Internet portal eFresh.com has launched Storefront 2.0, a basic web shop that acts as an

e-business solution for producers of fresh products.

The site is free and simple to use and the newest feature enables producers of fruit and vegetables, potatoes, flowers, coffee, eggs, dairy, fish and seafood, as well as meat and poultry, to promote their company and goods in a highly effective way.

The Storefront is available to all members of eFresh.com. It is a personal website, where producers make themselves visible to buyers around the globe. Setting it up is easy and takes very little time. Buyers who are looking for new producers, better prices and quality products can now easily find all that; the Storefront empowers eFresh.com users.

Online promotion is the first step in e-commerce for producers, as it enables them to find new business partners.

In February, the first version of Storefront was launched during Fruit Logistica in Berlin. At the show, producers of fresh goods created their own Storefront. This was the first time they had been able to show themselves on the internet.

Many producers reacted with enthusiasm to this beta version of Storefront. Since Berlin, thousands of Storefronts have been published, giving eFresh.com great user insights into how the Storefront helps to generate new business.

User feedback and insight have been used to upgrade the Storefront to the current 2.0 version. Storefront 2.0 offers:

• contact information and company description;

• key distributors and their information;

• a multimedia product catalogue;

• current and upcoming offers;

• business and company news;

• video presentations of your company and facilities; and

• a unique company website name so customers can easily find you - for example, http://efresh.com/myfarm

With their own Storefront, producers can open their online shop and invite all their customers in to take a look.

With Storefront, businesses can be found online; this way, it serves as a first step in promoting their quality products and makes a real difference in the

e-commercialisation of the fresh produce industry.

Kule Sulaiti Kiwede, director of Rwadipo Coffee in Uganda, said: “What you are doing is what we require. The eFresh.com portal is helping us much as we tune on trading internationally. Now the international marketplace is on a single computer where we can be viewed by the whole world and sell our products at good prices.”

eFresh.com is the leading global internet portal for fresh products, providing market access and trade services for both buyers and suppliers in a professional, worldwide community.

eFresh.com is a trademark of GET Holding NV, a Dutch company.

A LOGIXAL SOLUTION

DPS International has launched the most comprehensive update ever to the LogiX routing and scheduling software.

LogiX5 is the culmination of several decades of software development and successful deployment by hundreds of companies worldwide.

Gary Sharpe, general manager of logistics systems with DPS, said this latest release has been built based on several criteria, including: feedback from many LogiX users; the latest developments in software development technology; requirements of companies who want to improve their environmental performance and reduce emissions; availability of new hardware tools for the logistics operations, including handhelds and mobiles; the recent partnership agreement between DPS and TomTom; and availability of more detailed and relevant map data.

DPS managing director Paul Palmer, who founded DPS more than 25 year ago, said that one of the most significant improvements is in the automatic scheduling algorithm: “The algorithm has been improved with every new release and this time, there is a significant advance combined with improved parameter management and features.

“Our customers have recognised the importance of the environment and the role they have to play in order to reduce emissions, in particular CO2.

“You can now set up CO2 measures against your vehicle types and report CO2 figures, including savings. To make it easier for transport managers to control these emissions, we have improved the optimisation progress bars, and these now show CO2 savings.”

To improve the user-friendly interface, DPS has made further improvements to icons throughout LogiX, including more information on the status of routes and orders, plus better selectable icons for routes, products and zones.

Other improvements in LogiX5 include: new parameters for the start, turnaround and end times at depots; improvements to the loading bays’ facility; new status levels designed for real time re-scheduling; better visibility of order and route warnings; and Quick Address 6 integration, giving improved display and search capability.

KEY MOVE FOR TEGRA

Key technology has introduced its new Online Training Program for Tegra with G6 sorters.

This interactive, multimedia curriculum expands the knowledge of employees to better operate, maintain and clean Tegra sorting systems. By providing effective and consistent training, Key’s Online Training Program helps processors operate Tegra at peak performance, optimise product quality and maximise equipment uptime, while reducing training costs.

Designed for supervisors, operators and maintenance personnel, the new programme includes six self-paced modules covering various Tegra hardware topics. Additional modules introduced in 2008 include software-related G6 user interface topics that pertain to Tegra, as well as other current Key sorters including Optyx, Manta, ADRsystems and G6-upgraded legacy sorters.

MICROSOFT AIMS TO GROW MARKET SHARE IN RECESSION

This month, David Hurley, managing director of Anglia Business Solutions, outlines recent developments to come out of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference held in New Orleans.

this year’s Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference was held in a hot and sticky New Orleans.

Temperatures of 95oF and high humidity did little to suppress the excitement of the software giant as it launched another wave of new products. The challenge at the conference was where to look to try to take it all in. With major keynote speeches from people like Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer and chief operating officer Kevin Turner, plus a plethora of interesting side shows, the conference was certainly not short of content. The challenge was to select the most appropriate workshops to attend.

