Orlando, Fla. — March 22, 2004 — Inovis, a provider of business commerce automation solutions, today announced that it has successfully completed its proof of concept with Microsoft® Business Network, enabling small and mid-sized businesses to link to their network of suppliers and customers through the fully automated Microsoft Business Network solution. Inovis is poised to achieve first-to-market advantage as the first Microsoft partner to provide Microsoft Business Network users with the ability to support Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to enable trading partners that do not currently support the MBN XML messaging.

Microsoft Business Solutions partnered with Inovis in October 2003 to evaluate the Inovis:Access Value-Added Network (VAN) for expanded connectivity and EDI managed services. Inovis’ robust and reliable technology infrastructure and proven expertise in partner community enablement uniquely positions the company to meet the collaboration requirements of Microsoft Business Network users.

"Data and process integration is the fabric of today’s e-business relationships," said Julio De Villasante Guzman, group product manager, Microsoft Business Network, Microsoft Business Solutions. "Microsoft Business Network’s ability to reconcile and align disparate data-sharing standards and connectivity platforms across expansive trading partner networks is critical to the success of business partner collaboration. By partnering with business commerce automation experts like Inovis, Microsoft Business Network users are assured seamless collaboration at a very low total cost of ownership."

Leveraging the requirements of early adopters of Microsoft Business Network, Inovis and Microsoft accomplished the primary goal of the initial proof-of-concept project to establish a secure and fault-tolerant link between the Inovis VAN and the Microsoft Business Network. Additionally, the evaluation team tested Inovis’ managed transformation services, delivering real-time XML/EDI translation, a first key step to facilitating trading partner collaboration for small and mid-size businesses.

"Inovis’ successful extension of the Microsoft Business Network can be credited to the flexibility of our data transformation and communications solutions," said Ilaria Derr, president and chief operating officer of Inovis. "We are committed to empowering Microsoft Business Network users with the ability to meet the needs of any trading partner regardless of existing technology or communications infrastructure."

Proof-of-concept results were unveiled during Convergence 2004, Microsoft Business Solutions’ North American customer conference, taking place March 21-24, 2004, in Orlando, Fla.

Available today, the Microsoft Business Network is a combination of on-premise software integrated with Microsoft Office, Microsoft Business Solutions applications and Microsoft BizTalk® Server and hosted Web services. Microsoft Business Solutions designed Microsoft Business Network to help businesses more easily and effectively work with their trading partners. This network enables businesses to connect their entire network of suppliers and customers through a fully automated Microsoft .NET-connected solution, increasing efficiency with a deep degree of integration throughout their business applications and lowering the total cost of business-to-business collaboration.

About Inovis
Inovis, Inc. is a leader in providing business commerce automation solutions that facilitate the effective management of retail, supply and manufacturing partnerships. With more than 20 years of experience and almost 20,000 customers, Inovis provides a complete line of B2B software and managed services. These solutions enable companies to optimize profitability through timely and efficient communications with their trading partner communities. For more information visit www.inovis.com.

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