Bowstreet and webMethods Join Forces to Provide Broad Solution For B2B Marketplaces; Customers Will Harness Full Power Of XML To Expand Their Businesses Online.

Business/Technology Editors

Inside the Kaleidoscope

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 2000

Two business-to-business Internet commerce trailblazers, Bowstreet and webMethods Inc. (Nasdaq: WEBM), today joined forces to provide a fast, easy and affordable way for companies to proliferate their B2B presence across the Internet and tailor that presence for each audience.

Bowstreet (www.bowstreet.com) is the leading provider of XML infrastructure for B2B web marketplaces, including support for all XML vocabularies and schemas, and webMethods (www.webMethods.com) is the leading provider of open solutions for B2Bi (business-to-business integration). The companies will offer a complementary group of B2B products and services that will exponentially increase the number and scope of customers' B2B relationships and allow them to grow their businesses in entirely new ways.

Through broad support of open standards and protocols, such as XML, RosettaNet, FpML, cXML, OBI, OAG, ACORD, Microsoft BizTalk and legacy EDI, webMethods B2B-enables large trading networks by securely integrating the business processes of trading partners over the Internet. Bowstreet takes these integrated business processes and lets companies' line-of-business managers find, consume, organize, mix, match, assemble, customize, publish, repurpose and trade them, instantaneously creating "business webs" of interconnected companies. Bowstreet also allows companies to infinitely customize business webs to provide unique interactions for each partner.

By using the partners' combined services, customers will be able to quickly move their businesses to the Internet, instantly create new B2B relationships, and extract unprecedented value from each one - all without the cost of custom web development.

"webMethods and Bowstreet provide clearly complementary infrastructure technologies: webMethods enables rapid integration and deployment of secure B2Bi trading networks while Bowstreet allows for the mass customization of the web services that define B2B relationships," said Phillip Merrick, president and CEO of webMethods. "Working together, webMethods and Bowstreet provide customers with a broad solution for building dynamic real-time B2B marketplaces."

Bob Crowley, Bowstreet's president and CEO, said, "webMethods is a visionary company, and they were achieving success with their XML-based solution before it was sexy. webMethods has evolved to become the leader in business-to-business integration, and together we're taking B2B e-commerce to the next level."

Partners on the rise

webMethods integrates buyers and suppliers into powerful trading networks for companies such as mySAP.com, MRO.com, e-Steel, Dell, and Eastman Chemicals. Recently webMethods has announced significant new customer wins, including ChemConnect, Land's End, Ventro, FMC, Hitachi Data Systems, and Lucent Technologies.

The Bowstreet/webMethods partnership announcement came on the same day Bowstreet announced:

--the Bowstreet(TM) Business Web Exchange, a revolutionary Internet community where companies can find, acquire and publish the "web services" of other companies and build their businesses in ways they never imagined.

--the Bowstreet(TM) Business Web Factory 2.0, a B2B platform that lets non-technical business people create, manage and customize hundreds of thousands of B2B "business webs" on the fly.

The Bowstreet Business Web Factory is the first product to support the Directory Services Markup Language (DSML), a specification Bowstreet, IBM (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and the Sun-Netscape Alliance (Nasdaq: SUNW/NYSE: AOL) recently submitted to industry standards bodies.

About webMethods, Inc.

webMethods, Inc. (Nasdaq: WEBM - news) is the leading provider of software solutions for business-to-business integration (B2Bi). Leveraging the open standards of the Internet, the award-winning webMethods B2B(TM) family of products provides the B2Bi infrastructure enabling Global 2000 companies and B2B marketplaces to connect customers, suppliers and partners to form real-time B2B trading networks. webMethods B2B allows companies to create new revenue opportunities, strengthen relationships with customers and substantially reduce supply chain inefficiencies.

Founded in 1996, webMethods is based in Fairfax, Va., with offices across the U.S. and Europe. webMethods has more than 130 customers worldwide - from Global 2000 leaders such as Dell, Eastman Chemical Company, Lucent and W.W. Grainger to major B2B marketplaces like e-STEEL ChemConnect, and Ventro. WebMethods' strategic partners include Ariba, Deloitte Consulting, EDS, KPMG, Microsoft, Sterling Commerce and SAP AG. More information about the company can be found at www.webMethods.com.

About Bowstreet

Bowstreet provides the XML infrastructure to automate the creation of dynamic and customized B2B web marketplaces that enable new business models, extend companies' market reach and generate new revenue. These "business webs" link an infinite number of customers, suppliers and partners in minutes instead of months and at a fraction of the cost of today's web development methods. Founded in January 1998, Bowstreet was ranked as one of the top e-commerce start-ups in the country at the Enterprise Outlook Conference, and has raised $90 million from leading venture capital firms, global investment banks and strategic corporate investors. For more information, visit www.bowstreet.com or call 603-436-9100.

Bowstreet is a trademark of Bowstreet.com Inc. All other company names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.