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March 19, 2001

Bizmodel.com
The spin on startups, Web commerce, E-markets, and Internet strategies

Edited by Brain Dakss (bdakss@cmp.com)

Extranet Lets VC Collect Data Extra Fast
Quick: How does a global investment firm with $24 billion under management and 1,300 companies in its portfolio keep track of how its money is faring?

Doing so used to be difficult for J.P. Morgan Partners, the venture-capital arm of the big New York bank. Twice a year, the company would spend three months collecting data to review the performance of the companies in which it had invested. It used a Lotus Notes database that didn't let its portfolio companies input needed information. Not a good situation, says chief administrative officer Marcia Bateson, who called in supply-chain builder Syncata.

Within four months, J.P. Morgan had an extranet with a secure portfolio review application built on a Microsoft SQL database that gives the portfolio companies' employees access to update their performance data themselves, cutting review time by almost 70%. "I have 150 professionals out there who put out $2 billion to $3 billion in private equity each," says Bateson. "Any way I can use technology to leverage time is critical."

--Eileen Colkin (ecolkin@cmp.com)

Virtual Lock Boxes Safeguard Real Valuables
It took nearly a year, but FleetBoston's Internet Strategy Group is finally offering its first product--a virtual safe-deposit box. This makes FleetBoston the first large bank to offer this sort of central repository for securely storing and sharing online documents such as contracts, deeds, and titles. A few smaller banks have used Web service providers to offer similar products.

FleetBoston is aiming the service at small businesses and new customers that don't use the bank for financial purposes. It will charge $7.95 for 20 Mbytes per month to $143.95 for 600 Mbytes per month.

The lock boxes use Microsoft .Net Exchange 2000 servers; FleetBoston works with Compaq, EMC, StorageNetworks, and others on security encryption.

Building a network that meets federal banking regulations and passes FleetBoston's own testing process was such an arduous task that it took a while before the virtual boxes became, dare we say, a reality. But FleetBoston says it's confident that the legal requirements for banks on the Internet are so stringent that business owners will feel confident that their business documents are secure.

Says Cindy Ho, FleetBoston's VP of global Internet strategy, "If people are trusting their money with us, they should trust their data with us."

--Eileen Colkin (ecolkin@cmp.com)

Wireless Makes Trucker Treks More Efficient
NTE, one of the first online transportation exchanges in the country, is launching a service that will let truckers find and book loads using WAP-enabled cell phones and handheld devices such as the Palm. Previously, NTE offered similar services at Web kiosks in truck stops, but truckers sometimes had to go miles out of their way to get to them.

James Davidson, NTE's president and CEO, says many shipping companies rely on drivers to contact them when they can take on a shipment. Truck drivers telephone shippers and use truck-stop bulletin boards or brokers to find profitable shipments. Now they'll be able to wirelessly find available loads in any state.

The service also gives truckers access to NTE data about loads, including the exchange's rankings of the most profitable types of shipments.

The service will let truckers travel with fewer empty freight compartments, so their profits could increase. Carriers, shippers, and customers will be able to track the whereabouts of trucks and shipments in near real time. Novarra, a wireless infrastructure provider, will supply connectivity between the NTE.com exchange and handheld devices.

--Steve Konicki (skonicki@cmp.com)

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