IBM technical and marketing resources provide Amatra Technologies with critical support and new opportunities for a crucial solution

IBM ISV & Developer Relations

Business Partner: Amatra Technologies, Inc.

How IBM Business Partner benefits helped
Amatra Technologies’ business:

• IBM Innovation Center support resulted in first customer for E-Connect solution
• IBM Sales Connections led to new opportunities and an expanded market
• Targeted telemarketing campaign yielded seven strong leads with several deals pending

Amatra Technologies, Inc., develops practical and powerful software solutions that are highly relevant to the complex problems faced in our world today. The company’s very name implies the global vision and continual quest for innovation and improvement to which its founders and development team are dedicated. From the classic language of Sanskrit, the word Amatra can be defined as a state of “infinite knowledge.”

Headquartered in Fishers, Indiana, Amatra was founded in 2004 and immediately established a working relationship with IBM. Kishan Siram, president of Amatra, said IBM reflected the ethics and vision of his own company and provided an environment of innovation and support that he believed would foster mutual success.

Amatra is now a Premier IBM Business Partner, a by-invitation-only status reserved for those who have made a significant commitment to IBM products and technologies and actively participate with IBM in joint planning and development activities. IBM, in turn, through IBM PartnerWorld® Industry Networks, has provided Amatra with the highest level of technical, marketing and sales support.

Siram said the technical assistance and validation received through two IBM Innovation Centers directly led to Amatra’s first sale of its E-Connect solution and continues to give customers confidence that “we are doing the right thing.” And, IBM go-to-market benefits have made it possible for Amatra to participate in marketing activities that have resulted in greater awareness for its solution, collaboration with other business partners and new opportunities in new markets. The result has been seven strong leads with several deals pending.

Solution and architecture foster rapid response

Amatra’s E-Connect solution is a broadcast and notification system that enables rapid, reliable and consistent mass communication for use in both emergency and non-emergency situations. The solution is designed to send consistent messages via e-mail and short message service (SMS) text, voice notification and instant messaging to targeted audiences instantly with the click of a button. Recent tragic events at universities and other institutions have made this a timely and vital capability.

E-Connect is based on open standards and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), a developmental approach that allows companies to respond rapidly to changing business needs through the reuse of existing assets and the integration of business processes as linked, repeatable tasks, or services. “SOA gives us the flexibility to quickly and easily add new communications media as technologies advance,” said Siram.

E-Connect supports both Windows® and Linux® operating systems and runs on IBM System x® servers. It is built on IBM DB2® Universal Database™, WebSphere® Application Server and WebSphere Portal for Multiplatforms and uses Tivoli® Directory Integrator for data upload and synchronization. The solution has earned “Ready for IBM WebSphere Portal” and “Ready for IBM SOA” validations.

“Our solution can be crucial in saving lives, so we needed a well-tested, dependable and well-supported platform,” Siram said. “IBM provides that.” Both an independent software vendor and reseller of IBM software products, Amatra also provides offerings based on IBM Rational tools, Lotus® Portal and WebSphere software products for infrastructure and application development.

An optimized solution and up-to-date knowledge

Assistance from two IBM Innovation Centers helped Amatra optimize E-Connect, most specifically for the education and government industry segments. Its developers were provided with a complete production system and worked at the IBM Innovation Center in Dallas, Texas, where the support staff helped resolve any technical issues. Assistance in load-testing the solution was provided remotely through the center in Chicago, Illinois.

Siram said the successful results of the work done with the IBM Innovation Centers gave the very first E-Connect customer, a premier private college, the confidence to implement the Amatra and IBM solution at its campus in central Indiana.

For on-going technical support, Amatra employees use the online resources of the IBM Virtual Innovation Center. “Our new developers take the applicable training courses, and we are all continually kept up to date and introduced to new technologies,” Siram said. “The first-hand knowledge and insight we get on IBM products and tools help us reach a level of quality and innovation in our products that we could never achieve on our own.”

New methods and new markets

The go-to-market resources provided through the IBM Business Partner program have, in a sense, given Amatra its own virtual marketing department and opportunities to promote solutions in ways that the company would not otherwise be able to undertake.

Siram said the greatest value comes from its marketing resource manager (MRM), a dedicated marketing specialist who provides Amatra with one-on-one guidance and support. “Our MRM helps us identify and understand what is available and how we can reach the greatest number of new customers in the most cost effective ways,” he explained. A good example is the IBM-coordinated Web conference that Amatra scheduled to present E-Connect to 30 prospective customers simultaneously.

To generate awareness and assure maximum exposure to customers and IBM executives and sales teams, E-Connect is featured in several online IBM solution directories, including the IBM Global Solutions Directory, Business Partner Application Showcase, SOA Business Catalog and the WebSphere Portal Business Solutions Catalog.

Co-funded by IBM, Amatra has produced a direct mail campaign followed by telemarketing to promote the use of a WebSphere software solution for application integration. Targeting prospects throughout Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, the efforts of the professional telemarketing firm yielded seven strong leads. Siram anticipates that several pending deals will close in 2009.

Through IBM Sales Connections, Amatra has connected with and is building relationships with a network of IBM sales representatives and other business partners. Siram said they all work closely to integrate, add value to and jointly market their products. A win to implement the WebSphere software application integration solution for an Indiana insurance provider has been tracked through Sales Connections and Amatra is currently pursuing an E-Connect sales opportunity with a state government on the U.S. east coast, a new geographical market for the company.

“IBM support gives us the ability to create more innovative products and the means and confidence to approach new clients in new regions,” Siram concluded. “All of this would be much more difficult without the support of IBM.”