Industry Leaders Form Consortium to Address e-Business Challenges.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2000

Compaq, Computer Associates, Dell, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corp., SAP and others today announced the Business Internet Consortium, a non-profit corporation that will serve as a think-tank for generating technologies and practices designed to address growing e-Business implementation challenges. The consortium, which aims to bring customer and vendor e-Business technology priorities closer together, will serve as a global industry group to advocate the e-Business architectural directions, interoperable building blocks and common procedures that will be the basis for future e-Business Internet development.

Additional consortium participants include Advanced Visual Systems, Agency.com, Bull, Cambridge Technology Partners, Commerce One, CommerceRoute, EMC Corporation, Fourthstage, Fujitsu Siemens, Intershop, Oculus, SAP System Integration AG, Stratus, The Beast.com, Unigraphics, Unisys, Webridge, Zaplet and Zefer.

The consortium will be industry's first to solicit direct input from customers on their e-Business requirements. Leading customers joining the consortium include Capital One, Charles Schwab and Co., Inc., Ford Motor Company, ImageX.com and Reuters.

Workgroups to Address e-Business Challenges

The consortium is now forming special workgroups to address key e-Business implementation issues facing today's business decision-makers, I.T. managers and customers. Workgroup topics include:

-- Using XML and other technologies to transform traditional business practices
into e-Business practices.

-- Integrating existing business systems with new e-Business solutions and
architectures.

-- Improving the exchange of e-Business information over multiple devices
(mobile phones to PCs, etc.)

-- Addressing latency / concurrency on Intranets.

-- Establishing secure systems that don't require users to continually log-on
to systems.

Results of the working groups will be published in the form of reference designs and white papers. Additional consortium activities will include recommending standards and technologies (though the group will not serve as a standards body), and suggesting the most practical means for implementing new e-Business practices in large and small businesses.

Addressing Explosive Growth

The Business Internet Consortium is forming at a time when the complexity of creating e-Business solutions has never been greater. In the last 10 years alone, the Internet economy has grown from zero to over $100 billion. Simultaneously, e-Business has evolved through two distinct phases: "brochureware" on Web sites, and developing interactive e-Commerce. Now, global e-Business is evolving again as companies form business-to-business links with their suppliers and customers, calling for new solutions as e-Business traffic becomes heavier, more critical and more complex.

For example, analyst firm Gartner Group estimates that the volume of digitized information in the world will double every year from 2000 through 2005, an increase to thirty times today's volume (September 2000). Successfully managing the implementation of e-Business practices and information management techniques in this environment requires an intensive cooperative effort between companies, an environment that the Business Internet Consortium plans to foster.

More information about the consortium and its initial projects can be found at www.businessinternetconsortium.org.

                              Quote Sheet
                     Business Internet Consortium
                             Nov. 29, 2000
                          Santa Clara, Calif.

Technology Providers

Advanced Visual Systems:

According to Russ Barbour, President and CEO of Advanced Visual Systems, "The Business Internet Consortium is certain to bring clarity, direction, and acceleration to industry-wide issues by serving as an influential convergence point for matters that would otherwise not have a venue for focused discussion and action. AVS is pleased to participate in the consortium and looks forward to making meaningful contributions to the next generation of e-Business."

Agency.com:

"This consortium will provide a framework to allow us to focus our efforts toward actual user needs, while managing the growing complexities in the architecture and deployment of technical infrastructures. For those of us who are client-focused, this will be crucial as Multiple Digital Channel(SM) solutions (Web, wireless and Interactive TV) begin to play a significant role in the entire e-Business spectrum AGENCY.COM offers our Global 1000 clients," said Peter Kestenbaum, Vice President of Marketing, AGENCY.COM.

Bull:

"The Business Internet Consortium will help to provide directions and accelerations to the availability of solutions to customers facing new kinds of business cases linked to the Internet economy. We at Bull are happy to join the consortium and to bring contributions as a key provider of mission-critical systems," says Jean-Philippe Chiarella, Vice President, Open Systems, Bull.

Cambridge Technology Partners:

More information on the company is available at www.cambridgetechnologypartners.com.

Commerce One:

"Commerce One is delighted to work with leading companies through the Business Internet Consortium to foster new ideas for e-Business and create new opportunities for dialogue with customers," said Kevin Schick, vice president of product marketing for Commerce One. "As a leader in bringing the world's business commerce to the World Wide Web, Commerce One is committed to working with customers and with other business leaders to address the issues that are crucial in the growth of global e-Business."

CommerceRoute:

"As a leading provider of business-to-business commerce and data integration solutions, CommerceRoute is proud to participate in the Business Internet Consortium and looks forward to making meaningful contributions to the future of e-Business," said Carlos Mendez, CommerceRoute's Vice President of Business Development. "We feel the consortium is uniquely positioned to bring clarity and direction to industry-wide issues by serving as an influential convergence point for focused discussion and action."

