Businesses increasingly need the ability to understand their customers at all interaction points, including Web sites, retail stores, and call centers. To that end, MicroStrategy Inc. is expanding a set of customer-relationship management analytical applications that leverage its MicroStrategy 7 business-intelligence platform.

The MicroStrategy CRM Applications suite consists of three applications. Web Business Analyzer helps analysts understand Web-site traffic and customer usage patterns, including conversion rates and customer latency. Customer Analyzer is used for analyzing customer data for online and offline activity and using the findings for sales, service, and marketing activities. And Marketing Automation is used to design marketing campaigns across multiple channels.

MicroStrategy debuted a set of CRM analytical tools last year, but its capabilities were limited, the company says. The new applications include built-in data extraction, transformation, and loading capabilities using embedded technology from Informatica Corp. That allows them to pull data from multiple sources, such as transactional systems, call center systems, and data warehouses, for analysis. The suite also includes workflow wizards that guide users through data-analysis procedures.

The Customer Analyzer tool is being offered in versions tailored for retail, financial service, and telecommunications markets. The software includes more than 400 packaged analytical reports covering areas such as marketing, sales, service, and E-commerce.

TV Guide magazine is installing the applications, along with the MicroStrategy 7 platform. "We're going to be using this primarily for campaign management for our magazine's subscriptions," says John Moakley, consumer data director. The New York City-based magazine, owned by GemStar International Group, maintains a database of current and former subscribers and until now has used cumbersome "home-grown" software to sort names for subscriber renewal and retention mailing campaigns. The MicroStrategy applications "will provide more efficient customer retention, which has an impact on the revenue and cost sides," Moakley says.

The CRM analytical tools, which are sold as individual applications, are shipping now. MicroStrategy 7 is sold separately; pricing starts at $30,000 per server CPU and $15,000 per Web server CPU. Web Business Analyzer is priced at $20,000, plus $500 per user; Customer Analyzer, which includes Web Business Analyzer, is priced at $200,000, plus $2,000 per user. Marketing Automation is priced at $10,000.