May 8, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. and GXS, a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, today announced a strategic alliance to market innovative solutions to speed and simplify integration between trading partners worldwide.  The alliance focuses on enabling B2B integration initiatives across organisations’ global supply chains, through a combination of software and services that includes Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2006, SQL Server™ 2005, the 2007 Microsoft Office system and GXS Trading Grid®. Through the relationship, the companies will jointly market their leading B2B solutions to help ensure that organisations of all sizes, in any geography, can build real-time, collaborative B2B networks that connect their trading partners across supply chains.

“Businesses of all sizes continue to demand highly scalable and affordable B2B solutions that connect their trading and business partners,” said Sanjay Parthasarathy, corporate vice president of the Developer and Platform Evangelism Group at Microsoft.  “These solutions must bridge the information worker, developer and IT professional to deliver a seamless experience for customers.  We are pleased that GXS is supporting key Microsoft technologies in the Trading Grid and will be bringing a Microsoft and GXS solution for real-time B2B collaboration to businesses nearly anywhere in the world.”

Key details of the alliance follow:

• GXS will employ Microsoft technology in the GXS Trading Grid to speed and simplify integration between businesses.  Because GXS is using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 and SQL Server 2005 technology in the GXS Trading Grid, customers can extend existing internal investments on Microsoft .NET Framework-based technologies outside their enterprise through seamless integration with business partners.
• GXS has developed a Grid-Ready solution using BizTalk Server 2006 available to businesses worldwide.  The use of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 with the GXS Trading Grid offers businesses a unique platform spanning the desktop, server and services software they can use in all B2B scenarios to drive their success.  A BizTalk Server 2006-based Grid Ready solution will be made available to the GXS customer base of more than 40,000 customers worldwide, providing them with a simplified way to integrate with anywhere from one to hundreds of business partners simultaneously.
• Microsoft names the GXS Trading Grid the recommended global B2B network for BizTalk Server 2006.Microsoft is recommending the GXS Trading Grid because of its seamless operation with BizTalk Server 2006 and GXS’ unique global reach, which spans more than 150,000 trading partners and 40,000 customers.
• Microsoft and GXS plan to collaborate to enable and improve integration between the desktop and the supply chain.  Together the companies plan to revolutionise the way information workers participate in B2B processes with their trading partners.  GXS plans to simplify the integration of diverse standards and protocols, enabling users of the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Microsoft Dynamics™ to rapidly and easily automate their business processes with their customers and suppliers.

“Now GXS can drive the next wave of B2B innovation and integration because of the powerful capabilities delivered by Microsoft .NET Framework-based technologies, including BizTalk Server.  This is particularly true for companies that need cost-effective tools to keep up with the numerous and often changing integration standards of larger trading partners,” said Gary Greenfield, chief executive officer at GXS.  “By working with GXS and naming the GXS Trading Grid as its recommended network for BizTalk Server, Microsoft is enabling customers of all sizes to transform their supply chains from necessary burdens into tools for growth and opportunity.”

The GXS Trading Grid is GXS’ unique global integration platform that enables and streamlines cross-enterprise business processes.  The Trading Grid is the world’s largest electronic business community, used by more than 40,000 customers to exchange goods and services.  As a service-oriented architecture B2B platform, the Trading Grid helps customers automate global trading communities by shielding complexity from rapidly changing standards, eliminating manual and duplicative efforts, and enabling a new level of process integration and business intelligence.

According to Gartner in its report Cool Vendors in B2B Integration and Managed File Transfer1, “emerging approaches and revitalised traditional approaches to multi-enterprise integration give users more choice for business-to-business projects.  Mainstream companies are beginning to take advantage of the fact that business-to-business deployments often quickly show value and high return on investment.”

About GXS

GXS is a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce solutions that simplify and enhance business process integration and collaboration. Organisations worldwide, including more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, leverage the GXS Trading Grid to achieve the perfect balance between supply and demand. Active in the global standards arena, GXS enables customers both large and small to connect with global partners, synchronise product information, optimise inventory levels and demand forecasts and accelerate the execution of supply chains.
Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., GXS provides sales and support to businesses and their partners worldwide. For more information, visit our Web site at www.gxs.co.uk.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

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For further information please contact:
Louise Matthews, Harvard Public Relations Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8759 0005 / +44 (0) 7909 524 426 Email: gxs@harvard.co.uk

Denise Oakley, Director, Marketing Programmes International, GXS
Tel: +44 (0) 1932 776408 / +44 (0) 7768 537 481 Email: denise.oakley@gxs.com

 

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Gartner, Cool Vendors in B2B Integration and Managed File Transfer, 2006, by L. Frank Kenney and Benoit J. Lheureux, March 16, 2006.
Microsoft, BizTalk and Microsoft Dynamics are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.