Kalido Provides Fresh Insight to Companies With Multiple ERP Systems; New Integration Software Helps Shell Oil Products Solve Its Information Challenges.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 2001

Kalido Ltd., (Kalido) a provider of information integration software, today announced that it can now radically improve the value of organizations' Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) using its ground-breaking KALIDO information integration software.

The software unobtrusively maps data relationships regardless of the system type, which gives organizations a unique information integration capability.

Despite millions of dollars and hundreds of hours spent on elaborate ERP implementations, organizations are still struggling to use the information collected in these systems to make better business decisions and improve performance. Trying to unlock such information is a key focus for the world's leading companies, who crave for a reliable overall perspective of an enterprise's performance.

One organization, which has recognized that coherence is key to a global outlook, is the Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies (Shell), which operates in around 130 countries, income of US $24,036 million and employs over 90,000 people world-wide. Kalido observed that whilst information was circulating through the company, it wasn't flowing quickly enough nor comprehensively enough to accommodate changes within the organization. There was, as Kalido calls it, an 'information disconnect.' Using the KALIDO software, Shell's Oil Products business has now been able to liberate business information, previously frozen within ERP systems.

"We now have a cost-effective, easy-to-use global solution that can help unlock data in all of our IT systems and deliver vital management information. Before the KALIDO software, we would not have been able to do this so effectively," said Jim Smitheman VP of Financial Management Information, Shell Oil Products.

Using the KALIDO software, the company designed an information management system, which made light work of the company's large and disparate data sources. As an open and agile product able to support multiple ERPs and other systems, the KALIDO software was the ideal choice. It is designed to recognize the fact that product structure, organizational structure, product categories, geographical boundaries and other business dimensions change over time -- which makes it flexible enough to accommodate any business model and analyses based on "what was," "what is," and "what if" scenarios.

Andy Hayler, CEO, Kalido Ltd, said, "Typically, global companies have more than one ERP implementation/system, each being used in different divisions and geographic locations and coming from a variety of technology vendors. It's this inherent complexity that is the key frustration for information integration attempts. In short, integration for multiple-ERP, until the KALIDO software arrived, has been a nightmare."

In a softening economic environment, it is more important than ever that companies get timely, accurate, consistent data for performance management. This requires information integration across disparate systems -- a complex, costly and slow process especially for global enterprises. ERP promised to provide the integrated view of the world, but has not fulfilled this promise since large companies have multiple ERPs implementations/systems, and much of the information is outside ERP. The KALIDO solution provides a unique information integration platform for large companies to get accelerated business insight.

For more information on Kalido technologies and services, phone [phone] (EMEA), 203/245-3384 (North America) or [phone] (Asia/Pac), or visit the Kalido website at www.kalido.com.

About Kalido Limited

Kalido Ltd., a software venture from the Royal Dutch / Shell Group (Shell), provides information integration solutions for reference data integration and federated data warehousing. Kalido Ltd and its affiliates have world-wide operations in US, Europe and Australia providing sales, high-level consulting, technical support and training. Kalido Ltd works closely with large system integrators for the deployment of the global projects. KALIDO(TM) has been implemented in over 85 countries world-wide with multi-nationals such as Shell, Unilever and Philips. For more information on the company, visit the web site at http://www.kalido.com.