San Jose: Now that application service providers (ASPs) are the big thing, many companies are finding it more practical to rent their software rather than buying it outright. What this means, according to Kovair CEO and founder Krishna Subramanian, is that business-to-business (B2B) suppliers may have to woo their customers again and again to keep the romance alive. "Customer relationships are key now," India-born Subramanian told the California newspaper India-West. "Lots of companies do lip service to customer service, but right now, there are very few mechanisms in place to ensure it." That's why Subramanian's unique software, known as Kovair VIPCenter, is turning so many heads.VIPCenter enables businesses to easily set up and manage customised, self-branded sites for their most important customers, enabling work teams from both sides to stay up to date with personalised messages, news, promotions and plans. Subramanian, 28, got the idea while helping to develop Java Studio for Sun Microsystems and dealing with the daily intricacies inherent in big projects that required inter-company and cross-functional teams, sometimes located continents apart. "You have many people in one company, selling to many people in another company," she explained. "I used to manage this type of relationship for Sun, and I was always in crisis mode...I was looking for a solution." Subramanian pitched the idea to her husband, Kumar Goswami, 37, a doctorate holder in computer science, who had been leading Web-based technology development for several hi-tech companies.
Together, they founded Kovair in April 1999, naming the company after the Hindu god of prosperity (Kuber), said Subramanian. Kovair's VIPCenter is password-protected, easy to use and looks different on each customer's Website. Prices start at around $1,000 per month to use the service. Usually, it's the salespeople - not the technical team - who control the VIPCenter site, using a simple interface. Up to 50 staff members can log on to a company's VIPCenter at one time to check the status of orders, to update pricing information and to send customised messages.
Since all the correspondence between the two companies is archived online, there's no risk of misplaced or misunderstood messages, Subramanian noted. So far, Subramanian has raised around $9 million for the start-up from investors like New Enterprise Associates, Sutter Hill Ventures and Draper Richards. Born in Chennai and raised in India and Nigeria, Subramanian came to the US at the age of 15 on a full scholarship to study computer science and business administration at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.
She earned a master's degree in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and came to the Bay Area in California to join Sun on its Java project. India Abroad News Service
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.