ATG adds government group, ally

Art Technology Group Inc., a provider of customer relationship management solutions, announced Tuesday the formation of a government solutions group and a one-year exclusive reseller agreement with GTSI Corp.

ATG's Dynamo e-Business Platform will be available through GTSI contracts, including the National Institutes of Health's Electronic Computer Store and NASA's Scientific and Engineering Workstation Procurement, said Paul Shorthose, ATG's president and chief operating officer.

The Dynamo e-Business Platform enables organizations to manage and build online customer relationships in order to sell and support their products and services over the Internet.

"ATG Dynamo can help our government customers enhance their online programs and Web offerings and personalize the experience for each customer, partner or employee," said Dendy Young, GTSI chairman and chief executive officer.

Shorthose said the company initially started the government solutions team late last year by adding key staff members. The goal then was to formally launch the group in the first quarter of 2001 and build it throughout the year. The group now has about 15 full-time employees across sales, alliances and services, he said.

ATG's government customer list is small, but growing. The commonwealth of Virginia is a client, "and we have a couple more we can't talk about yet and about a half-dozen more in development," Shorthose said, adding that the potential customers encompass federal, state and local government agencies.

Shorthose said the company built its government solutions team to work with ATG partners, including Sun Microsystems Inc. and the Patricia Seybold Group Inc., to provide agencies with the best solutions for serving the public.