing sense, says Booher, because "Griffin knows global shipping needs." Griffin will also serve as a beta test site and can provide testimonials to prospective customers.

One benefit, says Romine, is that the highly automated software minimizes the required data entry with its resultant input errors.

"I want to free people to think of the bigger picture, not entry details."

When the software is offered for sale this year, I8 Global Technologies may hire a couple of sales reps, followed by tech support people to customize solutions, says Booher.

But, Romine adds, the software's service strategy may pose a challenge especially with the younger generation, that has used only desktop computers, which came into vogue after the initial mainframe

servers.

And, because the software is installed at a remote location, I8 Global Technologies needs to develop redundancy to secure delivery. And to ensure that security is adequate to safely host customer data.

But in designing the forward-looking product, Booher looked back to the early days of computing when software resided on a mainframe, tapped by dumb desktop servers.

The package will reside on an IBM System I situated at Griffin; users access it via the Web.

"It's called SAAS software as a service," says Booher. However, those who are leery of a licensing contract to use the remote software can choose to buy the software outright to install on their own in-house IBM System I.