Tempe, AZ August 12, 2002 e-Business giant IBM has teamed with Vastera, a provider of global trade management software, to jointly offer solutions for the public sector with the goal of helping companies trade more effectively around the world.
IBM also has licensed Vastera's TradeSphere software for the United States and Canada.
"As the world's largest information technology provider, IBM ships its products all over the world," said Tim Fielder, Americas distribution director at IBM. "Our deployment of Vastera's software supports the strategic alliance to jointly market TradeSphere running on IBM technology and implemented by IBM Global Services."
IBM and Vastera said their alliance will address the increasingly costly challenge of moving goods across international borders and managing the information flow. According to a recent study published by Penn State University, so-called "Global 2000" companies stand to save over $30 billion annually by leveraging global trade management best practice processes and technologies.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will jointly market Vastera's TradeSphere software running on IBM's e-Server platforms and using IBM's WebSphere e-business infrastructure software. Vastera will also enable TradeSphere to operate on IBM's DB2 database. In sales to new customers, Vastera will lead with IBM technology.
IBM will also provide consulting, customization and integration services for joint IBM and Vastera solutions.
"Global trade management solutions offer considerable financial returns to companies conducting business internationally," said Mark Ferrer, president and CEO of Vastera. "By entering into a strategic alliance with IBM, we can drive significant value to our mutual clients more rapidly than ever before. First, we can give more companies in North America and Europe quicker access to our solutions through IBM's extensive network. Second, by offering our solutions that include IBM e-Servers, business software and databases, we can enable companies to get up to speed quickly and economically."
Vastera said its multi-lingual solutions automate the required global trade management processes associated with moving goods and managing trade information across borders, including complying with country-specific trade regulations, generating international shipping documents, collaborating with trading partners, performing global logistics functions and supporting the financial settlement processes. The Vastera solution is designed for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries as well as government agencies.
The partners said the joint solution can help companies increase their return on existing investments in hardware, software and training, by quickly reducing costs and cycle times associated with global procurement and fulfillment.
