Businesses and other organizations are increasingly focusing on customer service and satisfaction as a means of gaining a competitive advantage. Realizing that improving customer service and satisfaction can be as important in attracting and retaining customers as product design, quality and price, these organizations are reorienting their businesses to be more customer-centric and more responsive to customer needs. In pursuit of improved customer support and satisfaction, many organizations have distributed responsibility for sales and customer service broadly throughout their organizations. In addition, many organizations are extending responsibility for sales and customer service to their ''extended enterprises'' or ôcustomer's customersö of distributors, value-added resellers and other outsourcing partners.
Maintain Technological Leadership Position. Scopus has established itself as a leader in the development and use of technology for customer information management software. Scopus believes that it was the first participant in this market to introduce a data-driven architecture, publish an open API, provide customers with multi-site database replication capability and integrate its applications with telephony services. Scopus' applications currently support a variety of client/server computing technologies, including popular client computing platforms. Scopus plans to continue to devote significant resources to maintain its technological leadership.
Build Relationships with Third Party Consulting Organizations. As many of Scopus' large licensing arrangements involve a significant amount of customization or systems integration consulting, Scopus is developing partnerships with third party consulting organizations to assist customers with the successful customization and implementation of Scopus products. Scopus' believes that this strategy will enable its customers to achieve efficient customization and implementation of Scopus products, while enabling Scopus to focus on the development, enhancement and marketing of its products.
Continue to Develop Pre-Packaged Solutions. We believe the flexibility inherent in its core technology facilitates the development of applications for targeted vertical markets and that the development of such products will enable it to introduce applications that have shorter sales cycles, require less customization and offer simpler implementation. Scopus also plans to partner with key customers to develop such applications and believes that these relationships will provide us with insight into the specific needs of targeted vertical markets.
Expand Worldwide Distribution. To expand its international distribution channels, Scopus has established a subsidiary in the United Kingdom and distribution relationships in Italy, Germany and Malaysia. In addition, Scopus recently entered into a non-exclusive, worldwide distribution agreement with Northern Telecom Inc. (''Northern Telecom''), a provider of communications products, systems and networks. The agreement authorizes Northern Telecom to bundle Scopus software with its communications products for advanced computer/telephony integration's and sell such products through Northern Telecom's worldwide network of distributors. Scopus is exploring other distribution arrangements to broaden its domestic and international channels, and plans to expand its sales force both domestically and internationally.