AEC Group Inc. Named Business Partner to Bring SAP Business One to Small and Midsize Businesses in the Greater Pittsburgh Region.

Business Editors

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 2003

AEC Group Inc., One of Pittsburgh's Fastest Growing

Technology Firms, Joins with World's Leading Provider of

Business Software Solutions to Introduce New, Easy-to-Implement

Enterprise Solution for Small and Mid-Size Businesses

AEC Group, Inc., one of the fasting growing technology firms in the Greater Pittsburgh area (Pittsburgh Technology Council Tech 50 award winner in 2003), today announced that it has been named a qualified SAP business partner by SAP America, Inc., the US subsidiary of enterprise software leader SAP AG, and will introduce the new SAP(R) Business One solution to small and midsize businesses in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Designed specifically to be effective, affordable and easy to implement for small and midsize businesses, SAP Business One extends the benefits of SAP's enterprise software expertise to a new and rapidly growing segment of customers. As an SAP business partner for SAP Business One, AEC Group Inc. will provide the Greater Pittsburgh area businesses with the technology, business process and consulting knowledge to develop successful, long-term IT strategies.

AEC Group Inc. is responding to a growing need among the Greater Pittsburgh Region's small and midsize businesses struggling to gain and maintain competitive operating advantages. The AEC Group, Inc. will provide software and consulting services to enable small and midsize businesses with limited resources and technology infrastructure to gain immediate benefits in better managing their businesses. Together, AEC Group Inc. and SAP America will provide small and midsize businesses across the Greater Pittsburgh area the ability to make smart IT decisions, improve future performance, and achieve long-term IT success with little financial or strategic risk.

While many small and midsize firms have invested in multiple software applications, a large percentage report that they lack the ability to access the information they need to make critical decisions when they need it. These firms face a pressing need for easy access to real-time information. SAP Business One was designed to help small and midsize businesses streamline their operational and managerial processes by providing robust and fully integrated financial and sales management capabilities.

SAP Business One supports companies with as few as ten and as many as several hundred employees. The solution's award-winning Drag & Relate data navigation system provides users with intuitive data access simply by highlighting and dragging pieces of information on the screen. It features an integrated sales force automation system for pipeline tracking, opportunity management, strategic selling, and contact management. Key functionalities also include comprehensive financial management, with multi-currency, budgeting, and bank reconciliation; a complete inventory management system, with kitting and multi-level price lists; and a comprehensive reporting module that allows easy access to all data.

Most small and mid-sized businesses view software purchases as extremely risky, expecting tangible operational improvements before spending large sums of money. Most small businesses expect 100 percent Return on Investment (ROI) within six months of implementation. SAP Business One not only provides immediate results in operating efficiency and real-time business decisions, but also comes with an affordable price tag. This affordably priced new solution, starting at approximately $11,000, is designed for those businesses that recognize the importance of leveraging business software as an integral component of their business growth strategy.

"The functionality offered in SAP Business One is unparalleled by any other middle market offering," said Kennith Rindt, Principal Consultant, AEC Group Inc. "The current functionality coupled with affordable pricing, short implementations and SAP's total commitment to SAP Business One will empower small and mid-sized businesses to compete on equal footing with companies one-hundred times their size."

Today, AEC Group Inc. and SAP America launched this exciting new partnership at the Pittsburgh Technology Council in the SAP Business One Express: a 53-foot-long mobile e-business exhibit, complete with multimedia presentations, e-business and industry solution demonstrations, and industry experts.

About AEC Group, Inc.

AEC Group Inc. was established in 1992 as a commercial and industrial electrical contracting firm. As AEC Group Inc. grew, it believed its customers could be better served by offering solutions that spanned beyond electrical contracting to systems integration and business consulting. Consequently, over the past 10 years AEC Group has become a hybrid of sorts, building a company that evolved with the diverse needs of its clients and the marketplace. Today, the AEC Group prides itself on offering 'End-to-End Technology'.

From the structured cabling that provides the backbone...to the systems integration and network design that seamlessly connect the organization...to the delivery of innovative business solutions that positively transform the enterprise...to harnessing the very electricity that powers it all...AEC delivers.

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