BURLINGTON, Mass., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Open Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:OMKT)
, a leading provider of Internet commerce software, today announced that Ingram Micro Inc., the world's leading wholesale distributor of technology products and services, has licensed its Internet commerce software, Transact(TM).
Ingram Micro will use Transact as the Internet commerce platform to develop commerce-enabled Web storefronts. Ingram Micro's implementation will allow resellers the option to use a complete turnkey offering or integrate individual modules to enhance an existing site. This will provide Ingram Micro's resellers a very high degree of flexibility in a rapidly changing electronic commerce environment.
"We chose Open Market because it offered us a complete, industry-tested solution that can be quickly implemented," said David M. Carlson, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Ingram. "It will help us set up a successful reseller hosting business on the Web for those resellers wanting a complete solution and it will allow us to commerce-enable existing Web sites for those resellers who already have sites. It was also important to us that Open Market provide multi-language, multi-currency, and related support for international commerce."
"The agreement with Ingram Micro is exciting for us because together we are establishing a new business model for the Web, based on the networked marketplace," said Gary Eichhorn, president and CEO of Open Market. "Ingram Micro is extending their distribution model by helping resellers get on the Web and by adding commerce capabilities to resellers' existing Web sites. It's a compelling proposition for Ingram Micro and their resellers because it promotes lower costs, accelerates delivery and adds value to the business transaction."
The business-to-business market is an enormous growth area in Internet commerce, with forecasts of an expected market size of $177 billion by 2001 (IDC) and $327 billion in 2002 (Forrester). Companies that are specifically contributing to this sector include manufacturers and distributors of computer supplies, scientific equipment, office and industrial supplies, replacement parts, and electronics.
More about Open Market's Transact
Open Market's Transact software for Internet commerce is used in nearly 20 countries worldwide. Transact provides the commercial backbone for some of the most popular sites on the Web today, including SegaSoft's Heat.net, BuyDirect.com, and Time Inc.'s Pathfinder, among others. It has also been adopted by large telecommunications companies and leading financial services firms as the basis for outsourced Internet commerce services that they provide to their small and medium-sized business customers. These kinds of companies, known as Commerce Service Providers (CSPs), include AT&T, NTT, BT, First Union National Bank, ICOMS, France Telecom, Barclays Bank, and others.
About Ingram Micro Inc.
Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE:IM)
, headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., is the world's leading wholesale distributor of technology products and services, and a leading provider of assembly and integration services, with 1997 sales of more than $16.5 billion. The company and its affiliates operate in 31 countries, distributing more than 145,000 products to more than 100,000 resellers in 120 countries. Ingram Micro can be found at http://www.ingrammicro.com/.
More About Open Market
Founded in 1994, Open Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:OMKT)
provides high- performance application software products and professional services that allow its customers to engage in business-to-consumer and business-to-business Internet commerce, information commerce, and commercial publishing. Among Open Market's customers are five of the world's ten-largest telecommunications firms and more than 700 publishers. The company, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, can be reached by calling 1-888-OPEN-MKT or by visiting http://www.openmarket.com/.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are Open Market's limited operating history, delays in product development, development of the Internet market, changes in product pricing policies, competitive pressures, and the risk factors detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Open Market, Transact, and We ARE Internet Commerce are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Market, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other names are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
NOTE: Ingram Micro is a trademark used under license by Ingram Micro Inc. All other logos, brand names and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.
Source: Open Market, Inc.
Contact: Media: Beth Winkowski, 781-359-7411, winkowski@openmarket.com
or Investor: Julie Lorigan, 781-359-7589, lorigan@openmarket.com both of
Open Market or Kirsten Frosh of Ingram Micro, 714-382-2727,
kirsten.frosh@ingrammicro.com
Website: http://www.openmarket.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/ or fax, 800-758-5804,
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