Cincom "Event-Enables" Manufacturing With Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2004

CINCINNATI, Ohio - May 17, 2004 - Today, Cincom Systems, Inc. announces the availability of its latest release of Environ, built on Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 and the Microsoft Windows® Server 2003 platform.

Cincom's Environ provides an "event-enabled environment" that addresses the needs of manufacturing companies that typically have business processes that span multiple systems of record, multiple technical architectures and platforms, and users that may include employees, customers, suppliers, and partners. Orchestrating these business processes results in the reduction and elimination of costly and error-prone manual steps.

Cincom's Environ works with Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, part of the Windows Server System, enabling companies to achieve their Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) goals by providing rich Business Process Automation (BPA) functionality and extensive Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) capabilities. The solution consists of "out-of-the-box" support for the 1,000+ transactional events that occur within the CONTROL:2004™ Enterprise Management solution as well as the ability to integrate legacy and third-party solutions within any business process or integration scenario.

"Cincom's efforts to provide functionality specific to the needs of the manufacturing industry can empower companies to capitalize on new opportunities and build next-generation solutions spanning corporate boundaries," said Eric Swift, Director of Business Process and Integration Product Management at Microsoft Corporation.

"As a member of Microsoft's Early Adopter Program, we were impressed with the dramatic improvements to BizTalk Server 2004, particularly in the areas of scalability, the addition of the business rules engine, human workflow services framework, business activity monitoring, and integration of the development environment into Visual Studio® .NET 2003, while maintaining its cost advantage over its competitors. Combined with Cincom's Environ, we offer manufacturers a solution to transform their business processes at a fraction of the cost of some of the largest ERP and enterprise software companies in the world," explains Dan Nichols, Senior Director of Product Research and Planning, for Cincom's Manufacturing Business Solutions group. Nichols goes on to say, "As events occur in any Environ connected application, they can be published or subscribed to, in real time, not only to support EAI or BPA requirements, but also to update key performance indicators on critical business initiatives enabling more timely business decisions. Without this event-enabled environment, companies are reliant on latent information which has traditionally led to analysis of the past via Business Intelligence (BI) versus real-time information to enable proactive business decisions."

Nichols concludes by saying, "Our Environ customers (with previous versions of Environ and BizTalk Server 2002) have already achieved process efficiencies that have resulted in the savings of millions of dollars, and this release will give future customers more control over the automation of their business processes, and an ability to realize these results more rapidly."

Cincom Systems, a Microsoft Certified Partner, plans to feature this joint solution during the first day of their user conference on May 24. Responding to customer interest, Cincom's Manufacturing Business Solutions group released a version of their Enterprise Management solution, CONTROL™ , on a Windows Server 2003 platform earlier this year and is participating in several Microsoft early adopter programs to extend its support of Microsoft .NET and integration with Microsoft applications.

About Cincom Manufacturing Business Solutions

Cincom Manufacturing Business Solutions are based on over three decades of experience, providing strategic value to manufacturing companies. During that time, Cincom has provided an evolutionary path for its customers through major technological changes, enabling them to keep pace without major disruption to their businesses. Cincom's knowledge of manufacturing ensures delivery of robust products with rapid implementation resulting in the fastest Return-on-Investment (ROI) and the best customer support in the industry.

About Cincom

Cincom, the world's most experienced software company, builds, sells, and supports software for data access and integration, process automation, manufacturing business solutions, and business communications. High quality, rapid implementation, and excellent service give Cincom clients greater productivity, faster speed-to-market, and a quicker return on investment. Cincom serves thousands of clients, including The Trane Company, Messier-Dowty, Harris Corporation, Alliant TechSystems (ATK), VT Shipbuilding, and GKN Aerospace. For more information about Cincom's products and services, contact Cincom at 1-800-2CINCOM (USA only), send an e-mail to info@cincom.com, or visit the company's website at www.cincom.com