IBM and IBS announce global alliance in e-business

Press Release Jun 08, 2000

IBM and IBS today announce a strategic alliance within e-business and supply chain management (SCM). The goal of the alliance is to provide the international market with a world-leading software, hardware and services offering in the wholesale and industrial markets.

"This is yet another international break-through for IBS, in a market where e-business is revolutionizing commerce and the supply chain", says Staffan Ahlberg, CEO of IBS." IBM, the world's largest information technology company, will allocate staff and resources worldwide to support the alliance. We expect to considerably increase our competitiveness in this fast-growing market. The agreement will fully impact results during the second half of 2000, and will actively contribute to increased revenue and many new deals."

The alliance targets systems based on IBS' ASW software and IBM's servers and Internet technology. Furthermore, it reinforces joint technical development, based on IBM's new development environment, WebSphere, and the IBM Application Framework for e-business. IBS will also cooperate on a global basis with IBM regarding ASP (Application Service Providing), which includes hosting servers and outsourcing. Another interesting field covered by the agreement is customer relations management (CRM).

"With the new e-business technology, companies can now cut the average transaction cost down to a fraction of what it is today. In order to do this, they need to have customer-focused software and e-Business solutions that are fully integrated with the underlying supply chain and logistics systems. It is also very important to have integrated solutions for customer relations and after-sales service. IBS can offer all this, together with worldwide professional services and the full backing of IBM technology, software and services," says Staffan Ahlberg.

"The joint IBM/IBS solution will provide customers with new functionality and help them implement one standardized solution across many borders, as the Distribution industry evolves into a global marketplace," says Pascal Gausses, Distribution Segment Executive, IBM Global Midmarket Business, White Plains, New York.

"IBS helps us to really increase our customer service and to cut costs in our supply chain," says Michael Keller, Information Systems Manager at Nintendo of Europe, one of IBS' more than 5,000 customers."IBS' local support on a global scale and their close partnership with IBM are very important for an international company like Nintendo."

"Implementation of IBS software has enabled Miele's U.S. sales subsidiary to reduce inventory levels by 15 per cent and, at the same time, cope with a 30 per cent sales increase while maintaining a high level of customer service. With IBS' fully integrated e-Commerce solution, our dealers and Territory Managers have the full power of Internet and Miele products at their fingertips", says Fran Miller, Information Systems Manager at Miele US, one of many Miele companies worldwide that uses IBS systems.

The market analysis institute AMR Research has ranked IBS as the world's largest software provider in the field of Supply Chain Execution. The IBS software product, ASW, is a world-leading, Internet-enabled enterprise software for business-to-business electronic commerce and order fulfillment. It integrates SCM and CRM specifically to meet the needs of global wholesale distributors as well as sales and distribution companies within international manufacturing groups. The solution covers e-business, Sales and Marketing Support, CRM, supply chain management, inventory and warehousing, after-sales service, customer-focused Distribution, demand-driven manufacturing, Business Intelligence and Financials. The software is very flexible and easy to implement, and can handle very high transaction volumes.

About International Business Systems

For further information, please contact:
Dan J. Wells
Vice-President of Marketing, IBS Americas
Tel: 1 (800) 886-3900
dan.wells@ibsus.com