In October, Agillion joined forces with IBM to provide CustomerPages with Big Blue's WebConnections service, which charges small businesses a monthly fee for their hardware, software, and online storage for the Web pages. Agillion earns an undisclosed percentage of the monthly fee. The startup expects this and other deals with Office Depot, Cisco Systems, and Click Action to help it sign on more than 250,000 customers by yearend. Right now it's about who can sign up the most customers the fastest. He who has the most penetration is going to win.
Analysts say it's too soon to tell who is ahead.
Who will be standing a year from now is anybody's guess. But reaching those customers is not easy. But these companies are traditionally more difficult to reach because they come and go faster, keep a lower profile, and are slow to adapt to new technology. And Papermaster is confident that once he can get the software into users' hands, he can get them to pay to keep it there. Concierge's Fierro, for one, says he can't imagine doing business without it.