Press Releases
CONTACT: Jean Barnes
Covast Corporation
(404)812.7157
jbarnes@covast.com Microsoft Business Solutions Previews Microsoft Business Network Upcoming Solution Will Help Businesses Connect With Partners, Vendors and Customers Powerfully and Seamlessly at a Low Total Cost of Ownership ORLANDO, Fla. - March 19, 2003 - Microsoft Business Solutions today
previewed Microsoft® Business Network, the working name for an interconnected
solution that will help small and medium-sized businesses automate the way they
collaborate with their customers, vendors and other business partners. The solution
was highlighted at Convergence 2003, Microsoft Business Solutions' annual North
American customer conference.Microsoft Business Network will help businesses
get connected and integrate seamlessly and powerfully across their business
ecosystem. Integration capabilities in Microsoft Business Network will eliminate
the need for data re-entry, let businesses use Microsoft Office (the Outlook®
messaging and collaboration client and Excel) to extend Microsoft Business Solutions
applications, and enable easy integration with virtually any other application
via Microsoft BizTalk® Server.It also can significantly lower the total
cost of ownership with easy installment and use, no added transaction fees,
a dependable and reliable architecture, and assisted peer-to-peer design for
flexible deployment.
As a key proof point of Microsoft Business Solutions' vision to deliver interconnected
technology and services to small and medium-sized businesses, Microsoft Business
Network will be powered by Web services and Microsoft .NET, and will connect
people and processes across devices, technologies and locations. Extensible
Markup Language (XML) also will be a component of the solution, standardizing
previously incompatible data and making it easier and more cost-effective for
businesses to share information and transact with one another.
Microsoft Business Network also will include built-in support for electronic
data interchange (EDI), an established means for managing the computer-to-computer
exchange of business data in standard formats. Microsoft Business Network will
support generic EDI with XML standards and approaches; it also will go beyond
generic support by including interoperability with other EDI standards and the
more traditional EDI data transports.
To deliver optimal EDI interoperability, Microsoft Business Solutions is working
closely with several key business partners. Covast Corp. will provide EDI technology
to be used as part of Microsoft Business Network connectivity services. Selected
EDI maps from eBridge Software Inc. also are planned to be used as part of the
first release of Microsoft Business Network. eBridge also will be customizing,
extending and enhancing Microsoft Business Network with companion applications
that go beyond those offered out of the box in version 1.0. vSync is another
partner that will be working with Microsoft Business Network on customization
and enhancement.
Covast is enthusiastic about Microsoft Business Network. "Strong alliances
like the one we enjoy with Microsoft Business Solutions lead to superior technology
for businesses that want to solve problems with new and innovative approaches,"
said Jim Norton, executive vice president at Covast. "I am confident that
the capabilities delivered by Microsoft Business Network will play a key role
in the business group's vision to help customers transform their business environment
according to their unique circumstances and growth goals."
Microsoft Business Network is the next stage in the evolution of bNexus, which
was developed in Latin America in 2000; the local success of bNexus signaled
the need to expand the solution globally. In future releases, Microsoft Business
Network will be enabled for further Web services integration with Microsoft
Business Solutions-Navision® VIP, a solution that will ship in Denmark this
year. Microsoft Navision VIP will integrate Web services providers such as credit
checking services and shipping tracking services directly into applications
used by Microsoft Business Network customers.
Microsoft Business Network is expected to be released in beta in April with
a release to manufacturing in North America and Brazil planned for June and
launches in Mexico and Argentina 30 to 60 days later.
About Microsoft Business Solutions
Microsoft Business Solutions, a business group of Microsoft, offers a wide
range of integrated, end-to-end business applications and services designed
to help small, midmarket and corporate businesses become more connected with
customers, employees, partners and suppliers. Microsoft Business Solutions'
applications optimize strategic business processes across financial management,
analytics, human resources management, project management, customer relationship
management, field service management, supply chain management, e-commerce, manufacturing
and retail management. The applications are designed to provide insight to help
customers achieve business success. More information about Microsoft Business
Solutions can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/businesssolutions/.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader
in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower
people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
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Microsoft, Outlook, BizTalk and Navision are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Business Solutions ApS
or their affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.
Microsoft Business Solutions ApS is a subsidiary of Microsoft
Corp.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein
may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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