IBM and i2 Extend B2B Alliance with Preferred e-Market Hosting Relationship; iStarXchange Among First To Benefit

Business Wire, Nov 7, 2000

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2000

IBM (NYSE:IBM) and i2 Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ITWO) today announced that IBM has been selected as a preferred Web hosting provider for i2 TradeMatrix Solutions(TM).

i2 TradeMatrix allows businesses to create both private and public marketplaces, while improving the efficiencies of all participants. i2 TradeMatrix is a second-generation e-marketplace solution that supports all the relationships and interactions between a company, its suppliers and its customers. This relationship is intended to provide increased time-to-value for e-market participants through a secure, scalable, global Web hosting infrastructure.

IBM Global Services, a world leader in hosting and e-business services, offers an unparalleled range of Web hosting services, from basic colocation to fully outsourced Web hosting. The company recently announced plans to open as many as 65 new IBM e-Business Hosting Centers in the U.S. and in Europe. IBM has already been selected to provide Web hosting services for a number of e-marketplaces, including iStarXchange, an e-marketplace serving the $100 billion U.S. automotive replacement parts market for the service and repair industry.

"iStar's business depends on a smooth implementation and operation of TradeMatrix," said John Bye, Director of Technology Architecture, iStarXchange. "I have been continually impressed with the caliber of technical expertise and the completeness of solution that i2 and IBM bring to our hosted marketplace. We couldn't do it without them."

"We've hit on a powerful combination," said Rusine Mitchell-Sinclair, general manager, Managed e-business Services, IBM Global Services. "We are seeing strong demand for e-marketplace hosting services, and this agreement will provide i2 customers with a secure, flexible environment for their e-business hosting needs."

"Selection of a strategic hosting provider is key to the overall success of an e-market project," said Karla Schacht, chief information officer, i2. "We chose IBM as a preferred global hosting provider because of their ability to deliver the flexible, reliable, scalable, high-performance Web hosting services e-marketplaces require to be successful."

IBM and i2's preferred Web hosting relationship enhances the IBM-i2-Ariba Alliance to jointly deliver an end-to-end e-marketplace solution. The Alliance partners currently power more than 200 e-markets worldwide. With more than 6,000 trained specialists dedicated to helping customers deploy and implement e-marketplace solutions, the Alliance provides the only e-marketplace solution that includes software, consulting, systems integration, and hosting services. The Alliance has recently won many large worldwide contracts to build major exchanges for consortiums such as Volkswagen, e2Open, Rubber Network, Worldwide Retail Exchange, eHospital Europe, and Omnexus, a plastics exchange.

About IBM:

IBM Global Services is the world's largest information technology services provider, with 1999 revenues of approximately $32 billion. Services is the fastest growing part of IBM, with more than 138,000 professionals serving customers in 160 countries. IBM Global Services integrates IBM's broad range of capabilities -- services, hardware, software and research -- to help companies of all sizes realize the full value of information technology. For more information visit www.ibm.com/services/webhosting.> About i2:

i2 is creating real value for its global e-business customers through its i2 TradeMatrix solutions, content and marketplace platform. i2 TradeMatrix allows businesses to create both private and public marketplaces, while improving the efficiencies of all participants. i2 provides a wide variety of collaborative e-business services for both the early stages and the next generation of e-business adoption, with each service supported by decision optimization, transaction management and content management solutions. Founded in 1988, i2's mission is to deliver $75 billion in value to its customers by 2005. i2 is headquartered in Dallas, has more than 5,000 employees and maintains offices worldwide. Visit i2 at www.i2.com.

i2 is a registered trademark of i2 Technologies, Inc. i2 TradeMatrix, TradeMatrix and the i2 logo design are trademarks of i2 Technologies, Inc.

Cautionary Language

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the customer's ability to implement i2 solutions successfully or to achieve benefits attributable to i2 products. For a discussion of factors which could impact i2's financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, please refer to i2's recent filings with the SEC, particularly the Form 10-K filed March 22, 2000 and Form 10-Q filed Aug. 14, 2000.