Inovis Meets AS2 Needs of Retailers and Suppliers with BizManager.

Business Editors

ATLANTA & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2004

Named AS2 Vendor of Choice by 750 Trading Partner Networks;

Receives eBusinessReady(TM) Certification

Inovis, a leader in business commerce automation solutions, today announced at the Retail Systems 2004 Conference and Exposition, that it has deployed its Internet Electronic Data Interchange (EDI-INT) solution at more than 750 sites, helping retailers and their critical suppliers to create trading hubs. Based on Applicability Statement 2 (AS2) standards adopted by the consumer packaged goods and retail industries, major retailers have selected Inovis as a preferred partner for establishing AS2 connectivity as the foundation for trading partner communications, enabling them to strengthen supplier relationships, improve customer service and satisfaction and increase revenues.

Providing a solution for trading partner communications and connectivity, the Inovis BizManager family of products enables organizations to effectively manage business relationships, reduce network costs and increase efficiencies through secure, real-time data exchange. Established retail chains such as Ace Hardware, PETCO and Gottschalks have turned to Inovis to create comprehensive trading hubs that support AS2 and generate quick return on investment and positive business impact on value chain performance. Increasing adoption of AS2 has also been influenced by major retailer mandates that suppliers and manufacturers implement EDI-INT AS2 to connect, communicate and collaborate electronically with trading partners.

"Internet EDI transaction volume has been increasing steadily during the past six quarters at a 50%-60% growth rate, and we expect this to continue through 2005/06," said Carl Lehmann, vice president of technology research services at META Group. "Spawned by major retailers' endorsement of EDI-INT AS2 Internet transport technology and the recommendation that its suppliers move toward UCCnet's GlobalRegistry for product item synchronization, most consumer packaged goods (CPG) organizations and retailers are seeking improvement in their B2Bi strategies and techniques."

Suppliers and retailers have heeded the advice and acted. AS2 describes how EDI and other data can be transmitted securely over the Internet using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Committed to providing small, mid-market and large-scale organizations with secure data transformation solutions that enable flexible, easy and cost-effective communication regardless of connectivity, data format or technology, Inovis is well positioned to meet the growing demand from retailers and suppliers for emerging industry standards like AS2 and proven technologies such as EDI and XML.

"Inovis continues to see a great deal of interest from manufacturers and suppliers looking to comply with retailer mandates, as well as to create an AS2 platform for business messaging, connectivity and integration with their own trading partner communities," said Michael Croxton, senior vice president of marketing for Inovis. "Our proven experience working with suppliers and retailers to enable their end-to-end business commerce processes makes Inovis a trusted and reliable partner for all commerce-related activities today and in the future."

The BizManager product suite has received certification from eBusinessReady(TM) an industry neutral software testing program under joint partnership with the Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC) and Drummond Group Inc. The test round represents the largest group of participants since the program's inception, with Inovis solutions named as one of 35 software products from 30 U.S. companies having successfully passed interoperability testing for AS2 specifications, further demonstrating the worldwide growth and acceptance of the AS2 standard by retailers and suppliers.

Inovis will be exhibiting at booth # 330 at Retail Systems 2004 Conference and Exposition at the Lakeside Center, McCormick Place, in Chicago, May 17-19.

About Inovis

Inovis, Inc. is a leader in providing business commerce automation solutions that facilitate the effective management of retail, supply and manufacturing partnerships. With more than 20 years of experience and almost 20,000 customers, Inovis provides a complete line of B2B software and managed services. These solutions enable companies to optimize profitability through timely and efficient communications with their trading partner communities. For more information visit www.inovis.com.

Inovis is a trademark of Inovis, Inc.