Tuesday September 26, 4:42 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Microsoft Corp.
Microsoft and Commerce One Form
Broad Global Alliance To Drive B2B
E-Commerce Adoption
Industry Leaders to Deliver Commerce One E-Marketplace
Infrastructure Highly Optimized for the Microsoft .NET Platform
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) and
Commerce One, a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions for businesses, today
announced they are expanding and elevating their longstanding strategic relationship to
collaborate on delivery of the industry's next generation of business-to-business (B2B)
e-commerce solutions worldwide. Commerce One and Microsoft will align on a global
go-to-market strategy to drive the growth of e-marketplace adoption, including the
integration of key technologies, collaboration on XML standards, global marketing and sales
initiatives, and joint development programs.
(Photo: newscom.com ) Specifically, the
two companies will collaborate on the development and delivery of Commerce One
e-marketplace infrastructure technologies optimized for the Microsoft® .NET Platform.
Commerce One's industry expertise in delivering e-commerce solutions will be combined
with Microsoft's industry-leading technologies and products. The alliance aims to set a new
standard for delivering advanced B2B e-commerce solutions. These solutions will
maximize usage and drive e-marketplace liquidity by accelerating adoption and development
of new services. Microsoft and Commerce One already have demonstrated effective
teamwork, working with Fortune 500 clients and new e-businesses alike: The majority of
Commerce One's customers are deploying their B2B solutions on the Windows® 2000
platform. The alliance is expected to propel the global reach of e-marketplace solutions by
lowering the technical barriers to adoption and in turn enabling more buyers and sellers to
participate in marketplaces. Joint technology collaboration will further increase this
solution performance. The long-term nature of the agreement, and the significant resource
commitments, reinforce the companies' mutual strategy to offer customers enhanced
performance through a highly optimized .NET solution. ``Microsoft's alliance with
Commerce One will deliver B2B solutions to marketplace customers of all sizes and needs,
enhancing the business value of their technology investments,'' said Steve Ballmer, president
and CEO of Microsoft. ``The combination of Commerce One's global industry expertise and
marketplace solutions with the business agility of the Microsoft .NET Platform will provide
customers with increased speed to market, seamless product integration and new business
opportunities.'' Core to the alliance is the companies' collaboration on development of a
highly optimized Commerce One e-marketplace infrastructure based on Microsoft .NET
enterprise servers. The two companies will deliver an advanced e- marketplace infrastructure
that addresses three critical aspects of transforming B2B e-commerce: Enabling Global
Reach Both companies' best-of-breed technologies and tight collaboration on XML
standards, combined with Microsoft's global channel, will lay the foundation for
significantly easier integration with e-marketplaces. This foundation will endeavor to
increase the number of e-marketplace buyer and supplier on-ramps and propel utilization of
e-marketplace services driving industry adoption and liquidity. .NET-Based E-Marketplace
Infrastructure The two companies will collaborate on developing a next-generation e-
marketplace infrastructure optimized for transaction scalability and ease of administration.
Built on Microsoft .NET enterprise servers and Framework, Commerce One's leading
e-marketplace infrastructure will deliver XML standards-based solutions that maximize
buyer/supplier participation and deliver excellent price and performance. The highly
optimized e-marketplace infrastructure, which will have the scalability to power the largest
of global e-marketplaces, will initially be deployed with Commerce One's Net Market
Maker e-marketplace solution. Subsequent versions of the infrastructure will be included in
the MarketSet(TM) solution jointly offered by Commerce One and SAPMarkets, Inc.
``Microsoft and Commerce One will work to deliver an e-marketplace infrastructure that
lays the foundation for trading partners to participate in e-marketplaces,'' said Mark
Hoffman, chairman and CEO of Commerce One. ``We believe we will provide
unprecedented value to our mutual customers, by enabling them to quickly build or connect
to global e-marketplaces and conduct all their business commerce on the Web.''
