Press release

3rd September 2002

Tacton and IBM WebSphere Commerce streamline sales of complex products with latest integration

The Tacton Configurator software integrates seamlessly with WebSphere Commerce to simplify the process of configuring complex products and services.

Tacton announces their integration of the Tacton Configurator with the new release of IBM WebSphere Commerce 5.4, Professional Edition and Business Edition. By adding configuration capabilities to WebSphere Commerce, the Tacton Configurator provides customers an enhanced ability to sell complex products and services; higher quality quotes and orders; quicker time-to- market; and vastly reduced selling costs.

The integration of Tacton Configurator and WebSphere Commerce results in a comprehensive eCommerce solution that enables businesses to more effectively sell a wide range of customized products and services across all sales and partner channels. The combined e-business platform meets the unique requirements of companies in the manufacturing, telecommunications, and financial services industries. WebSphere Commerce together with the Tacton Configurator provides out-of-the-box functionality for most e- business requirements. Using WebSphere Application Server, custom applications can also be built around the Tacton Configurator.

The Tacton Configurator is already integrated into earlier versions of WebSphere Commerce and WebSphere Application Server at customers such as Ericsson Enterprise and Getinge Industries.

"By using WebSphere Commerce and Tacton software, businesses are able to broaden their online offerings to include build-to-order, highly customized products for a wide range of industry sectors", said Bart Lautenbach, Director, WebSphere Commerce. "In today’s marketplace, it’s important that businesses have the ability to sell complex products and services through multiple channels, including the Internet. This capability can help extend a company’s reach and broaden their customer base".

"Tacton Systems is pleased to announce integration with IBM WebSphere Commerce V5.4", says Christer Wallberg, CEO at Tacton Systems. "When the Tacton Configurator is embedded with WebSphere Commerce, it creates a unified suite for sales support and business-to-business (B2B) of customized products and services. This is especially important for the manufacturing and telecom sectors, where the majority of products are customized or built-to-order".

Customers such as Ericsson have benefited from deploying solutions based on Tacton and WebSphere software, as evidenced by two high profile industry awards: the "Excellence Award" from British Telecom for the Ericsson UK web ordering system powered by WebSphere and Tacton, and Aberdeen Group’s selection of the Tacton "Pocket SolveIT" for their report "What Works in Europe: Ten Success Stories in Customer Relationship Management."

Tacton is an IBM International Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner and is going to market with IBM around the world. For a solution with the Tacton Configurator embedded into IBM WebSphere Commerce, please contact Tacton Systems or your local IBM representative.

About Tacton Systems
Tacton is a global vendor of sales configuration software and services, with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, subsidiary in Brighton, UK and channel partners in the USA. Tacton Configurator Solutions are used by customers such as Ericsson, ABB, Getinge and Marconi to effectively sell their customized and complex products online or offline. The Tacton Configurator™ integrates seamlessly into leading CRM, e-commerce and ERP systems. Tacton works closely with go-to-market partners such as IBM around the world. See www.tacton.com and www.tacton.com/websphere.

For more information:

Tacton:
Stefan Pessirilo, Vice President, Marketing
stefan.pessirilo@tacton.com
Klas Orsvärn, Vice President, Business Development
klas.orsvarn@tacton.com
Kungsgatan 70, 111 22 Stockholm
Tel: +46 (8) 690 07 50
Fax: +46 (8) 411 13 55

IBM:
Phil Wiley
WebSphere Business Development
wileyp@us.ibm.com
Tel: (512) 838-1757    tie line 678-1757
Fax: (512) 838-2564    tie line 678-2564