However, the launches of Windows 7 and Office 2010 were high on the agenda. At the last conference in 2008, delegates were encouraged to increase the take-up of Vista. At this one, they acknowledged that there were issues with the product that hindered its more widespread adoption. It would appear that Windows 7 puts all of these issues to bed - and then some. The product includes improved performance, security and reliability. It was evident from the comments from the stage that Microsoft was stung by the criticism of Vista. They have made a massive investment to get it right with this impressive product. Windows 7 gets released to the market in October and is definitely worth considering.

Microsoft keeps moving the goalposts on its flagship Office suite and the audience does not always follow. The biggest competitor to Office 2010 is all of the previous versions of the product. However, Office 2010 contains a plethora of new features designed to keep the product well ahead of the competition.

The new Office suite contains some nice touches that are worth a look. OneNote 2010 looks like the ultimate digital notebook for tracking and sharing text, photos, videos and audio files. Nevertheless, it is not a compelling reason to upgrade.

Excel 2010, however, is definitely worth considering. It contains a new feature called Sparklines, which delivers visual representations of your data. It could certainly prove useful as a business intelligence tool when linked to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

Server virtualisation was also high on the agenda and was hailed as a way of reducing the cost of IT infrastructure. This technology is included in the new Windows Server 2008 R2 product suite, which also includes a new version of Hyper V. The virtualisation process works by using software to emulate a physical computer. This creates a separate operating system that is logically isolated from the host server. By providing multiple virtual machines at once, it allows several operating systems to run simultaneously on a single physical machine. The payback is that server virtualisation allows workloads to be consolidated on to a small number of more fully used machines. Managing fewer servers also reduces the cost of ownership.

There was so much talk about “the cloud” that it would be easy to think that one was at a weather forecasters’ convention (apart from the absence of sports coats). All the excitement centred on the Microsoft Azure platform. This is designed to run critical business applications in “the cloud” - i.e., over the internet. The idea is to use Microsoft’s massive hosting centres to run your business applications. Instead of investing in your own infrastructure, applications such as Office, Exchange and CRM can be purchased on a pay-as-you-go basis.

What Microsoft has done with Azure is to make it very attractive for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to develop and run their software as a service. This enables them to reach a wider audience for their solutions. Customers are attracted by being able to use the applications without the need for capital expenditure. This is still an embryonic but fast-growing aspect of the IT market. It is evident that Microsoft is making significant investments to capitalise on this trend.

At first look, the Azure platform is a very attractive way for ISVs to capitalise on the significant sums invested by Microsoft in this technology. However, there was general consensus that the vast majority of ERP systems would continue to be implemented on premise for the foreseeable future.

From an overall global IT market perspective, the picture painted was far from encouraging. The view expressed was that asset values had become wildly overinflated. The global economy is going through a reset where values are being adjusted to reflect reality. In such a scenario, the IT market faces a period of static or minimal increases in revenues over the next three years. This situation is likely to accelerate the current wave of consolidation in the sector.

The response of the major players in this situation is to take aggressive measures to grow their market share. As part of their future plan, Microsoft is committed to continuing its R&D expenditure at current levels. This means that it will continue to commit $2.5 billion (£1.51bn) annually in the development of its Dynamics ERP product range.

There were many other mini launches and relaunches of products, such as Bing and Silverlight, throughout the conference. Others are too numerous to mention. However, the strongly re-enforced message from the conference was that Microsoft planned to grow its market share throughout this difficult economic period.

As part of this strategy, it intends to back Microsoft partners with proven specialist applications that offer the customers compelling business propositions. These were described as solutions that added customer value by enabling them to reduce costs, while improving customer service. How this will be implemented will be revealed in the autumn.

SOCIABLE TIME FOR ASDA

Asda has launched a social networking site, according to IT Pro.

Your Asda features multimedia such as videos and photos, blogs and customer feedback forums, along with Asda’s live Twitter feed.

There is also a section for employees to share news between stores and make their views heard to managers.

A spokesperson for the company told IT PRO: “We used to have a corporate site which was a platform for shareholders, the media, MPs, etc, to find out what we were doing, but it was quite dry.

“Asda wanted to move with the times and show people what we were doing, with more user-friendly content.”

BUSINESSLINK ON THE ROAD

Businesslink.gov.uk has introduced a dedicated area for those with road transport and logistics operations, in association with the department for transport and its executive agencies VOSA, DVLA, VCA and DSA, as part of its range of business advice and support.

Focusing initially on businesses with HGV operations, passenger vehicles and MOT testing stations, these businesses will be able to keep up to date with regulations, as well as apply for licences, taxes and permits. In addition, they will be able to access a wide range of official business advice, such as taking on new employees, health and safety and how to fill out tax returns.

Ray Lambe from Businesslink.gov.uk said: “This new area of the website will enable businesses within the transport sector and those operating logistical operations as part of their business to access a wide range of business advice and support in one place, saving them a great deal of time and money. We have listened to businesses in the sector and have developed this area to meet their needs.”

Vivien Bodnar of the department of transport supports the new area. She said: “We want to make it straightforward for companies to find out about legislation and regulations that apply to them and their business and we are confident that the Transport and Logistics area on Businesslink.gov.uk will make it easier for those in the industry to access the information they need.”