Manhattan Associates Joins Microsoft DW Alliance

Manhattan Associates Inc, a global leader in providing supply chain execution and collaborative commerce solutions, announced its participation in the Microsoft Data Warehousing Alliance (DWA). Manhattan Associates' best-of-breed business intelligence tool SmartInfo qualified for Microsoft's DWA by meeting the "best of breed" analytical application criteria.

Microsoft's DWA is a coalition of software vendors focused on helping customers build, use and manage data warehousing solutions that are fully integrated with Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows 2000 platform. As a member of the alliance, Manhattan Associates has committed to achieving the highest level of compatibility and integration between SmartInfo and Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

SmartInfo was designed to meet evolving supply chain execution demands. The product enables quick and easy determination of trends, averages and activity profiling. Additional benefits of SmartInfo include warehouse and inventory management optimization and the ability to evaluate transportation costs. SmartInfo leverages Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to provide real-time and historical operational information. SmartInfo slices and dices this information to create meaningful, actionable analysis. Using Microsoft Digital Dashboard -- a customizable desktop interface -- SmartInfo provides several views of data on the screen simultaneously. The result is immediate access to key business information.

"Supply chain execution has become highly-competitive. Organizations that can analyze data from across their entire extended supply chain will have an advantage over organizations that do not employ business intelligence solutions," said Don Petersen, product manager for SQL server at Microsoft Corporation. "By joining the DWA and integrating with Microsoft's Data Warehousing Framework, Manhattan Associates' customers will benefit from the tight integration of our products."

"Building a strong business relationship with Microsoft is a key, strategic decision for Manhattan Associates," said Deepak Raghavan, senior vice president of products and strategy and co-founder of Manhattan Associates. "We are proud to be a member of Microsoft's DWA program and will leverage this relationship to enhance our value proposition by creating a new era of dynamic, collaborative business solutions."

The DWA program further strengthens the relationship between the two companies. Manhattan Associates is an early adopter of Biz Talk Server 2000, which was leveraged to build the company's infolink product launched in September 2000. Addressing the dynamic needs of collaborative commerce, infolink provides real-time connectivity for retail suppliers to their entire supply chain -- including retail customers, suppliers, transportation companies and the newly emerging exchanges. Microsoft also joined the infolink Advisory Council, which was formed to foster collaboration between today's leading retailers and suppliers.

Microsoft Data Warehousing Framework and Alliance

Microsoft has developed the Data Warehousing Framework as an open scalable architecture that speeds, simplifies and reduces the cost of building, managing and using today's business intelligence applications. The Microsoft Data Warehousing Framework provides all the benefits of a full-featured, high-performance, integrated data warehousing platform-Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Office-while offering the broadest choice and flexibility to IT professionals seeking specialized, best-of-breed applications and scalability. Microsoft DWA members embrace these standards and provide solutions that extend the data warehousing capabilities of SQL Server and the business intelligence functionality provided in Office 2000.

About Manhattan Associates

Manhattan Associates Inc is a global leader in providing supply chain execution and collaborative commerce solutions. These solutions leverage state-of-the-art technologies, innovative practices and the company's domain expertise to enhance performance, profitability and competitive advantage. Manhattan Associates has licensed more than 750 customers representing 1,100 facilities worldwide, which include some of the world's leading manufacturers, suppliers and retailers. For more information about Manhattan Associates telephone 770-955-7070 or visit www.manh.com.

Contact Michelle Tank of Manhattan Associates, 678-597-7909, mtank@manh.com.