Compaq:

"Compaq is pleased to join with other industry leaders in the Business Internet Consortium," said Ron Eller, Vice President, Industry Standard Solutions Group Solutions & Strategy, Compaq Computer Corporation. "Our insight into customers reveals that technology is not an end unto itself but a means to inspire businesses and individuals to reach their full potential. We believe the Business Internet Consortium will provide a valuable forum for discussion of industry-wide issues, enabling businesses of all sizes to better utilize the Internet for business advantage."

Computer Associates International:

"The time is ripe for a practical e-Business thinktank to emerge," said Larry Acord, Director of Strategic Business Alliances for Computer Associates. "The extremely rapid evolution of e-Business technology can be as much of a problem for customers as a blessing, unless the leading developers of that technology can bring some coherence to the market through collaboration and cooperation. The Business Internet Consortium is a great forum for this much-needed collaboration, and -- as a leading developer of e-Business management and intelligence solutions -- CA is delighted to participate in this important industry-wide initiative."

Dell:

"Dell continues to add the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company to its business each quarter with approximately $50 million of that coming through www.dell.com on a daily basis," said Karl Chen, director of worldwide marketing for Dell's Enterprise and Storage Systems Groups. "As a member of the Business Internet Consortium, we plan to offer our expertise on how our customers can build scalable, reliable infrastructures with industry standard components to support their e-Businesses."

EMC:

More information on the company is available at www.emc.com.

Fourthstage:

"Fourthstage Technologies recognizes that as the true advantage of business via the Internet becomes a reality, services oriented applications architectures will be a critical component to the future of e-Business. As a participant in the Business Internet Consortium, Fourthstage Technologies will focus its efforts on accelerating the development of these services building blocks for the advancement of e-Business architecture."

Fujitsu Siemens Computers:

"Fujitsu Siemens Computers strongly believes that the Business Internet Consortium will be an important convergence point for comprehensive discussion and action in the context of new technologies for e-Business. As the leading European platform provider, we are pleased to participate in this initiative and we are looking forward to providing contributions that reflect our strategic focus areas: mobility and business critical computing," said Dr. Bernd Kosch, Director, Strategic Partner Marketing.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP):

"The Business Internet Consortium is the unified voice of the suppliers," said Eric Buatois, general manager of strategy and marketing for HP's Software and Solutions Organization. "HP's active participation in the Consortium is another proof-point in our commitment to build a software infrastructure business. We continue to promote interoperability and open standards as seen in the recent acquisition of Bluestone Software to fill out HP's software portfolio with XML-based solutions."

IBM:

"IBM's participation in the Business Internet Consortium reflects our commitment to empowering customers through support of standards-based technology that addresses the interoperability and integration issues crucial to global e-Business adoption," said Marie L. Wieck, vice president, software strategy, IBM Corp. "This effort represents a forum for sharing ideas for solutions to universal business challenges, and we welcome the support and involvement of other IT vendors to ensure its success."

Intel:

"Implementing e-Business solutions worldwide requires a massive cooperative effort -- the likes of which the industry hasn't witnessed in the past," said Will Swope, vice president, Intel Solutions Enabling Group. "Vendors, customers, business decision makers and I.T. managers must all work together in an open computing model, one that promotes the use of flexible computing solutions to support future Internet economy growth. The Business Internet Consortium will embody this ideal as it serves as a neutral convergence point for the industry and provides guidance on the technology, procedures and solutions that will make e-Business pervasive and powerful around the globe."

Intershop:

According to the Senior VP Business Development, Karsten Schneider, "The Business Internet Consortium is certain to bring clarity, direction, and acceleration to industry-wide issues by serving as an influential convergence point for matters that would otherwise not have a venue for focused discussion and action. Intershop is pleased to participate in the consortium and looks forward to making meaningful contributions to the future of e-Business."

Microsoft:

"The next generation of Internet technologies offer tremendous opportunities for our industry partners and customers to create businesses that are agile and profitable," said Jim Ewel, vice president of Windows Server Marketing for Microsoft. "As a founding sponsor of the Business Internet Consortium, Microsoft is committed to being a part of this new organization, which is designed to help overcome the challenges of doing business on the Internet and to provide direction for future e-Commerce integration and development."

Oculus Technology Corporation:

"Industry collaboration through the Business Internet Consortium will accelerate the next generation of e-Business solutions to vastly improve the efficiencies and capabilities of business today," said Chris Williams, President and CEO of Oculus Technologies Corporation. "Oculus' secure peer-to-peer integrated application environment is doing just that by enabling the design and development of better products at lower costs for a faster time to market. We share in the goals of the BIC initiative and believe collectively we can better the future of e-Business."

