BCA Makes its E-Commerce Application Affordable to Small and Mid-Sized Distributors.

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 1999--

Butler & Curless Associates (BCA) announced the availability of its point-to-point e-commerce solution, ec21, to small and mid-sized distributors at an affordable price point.

Through an agreement with InterLan Technologies, a Cary, NC-based Internet service provider (ISP), BCA enters a new technology arena -- application service provider (ASP), enabling the company to host its software via the Internet as a managed wholesale distribution service (MWDS).

ec21 - electronic commerce for the 21st century, is BCA's functionally rich application that integrates a web presence with a powerful suite of warehousing and distribution software, enabling distributors to receive and process orders electronically, directly from the Web in real time. Distributors who choose to lease BCA's ec21 application through the Internet pay a monthly fee based on usage. BCA makes available the services needed to set up a web presence, which can include multiple storefronts in an Internet mall setting.

Customers and prospects who access a participating distributor from the Web can get customized catalog views and pricing based on contracts, combination buys and other factors because information comes directly from a secure back end system hosted by BCA or the distributor. This gives small and mid-sized distributors affordable access to software that manages sales and customer service, warehousing, general ledger, financial reporting and budgeting, inventory and purchasing, accounts payable and accounts receivable functions and other business applications. In addition, BCA can provide email, fax processing, remote access services and managed Internet access to corporate users.

In the ASP model, BCA manages the application and system hardware and provides dual high-speed connectivity from the business' router and beyond. ec21 resides on a secure server with firewalls along with a distributor's business information at Interlan's facility. A distributor's website and catalog reside on a separate server with firewalls in place to ensure security linked to the Internet via redundant T3 connections.

"We decided to host our software in an ASP environment in direct response to requests from distributors who had little to no information technology staff but needed an affordable managed wholesale distribution service. Other requests came from enterprises that wanted to save the capital expense involved in replacing or upgrading their current system in order to participate in e-commerce," noted John Butler, BCA co-founder.

BCA's e-commerce solution is available today as a Managed Wholesale Distribution Service (MWDS). For more information contact Israel Bocanegra, product manager, at [phone] or mailto:[e-mail]

Butler & Curless Associates, Inc., was founded in 1985 and is composed of three product/service divisions: software, hardware and networking. The software division develops, markets and supports electronic commerce software for the distribution industry. BCA's hardware division is an IBM Business Partner and a value-added reseller of IBM AS/400 products and services. Through its network division, BCA is a Managing Industry Remarketer for AT&T Global Network Services and resells Managed Data Network Services (MDNS) through an affiliate (channels) program. The combination of BCA's expertise and its affiliation with InterLan Technologies (http://www.interlan.net/) allows BCA to readily adopt an ASP business model. BCA's World Wide Web address is http://www.bcafreedom.com.