The Software Spectrum site offers limited browsing of software and none of the comparison or content features that stood out on sites that finished near the top of PC Week's list. Warren acknowledges that the site needs improvement. A redesign, to be finished this month, will add better search capabilities and allow individual users to store information about more of their favorite products. Enhancements are also planned to debut this summer. Software Spectrum will make customers' buying histories instantly available online.
Customers currently fill out an online form to request reports on past purchases.
The responses are then posted the next day. Mich. Once LePeak receives the reports, she plugs the histories into a database to track whether the company is buying enough licenses to satisfy its volume discount agreements. Consumers Energy has purchased from Software Spectrum for about 10 years and started using the online catalog about 18 months ago. Now Consumers Energy does about 80 percent of its software ordering and licensing through the Web, from desktop applications such as Microsoft Corp.'s Office 97 to server software. If they don't have it, they'll go out there and look for it.