The term "Web integrator" appears to be out.
Web services executives at CRN's 2001 I-Builder Roundtable said changes in the e-business landscape also are changing their companies' identities.
Once shaped largely around front-end Web site design, the e-services sector is transforming itself into a business focused on complex integration and back-end systems work, executives said, adding that some firms are targeting specific vertical markets.
Martin Wright, CEO of Emerald Solutions, Portland, Ore., defines his company as a business and technology integrator. "We're focusing on business strategies, as well as Web technologies and integrating those Web technologies into back-end applications," he said.
Kevin Rowe, president for North America at Agency.com, New York, said that while his company has a particular focus, it changes with the times to meet its business goals.
"We said we were 'interactive relationship managers.' That's what we did for companies which, I agree, is CRM today," Rowe said. "That's still what we do, but we've expanded that beyond 'the Web' to include another buzzword [i.e. CRM]. For simplicity, we'll say 'multiple digital channels.' "
David Fry, CEO of Fry Multimedia, Andover, Mich., prefers to describe his firm as an "e-business consultant." "To a certain extent, CRM is what we all do, and the definition of CRM is broadening," he said.
Eighteen months ago, San Francisco-based Novo was positioned as a "relationship architect," CEO Kelly Rodriques said. Yet Novo now could be grouped under the "e-solutions" umbrella, he said.
