Infinium Adds Quadrant Fax Automation
When all is said and done, e-mail will most likely be looked upon as one of the greatest technological innovations this century. Despite its popularity, however, e-mail has flaws, a fact keeping AS/400 fax automation solutions providers like
Quadrant Software (Taunton, Mass.) in business.
Enterprise business solutions provider Infinium (Hyannis, Mass.) has offered the latest testament to fax automation's market future by forming an alliance with Quadrant whereby Quadrant will deliver integrated, enterprise fax solutions to Infinium customers.
"There are still businesses that want fax automation software," says Brian Ashley, VP of business alliances for Infinium. "Now, we have a preferred partner that we can recommend to our customers if they ask for that ability."
Quadrant's FastFax family of products has been designed to integrate with Infinium Premium Business Solutions-a set of integrated e-business-enabled solutions for human resources, financial management, materials management and process manufacturing. Quadrant's FastFax automation software will be available as a separate option for Premier Business Solutions customers.
According to Mark Carlin, Quadrant's director of marketing, the firm has stayed competitive by focusing on companies with AS/400 mission-critical applications, particularly Fortune 1,000 companies with large ERP systems as well as those in the medical and financial industries.
Although e-mail is a quick and cost-effective way of communicating, Carlin says security concerns keep companies from sending mission-critical information via e-mail. "With e-mail, people can make changes to documents."
The security of fax technology ensures its niche in the IT market. Quadrant's FastFax family offers non-repudiated delivery, which guarantees that a fax can be sent without the recipient being able to change the original message. "Companies want to be able to get mission-critical information to other people very fast, without having to worry about security," Carlin adds.
Quadrant has a direct integration for FastFax into every AS/400 ERP system on the market, according to Carlin. Although he admits there is less of a need for fax automation software for companies with non mission-critical applications, Carlin says he expects Quadrant to continue to have a place in the market. "Mission-critical faxing is still important," he added. "Until e-mail can be secure, it won't come into play."