Las Vegas: HCL Technologies on Tuesday launched its new software as a service (SaaS) service delivery platform (SDP) Agora to help independent software vendors (ISVs) and service providers deliver cost-effective software services to customers in any geographic location.

Agora, which is a collaborative platform, provides single sign-on, unified and secure access to the services that are delivered through the platform.

Besides, it offers integration with back-office applications like customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP).

The new platform is an automated infrastructure that provides functions such as customer lifecycle management, service management, metering of service usage, billing based on usage and customer support, HCL stated.

"Beyond executing on-demand secure services, the SaaS delivery platform is evolving to become an ecosystem to empower the end-users, tap the endless, dynamic needs of the user community and strap them to drive service innovation," HCL's Hi-tech and Manufacturing Senior VP and Head Sandeep Kishore said.

Agora uses Web 2.0 principles for providing a rich experience to end customers. The social collaboration features of the platform harness the collective intelligence of the provider, reseller and customers, the company said.

The platform has accelerators for several verticals and pre-built integrations with standard back-office systems, enabling reduction of the overall time required to deliver services through Agora to as short as six weeks, HCL claimed.
—iGovernment Bureau