Who are ICC and just what is ACT! ... well to find out I sat down with Craig Young the Managing Director of Interact Commerce Corporation (ICC), the Company which produce a sophisticated software package called ACT! amongst other things.

ICC are a division of the Sage Group plc and specialise in Small Business Enterprises (SME) they deliver a range of software solutions for Small Business including ACT! which is a Contact Management package.

I asked Craig a series of questions relating to the Internet, ICC and of course ACT! Craig was pragmatic and candid in his response.

Question One: The Internet used to be a very friendly place, its not really anymore . has big business made the difference?

The internet has made it possible for companies to market their products to a much wider audience. Unfortunately, some have taken advantage of this opportunity and used SPAM tactics to push products which are sometimes offensive and usually unwanted. This has given internet marketers a bad name and it's no wonder people might think the Internet is not a friendly place. Let's hope that the recently introduced SPAM laws will change this and give companies with valuable information to share the chance to do so.

Question Two : There are loads of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) products out there what do you think makes ACT! unique?

The first thing I should mention is that ACT! is technically not a CRM product - we prefer to call it a contact management solution because it doesn't offer the same level of functionality as a full-blown CRM product such as SalesLogix.

The main advantages ACT! has over similar products is that it can be up and running in a matter of minutes and is extremely user friendly. ACT! has been around since 1986. It was the first contact manager on the market and is still here today so I guess that speaks for itself!

Question Three: Do you use ACT! Everyday? In what capacity do you use ACT!

Up until recently we used both ACT! and SalesLogix internally. We are not dissimilar to other SME's in Australia, and due to the growth we have experienced and since our business requirement has changed, we have migrated our entire ACT! database to SalesLogix. Like most businesses, we use SalesLogix to keep track of our customers and partner relationships, to manage our calendars/schedules, our activities, to conduct sales forecasting, undertake data mining and market segmentation, and to assist our staff to provide efficient and effective product and customer support.

Question Four: Since Microsoft launched Office 2003, which comes with its own business contact manager, and as ACT! is not fully compatible with Office 2003, how do you envisage this impacting your business?

While Microsoft Business Contact manager is appropriate for SOHO businesses and individual users, we find most of our clients want to be able to share data with other staff and customise the fields on their database. Microsoft's product doesn't offer this flexibility whereas ACT! does. ACT! can also be integrated with mobile devices and back-office software. As such, we haven't experienced and don't envisage it impacting our business. Although we do not officially support Microsoft Office 2003 with ACT! 6, both are currently being used by many of our customers and very few have issues getting the two to work together. Of course in some situations, such as when a user has numerous software applications running on their system, there can be problems due to extraneous environmental issues. This is the exception rather than the rule though.

Question Five: I notice ACT! Is available for the Palm and Pocket PC? Do you see this market expanding? Is this the future? Will the desktop PC be a dinosaur in the future like the mainframe is today?

Yes, the market is expanding and yes, it is the future, but it will be some time yet (if ever!) before mobile devices take over the desktop. Our add-on Web and mobile applications have been hugely popular with sales people and field workers - anyone who is working on the road. They are however usually used in conjunction with the desktop rather than in isolation.

Question Six: Similarly, how do you see ACT! evolving over the next 2 to 3 years?

With the release of ACT! version 7.0 to take place by the end of the year, we will be addressing the needs of bigger workgroups and provide users with a new relational database that will improve their workgroup performance. ACT! will most definitely move to a higher level over the next few years.

Question Seven: In a nutshell, why would you recommend SalesLogix to a Company? (Any Company).

The feedback our customers give us is that they chose SalesLogix because it can be up and running quickly, is easy to customise, cost effective (relative to other high end/ enterprise CRM systems), can be integrated with back office software and provides a holistic view of their customer interactions. I would recommend SalesLogix to your readers for these reasons.

Question Eight: I noticed you offer Web Seminars from the SalesLogix Website. Do you get a lot of traffic to these seminars? What platform are they run on?

The Web Seminars are a great way for people to learn more about SalesLogix and get a feel for whether it's right for their business before taking part in a consultation. To access the seminars, all customers need to do is dial in to listen to the presentation and have access to the internet with the following platform requirements: . Web Browser: Internet Explorer 4.x or later (recommended) or Netscape Navigator 4.x or later. Must be configured to use Java and JavaScript. . Memory: 32 MB RAM or more. . Monitor: Monitor set to 800 x 600 pixels or greater. . Telephone: Phone near your computer. We recommend a speaker phone for large groups. .

Question Nine: 9. I notice you are an AFL fan. Any particular reason you're a Carlton supporter?

My grandfather played with Carlton and it followed that his two sons and their children would also follow in the blue and white tradition.

I threw that last question in because in Craig's bio I had read that he was a Carlton supporter and I wondered what had prompted him to be passionate enough to present this information. I guess three generations of Carlton footballers is passionate enough for anyone.

I'd like to thank Craig for his time and for giving us an indepth look into ICC and some of the products available. If you would like to read more about ACT! and SalesLogix please visit the ICC website. I'd also like to quickly thank Caroline Siler of Keep Left Public Relations for her co-operation and effort in helping Craig and I get together for this interview.