For many companies, understanding the needs of their distributors is as important as understanding their end customers. Next week, Allegis Corp. will help make that possible with an upgrade of its partner-relationship management software, and an alliance with British Telecom that will take the product to Europe.

Allegis' software until now has focused on allowing its customer base of mainly high-tech companies to track their relationships with distributors and personalize the information they see. Its new E-Business Suite 5.0 adds business analytics, with an engine built on MicroStrategy; a Quick Start program that helps deploy the system more quickly to customer-hosted sites; a new module aimed at marketplace partners; and multilanguage and multicurrency capabilities.

Where 2000 was a year for early adopters of partner-relationship management technology, 2001 will see it gain traction among mainstream customers, says Allegis marketing VP Ken Rosen. More than 25 Global 2000 customers already have shelled out more than half a million dollars apiece for the software, and the customer base is finally growing beyond high-tech companies to include financial firms, consumer packaged-goods manufacturers, and chemical companies.

Among the believers is Betsy Roddy, director of Internet automation at computer-monitor manufacturer ViewSonic Corp. After identifying "a need to be more efficient in building the channel and broadening our reach to partners," ViewSonic signed on as Allegis' first customer in 1999. Now its Web site allows salespeople to access everything from contract information to notes on each reseller and their vertical markets. Roddy "can't wait to get our hands on 5.0," which will give her the ability to create ad-hoc reports and easily change profile fields, while letting distributors customize what they see.

Roddy credits the partner-relationship management system with saving a couple of million dollars in co-op advertising funds through improved tracking of contracts. Its biggest drawback--the inability of salespeople to add data and notes without logging into the system--has been fixed in the new release, which syncs up all the information when users log on. Her advice? Beware of "scope-creep, where you begin to dream of all the things you want to do and end up with a project that keeps growing and never gets finished."

Suite 5.0 starts at $600,000 for a site license or $25,000 a month for a hosted service.