Astaro Improves Customer Service, Manages Global Network of Distribution Partners with Salesforce

Jan Hichert knows the software industry. His current company, Astaro, specializes in Internet security solutions. Astaro is headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany with offices near Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Boston.

Astaro develops and distributes the firewall Astaro Security Linux. This product offers extensive protection for local networks against Internet risks like hackers and virus protection, as well as application gateways (proxies). At the Sun Cobalt Conference in Paris in April 2001, the Astaro Security Linux won the "Software Developer of the Year Award."

Astaro required a global CRM suite that could be easily integrated across international locations. "We are distributing Astaro Security Linux though a worldwide network of partners, and we needed to find a CRM solution that was easy to use and provided rapid return on investment," says Hichert, Astaro's CEO. "We wanted one system without having to replicate data."

Scalability is also important. To date, some 50,000 users have downloaded the Astaro firewall solution, and the company currently has over 6,000 corporate users.

In his time in the software industry, Hichert has experienced a range of sales force automation and CRM products, but none of them impressed him until he discovered salesforce.com. "When I saw Salesforce, I knew we were on to something new that reflected today's business world and today's technology."

Astaro put Salesforce through rigorous testing. To ensure a fair trial, the company included a number of other products in this test phase. "Nothing came close to Salesforce," Hichert says.

Astaro is using salesforce.com's full CRM suite—including Salesforce SFA and Salesforce Service & Support—which is accessed by sales, marketing, and support people. "This provides us with a single view of the customer, prevents duplication, and maximizes customer service to our clients," says Hichert.

Astaro had been using Microsoft Outlook to keep track of sales contacts. "Outlook is very limited by comparison, and you keep having to input information to bring it up to date. With Salesforce, users input once, and this data is immediately available to other users in real time," explains Hichert.

Hichert believes that a key feature of Salesforce is its ease of use. "It is very easy to set up and understand," he says. "Minimal information is needed to start lead tracking, and you get a return from the moment it is installed."

Astaro makes use of the Web-to-case facility of Salesforce. This is a feature that records frequent customer questions and solutions, thereby boosting customer service.

"We get a huge number of leads via the Internet," says Hichert. "Salesforce helps us to monitor and deal with these professionally." Leads generated on the Web come automatically as leads into Salesforce, where a marketing assistant then forwards the lead to the appropriate sales rep or partner. Astaro's marketing and management personnel can also effectively track the development of each lead to ensure it is followed through.

Astaro is currently developing its global reseller channel, and the intention is that resellers will be integrated within the salesforce.com platform.

"We don't have to worry about hosting, scalability, or maintenance," says Hichert. "We have an enterprise-class CRM solution at a fraction of the cost of traditional software. This is the way most application software will be sold in the future."

Astaro