QAD eQ Intelligent Order Management Suite Standardizes on IBM Middleware
Announcement posted by QAD 18 Nov 2002
Combination of QAD Applications and IBM Software Deliver Fast to Implement, Integrated Solution for Mid-market Global Manufacturers
IBM and QAD (NASDAQ: QADI), a leading provider of collaborative commerce solutions for global manufacturers, today announced an expansion of their strategic alliance. Under the expansion, QAD will standardize its eQ suite of intelligent order management applications on IBMs open standards based middleware products.
Mid-market manufacturers are transforming their businesses processes with enterprise resource planning software (ERP) to be more responsive to customers, partners and suppliers in real-time. QAD brings customers closer to the On Demand computing model with the standardization of eQ on IBMs open middleware platforms.
Now, customers purchasing QAD eQ will gain a complete, intelligent order management solution with IBM's DB2, WebSphere MQ, and WebSphere Application Server technology built in. With open standards-based middleware technology pre-built into the software, customers can now integrate e-business capabilities inexpensively both internally and externally.
QAD eQ applications running on IBM's open infrastructure software will enable manufacturers to manage all aspects of commerce across different computing platforms, including buy-side and sell-side functions and supplier and customer interaction, to achieve lean manufacturing operations. By synchronizing manufacturing, supply chain and delivery processes, manufacturers can improve information flow for each trading partner's internal processes -- and across the entire supply chain to boost responsiveness to customer demand, improve customer service, and achieve significant reductions in inventory, lead time and costs.
"Today's agreement is another example of IBMs efforts to leverage our network of business partners to serve medium businesses worldwide, said Hoon-Meng Ong, vice president of Global Small and Medium Business Marketing, IBM. With QAD we are responding to global manufacturers need for On Demand technology solutions that are both fast to implement and leverage existing investments in their existing diverse computing systems. Together, QAD and IBM software offer a powerful alternative to proprietary business solutions that necessitate costly and time-consuming custom integration.
By standardizing the eQ suite on IBMs middleware technology, QAD provides multinational manufacturers a strong and flexible platform for lean enterprise operations, the supreme benchmark for manufacturing excellence, said Pamela Lopker, QAD president and chairman of the board. This strategic decision to integrate IBM infrastructure and database software reinforces our commitment of more than 23 years to delivering the benefits of collaborative commerce along with low cost-of-ownership, fast deployment, and minimal user training and maintenance requirements.
QAD eQ applications are now pre-integrated with IBM's WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere MQ, and DB2 Database Software. QAD eQ helps manufacturing companies in the automotive, food and beverage, consumer products, industrial, electronic components, and medical devices markets put intelligence into order management. The suite includes five tools: Sell-Side, a comprehensive sales order management and fulfillment application; Customer Self-Service Edition for Web-based self-service; Replenishment, a real-time, demand-based materials management application; Buy-Side, a procurement management system for centralized purchasing; and Commerce Management Framework, used to define explicit, yet flexible, representation of real-world business relationships.
"This is a brilliant strategic move by both QAD and IBM, and very responsive to the mid-market needs, said Greg Gorbach, industry analyst at ARC Advisory. Their manufacturing customers definitely win in this deal as they now get an integrated development and deployment environment, and can avoid the headaches of assembling a collaborative technology solution on their own. Manufacturing is distributed and collaborative by nature, and requires the type of tight integration capabilities that IBM and QAD can deliver."
QADs eQ and IBM WebSphere MQ, WebSphere Application Server and DB2 middleware are available immediately as a pre-integrated package. The pre-integrated solution from QAD and IBM will function in Microsoft Windows and UNIX environments including IBMs iSeries, pSeries, and xSeries eServers. Both partners will provide implementation services rich in manufacturing sector expertise, to help customers quickly take advantage of extensive functionality and open standards for collaboration capabilities that leapfrog the competition.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM works with companies of all sizes around the world to deploy a full range of IBM technologies. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.
About QAD
QAD delivers value through collaborative commerce for manufacturers, empowering enterprises to integrate diverse business processes and increase profitability. Manufacturers of automotive, food and beverage, consumer, electronics, industrial and medical products use QAD applications at more than 5,400 licensed sites in more than 80 countries and in as many as 26 languages. For more information about QAD, telephone +1 805 684 6614, or visit the QAD Web site at: www.qad.com. To receive any of QAD's press releases via facsimile, contact +1 800 356 0747, or outside the U.S. contact +1 213 253 5647.
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"QAD" and "MFG/PRO" are registered trademarks, and "QAD eQ" is a trademark, of QAD Inc.
Note to Investors: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving demand for the companys software products and products that operate with the companys products, the publication of opinions by industry analysts about the company, its products and technology, the entry of new competitors and their technological advances, delays in localizing the companys products for new markets, delays in sales as a result of lengthy sales cycles; changes in operating expenses, pricing, timing of new product releases, the method of product distribution or product mix; and general economic factors. In addition, revenue and earnings in the enterprise resource planning (ERP), e-business and collaborative commerce software industries are subject to fluctuations and the growth rates recently experienced by the company do not necessarily represent future operating results. Investors should not use any one quarters results as a benchmark for future growth. For a more detailed description of the risk factors associated with the company and the enterprise resource planning industry, please refer to the companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2001.
