press roomsa.internet.com, 23 March 2000
Dotcoza just "marketing ploy"?
[Johannesburg, 23 March 2000] - Local Software Development company Estrin Software Corporation expressed doubts this week as to the benefits of the Andersen Consulting "dotcoza" project, citing the lack of crucial testing criteria as undermining the value of the project.
The R2-million project was initiated by Andersen amidst much fanfare in the traditional and online press in order to test the capabilities of local e-commerce.
The chosen subject, known as "dotcoza" was to months in isolation with the internet as his sole link to the external world, and one of his mandated tasks was to test and report back on the status of the local e-commerce industry. It is this assessment task that is currently causing the rumpus.
Estrin, who themselves do extensive technical site evaluations, e-commerce research and web development, suggested that the project has not been implemented as it should in order to benefit the South African internet consumer.
"This project provides a conceptually sound platform to provide an analysis of the local industry but it's currently not being utilised to its full potential." Chief Operating Officer Uri Estrin told sa.internet.com this morning.
"We believe that the site evaluations and discussion as to local e-commerce should be an independant forum providing detailed and transparent information to the South African public." he commented. He criticised the project as not doing enough to allay the fears and address the concerns of the consumer.
"Delivery Seems Fine" - ClicknPay Review
Estrin commented that when it comes to rating the e-commerce sites, the criteria chosen by dotcoza are vague and incomplete, not providing much clue as to the overall utility and reliability of a site.
He cites the example of the review of the ClicknPay site, which concludes with the epitaph "Delivery Seems Fine." as an example of an insubstantial e-commerce assessment.
"He should have specific criterion by which he can judge the performances of the chosen e-commerce sites, he should be tracking deliveries, identifying returns policies, providing pricing and product information, assessing the ease of ordering, detailing security protection for the consumer and stating explicity who is meeting their delivery promises and who isn't".
Estrin believes that the study could provide important information provided it is approached from an empirical angle and doesn't lapse into a public relations exercise.
The insubstantial assessment details and the fact that dotcoza is shown on the webcam wearing an Andersen Consulting shirt that Andersen claim was procured through the e-mail, do not do much to discount that impression.
Andersen Consulting stated this week that a more comprehensive review system is to be implemented shortly.
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