Sun and Descartes Team Up To Deploy E-Business Solutions; Address Market's Need for Scalable, High-Performance Customer Fulfillment Networks - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Oct 11, 1999

The Descartes Systems Group Inc., a leading provider of e-business solutions, Tuesday announced its intent to work with Sun Microsystems, Inc., a leader in enterprise computing, to further develop and market Descartes' e-business solutions for high-performance customer fulfillment networks, aka DeliveryNets.

Descartes' DeliveryNet solutions are industry-specific application portfolios designed to help enterprises create and operate high-performance fulfillment networks. These solutions combine event-based data collection with real-time supply chain monitoring and control, enabling dynamic optimization of fulfillment activities across trading partner communities. DeliveryNet solutions are based on Descartes' e-Frame, an Internet-based, inter-enterprise technology architecture that enables the creation and operation of e-business communities. These solutions can be deployed on a stand-alone basis or on Descartes' Internet-based hosted application service.

Descartes DeliveryNet takes advantage of the robustness and scalability of Sun Solaris Operating Environment and extends supply chain visibility through the use of powerful Java technology-based applets. With Sun's server architecture, Descartes can deliver complex applications with broad bandwidth and support thousands of users with reliability, availability and serviceability.

Sun is using Descartes' e-Frame platforms and Global Visibility Manager to create its own DeliveryNet connecting its global manufacturing and assembly operations with its logistics service providers. Working with other Sun developers, Descartes has extended its Global Visibility Manager with new Java technology-based applets, which are being used by Sun's logistics community to give them global inventory visibility and exception-based event notification of the movement of goods, services and information across its fulfillment network. DeliveryNet has had documented successes at companies like Ericsson, winner of the Alliance for Converging Technologies Award for Excellence in Customer Fulfillment. The award was presented by Alliance chairman and noted author Don Tapscott at Momentum '99, Descartes User Conference currently underway in Atlanta. Sun and Descartes will being promoting DeliveryNet solutions immediately.

Descartes announced the successful deployment of the Descartes DeliveryNet.DSD solution's Sales and Delivery Management System 6 (SDMS 6), which has been successfully installed and running at Buffalo Rock, one of the largest privately owned Pepsi distributors in the United States. Descartes' SDMS 6 is based on Sun's Forte application development environment. SDMS 6 enables direct store delivery operations to plan, execute, control and monitor every step of their order-to-delivery cycle. Descartes will offer DeliveryNet.DSD to the consumer packaged goods and DSD market exclusively on Sun platforms.

"As an application developer and ASP building DeliveryNets for numerous trading partner communities, we require highly reliable, scalable distributed technology that can handle millions of interactions across thousands of trading partners on a real-time basis," said Peter Schwartz, chief executive officer of Descartes. "Sun computing and application development platforms have proven to be the perfect choice for Descartes."

"Descartes' DeliveryNet solutions and e-Frame architecture represent innovative e-business solutions for organizations like ourselves that wish to operate high-performance trading communities," said Jeffrey Greenwald, director of ERP and Supply Chain Markets, Market Development for Sun. "Descartes has a demonstrated track record of meeting the needs of over 850 customers in 50 countries deploying real-time command-and-control systems which optimize customer fulfillment networks." About Descartes

Descartes develops e-business solutions for customer fulfillment networks. Descartes industry-specific, prepackaged solution portfolios and its componentized applications enable companies to create high-performance customer fulfillment networks called DeliveryNets. These solutions empower organizations to deliver reliable, responsive customer service in a profitable manner and to create innovative new products and services. Descartes products are used today by more than 850 companies in 35 vertical industries and 50 countries worldwide. For more information about Descartes, visit http://www.descartes.com. FMI: http://www.sun.com