asknet Acquires New Customer Norman ASA

    KARLSRUHE, Germany, October 25, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
    - Norman Outsources its Worldwide eCommerce Activities to asknet
    - International Reseller Business Integrated Into eShop
    - Praise for Professional Shop Set-up

asknet, a leading provider of global eCommerce solutions for software vendors, has acquired the Norwegian company Norman ASA as a new customer. Norman is the world market leader and a pioneer in the field of proactive content security solutions and forensic malware tools in which millions of users place their trust. Users find it easy and convenient to purchase the solutions and tools they want on the Internet - depending on the region, the new online shop addresses the end user in one of 25 languages and offers all relevant billing currencies and preferred modes of payment. As seen by significant sales and high conversion rates, the well-engineered range of services has already proven popular.

End customers, however, are not the only group targeted by the new eShop; asknet has also integrated the worldwide reseller channel for Norman. The specific conditions for each reseller are saved in the system, making automatic processing possible. In this way, asknet is giving Norman an important boost in the growing reseller sales market - lowering costs and minimizing risk. "asknet has automated this important sales channel for us, providing a solid foundation for Norman's continued expansion," says Audun Lodemel, Vice President Marketing. "In this regard we are very satisfied with the professional set-up of the online shop and the absolutely punctual implementation."

asknet sees this as a confirmation both of its own positioning as an international full-service provider and of the effectiveness of its reseller strategy. Michael Scheib, asknet CEO, states, "We are proud to operate the entire eShop for a world market leader like Norman, with its international customer and reseller base. Following the on-time implementation of numerous back-end adjustments, we offer Norman additional services such as the asknet Shop Cockpit, which allows Norman to keep product prices up to date. This gives Norman a centralized, well-structured price system for their website as well."

According to Scheib, the low abandonment rate speaks for the broad acceptance of the eShop among end customers. This acceptance brings Scheib back to asknet's strategy of adapting shops to regional conditions down to the last detail. To this end, asknet partners with the leading providers for payment transactions in every region around the globe. In Scandinavia this is Klarna AB, a Swedish financial services institute. "In our eShop we can clearly see that Scandinavian customers primarily use Nordic payment methods," explains Audun Lodemel. "We therefore have a vital interest in offering these modes of payment. With asknet operating the shop, we can achieve this without having to enter into national partnerships everywhere ourselves. This is one of the important criteria that led us to choose asknet."

For further information on asknet, please visit http://www.asknet.com.

About Norman ASA

Founded in Norway 1984, Norman ASA is a global leader and pioneer in proactive content security solutions and forensics malware tools. Norman's proactive antimalware solutions, including malware analysis tools, network security and endpoint protection, are powered by patented Norman SandBox(R) technology and used by security solutions providers around the world.

Norman's unified core antimalware protection for clients, servers and network security are delivered as products and services designed to protect business communications and resources, including corporate and government networks and applications, remote employees, branch and extranets. Norman's solutions are available through Norman subsidiaries and a network of global partners. For more information, visit http://www.norman.com.

About asknet

asknet offers its clients customized outsourcing solutions for global software sales via the Internet. Founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, formerly the University of Karlsruhe), the company has become the number two independent global provider for electronic software distribution. In addition to its fully integrated shop solutions for software publishers, the company develops and maintains portals for software distribution such as softwarehouse.de, one of Europe's largest platform for downloads of standard software. In 2009, asknet posted sales of approximately 68.9 million euros. In 2009 the Karlsruhe company was named in the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu "Technology Fast 50" ranking of the fastest-growing technology firms in Germany. asknet's clients include numerous providers of specialty software such as CollabNet, DivX, F-Secure, Nero, Panda Security, Steganos, and NetObjects. The company also supplies software products to around eighty percent of German universities. Further information is available from http://www.asknet.com.

    Media Contact:
    Carolyn Adams
    Borders+Gratehouse
    phone: +1(415)963-4174 ext. 4
    eMail: [email protected]

    Press Contact:
    asknet AG
    Ive Van Riet
    Director Online Marketing
    phone: +49(0)721-96458-6381
    eMail: [email protected]

    Norman ASA
    Audun Lodemel
    Phone: +47-934-46-531
    eMail: [email protected]

SOURCE asknet AG