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Richard Davies wrote: The UK has a good crop of technology pioneers in cloud computing - for example ElasticHosts, FlexiScale, Flexiant, OnApp - and also some strong government initiatives such as G-Cloud. We will have to see whether this kind of technical leadership converts into swift mass-market adoption or not.
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US Post Office Hops a Ride on NetSuite’s Cloud
Follows FedEx and UPS into the Cloud

The United States Postal Service, which will be lucky if it only loses $7.1 billion by the end of its fiscal year in September, and escapes with a cash shortfall of $700 million and a debt load of $10.2 billion, has come to the cloud in the wake of its FedEx and UPS rivals.

The post office is suffering from an advanced case of recession-aggravated electronic substitution and is threatening to curtail deliveries by going to a five-day work week, eliminating Saturday deliveries.

Larry Ellison’s other company, NetSuite, said Thursday that USPS shipping has been integrated with its SaaS-based SuiteCloud thanks to the good graces of go-between Endicia, an Internet shipping and mailing ISV that’s part of Newell Rubbermaid’s DYMO Technology Global Business Unit.

NetSuite and Endicia, which is bringing its Internet Postage solution to bear, will each get a piece of whatever business NetSuite drums up for the post office from its 6,600 corporate customers (as counted at the end of last year).

NetSuite companies will be able to offer USPS delivery to their customers while reducing the time spent on manual processes such as printing labels and manifest forms.

The USPS can do one thing forbidden to FedEx and UPS and that’s deliver to PO Boxes. Its fees are also a lot cheaper.

Endicia general manager Amine Khechfe said that “NetSuite has integrated several Endicia features, such as e-refund request capability, SCAN forms and package status, to help to maximize the benefits of the US Postal Service for users.”

Otherwise NetSuite’s USPS shipping integration offers retailers, e-commerce operators, distributors and wholesalers access to all key USPS services, including price quotes, shipping label generation, package tracking numbers and full customs documentation saving time on manual lookups and tedious pen-and-paper form completion.

NetSuite customer records can be instantly confirmed against the USPS database of valid addresses.

Behind the scenes, the NetSuite solution automatically ties USPS tracking and delivery confirmation numbers to sales orders, invoices and customer records, providing visibility into the shipment process, enabling users to examine a customer’s comprehensive purchase history, down to the delivery date.

NetSuite merchants have already shipped 2.5 million packages through UPS and FedEx.

About Maureen O'Gara
Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025. Twitter: @MaureenOGara

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