IBM Provides New E-Commerce Solution to Endorsia

Endorsia International AB, the leading industrial premium brand network for buyers and sellers in the industrial supply chain, has chosen IBM (NYSE: IBM) to deliver Endorsia's new e-commerce B2B solution in eighty-five countries. The five-year agreement with IBM to deliver the new e-commerce solution and agreements for maintenance and migration services of the existing e-commerce solution, before it is phased out, are worth a total of ninety-five million SEK. The new e-commerce platform, based on IBM Software Websphere Commerce and Websphere ESB, will make trade and information sharing easier and more cost effective.

IBM will also be responsible for the implementation, integration and application management of the solution, to be hosted at an IBM datacenter running on IBM POWER AIX systems.

Swedish company Endorsia offers buyers and sellers a single point of contact for trading industrial products with the aim of reducing the cost of order processing. The Endorsia solutions and services are used by more than 8,000 distributors daily.

During the past three years, transactions on the Endorsia system have more than doubled, and last year the system handled more than twelve million transactions. Endorsia's extensive growth led to the need to upgrade the e-commerce platform, increase performance, expand transaction capacity, and enable the development of new services and the expansion of business areas.

"We wanted to refine and expand our service to our current customers, both on the selling and buying side of the business, as well as supporting new business areas and industrial segments," said Joakim Winggren, President Endorsia International AB. "IBM was the natural choice as they were the only supplier with the global capacity we require. E-commerce is our key business and therefore we needed a partner in the front-line of this area. IBM will be able to support us with the latest technology and strategic insights that will help us expand into new markets and offer new services within our industrial network."

"This agreement with Endorsia demonstrates IBM's expertise in supporting international businesses regardless of size," said Johan Ekesiöö, CEO, IBM Sweden. "We are providing customers like Endorsia with a cost effective structure and access to industry and solution experts with our extensive global delivery capability."

The agreement to deliver the new e-commerce solution was signed in March 2008 and the project is already underway. The agreements to deliver maintenance and migration services of the existing e-commerce solution were signed in April 2008.

Endorsia International AB, is a leading industrial premium brand network creating value for buyers and sellers in the industrial supply chain. Endorsia offers buyers and sellers a single point of contact for buying and selling, aimed at reducing the cost of order processing. Represented in eighty-five countries, the Endorsia solutions and services are used by more than 8,000 distributors daily. Thousands of users log on to Endorsia every day to find valuable information and to purchase industrial products.

Source: IBM