IBM and SunGard Strategic Alliance To Deliver Integrated Solutions That Speed Financial Transaction Settlements

Business Wire, March 14, 2002

Business Editors

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. AND NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2002

Alliance Will Serve Customers In The Financial Services Industry,

Including Capital Markets and Retail Brokerage

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and SunGard (NYSE: SDS) today announced a strategic alliance in the financial services industry that will assist customers in deploying straight-through processing (STP) solutions which support the industry-wide effort to speed the settlement of financial transactions.

The companies will initially target capital markets, with specific focus on investment management, broker/dealer and custodian and private banking segments.

As trade volumes increase and regulators mandate shorter time to settlement - particularly T 1 in the United States, the settlement of financial transactions in one day - customers must be prepared to process and settle transactions with greater speed and accuracy. SunGard's breadth of experience and global coverage in this space, combined with leading IBM hardware, middleware and consulting services, provides customers with an integrated solution that unifies the front, middle and back offices.

According to Tower Group, the financial services industry will invest $19 billion on STP solutions, including the new T 1 processing requirements. Ninety-nine percent of the total investment will be used for process, information technology (IT) infrastructure and application investment, as well as training, development and delivery.

The IBM, SunGard Alliance offers a number of point and integrated solutions that support the management, trade, processing and accounting of financial assets. Under the terms of the agreement, SunGard will port a number of its leading financial services applications to IBM eServer(a) pSeries(a), zSeries(a) and iSeries(a) hardware and will expand its use of DB2(a) database software and the WebSphere infrastructure software platform, including the MQ family of information integration products.

SunGard's Global Plus, a real-time, multi-currency, asset management and accounting platform; WorldLend, a multi-platform client-server solution for securities lending; and Omni IC, a real-time multi-platform system for domestic or global custody accounting will be incorporated as leading components in IBM's financial services solutions suite. The new solutions from these two financial services sector leaders combined into IBM's STP Workbench will provide tools, technology and shared services enabling integration of old and new enterprise-wide applications, and technology for highly available, secure financial transaction processing.

IBM also plans to use SunGard's BrokerWare, a messaging/middleware platform that allows a financial institution to offer both its customers and its brokers full online trading and portfolio management capabilities, as part of its Front Office and integrated Wealth Management offerings. IBM will also expand its Global Services financial services integration practice to include specialists focused on providing consulting, customization and services for IBM and SunGard financial services solutions.

"SunGard is a leader in providing integrated IT solutions, particularly in the area of helping customers achieve shorter settlement times on trades," says Elaine Sullivan, general manager of IBM global financial markets. This is critical, as impending regulations demand that trades be eventually settled within one day, as opposed to the three to five days. SunGard's solution, coupled with IBM's hardware, middleware and services, will allow our customers to meet T 1 requirements."

Mack Gill, SunGard's director of alliance programs, added, "We are excited about working so closely with IBM, especially because it signals a commitment to bring best-of-breed technology and support to our mutual clients. IBM has been a close integration and platform partner for some time, and we will use this new initiative to bring our clients even greater operational efficiencies by strengthening an already superior STP solution set."

The SunGard strategic alliance is another example of IBM's commitment to go-to-market with leading independent software vendors (ISVs) through the PartnerWorld for Developers program (www.developer.ibm.com). Under this initiative, IBM has signed agreements with recognized software leaders. These alliances target industries such as financial services, retail, manufacturing, and solution segments including enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, customer relationship management and business intelligence. The goal is to provide developers with access to new customers and revenue opportunities through IBM's marketing, sales, and solutions resources. In return, developers commit to lead with IBM's middleware, server platforms, and services in offerings to customers.

About IBM PartnerWorld for Developers

PartnerWorld for Developers is the developer resource for IBM Business Partners. It is a worldwide program designed to help software developers reach broader markets, lower their costs of doing business, and take their products to market faster. For more information, visit http://www.ibm.com/partnerworld/developer, or call 1-800-627-8363 in North America, 1-770-835-9902 outside North America.