IQ by WinMetrics

WinMetrics®/IQ is a product configurator and sales quote software designed to streamline the sales process. It can be customized to fit the needs of organizations, channels, and products, making it suitable for sales representatives, product development teams, system administrators, direct and indirect sales people, and dealers across various industries.

Key Features

Product Configurator: According to the vendor, WinMetrics®/IQ is an internet-ready product configurator and sales quote software that can be customized to fit an organization's specific requirements. It utilizes industry-standard XML and XSL to encode configuration rules and presentation. The vendor claims that deployment can be completed within 8 weeks.

Fast and Flexible: The vendor states that WinMetrics®/IQ allows for quick changes to pricing and product configurations. Minor changes can reportedly be made in a matter of hours, while major changes can be rolled out in days instead of weeks. The vendor claims that this flexibility decreases time to market, extends product lifespan, and accelerates revenue generation, resulting in an estimated 200% ROI over a 2-year period.

Speed: The vendor claims that WinMetrics®/IQ enables users to configure a display wall controller and generate a sales quote in less than 60 seconds. It is also said to shorten the learning curve for channel partners and facilitate faster rollout of new products. Additionally, the vendor suggests that the software enables quicker response to competitive pricing and helps maintain more consistent pricing.

Accuracy: According to the vendor, WinMetrics®/IQ helps prevent inconsistent configurations, pricing, and product descriptions in quotes. The software assigns a unique number to each new quote, enhancing accountability. The vendor claims that quotes can be instantly retrieved to avoid misunderstandings, and similar quotes can be quickly accessed to identify and correct misquotes, thereby reducing problem orders.

Control: The vendor states that WinMetrics®/IQ offers a document-style, print-worthy quote format with a printable display option. It is compatible with MSIE 4+ and Firefox 1+, ensuring broad browser support. The software provides secure access, a robust channel organization model with privileges, and reseller login support with restricted quote visibility. The vendor claims that the configuration and pricing dialog can be easily controlled through industry-standard XML/XSL text files without interrupting online service. The database schema is also extensible, and configuration rules can be graphically defined in an XSD schema file.

Platform: Windows Azure: According to the vendor, WinMetrics®/IQ is supported by the latest .NET Framework and Windows operating system. It is deployed as a cloud application in Windows Azure, eliminating upfront costs for hardware infrastructure. Users only pay for the resources they consume, and the platform offers a claimed 99.9% reliability and incremental scalability.

Deployment Milestones: The deployment process for WinMetrics®/IQ includes milestones such as executing the agreement, accepting the product configuration dialog specification, approving the prototype on the Windows Azure staging server, deploying the production application on multiple Windows Azure servers for 99.9% up-time, conducting on-site training, sending an email "Getting Started" document to users, and finally going live.