E-Commerce Purchase Adds to Retail Solutions Package

August 21, 2007 Dan Burger

Retail management software and services vendor, Datavantage/CommercialWare, has purchased a 51 percent interest in eOne Group, an e-commerce solutions provider with ties to the System i user base.

Datavantage/CommercialWare is a provider of retail software and services that include point-of-sale, order management, customer service, inventory and fulfillment systems, business analytics, loss prevention and marketing applications.

Datavantage/CommercialWare, which will be renamed MICROS-Retail in September, is a subsidiary of Micros Systems, a major vendor in the hospitality and specialty retail industries. Datavantage claims more than 400 retailers as customers. CommercialWare‘s customer base tops 150.

eOne Group, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, specializes in implementations involving portals, B2B and B2C environments, CRM, SFA, and ERP Web enablement projects. A few of its high-profile System i customers are Omaha Steaks, YKK Zippers, and Tommy Hilfiger.

“This acquisition bolsters our existing leadership position in delivering cross-channel solutions that allow retailers and direct marketers to optimize transactions from all customer touch points,” said Jane Cannon, the CTO at Datavantage/CommercialWare. “It gives our clients one source for their technology infrastructure needs, and provides current eOne Group customers with an expanded set of offerings that can enhance their existing ecommerce systems.”

eOne Group’s eOneCommerce engine and complementary products were developed using Java, which fits into the MICROS-Retail technological scheme of providing customers with a choice of operating systems, databases, and hardware platforms. Officials at eOne Group say the application architecture used in its products has the capability to separate the Web interface, business logic, and back-end data structures, and therefore interface with raw data structures, as well as accommodate existing application processes.

“As a leader in the ‘second wave’ of ecommerce solution providers, eOne Group has developed expertise in all facets of the interactive Web content arena, from feature-rich online shopping applications to enterprise-level Web integration,” said Bob Noren, president, eOne Group.

Transaction terms were not disclosed.

Prior to this deal, eOne Group counted CommercialWare as one of its business partners. CommercialWare lists System i vendors Lakeview Technology (now part of Vision Solutions), Varsity Logistics, Quadrant Software, and Jacada as partners.

Datavantage, which is based in Solon, Ohio, bought CommercialWare in 2006. It has been a subsidiary of Micros since 2003.