Microsoft Launches DotSmart E-Commerce Initiative

Microsoft launched a new e-commerce initiative, dubbed dotSmart, designed to connect its customers with the tools they need to plan, build and manage business on the Internet, the company says.

Unveiled Monday, the dotSmart Web site is located at www.microsoft.com/ecommerce. The Redmond-based company says the site features product and service information from Microsoft and its partners, as well as architectural guidance, customer case studies and opportunities to connect with Microsoft.

In essence, Microsoft has restructured its e-commerce site. The company has both simplified and expanded the site by adding nearly 100 new or revised pages and making the information easy to locate, company officials say. The site also features tighter partner integration, an emphasis on customer feedback and research on the information, resources and tools that dot-com customers need most, the company says.

However, "the dotSmart initiative is much more than a portal," says Peter Boit, Microsoft's vice president for e-commerce. "We launched the dotSmart initiative to connect our dot-com customers with all the information and support they need," Boit said in interview on Microsoft's Web site.

On the site, Microsoft enables its customers to describe their situations and needs in an optional profile process, communicate directly with Microsoft and get follow-up from the company's dot-com specialists. The site's partner connection provides a one-stop shop for customers to act on dotSmart information by engaging with partners and Microsoft Technology Centers, Boit says.

Terence Craig, CEO of Optimize Solutions, says Microsoft's dotSmart initiative is a way to help his company realize its vision of a "collaborative, interactive whole" featuring employees, customers, partners, data and the business applications they use.

Boit says Microsoft's platform enables customers to deliver dot-com solutions faster and cheaper than competing platforms, adding that the dotSmart site features a number of case studies from the likes of Nasdaq, Ask Jeeves, Infospace and Barnes and Noble to back up these claims.