CLARUS/ALPHABLOX PARTNER FOR ADVANCED DIGITAL MARKETPLACE BI

Clarus Corporation, a leading business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce software solution provider, and AlphaBlox Corporation announced that the companies have joined forces to deliver the next generation of business intelligence solutions for today's digital marketplace. Specifically, the partnership will offer the only Web-native analytical service to enhance all Clarus B2B e-commerce offerings. The services, built on the AlphaBlox platform and the Microsoft .NET enterprise platform, will reach all buyers, sellers and marketplace hosts with Web-hosted business intelligence via a browser interface.

Clarus, already at the forefront of B2B e-commerce analytics with its Clarus View product, extends that lead with the addition of the latest technologies from AlphaBlox and the Microsoft .NET platform including Commerce Server 2000, SQL Server 2000 and BizTalk Server. Clarus View is a packaged analytic application that provides immediate access to online graphical analysis for electronic procurement and digital marketplaces. The continuous analytics are driven by key business indicators and are designed to provide valuable business information for buyers, suppliers and net market makers.

"A survey conducted at the Clarus eC Leadership conference reported that 75% of the respondents identified analytics as a critical resource requirement for their B2B e-commerce infrastructure," said Steve Hornyak, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Clarus. "Clarus will deliver a superior solution for B2B analytics by providing a packaged application that can be brought online very quickly, so digital markets can compete and thrive. The advancements of the AlphaBlox and Microsoft technologies will enable us to enhance these capabilities by accelerating the integration of disparate data sources, improving the flexibility of graphical analysis, and delivering customized analytics embedded into our solutions."

AlphaBlox, a leader in Business Intelligence (BI), provides a best-of-breed, Web-based platform and server for customized analytical applications. The platform provides value to B2B infrastructure players, because it has been optimized for the Web, offering greater levels of integration, flexibility and extensibility compared to traditional BI query tools. With its modular, open architecture, AlphaBlox provides Clarus with greater flexibility in designing, embedding and delivering analytical services to its customers' entire digital marketplace.

"Clarus has led the B2B market in adopting the latest Microsoft technologies, " said John Eng, Lead Product Manager, SQL Server Product Marketing - Business Intelligence, Microsoft Corporation. "The Clarus and AlphaBlox relationship will deliver analytical applications on the Microsoft platform, delivering speed-to-market, greater flexibility and quicker decision making for an organization's e-business initiatives."

Clarus View provides a graphical view from any browser or portal for procurement trends that will impact the bottom line, adjusted forecasts that could alter business results, and the ability for decision makers to act on this information immediately. Clarus will also utilize the AlphaBlox platform and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to improve its Action Catalysts, allowing a decision maker direct access to the business transactions taking immediate action based upon the information provided through Clarus View. Clarus View will leverage these new technologies to bring even greater agility and enhanced Web analytics for its entire B2B e-commerce suite including Clarus eMarket, Clarus eProcurement and Clarus eXpense.

"The nature of B2B marketplaces calls for transactional information to be analyzed for performance tuning or to create value added services to differentiate these digital markets," said Polly Sumner, president and COO of AlphaBlox. "An analytical infrastructure in B2B marketplaces is now becoming just as critical as the transaction infrastructure for e-businesses. AlphaBlox's flexible platform is helping Clarus' customers gain a competitive edge above and beyond what they could realize with `monolithic' query tools."

About Clarus

Atlanta-based Clarus Corporation, www.claruscorp.com, a leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, provides B2B procurement software and trading services that exploit the global marketplace of the Internet to manage corporate purchasing and enable digital marketplaces. ClarusNet, a fully managed service portal, provides a comprehensive range of critical trading services such as payment settlement, supplier enablement, auctions, integration, and analytics. Designed to provide unprecedented interoperability, ClarusNet enhances the value and speeds delivery of any B2B trading platform including Clarus eProcurement and Clarus eMarket. Microsoft recently honored Clarus with one of the highest awards possible as the Microsoft Global eCommerce Solution of the Year. Clarus solutions are being deployed at customer sites including Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp, Cinergy, Comcast Corporation, Gjensidige NOR, MasterCard International, MetLife, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Perot Systems and Wachovia.

About AlphaBlox

AlphaBlox Corporation provides the industry's only open and extensible 100% Web-based platform for delivering analytical applications that optimize eBusiness efficiencies. With AlphaBlox, companies can share and analyze information with customers, partners, and suppliers to build eBusiness communities, foster more profitable eBusiness relationships, and optimize business performance. Leveraging AlphaBlox's unique "building Blox" approach customers and partners can quickly assemble and deploy a variety of customized analytical applications for measuring and improving eBusiness operations, financial performance, customer/product profitability, distribution channels, and the supply chain. Leading Global 1000 organizations such as Deutsche Bank Securities, AT&T, SBC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Hewlett Packard, Toyota Motor Company, FedEx, Morgan Stanley, and OppenheimerFunds rely on AlphaBlox solutions to turn their information assets into strategic advantage. Additional information on AlphaBlox Corporation and its products can be obtained by calling 888-256-9669 or via the company's Web site at www.alphablox.com.

Contact Clarus Corporation, Julie Smith, 770-291-8504, jsmith@claruscorp.com or AlphaBlox Corporation, Marty Tacktill, 650-526-1128, mtacktill@alphablox.com.