Alibaba Group Launches Business Software Company

Alibaba Group Launches Business Software Company

January 08, 2007

Alisoft to Leverage Alibaba.com's Relationships with More
than 18 Million Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises;
Web-Based Business Model a Breakthrough for China's
Software Industry


    SHANGHAI, China, Jan. 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Alibaba
Group, a global e-commerce leader and the largest
e-commerce company in China, today announced the launch of
Alisoft, an online business software provider to be
established as a new company serving small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs) in China.  Alisoft, developed out of
Alibaba.com's e-commerce software centre, a project founded
in 2004 to create products tailored to SMEs engaged in
e-commerce, will initially target the 18 million SME users
of Alibaba.com's services.

    "E-commerce has become much more than just an
additional sales channel for Chinese SMEs, it is the
driving force behind their entire business," said Jack
Ma, CEO of the Alibaba Group.  "E-commerce is changing
the way companies do business, from communications, to
customer relationship management, to after sales services. 
Alisoft will provide easy solutions for customers to
integrate e-commerce with their back-end systems."

    SMEs represent a fast-growing segment of China's
software market as more companies realize the advantage of
using software applications to strengthen internal
management and business competitiveness.
 
    However, among China's more than 40 million SMEs, it is
estimated that less than 10 per cent have adopted advanced
software applications, far lower than the average of 60 per
cent in the more mature western markets.  Currently,
international software giants dominate the software market
in China but piracy issues have often made it difficult for
traditional software models to succeed.  Alisoft's web based
software model overcomes the challenges of software piracy,
providing a sustainable business model while fostering
innovation in the business software industry.

    "No other company understands SMEs and e-commerce
like Alibaba," said Oliver Wang, General Manager of
Alisoft.  "We have used this knowledge to develop a
cost effective, simple web based product that Chinese SMEs
will embrace.  Our relationships with more than 18 million
SMEs give us a great advantage to succeed."

    Alisoft's online, on-demand business services can be
accessed through its website (Alisoft.com).  It is
currently offering five different on-demand applications:

     -- Customer relationship management (CRM)
     -- Inventory management
     -- Sales force management
     -- Financial tools
     -- Marketing information management

    Alisoft's business software services come in three
editions: global trade, domestic China trade and individual
(C2C) trade.

    Alisoft will also assume responsibility for the Alibaba
Group's real-time business communications tools.  To grow
its leadership in this area, the Group's popular B2B and
C2C instant messaging services will be merged into one
service, under the name "Ali Wang Wang."

    In less than one year of free testing, Alisoft's web
based software services have attracted more than 500,000
active users and more than three million registered users. 
As a comparison, Salesforce.com, the current market leader
in on-demand business services, has around 500,000 paying
subscribers.  Alisoft will begin to charge a fee for some
of its business software services in the first half of
2007.

    Alisoft will become the fifth company in the Alibaba
Group.  Other companies include: Alibaba.com, the world's
largest online B2B marketplace for global and domestic
China trade; Taobao, Asia's most popular e-commerce
website; Alipay, China's leading online payment service;
and Yahoo! China, a leading search engine and portal,
acquired from Yahoo! Inc. in October 2005.  The combined
group now covers all five pillars of e-commerce: trust,
e-marketplace, search, payment and software.

    About Alisoft

    Alisoft is the only provider of easy to use, on-demand
business software services for small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) in China.  It allows customers to access and manage
their CRM, inventory, sales, finance and marketing
information and communications tools anytime they need via
a simple website.  Alisoft, a division of the Alibaba
Group, serves SMEs by seamlessly connecting e-commerce to
their back end business services.

    About Alibaba Group

    Alibaba Group is a global e-commerce leader and the
largest e-commerce company in China.  It operates several
e-commerce platforms that connect individuals and
businesses from China and around the world.  Alibaba makes
doing business easy, enabling an interactive community of
millions to meet, chat, search for products and trade
online. 

    For more information, please visit
http://www.alibaba.com 


    Media Contact
    
     Christina Splinder
     Alibaba Group
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]


SOURCE  Alibaba Group