Tier One Solution
SIRS has captured a strong position in the Tier One segment, the highest level, of the SMP industry.
International Data Corporation (IDC), an industry research group that specializes in monitoring this market,
classifies the 900 competing products into three tiers based on product function and performance. Tier Three
products are DOS and Windows-based contact managers that typically sell through retail chains for $49 to $399
a copy. Tier Two products DOS and Windows-based contact managers that will support 2 to 30 users on a
network, allow some minor modifications by the user, and import/export data to other network-based products.
Tier One products are enterprise-wide systems, typically using relational database technology to support
systems that may have hundreds of simultaneous users. Tier One products are the most powerful SMP systems
and will connect to all facets of a company’s business while managing it’s customer relationships. SIRS was
recently ranked third among Tier One vendors. The study, conducted by IDC, involved telephone interviews
with hundreds of users to evaluate the products, features and vendor support to arrive at an overall ranking.
SIRS - The Second Generation
According to the Gartner Group, the major challenges to SMP vendors will be converting to
client/server architecture and Windows front-ends while talking to mainstream relational databases such
as Oracle, Sybase and Informix. DSS, with a strong customer base, is in a good position to meet this
challenge. The foundation of our strategy for DSS rests on four cornerstones; a unique Internet link, the
latest in Windows graphical technology, true support of different client/server environments, and multiple
database connectivity.
(C) Copyright 1995, Data Systems Support; Modified 1/23/95; lparks@dssmktg.com