SAP:

"The Business Internet Consortium reinforces SAP's approach to e-Business. With mySAP.com, SAP integrates its extensive business and industry expertise into a comprehensive platform of e-Business solutions, services, and technology that is open and flexible, supporting databases, applications, operating systems, and hardware from almost every major vendor. With this approach, SAP clearly recognizes the needs and challenges of business decision-makers and IT Managers when it comes to implementing e-Business solutions. We are pleased to be a founding member and to be working with the Business Internet Consortium to address these challenges," said Franz-Josef Fritz, Vice President, Application Integration, SAP AG.

Stratus:

"The most effective customer-centric solutions for third-generation e-Commerce will be constructed of compatible building blocks, from many companies with a shared vision for the future," said David Flawn, VP of Business Development. "Stratus is pleased to contribute its expertise in fault-tolerant technology and mission-critical computing to the effort as a member of the Business Internet Consortium."

The Beast.com:

"The Beast.com is proud to be an active participant in the Business Internet Consortium, said Carl Carrie, president. "As a leading provider of e-Commerce enabling solutions for the financial services, we believe that the timing for this 'thinktank' is critical for the success of future e-Business initiatives."

More information is available at www.thebeast.com.

Unigraphics:

"The Business Internet Consortium will serve as an influential focal point for many industry-wide Internet issues," says Chuck Grindstaff, Vice President of Products and Operations for Unigraphics Solutions Inc. "Using the experience gained from our e-engineering, e-factory and collaborative product commerce initiatives, Unigraphics Solutions looks forward to participating in the Consortium and contributing towards the future of e-Business applications for product development and manufacturing."

Unisys:

"The Internet is creating opportunities for consumers and companies at a breathtaking pace. But change is coming so rapidly that we all too often find ourselves in an online Tower of Babel," said Unisys Chairman and CEO Lawrence A. Weinbach. "The promise and the mission of the Business Internet Consortium is to bring customers together with companies like ours to rationalize the net environment so we all can accomplish more. That's what we at Unisys strive to do everyday for our customers, and this initiative will make it easier for all parties to win at the e-Business game."

Webridge:

"Webridge is delighted and privileged to help lead the Business Internet Consortium in driving customer-centric Collaborative Commerce solutions. Let's start kicking the cobwebs out of old ideas and bring fresh thinking to creating a new Business Internet Model," said Gary Whitney, Webridge VP of Marketing.

Zaplet:

"Our involvement in the Business Internet Consortium demonstrates Zaplet, Inc.'s commitment to helping customers enhance business productivity and commerce by capitalizing on the next generation of e-Business technologies," said Julie Welch, vice president, Marketing for Zaplet, Inc. "By uniting leading vendors across the computing landscape, this effort will facilitate the development of interoperable technologies and practices to help our customers ensure the success of their e-Business initiatives."

Zefer:

"The next generation of Internet applications will be delivered as a set of services, accessible from a wide variety of devices, and highly personalized for a particular user and the context within which they are using the application," said Richard Barnwell, CTO, ZEFER. "As a founding member of the Business Internet Consortium, ZEFER will help facilitate the creation of this next generation of Internet applications."

Customers

Capital One:

More information on the company is available at www.capitalone.com.

Charles Schwab:

"Technology is central to our ability to execute our business and deliver the best possible service to our customers. Schwab uses technology to deliver a full service investing experience to millions of customers through a network of 373 branch offices and five customer service centers, email and wireless trading services, speech recognition and touch-tone telephone technologies, and of course one of the largest e-Commerce sites on the Web," said Neal Goldstein, Senior Vice President, Architecture and Planning for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. "Having a neutral clearinghouse like the Business Internet Consortium where we can work collaboratively with leading vendors on critical issues and establish new solutions that will drive e-Commerce will prove invaluable to our customers." Regulatory compliance: 1000-11051.

Ford Motor Company:

More information on the company is available at www.ford.com.

ImageX.com:

More information on the company is available at www.imagex.com.

Reuters:

According to Mike Sayers, Reuters Chief Technology Officer, "The goals of the Business Internet Consortium are consistent with the vision of Reuters, which is to make financial markets really work on the Internet for our customers. Reuters has always delivered its news and financial products utilizing the leading edge technologies of the day. By participating in the consortium, Reuters can help shape the e-Business technologies and strategies that will affect our clients in the future. The consortium will add a level of clarity to the future of e-Business by proposing best practices, standards and architectural direction. Reuters looks forward to being a contributor to this much needed effort."

More information on the company is available at www.reuters.com.

Note to Editors: Third party marks and brands are property of their respective holders.