IBM, JDE expand 25-year relationship with new solutions for Unix, Windows buyers

JD Edwards and IBM, expanding their long-standing partnership, recently announced powerful new pre-configured server offerings and industry-specific bundled solutions for customers looking to reduce the risk, complexity and cost of running a collaborative e-business.

With this announcement, JD Edwards becomes the first IBM Business Partner to co-market specialised IBM eServer systems for each of its currently supported platforms. The servers support JD Edwards enterprise software with IBM DB2 Universal Database, IBM TotalStorage solutions, and IBM WebSphere 3.5.4 Internet infrastructure software - each one a unique, power-packed collaborative enterprise solution on the IBM eServer of choice.

"Not only are these solutions tested, validated and configured, they are a simpler purchase and deployment experience for our customers," said Hank Bonde, executive vice president and COO, JD Edwards. "This collaborative, lower total cost of ownership offering is unique in that it brings the necessary components together for the customer and eliminates their guess work, making it easier for our customers to do business."

The new IBM eServer pSeries and xSeries servers for JD Edwards join the first IBM eServer for JD Edwards, an iSeries offering introduced last fall. The IBM eServer systems for JD Edwards are the latest example of IBM`s commitment to deliver solutions that address the unique requirements of both large and medium-sized companies. (IBM considers a medium-sized business to be a company of 100 to 1 000 employees.)

"Medium-sized business customers are now focusing their IT budgets on projects with high value and proven return-on-investment, spurring the need for proven capabilities of combined hardware and software solutions," said Per Larsen, vice president, IBM eServer Solutions Marketing, Server Group. "JD Edwards software and industry bundles, powered by IBM eServer systems, offer customers scalable, affordable, easy-to-manage and deployable solutions that are unrivalled in performance, reliability and low total cost of ownership."

Growing businesses need scaleable, readily integrated solutions that require little re-engineering and maintenance after purchase. Other JD Edwards announcements include:

* Validation of JD Edwards CRM software running natively on the IBM eServer iSeries, which addresses the "integrated CRM" buying criteria of over 4 500 mutual IBM and JD Edwards customers.

* JD Edwards Industry Bundles: CPG, Distribution, IFA, and Real Estate on JD Edwards - Consumer Packaged Goods bundle, a group of modules that encompasses core functionality utilised by CPG manufacturer/distributors.

The bundle represents key JD Edwards functionality in the areas of financial management, procurement, manufacturing, distribution, sales order processing, asset management and customer and supplier self-service. The CPG bundle allows business-to-business trading companies to quickly and cost-effectively implement collaborative solutions, resulting in increased revenue, decreased costs, improved asset utilisation, and, as a result, time to focus on fostering product innovation and enhancing competitive advantage.

JD Edwards - IFA Solutions bundle, enterprise applications specifically designed for industrial manufacturers and distributors. The grouping represents JD Edwards functionality in the areas of financial, asset, sales order and quality management; procurement; distribution; and customer and supplier self-service, among others. The self-service offerings enable true collaboration, and the integrated enterprise offerings help drive immediate results in cost reduction, asset optimisation, and revenue growth, which is critical for the asset-intensive and highly competitive IFA industry.

JD Edwards - Wholesale/Distribution bundle, a grouping of JD Edwards enterprise applications specifically designed to meet warehousing and distribution needs. The bundle represents functionality in the areas of financial, asset, sales order and quality management; procurement; distribution; and customer and supplier self-service, among other offerings. The Warehouse Management module provides users with the flexible, automated support needed to efficiently run a fast-paced, high-volume warehouse operation, resulting in increased revenue, reduction of the cost of doing business, optimisation of assets and a renewed focus on key competencies and the monitoring of performance indicators.

JD Edwards - Real Estate bundle, modules that encompass core JD Edwards functionality to manage both commercial and corporate real estate operations. The grouping represents key functionality in the areas of financial management, distribution, human resources, payroll, service and warranty management and project management. By using sophisticated workflow engines, the JD Edwards Real Estate offering increases customers` revenue, decreases costs and optimises assets, providing the real estate management industry with the benefits of collaborative commerce.

"The availability of JD Edwards OneWorld Xe in combination with the IBM xSeries, DB2 software and WebSphere was a very attractive offering for us in terms of total cost of ownership, ease of installation and ability to grow as our business grows," said Mike Holmes, senior vice president, Information Technology, AmerUs Group.

The new IBM eServers for JD Edwards come packaged with:

* IBM WebSphere 3.5, a rich e-business application deployment environment with a complete set of application services, including capabilities for transaction management, security, clustering, performance, availability, connectivity and scalability. WebSphere offers the most comprehensive e-business platform to extend, automate, integrate, personalise, build, deploy and grow a company`s e-business solution.

* IBM DB2 UDB, preferred by JD Edwards for its enterprise software on Unix, and one of JD Edwards` two preferred Windows-environment databases for JD Edwards OneWorld Xe enterprise software. DB2 is the world`s most popular database with 34.6% market share in 2001, as noted by Gartner Dataquest in their 6 May 2002 report "DBMS Software Market: Flat but Not Calm". In addition, a recent independent analysis by MarketMagic Research reported, "IBM DB2 Database software delivers lower total cost of ownership than Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle 9i". According to Paul Nerger, Chairman of MarketMagic Research: "We were surprised. And we think that our clients will also be surprised with the findings of our latest report - IBM DB2 saves money over both Oracle and Microsoft when used to implement JD Edwards OneWorld Xe."

* IBM TotalStorage integrated solutions for JD Edwards work together seamlessly to speed implementation. Companies can maximise current infrastructure investments and help reduce risk with IBM TotalStorage, a complete selection of cross-platform storage offerings that cover storage networking, disk, tape, software and services. An optional component, IBM TotalStorage solutions comprise the highest performance and most affordable mid-range disk storage available today for high-speed fibre array storage technology (FAST) implementations.