E-Commerce System offers dual-continent failover.

Press Release Summary:



With GXS Trading Grid® 2007, customers can maximize investments in B2B integration and extend global supply chains. GXS Trading Grid Online offer multi-lingual, customizable, Web-based portal that enables modification and provisioning of trading partner networks, providing real-time insight into global supply chain operations. GXS Intelligent Web Forms offers electronic representations of paper-based forms and enhances forms with dynamic processing capability for transmission via Web.



Original Press Release:



GXS Launches Trading Grid(R) 2007 Providing Customers with Breakthrough Technologies That Increase Security, Scalability, Performance and Functionality



$100 Million Investment Establishes Industry-First Dual-Continent Failover Capability, Industry-Leading Service Level Guarantees and Direct ERP Integration

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 28 /-- GXS, a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, today announced the launch of GXS Trading Grid(R) 2007. Core to this launch is GXS' new high availability architecture, Trading Grid Ultra(SM), which provides customers with industry-leading service level commitments as well as greater speed, reliability and security. Trading Grid 2007 also brings to market a new, multi-lingual, Web-based portal; additional Web forms capabilities; and a new messaging gateway enabling multi-protocol and enterprise resource planning (ERP)-system integration. With new offerings and this hardened infrastructure, GXS helps customers maximize investments in B2B integration and extend global supply chains. GXS Trading Grid 2007 also presents businesses with a compelling alternative to expensive hardware and software or do-it-yourself solutions for B2B integration.

GXS Trading Grid 2007 includes the following components:
-- Higher Reliability Including Dual-Continent Failover. Built on a blade-server architecture and supported by a high-speed switching fabric spanning GXS' global data centers, GXS Trading Grid Ultra infrastructure offers customers unmatched availability and performance. This architecture raises the bar on service availability and performance within data centers and also features a unique and innovative dual-continent failover capability for use in disaster recovery. Mirroring and remote duplication failover facilitated by a secure network between continents ensures continued operations in the shortest timeframe possible. Additional benefits of Trading Grid Ultra include on-demand capacity for traffic spikes; quick recovery from an unplanned interruption; improved storage systems with pro-active monitoring and error detection tools; and redundant hardware components with no single point of failure. GXS recently began upgrading customers from legacy platforms to Trading Grid Ultra infrastructure. These upgrades ultimately will enable every GXS customer to benefit from its next-generation B2B infrastructure.

-- Industry-Leading Service Level Guarantees. GXS Trading Grid Ultra infrastructure also enables GXS to provide customers with a baseline service level availability of 99.9 percent. In addition, customers can purchase premium service level offerings that provide guarantees of 99.95 percent availability or higher, representing an industry-leading service level commitment.

-- Innovative, Web-Based, Trading Partner Management Console. Newly available with Trading Grid 2007, GXS Trading Grid Online is a multi-lingual, customizable, Web-based portal that enables the instant modification and provisioning of trading partner networks, providing real-time insight and visibility into global supply chain operations. It also enables customers to expand trading partner networks dynamically through electronically-generated requests, to view historical reports of trading partner transactions (e.g., invoice response time, payment histories and shipment timeframes) and to accelerate trading partner adoption of B2B e-commerce initiatives.

-- Additional Forms Capabilities with Integrated Data Validation. Integrated within Trading Grid Online, GXS Intelligent Web Forms enables detailed, electronic representations of paper-based forms and then enhances the forms with rich dynamic processing capability for transmission via the Web. Targeted for enterprises seeking an easy-to-use and easy-to-deploy method for conducting e-commerce with smaller trading partners, GXS Intelligent Web Forms now can be customized to have the company's look-and-feel and to include form fields that meet a company's specific requirements and data validation rules. Intelligent Web Forms is available in nearly any language including English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese.

-- High-Performance Multi-Protocol and ERP Integration. GXS also is launching a new high-performance messaging tool within GXS Trading Grid enabling seamless integration of diverse communications protocols and message formats -- old and new -- offering customers maximum flexibility and cost advantages. GXS Shared Messaging Gateway serves as a centralized point of entry for participants in a supply chain that use disparate communications protocols, and acts as a mediator between those partners. In addition, it enables GXS to deploy new communications protocols, such as AS3, faster and cheaper than any customer could on its own. Finally, GXS Shared Messaging Gateway provides a powerful, on-demand mechanism for integration into back-office and ERP systems, such as Oracle and SAP, eliminating the need for unnecessary software and improving the integrity of information exchanged throughout an enterprise.

-- GXS SAS-70 Type II Certification Renewed. A leading independent auditing firm recently completed a Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 Type II audit of GXS. This independent review of the controls and processes within the GXS Trading Grid concluded that these controls are suitably designed and operating effectively, consistent with SAS 70 requirements.

"As a large retailer in the highly competitive grocery industry, the need for innovation and new efficiencies is a constant. GXS' e-commerce solutions have enabled us to achieve a stellar 100 percent adoption rate for the use of electronic documents among our trading partners, saving us time and money and reducing data errors," said Mark Pearson, IS director of Iceland Foods. "The size, type and technical knowledge of our suppliers and trading partners vary greatly. GXS' range of e-commerce options gives us the freedom to conduct transactions easily and in our standard of choice, while enabling our trading partners to use solutions that require no additional investment in IT resources."

As the world's largest electronic business community, GXS Trading Grid is used by more than 40,000 customers to exchange goods and services, gain visibility into global logistics operations and to synchronize product data. Businesses now can use the on-demand B2B integration capabilities of GXS Trading Grid to manage the complexity inherent in globalization, improve customer satisfaction through greater responsiveness and flexibility and enhance business results by improving B2B trading partner relationships.

"When we first unveiled GXS Trading Grid in 2004, our vision was simple: a global, shared, secure platform for cross-enterprise business process automation. Today, through the launch of GXS Trading Grid 2007, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to this concept and have taken it even further by providing customers with best-of-breed, on-demand B2B integration services to optimize global supply chains," said Gary Greenfield, chief executive officer of GXS. "Our dual-continent failover and shared messaging gateway capabilities will provide our customers with greater reliability and security and significant cost advantages. The end-result is that customers now have an alternative to deploying expensive hardware and software and can rely on GXS Trading Grid to make their businesses more efficient."

About GXS
GXS is a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce solutions that simplify and enhance business process integration, synchronization and collaboration among trading partners. Organizations worldwide, including 75 percent of the Fortune 500, leverage the GXS Trading Grid(R) to extend supply networks, optimize product launches, automate warehouse receiving, manage electronic payments and gain supply chain visibility. With an unmatched global presence, proven trading partner management and B2B outsourcing services, GXS' on-demand solutions maximize the benefits of integration for businesses.

Based in Gaithersburg, Md., GXS' extensive global network serves customers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. GXS can be found on the Web at http://www.gxs.com/.

All products and services mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies.

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CONTACT: Allison Tobin of GXS Global Media Relations, +1-301-340-4988, Allison.Tobin@GXS.com

Web site: http://www.gxs.com/

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