E-Marketplace Optimization and Scalability The two companies also will optimize all
current Commerce One e-marketplace and e-procurement solutions for the Windows 2000
operating system and Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000, which will include support for
BizTalk(TM) Server 2000 and SOAP, as well as support for Commerce One's XML
business libraries, xCBL. Joint Development Efforts As part of the alliance, Microsoft and
Commerce One will establish a joint development lab in Redmond, Wash., for testing,
optimization, benchmarking, architecture and development of robust interoperability
between BizTalk Server 2000-based on-ramps and Commerce One e-marketplaces. In
addition, Microsoft Consulting Services will provide knowledge transfer and participate in
the design, architecture and development of the joint solutions. Both companies will offer
comprehensive and responsive product-support processes. This new level of technical
intimacy will greatly benefit customers by lowering overall integration and implementation
costs. Leading Companies Support Alliance ``We are delighted to have added Microsoft to
this team because they widely broaden and accelerate our joint e-commerce efforts.
Microsoft's unparalleled global consumer and business reach is critical to enabling liquidity
in the e- marketplace. The SAP, Commerce One and Microsoft alliance will be a very strong
engineering collaboration,'' said Hasso Plattner, co-chairman and CEO of SAP AG and CEO
of SAPMarkets, Inc. ``More than just jointly selling solutions, we are cooperating on all
levels of development to offer the next generation of e-business software. Given our success
to date and the high level of industry acceptance, we are happy to broaden this relationship
to include Microsoft and to add their expertise to a winning team.'' ``Commerce One's
expertise in delivering e-commerce solutions, combined with Microsoft's deep software
technology expertise, will be a powerful force in making e-marketplaces more scalable and
easier to use for buyers and suppliers,'' said Michael Capellas, president and CEO of
Compaq Computer Corp. ``This alliance promises to dramatically increase worldwide
adoption of e- marketplaces and help drive the world's business commerce onto the Web.''
``Commerce One has emerged as a leader in building B2B e-marketplace solutions,'' said
Joe Forehand, CEO of Andersen Consulting. ``Now, by teaming up with Microsoft,
Commerce One will be able to bring to its customers the benefits of the .NET enterprise
platform. We look forward to working with Commerce One and Microsoft in building
e-commerce solutions.'' About Commerce One Commerce One (Nasdaq ``CMRC'') is the
leader in global e-commerce solutions for business. Through its products, portals and
services, Commerce One creates access to worldwide markets, allowing anyone to buy from
anyone, any time, anywhere. The Commerce One Global Trading Web(TM) is the world's
largest business-to-business trading community. Comprised of many open e-marketplaces,
the Global Trading Web provides unprecedented economies of scale for buying
organizations, suppliers and service providers worldwide. Through its ``Dream Team''
alliance with SAPMarkets, Commerce One enables enterprises and communities of all sizes
and industries to efficiently conduct collaborative business on the Internet. Commerce One
is located in Pleasanton, Calif., and can be reached by phone at (800) 308-3838 or (925)
520-6000 or via the Internet at commerceone.com. About Microsoft Founded
in 1975, Microsoft 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. ######### Microsoft, Windows and BizTalk are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Commerce One
and Global Trading Web are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Commerce One
Inc. MarketSet is a trademark of Commerce One Inc. and SAPMarkets. The names of actual
companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking StatementsThe foregoing paragraphs include forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the
establishment of an alliance between Commerce One and Microsoft to provide a
combined e-commerce solution. These statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those described in
such statements as a result of a number of factors. These factors include but
are not limited to the risk that the parties do not execute definitive
agreements with respect to the alliance, the ability of the parties to execute
on their plans for the alliance and to continue to support the alliance and
the continued participation of buyers and suppliers in the Global Trading Web.
For a discussion of these and other risk factors that could affect Commerce
One's business, see "Risk Factors" in Commerce One's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K
for the year ended Dec. 31, 1999, and its quarterly report on Form 10Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2000.
SOURCE: Microsoft Corp. |
