InformationWeek

January 26, 1998

Tomax's eStore Manages Retailers' Thin Servers

Product should cut administration costs

omax Technologies Inc. last week released eStore 3.0, a set of intranet applications designed to centralize IT costs in retail chains. The product lets administrators at a central location use a master server to manage so-called thin servers deployed at stores.

Tomax's eStore runs on Lotus Development's Domino server platform and comes with five modules: eMessaging manages groups of E-mail users; eLibrary centrally stores and distributes training materials; eForms routes forms commonly used in retailing; eHR supports the handling of new hires and the orientation process; and eHelp Desk routes support questions to help-desk staff.

Companies using eStore must install Domino at stores as well as at central headquarters. Having a server at each store ensures that applications are available to users, but officials of Tomax, in Salt Lake City, say stores don't need on-site technicians to administer the product. Rather, administrators at headquarters configure eStore modules and user information and distribute the settings to stores' servers via Domino's replication technology.

Tomax has added a set of central administration tools called eConfig to the 3.0 version of eStore. The tools let IS staffers assign standard properties to groups of users-a feature aimed at lowering the cost of administering high-turnover worker populations. Administrators can create groups that share the same access and E-mail privileges. The groups are automatically updated in the Notes name and address book when users leave or join the company.

Another central administration feature added to eStore 3.0 eliminates the need to manage Notes folders that users maintain at remote locations. Instead, eStore 3.0 stores each user's folder information centrally along with the user's personal configuration. The folder information is replicated to stores' servers, which dynamically generate folders when users request them.

In addition to minimizing server administration, Tomax seeks to lower the cost of client administration by supporting a variety of thin clients in eStore 3.0. The product requires only a Web browser on client machines, which can be PCs, network computers, or NetPCs.

The promise of lower administration costs helped win a major commitment to eStore 3.0 from Fleming Cos., a $17 billion grocery wholesaler and retailer in Oklahoma City. Fleming will deploy the product in the 300 U.S. retail stores it owns and recommend it to more than 1,000 franchisees. Says Tom Dooner, director of retail technology services at Fleming, "We see eStore becoming an integral part of our business."

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