Startup To Debut Knowledge Support For Enterprise Apps

Ventix Systems Inc. will unveil today a software system thatcentralizes service and implementation information from disparate sources concerning enterprise applications.

The Ventix System culls data from sources such as file systems, document repositories, groupware, and E-mail. It could, for example, capture an E-mail exchange between users about a specific task such as sales quotations, and store it in a centralized repository. Since 50% of enterprise application functions are repetitive, Ventix says, the information will benefit future users. When a user has a question about sales quotations, Ventix pulls up all documents that relate to that area, ranking them by relevance. The system can also walk users through specific application functions

The year-old vendor, started by Tivoli Systems founder Bob Fabbio, is attempting to help companies offload the burden from the help desk when they implement enterprise applications. Initial training for enterprise apps tend to deal with technical issues, but Ventix says 80% of the questions going to the help desk deal with business process- specific questions, such as how to process an invoice or how long to keep open a sales estimates.

The product is now in pilot. It will initially have application interfaces to SAP R/3 and legacy applications, with other ERP applications to follow.