Intershop introduces Enfinity MultiSite: First and only comprehensive commerce platform for global business

Intershop Communications the established provider of commerce platforms for global business, unveiled the next generation of its fully integrated e-commerce solutions to a select audience of leading commerce pioneers gathered in Berlin, Germany.

Enfinity MultiSite is the basis for new products that have been added to the existing range of successful Enfinity solutions. For the first time, global businesses can use this new enterprise-class platform to manage their proliferating, commerce-enabled sites easily and efficiently.

As companies tighten resources, organisations need solutions to manage the complexity of commerce, which can entail managing multiple business sites, divisions, geographies and practices. Enfinity MultiSite delivers a centralised management approach to a shared central repository of core e-business functionality, data and security. Intershop estimates that this will serve to cut the cost of e-business by at least half, while more than tripling the efficiency of the processes.

When recently surveyed, 54% of the companies with more than $50 million in revenues reported having no less than six and as many as 20 or more externally facing sites ("IT Managers Omnibus - Q3," Jupiter/ERI Executive Survey, October 2001). The complexity of managing this proliferation is one of the most common frustrations plaguing IT managers today.

Centralised management will enable global enterprises to leverage ready-to-use commerce functionality from a single common framework, including transaction management, order management, dynamic content management, as well as pre-built applications delivering B2B functionality including RFP and contract pricing or B2C including features such as promotions and personalisation.

"Enfinity MultiSite addresses the real complexities of commerce that must ultimately include various departments, geographies or business models," explained Carol Baroudi, founding partner of Baroudi Group, Inc. "Intershop`s commerce management was designed to address complex, diverse markets and allows global enterprises a quick route to operational efficiencies. Intershop`s strong installed base in Europe attests to its robust capabilities and the value of a coherent, well designed architecture."

The commerce landscape is perpetually evolving to support multiple business relationships and models. Using Enfinity MultiSite, companies are not restricted to centralised management, allowing for management at the business unit level or distributed model as well. Built on leading standards-based technology, Enfinity MultiSite enables enterprises to create commerce efficiency, manage commerce complexity and provide comprehensive commerce.

Using Enfinity MultiSite, IT and business line managers can:

• .         Use a single repository of core business functions, minimising administration costs;

• .         Accelerate international growth through inheritance and extension;

• .         Ensure consistent worldwide content;

• .         Share business data based on complete security infrastructureEnable workflow across the enterprise;

• .         View commerce activity from multiple sites within a company and across companies via a centralised or highly distributed business model;

• .         Integrate with existing IT infrastructure;

• .         Support for multiple business models such as sell-side commerce, procurement, marketplaces, mobile commerce, silent commerce and private trading networks.

"Intershop understands the complexity global enterprises with multiple business units face, and the need for unified commerce management," explained Stephan Schambach, CEO of Intershop. "Enfinity MultiSite delivers what global enterprises could only dream about before 3/4 a 360-degree view of commerce, across business units and around the world."

Intershop COO Wilfried Beeck adds: "It is important, especially in today`s challenging economic environment, to offer customers solutions that help them to boost efficiency and that ensure a quick return on investment. Enfinity MultiSite starts out precisely where many global companies currently see their biggest challenge: in bundling their e-commerce activity on a consistent corporate platform."

Enfinity MultiSite will be available on 1 December 2001. For more information, please visit www.intershop.com.

Enfinity Content Management

The central management facilitated by Enfinity Content Management, the first content management system seamlessly integrated into an e-commerce platform, ensures current, personalised and identical information across transaction levels at all times. By dovetailing commerce and content, it provides fast, qualified and comprehensive information to business clients and partners making business decisions. It also ensures a consistent brand image and allows for target-group specific marketing.

Enfinity Procurement Solution

In addition to their well-known sell-side cross-industry solutions for the B2C and B2B, electronic marketplace and the supplier industries, Intershop now offers a procurement solution. This further extends the MultiSite concept to extend beyond management of just sell-side, to include centralized management of a company`s entire commerce strategy. With this latest addition to Intershop`s e-business components, the procurement of goods and services can be electronically handled and managed, not only considerably reducing the costs of obtaining goods, but also saving companies time spent communicating orders through existing channels including fax, phone or mail. The Enfinity Procurement Solution seamlessly integrates procurement processes with other Enfinity solutions, enabling automation of the entire value chain for the first time ever.