Frequently Asked Questions

The Competition
Do you provide Sales Assistance?
Do you charge for upgrades?
Has any clients signed-up to use the CIS Software and later cancelled?
How is CIS backed Up?
Will you provide us with a web site to help us sell?
What type of security is in use?

CIS is hosted by a hosting company in Florida that is in a category five hurricane safe building. Our CIS system is backed up twice daily.

What type of security is in use?

The web server is protected by a SonicWall firewall using Network Address Translation (NAT) on all IP addresses and all ports are closed by default.

The Windows 2003 Web server has had all unnecessary services turned off and is accessed by the administrator via Terminal Services on top of SSH.

The Administrator runs the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer periodically to make sure the server has all the latest Microsoft Security Updates.

The CIS is an ASP.NET 1.1 web application that uses Microsoft SQL Server.

The application has been hardened against HTML and SQL Injections using an Object Oriented approach in the coding of the application. Users login into the CIS using unique usernames and passwords authenticated against names in the SQL Database (not system users). Users are not allowed to upload .exe or .scr files.

The database, web site and documents are backed up nightly and weekly onto a network drive.

Who is the competition?

So far to date, we have found a few software packages that provide some of what CIS provides but generally they focus on corrective action and document management. We have not found any software that includes a solution for each element of ISO 9001:2000! Additionally, the software companies sell software so they MUST charge for the software including a yearly or monthly support fee. Consider the following:

Since a quality system such as ISO 9001:2000 requires an organization to document their processes and procedures, then when a software package is introduced that replaces the paper-based process, the procedures must be revised and the management must be trained. Our competitors are software people and not certified auditors or consultants.
Additionally, no competitor has a corporate solution for organizations with multiple sites.
Our competitors charge dearly for revisions to their software. For example, after a year or two, if they revise their software from revision one to revision two, they charge their clients for these new (and generally required) revisions. We DO NOT! it is included with the monthly support fees.
One competitor (Corporate Omnex Systems) charges $ 10,000.00 for one module and up to $ 25,000.00 for four modules PLUS $ 3,400.00 per year for premium support. This does not include training or revising their documentation. We do not consider this competition, since our support and licensing is the same as theirs but we only charge a $ 900.00 set-up fee. The rest of the initial cost is for the consultant to train the management and revise their documentation so that the complete system is ready-to-go in less than a week and that the system has credibility so that their are no certification issues from a registrar.

Corporate Omnex Systems: http://www.omnexsystems.com/

Omnex – Web based Quality Management across the Enterprise Competitor's Purchase Price Includes CD Rom and Installer
Basic Module (Document)	Total Cost	Premium Support Paid Per Year	Additional Admin Editors
* Plus 1 Module	$10 000.00	$ 3400.00	$ 2000.00
* Plus 2 Modules	$15 000.00	$ 3400.00	$ 4000.00
* Plus 3 Modules	$20 000.00	$ 3400.00	$ 6000.00
* Plus 4 Modules	$25 000.00	$ 3400.00	$ 8000.00

Competitors’ Strengths

Multiple software products – HR , maintenance, document Pro etc.
Large customer base – 50% in Fortune 500
Several levels of editions – Standard, Professional and enterprise
Multi-language support
Colour buttons at trigger points
Complex systems
Covers a diverse customer type
Customer must purchase software and pay support fees

Competitors’ Weaknesses

Procedures must be written and inputted by the customer
VERY EXPENSIVE
Extensive learning curve and new customer interface as compared to using Internet Explorer
Would be as complex as paper system due to the training and inputting required
More users costs more and more and more
Runs on ACCESS database that is slow and limited
Licensing per year expensive. In fact, our licensing fee is comparable to their support fee and the customer is not required to purchase up-front the software.

Bottom Line

In conclusion:

CIS software is an updated product using the most current programming features;

CIS is a web based system that requires the customer to have only Internet Explorer version 6.0 and therefore CIS always runs with no bugs related to the client's hardware and software editions;

The customer does not have to spend large amounts of funds to purchase the software and the support costs that our competitor's charge are equivalent to the licensing fee and support fees for CIS. In other words, the customer has instant access to CIS with no Up-Front investment!

Therefore, CIS is an easy sell... The customer can be using the CIS 2 Minutes after the sale is confirmed and only start paying the monthly fee starting 30-days later.

Another competitor (www.qsolve.com) provided one of our customers who is a small business (10-employees) with the following quotation: To buy all modules (includes 10% discount per additional modules) based on 10 employees would be $ 8,000.00. The "one time" application fee would be $ 1,500.00. Hosting and 24 hour support $ 8,250.00 per year if QSolve Server and $ 6,000.00 if companies server.
- QSolve is the closest competitor to CIS Software that is on the market today because it also is ASP.net and can run on a server through the internet. However, QSolve does not have one quarter of the modules as CIS Software and is far more expensive. Qsolve can not provide a complete ISO 9001 solution.

Do you provide Sales Assistance?

Yes! it is our best interest to help our resellers sell. One method that works very well is when the reseller invites 10 or more potential clients to a free 4-hour seminar. In this case, the President of TQMS will fly down and present the software on the reseller's behalf. Generally, 50 percent or more of the participants will sign-up as a result of this seminar.

Will you provide us with a web site to help us sell?

Yes, we can design and create a web site for our resellers at no charge. The monthly hosting fees and domain name must be paid directly to Frontlook Internet Services by the reseller ($ 9.99/Month - Bronze Plan: click here).

Has any clients signed-up to use the CIS Software and later cancelled?

No, all clients since 2005 when CIS was introduced are still happily using the CIS Software and after two years are receiving the benefits that CIS has to offer. Our clients have said many times; "we can not imagine doing an ISO 9001:2000 without CIS".

Do you charge for upgrades?

NO, we do not charge for upgrades since we feel that this should (and is) included with the client's monthly support fees. However, it is important to note that most other software companies do charge for these updates.

CIS World Wide Sales Group