i2, Microsoft Ally for Supply Chain Agility

i2 to build its supply chain management solutions on the Microsoft platform

i2 to build its supply chain management solutions on the Microsoft platform

Phoenix, AZ — May 11, 2005 — i2 Technologies Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced a partnership in which i2 will be develop its supply chain management (SCM) solutions on the Microsoft platform. The companies said they expect the alliance to give users more flexibility and a lower total cost of ownership for the SCM solutions.

The alliance is intended to give businesses the ability to use and customize Microsoft Office 2003, and in particular Microsoft Office Excel 2003, as their primary interface for i2 applications.

In addition to the Microsoft .NET Framework and the Microsoft Office System, the initiative focuses on a number of Microsoft technologies, including the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003, SQL Server and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server. i2 Master Data Management (MDM) and Demand Management (DM) are the first i2 solutions targeted for development with these Microsoft technologies.

"Customers are requesting supply chain agility solutions that capture i2's domain expertise and run on the Microsoft platform," said Pallab Chatterjee, president, Solutions Operations, i2. "We're pleased to collaborate with Microsoft."

i2 said that the flexibility gained by developing i2 solutions using the Microsoft .NET Framework should help customers adapt their supply chain systems more quickly to meet the changing needs of their business. The familiarity of the Microsoft software environment should also help customers streamline efficiencies.

Because i2 solutions will use the Microsoft Office System as the interface, customers can continue working in their existing Office spreadsheets, and have the opportunity to do more with the data contained in those worksheets, using familiar and desktop tools, i2 said. Visual Studio .NET also is expected to allow customers to extend their solutions.

"Improving collaboration and performance throughout the supply chain is a component of our recently announced Peak Performance Initiative," said Charles Johnson, worldwide managing director of the Manufacturing Industry Unit at Microsoft. "This alliance is a strategic fit for us, and we're excited that i2 and Microsoft have joined forces to help customers make better, faster decisions."

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