Smallworld Forms Joint Venture With ivl; Partnership to Further Develop SAP-to-Smallworld Integration Product, GISConnect.

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1999--

Smallworldwide plc (Nasdaq: SWLDY) today announced it has formed a joint venture with Informationsverarbeitung Leverkusen GmbH (ivl), a software development and consulting company based in Germany, to further develop and market GISConnect, the most widely used software for integrating geographic information systems (GIS) data with SAP's enterprise resource planning systems.

In addition to work related to GISConnect, the Smallworld/ivl team will create new products designed to integrate Smallworld applications, such as its unique outage management system, Power On, and its core spatial resource planning product, Smallworld 3, even more closely to SAP's IS-U/CCS applications. The joint venture will own the resulting suite of SAP-to-Smallworld integration products. While distribution will be shared within Europe, Smallworld will have exclusive distribution rights outside Europe.

"Smallworld is today SAP's most frequent partner for spatial systems in the utilities industry. There are very many successful SAP/Smallworld implementations throughout the world," said Christoph Wobbe, Business Development Manager, IBU Utilities, SAP AG. "We welcome the opportunity to work further with Smallworld to develop additional enhancements that will strengthen customer benefits by more closely integrating our two environments."

GISConnect was created to enable Smallworld's spatial resource planning solution, Smallworld 3, used by utilities and telecommunications companies worldwide, to interact with the business databases controlled by SAP's enterprise resource planning software, R/3. In the newly deregulated U.S. utility industry and in the hypercompetitive telecommunications business, finding ways to streamline operations and improve overall business processes has become an imperative.

"GISConnect gives us the ability to create a powerful end-to-end enterprise-wide solution for companies to join their critical spatial data with their business data," said Dick Newell, chairman of Smallworld. "In doing so, utilities and communications providers are able to generate work orders, schedule resources, allocate costs and update their GIS database through a single, joined system. The end result is greater efficiency and lower cost - keys to succeeding in a competitive business environment."

GISConnect was developed with the needs of utilities and communications companies in mind. In can be implemented at any stage of an SAP or Smallworld implementation and it uses a simple, intuitive graphical user interface for installation and configuration. By then combining the best features of both product architectures, GISConnect guarantees a high-performance, robust solution that can be accessed by thousands of users.

Founded in 1993 in Leverkusen, Germany, Informationsverarbeitung Leverkusen GmbH (ivl) (http://www.ivl.de) is today a worldwide provider of software development, and SAP and GIS consulting services. It has created a variety of software products for finance and accounting, public security, youth welfare, health and social services, refugee and emigrant accommodation, construction and geographical information systems. Among its current customers are Bayerngas GmbH; GPU, Reading, PA; Powercor Australia Ltd., Melbourne, Australia; Stadtwerke Dusseldorf AG (Municipal Utility); and UNITED Energy Ltd., Melbourne, Australia. Additionally, the company provides software and consulting services to the cities of Dortmund, Essen, Cologne, Leverkusen, Mannheim, Munster, Oberhausen, Saarbrucken and Wiesbaden, as well as to the Klinikum Leverkusen gGmbH (Hospital) and the KGRZ Wiesbaden (Public Computing Center).

Smallworld (http://www.smallworld-us.com), the world's leading spatial resource planning (SRP) company, develops and markets software products that model real-world assets and services, seamlessly integrating this information across the enterprise. Smallworld's object-oriented technology offers fast implementation and easy integration so that its customers can increase revenues, improve customer service and better utilize their assets, resulting in high return on investment. Smallworld has more than 650 customers in over 40 countries around the world. The company's world headquarters are in Cambridge, England, and its headquarters for the United States, Canada and Latin America is in Englewood, Colorado. A publicly held company, Smallworldwide plc trades on Nasdaq National Market under the symbol SWLDY.

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