ePartners and fourthchannel Form Strategic Alliance to Deliver Complete eBusiness Selling Solutions

Business Wire, August 14, 2000

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2000

New Offering Provides Mid-Sized Manufacturers and Distributors

Easy-To-Use and Easy-To-Manage eBusiness Solutions

Today ePartners(TM) Inc., the leading eBusiness solutions provider for emerging middle market companies and fourthchannel Inc., a fast growing hosted eBusiness services company announced a strategic alliance. Effective immediately, ePartners will deliver consulting, implementation and integration services for fourthchannel's Internet eCommerce and configuration services.

fourthchannel's services include the transaction and configuration service profitbuilder(TM), the integration service profitconnector(TM), and XML, EDI, and EAI capabilities for direct data interchange between trading partners. ePartners will provide customers with front and back-end IT application links between fourthchannel's profitlaunch and profitbuilder eBusiness applications and a host of back office applications from companies such as Great Plains, Sage, Solomon, J.D. Edwards, Ariba, Oracle, Siebel and Peoplesoft.

As a result of this partnership, ePartners' customers will experience the advantages of sharing information between enterprise applications and their eBusiness sites. These advantages include faster, more accurate order processing, increased efficiency through better information flow, faster time-to-market for new products, and improved customer support from automated self-service Internet applications.

"We're extremely excited about adding fourthchannel to our eBusiness Integration solutions portfolio," said Stanley D. Strifler, president and CEO of ePartners Inc. Strifler also commented, "In order to thrive, emerging middle market companies must integrate their eBusiness solutions with partners, suppliers, and customers along an entire supply chain. fourthchannel's solutions enable us to make this a reality for our customers."

"By linking eBusiness solutions with existing IT systems, companies can ensure that customers have up-to-date information and that orders are immediately processed," said Lex Crosett, president and COO of fourthchannel. "Now with our relationship with ePartners, emerging middle market companies can experience the benefits that only fully integrated eBusiness solutions can provide."

With 24 offices throughout the country and more than 350 consultants nationwide, ePartners is now fourthchannel's largest solutions provider with respect to geographic coverage and professional consulting resources in the United States.

About fourthchannel

fourthchannel delivers hosted eBusiness infrastructure and services to mid-market and enterprise manufacturers and distributors. fourthchannel's products and services connect back-office and front-office systems to a full range of proprietary sales and marketing tools and technologies that facilitate an electronic commerce environment in which both complex and commodity products can be intelligently marketed and sold -- increasing revenues, widening margins, protecting brand and expanding markets. fourthchannel's services include the transaction and configuration service profitbuilder, the integration service profitconnector, and XML, EDI, and EAI capabilities for direct data interchange between trading partners. fourthchannel was recently named to Upside Magazine's "Hot 100" list of private companies with exceptional potential.

About ePartners Inc.

ePartners is the leading eBusiness solutions provider for emerging middle market companies. As a total solutions provider, the company designs, develops, implements, integrates, hosts, manages and supports comprehensive eBusiness solutions. ePartners' solution offerings extend from the back to front office and encompass the leading eERP, eCRM, ePSA, eInfrastructure, eBusiness Integration and eIntelligence technologies on the market.

The company has assisted over 7,500 customers in more than 50 industries and 45 countries by designing, implementing and managing technology solutions that power their businesses. With more than 600 employees located in 24 offices throughout the United States, ePartners has the technical and consulting resources emerging middle market companies need to effectively execute their eBusiness strategies. ePartners' breadth of experience, technical skill, ability to locally deploy consulting professionals and implement eBusiness solutions positions the company as the partner of choice for emerging middle market companies looking to compete in the digital world.

ePartners has offices in Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, three in the Boston area, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, East Brunswick, Houston, Kansas City, two in the Los Angeles area, Little Rock, Memphis, New York City, Parsippany, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Tampa and Tulsa. ePartners' international headquarters is located in Houston.

For more information go to: www.epartnersolutions.com .