Full-service Cloud offer makes “big company” solutions available to wider range of customers

London, May 20, 2010—Consona Europe today announced its entire suite of customer relationship solutions will be made available in a Cloud-based service model – reducing set-up and running costs, and increasing flexibility for customers of all sizes.

The company is part of Consona Corporation, a worldwide leader in customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services.  Consona is partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch its Cloud-based model, and is offering all its software solutions – from targeted services to fully integrated software suites – as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution across Amazon’s global server infrastructure and platform.

Announcing the service availability, Richard Furby, vice president, global sales and marketing, for Consona in Europe said: “For customers of all sizes, the Consona Cloud will offer increased flexibility in deployment and easier access to services.  For smaller organizations, the Cloud model will allow companies to implement integrated customer service solutions that until now have been the preserve of large corporations. 

“For our larger customers, who normally prefer in-house solutions, Cloud deployments will allow departments to access new services and features without investing in infrastructure or capital costs.  We believe that Opex funded customer service enhancements that can show a quick return on investment are likely to prove very attractive in the current economic climate,” he added.

The Consona Cloud is a full-service, end-to-end solution for customers, where infrastructure services (such as network security, virus protection, and disaster recovery) and application services (including platinum support, customization support, annual health checks, and administration services), are included.

“We recognize that Cloud computing and SaaS are revolutionizing the way software is being delivered and maintained,” said Tim Hines, vice president of product management for Consona’s CRM products. “Partnering with Amazon allowed us to deliver all the benefits of SaaS and hosting to our customers as fast as possible, including flexible pricing options, a faster time to market on upgrades or implementations of critical functionality and, of course, significantly reduced infrastructure and IT costs.”

Hines added that the partnership with Amazon would also see both performance and security improvements for the majority of customers. 

“People often have security concerns about deploying and operating solutions in a public cloud, but I believe the Amazon infrastructure and platform is inherently far more secure than the most well-intentioned in-house deployment,” he said. “It comes down to the sheer scale of Amazon and what they can provide.”

According to Furby, the general availability of Consona’s solutions on the Cloud comes down to one thing: choice.  Following its Consona Cloud launch, the company now offers three software licensing options, including perpetual, subscription, and consumption, and two deployment options, including in-house or on the Cloud.

“Customers are going to respond positively when you offer them flexibility and choice,” said Furby. “And the early indications are good – we already have multiple customers live on the Consona Cloud accessing some of our services and now we are extending our Cloud-based offer to include all services for all customers.

“Customer service today is about far more than simply answering questions and trying to solve problems,” he explained.  “It is about deploying solutions that help you learn more about your customers, that help you identify problems before they arise, and that enable you to offer enhancements and services that match a customer’s requirements.  All of this makes your company one that is easy to do business with – and that is modern customer service. 

“We believe our Cloud solutions help make Consona a company that is easy to do business with, and also make our principles of modern customer service available to a much wider range of organization.  And that has to be good news.”
 
To learn more about the Consona Cloud, visit http://www.consona.com/CRM/software/CRMSuite/cloud.aspx.