Mid-market manufacturers are transforming their businesses processes with enterprise resource planning software (ERP) to be more responsive to customers, partners and suppliers in real-time. QAD brings customers closer to the On Demand computing model with the standardization of eQ on IBMs open middleware platforms.
Now, customers purchasing QAD eQ will gain a complete, intelligent order management solution with IBM's DB2, WebSphere MQ, and WebSphere Application Server technology built in. With open standards-based middleware technology pre-built into the software, customers can now integrate e-business capabilities inexpensively both internally and externally.
QAD eQ applications running on IBM's open infrastructure software will enable manufacturers to manage all aspects of commerce across different computing platforms, including buy-side and sell-side functions and supplier and customer interaction, to achieve lean manufacturing operations. By synchronizing manufacturing, supply chain and delivery processes, manufacturers can improve information flow for each trading partner's internal processes -- and across the entire supply chain to boost responsiveness to customer demand, improve customer service, and achieve significant reductions in inventory, lead time and costs.
"Today's agreement is another example of IBMs efforts to leverage our network of business partners to serve medium businesses worldwide, said Hoon-Meng Ong, vice president of Global Small and Medium Business Marketing, IBM. With QAD we are responding to global manufacturers need for On Demand technology solutions that are both fast to implement and leverage existing investments in their existing diverse computing systems. Together, QAD and IBM software offer a powerful alternative to proprietary business solutions that necessitate costly and time-consuming custom integration.
By standardizing the eQ suite on IBMs middleware technology, QAD provides multinational manufacturers a strong and flexible platform for lean enterprise operations, the supreme benchmark for manufacturing excellence, said Pamela Lopker, QAD president and chairman of the board. This strategic decision to integrate IBM infrastructure and database software reinforces our commitment of more than 23 years to delivering the benefits of collaborative commerce along with low cost-of-ownership, fast deployment, and minimal user training and maintenance requirements.
QAD eQ applications are now pre-integrated with IBM's WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere MQ, and DB2 Database Software. QAD eQ helps manufacturing companies in the automotive, food and beverage, consumer products, industrial, electronic components, and medical devices markets put intelligence into order management. The suite includes five tools: Sell-Side, a comprehensive sales order management and fulfillment application; Customer Self-Service Edition for Web-based self-service; Replenishment, a real-time, demand-based materials management application; Buy-Side, a procurement management system for centralized purchasing; and Commerce Management Framework, used to define explicit, yet flexible, representation of real-world business relationships.
"This is a brilliant strategic move by both QAD and IBM, and very responsive to the mid-market needs, said Greg Gorbach, industry analyst at ARC Advisory. Their manufacturing customers definitely win in this deal as they now get an integrated development and deployment environment, and can avoid the headaches of assembling a collaborative technology solution on their own. Manufacturing is distributed and collaborative by nature, and requires the type of tight integration capabilities that IBM and QAD can deliver."
QADs eQ and IBM WebSphere MQ, WebSphere Application Server and DB2 middleware are available immediately as a pre-integrated package. The pre-integrated solution from QAD and IBM will function in Microsoft Windows and UNIX environments including IBMs iSeries, pSeries, and xSeries eServers. Both partners will provide implementation services rich in manufacturing sector expertise, to help customers quickly take advantage of extensive functionality and open standards for collaboration capabilities that leapfrog the competition.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM works with companies of all sizes around the world to deploy a full range of IBM technologies. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.
About QAD
QAD delivers value through collaborative commerce for manufacturers, empowering enterprises to integrate diverse business processes and increase profitability. Manufacturers of automotive, food and beverage, consumer, electronics, industrial and medical products use QAD applications at more than 5,400 licensed sites in more than 80 countries and in as many as 26 languages. For more information about QAD, telephone +1 805 684 6614, or visit the QAD Web site at: www.qad.com. To receive any of QAD's press releases via facsimile, contact +1 800 356 0747, or outside the U.S. contact +1 213 253 5647.
###
"QAD" and "MFG/PRO" are registered trademarks, and "QAD eQ" is a trademark, of QAD Inc.
Note to Investors: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving demand for the companys software products and products that operate with the companys products, the publication of opinions by industry analysts about the company, its products and technology, the entry of new competitors and their technological advances, delays in localizing the companys products for new markets, delays in sales as a result of lengthy sales cycles; changes in operating expenses, pricing, timing of new product releases, the method of product distribution or product mix; and general economic factors. In addition, revenue and earnings in the enterprise resource planning (ERP), e-business and collaborative commerce software industries are subject to fluctuations and the growth rates recently experienced by the company do not necessarily represent future operating results. Investors should not use any one quarters results as a benchmark for future growth. For a more detailed description of the risk factors associated with the company and the enterprise resource planning industry, please refer to the companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2001.