Partnership Expands looksoftware’s Latin American Business

February 2, 2009 Dan Burger

For telecom and financial services companies that depend on Latin American BYTE software and the IBM System i, the partnership between looksoftware and BYTE, announced last week, will bring modernized applications with an improved user interface and better integration to the independent software vendor’s product lineup.

Development and implementation of BYTE’s first application has already been completed. According to Homero Bosch, BYTE’s manager of distributors and channels, after “an intensive evaluation” of application modernization products was completed, it only took four weeks for the technical personnel at BYTE to generate a prototype, obtain final approval, and begin implementation of an updated green-screen billing application at a telecommunications operator in Central America.

“The prototype installation was the first step in a project that is more than simply converting green screens to GUI,” Bosch says. “We delivered a modern look and feel, integration with Microsoft Word, and new and easier user workflows for our STC [BYTE’s billing software] application. We found looksoftware’s technology very quick and easy to implement, yet powerful enough to provide the functionality we needed.”

Phase II of the project will add integration to other BYTE databases including document management, imaging support, service enablement, and mobile device support, including the Apple iPhone.

looksoftware’s Multichannel core application access played an important role for BYTE, because customers in the region have a strong interest in mobile access to their applications.

Bosch says looksoftware will play a big role in BYTE’s application modernization competency center, located in Guatemala and serving all of Latin America. Modernizing applications using looksoftware’s tools “will help our customers and other companies (i.e. non-BYTE customers) to reduce their operating costs and improve productivity and competitiveness, through more effective reuse of their existing IT assets,” he says.

Latin America BYTE, which was founded in 1989, has offices in Guatemala, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, and also markets its products through a network of distributors. More than 50 of its telecommunications, banking, and finance customers depend on the System i to run their back-end systems. Its customer base spans 15 countries.

The company’s flagship product is called the Convergent Tariff System (CTS), which is software that allows companies to quickly design and market new products and services, while providing executives with timely information. Much of its appeal comes from the reduction of complexity it offers as it takes the place of numerous independent applications that require integration.

Because BYTE intends to expand its market penetration into the mainframe arena, the fact that looksoftware does mainframes as well as System i boxes was a factor in the selection process.

looksoftware entered the Latin American market three years ago. It has a sales division specific to that region. Business Development Manager for Latin America is Sol De Leon, who has more than 10 years of experience selling software for the System i in Latin America.

Marcus Dee, managing director at looksoftware, is celebrating the partnership with BYTE. “There is significant opportunity for us to work together to make a major contribution in the Latin American market,” Dee said. “With the success BYTE has achieved thus far, 2009 could be the ‘Year of Latin America’ for us.”

looksoftware has its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. It has more than 2,000 customers in 45 countries and its software products are distributed through a global network of 120 resellers and OEM partners. The company’s annual user conference is scheduled between April 20 and 24 in Reno, Nevada, which is just prior to the COMMON System i user conference in the same city.

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