Interview: Quadra Informatique and Anneau du Rhin Society

I've worked in e-commerce since 2002 and none of the solutions before Magento sparked as much enthusiasm from professionals. It's the dream platform! No other e-commerce software is as efficient and has so many features.

Xavier Flamant, Quadra Informatique

Can you tell us a bit about your company/customer?

Quadra Informatique provides IT and development services nationally in France. One of our current clients is the Anneau du Rhin Society (ADR) who own, develop, and manage the greatest automobile circuit in Eastern France. The ADR offers driving courses, road safety seminars, and hosts private events. They want to increase their online sales through full integration of their ecommerce platform with all their service offerings.

What technologies are currently implemented/integrated in the frontend and behind-the-scene?

Based on the ADR's needs, we chose to integrate Magento with Joomla CMS giving our client full control and easy management of their site content. We also integrated Magento with Sage ERP, an accounting software solution, and developed a module for purchasing driving courses online. The module features email invitations containing the details of the booking such as selected car and number of turns on the track.

Why did you choose Magento for the project?

ADR was already interested in using an open source solution when they approached us. They initially thought of choosing osCommerce, but we advised them against it and introduced them to Magento. We told them about Magento's great Zend framework, extensive functionality, numerous e-marketing tools, and its growing community. ADR didn't hesitate!

Do you have other projects that you work on using Magento?

Vincent Raffner, our e-business Technology Manager, and his team has developed for Magento the CyberMut payment module in partnership with the French bank Credit Mutuel. Because we are also on open-source company, with the agreement of the bank we have transferred it to the free community.

In addition, our teams' workload is:

• We are setting up an online boutique for Supreme, the French leader in billiards. Their website will be online end of January.
• We are finishing the web platform for Portail de l'Artisanat Francais (French Craft Industry) named: "Fabriquer En France" (Made in France).
• An important French tour operator has asked us to complete the migration of its boutique from osCommerce to Magento. We plan to launch end of February.
• We are completing an online boutique for a Parisian multimedia products company, "Avantage Multimedia".
• We are developing an e-boutique for "UareDesign" products.
• PayBox Services chose Quadra Informatique to build a module for the integration of Magento with it's innovative payment solution

Would you recommend enterprise companies to use Magento?

Definitely! Varien's experience, professionalism, the quality of their team, Yoav Kutner's understanding of the platform, Roy Rubin's integrity, and the large community makes Magento a successful platform that will only continue to grow. Magento is a very efficient tool for online business and is many lengths ahead of its competitors.

What are your future plans with Magento?

Thanks to the experience we've been acquiring, we are planning to set up more ambitious projects and are aiming at the Platinum Certification for 2009.

Any recommendations for people evaluating Magento?

Magento is the fruit of Varien's long experience. I've worked in e-commerce since 2002 and none of the solutions before Magento sparked as much enthusiasm from professionals. It's the dream platform! No other e-commerce software is as efficient and has so many features.

Any final words of wisdom?

We at Quadra Informatique believe that Magento has a brilliant future ahead of it ... and e-commerce with it!