Atlanta May 14, 2001 Clarus Corp. announced a pair of international alliances that extend the e-procurement software provider's reach north of the border into Canada and across the Pacific to New Zealand.
Clarus will incorporate electronic invoicing technology from Montreal-based BCE Emergis, as well as Emergis' document exchange product, into its B2B platform. For its part, BCE Emergis will add Clarus' suite of sourcing and procurement platforms to its e-commerce suite of applications. Both companies will jointly market and sell to the North American mid-sized enterprise market.
The agreement provides BCE Emergis with a complementary Internet purchasing solution targeted at mid-market enterprises to help fuel its US market growth plans, while also providing Clarus with access to Canada's largest e-commerce customer base.
Alan Neely, chief marketing officer for BCE Emergis, said his company's business goals are predicated upon expanding into the mid-sized enterprise market in the United States. Neely called Clarus "a strong ally" in bringing e-invoicing to the marketplace.
Steve Hornyak, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Clarus, said, "This alliance will speed Clarus' penetration of the Canadian market and allow us to explore providing other enhanced offerings in the future."
Meanwhile, Clarus also announced an alliance under which Auckland, New Zealand-based Advantage e-Services, a division of Advantage Group Limited, will resell Clarus' license-based procurement solutions Down Under.
Commenting on the alliance, Hornyak said: "By offering our online procurement products to the Australian and New Zealand markets through Advantage e-Services, we not only gain entry to two of Asia-Pacific's largest markets, we do so through an established market leader and acknowledged member of the regional business community."
Clarus is predicting that the alliance, once it is fully operational, could generate in excess of $2.5 million dollars annually.
Clarus is pursuing a global expansion strategy by allying with regional vendors as its primary means of entering emerging markets. The Advantage e-Services announcement comes just one week after Clarus announced an alliance with Chilean e-commerce firm, Tech 1 Group.
