Q: I’m still unclear about how all of this works. Please explain.

A: M2MGateway is your secure connection between your Made2Manage database and the internet. With this connection you can take advantage of products like M2MVIP, M2MLink, CRM Sales Center, all hosted products available from Made2Manage. M2MGateway is a web server running our software that we connect with through secure methods. It enables you to extend Made2Manage to remote users, customers, vendors, and other trading partners.

Q: Do I have to have my own Web site in order to use M2MGateway?

A: No. You only need a static, public IP Address which you can get from your Internet Service Provider.

Q: If I have my own Web site, do I have to host it myself?

A: No. You can either host it yourself or an ISP can host it for you. However you do need to have an IIS server up and running on site for the connection software.

Q: Can I use M2MGateway if I have a Novell server?

A: Yes. But IIS must be installed on a Microsoft platform.

Q: Can you help us maintain our connection?

A: Yes. We are able to monitor your connection status 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and contact you immediately if we detect a problem.

Q: What do I do if I need help using M2MGateway?

A: Call Made2Manage Support at 1-866-626-8880 or submit a case through M2M Expert. We’ll respond as soon as we can during normal business hours.

Q: How often is the system backed up?

A: Much of the information your customer sees is in your back-office database. It’s not duplicated. The technology we use simply accesses and displays the data. For applications such as the Product Catalog that do have stored information, we back up the information nightly.

Q: Do I need to increase bandwidth?

A: Probably not, if you are satisfied with the speed of your current Internet access. If you have taken a virtual course and have had no problems connecting, you will probably see no effect from M2MGateway traffic. However, here’s a guideline for the amount of data that is transferred during one user transaction in one application: The user’s query = 1K. The response varies, but it is usually less than 3K.

Q: What should I do if my server performance decreases?

A: You should be able to monitor server performance locally. If there are speed issues and you see that your server’s processors are overworked (75% or higher), then you should upgrade your server or load IIS on its own server. Otherwise, the problem has to do with bandwidth. If your traffic increases, you might consider increasing your bandwidth.

Q: What are the system requirements for my customers?

A: Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher or Netscape 4.7.

Q: What about data security and encryption?

A: Data security and encryption is very important to us. For data security, our Web Servers are sitting behind a Cisco Secure PIX 515 firewall. Additionally, we are always updating our servers with the latest Microsoft Security Hot Fixes. And then there is encryption. Our Web Sites are protected with 128-bit data encryption by VeriSign, as indicated by the “lock” at the bottom of the IE screen. VeriSign 128-bit SSL Global Server IDs enable our site to conduct authenticated, strongly encrypted on-line commerce. Both you and your customers will be able to submit credit card numbers or other personal information to our site with the assurance that they are doing business with us (not an impostor's "spoof" of your site) and that the information which they are sending cannot be intercepted or decrypted by anyone else.

Q: Should you use SSL Encryption?

A: Our software can handle SSL Encryption on your site. Be aware that SSL does have a small adverse impact on performance.

If you are interested in securing your Web Server with SSL security, please visit the VeriSign web site at www.verisign.com. Encryption certificates are available for a yearly subscription fee.