Financial Watch:

Carlson Companies Signs BI Agreement with iXmatch

iXmatch Inc, a leading provider of matching software, announced that it will provide Carlson Companies, a global leader in providing corporate solutions and consumer services in the relationship marketing, travel and hospitality industries, with enhanced business intelligence through a joint data mining and analysis effort. iXmatch will provide Carlson Companies with a better understanding of its customer information, allowing it to deepen the relationships customers have with its brands, and leverage its powerful consumer brands meaningfully.

iXmatch's innovative approach to customer data analysis will improve Carlson Companies' overall business intelligence and marketing efforts by more effectively segmenting its customers and making personalized recommendations. "Our customers rely on our knowledge and experience and expect us to provide them with a very enriching experience," said Scott Ulring, Carlson Companies' Senior Director of Customer Relationship Management. "iXmatch will help us get a better understanding of what our customers are looking for, and how best to deliver it to them."

iXmatch is the only software solution that seamlessly integrates a variety of data mining, collaborative filtering and personalization technologies to solve the critical problem of accurately matching customers with a company's products and services. "iXmatch can assist Carlson Companies across all the areas of its business," stated Bret Busse, iXmatch Technology Marketing Director. "Relationship marketing, travel and hospitality are all excellent fits for our technology. We will improve Carlson Companies' top-line and bottom-line results while simultaneously strengthening their customer relationships."

About Carlson Companies

Carlson Companies Inc, is a global leader in providing corporate solutions and consumer services in the relationship marketing, travel and hospitality industries. Among the names in the Carlson family of brands and services are: Carlson Marketing Group, a world leader in Relationship Marketing; Carlson Wagonlit Travel; Regent International Hotels; Radisson Hotels & Resorts; Country Inns & Suites By Carlson; Park Plaza and Park Inn hotels; Radisson Seven Seas Cruises; T.G.I. Friday's restaurants; and Gold Points Rewards, a new online/offline venture. Ranked among the largest privately held corporations in the United States, Carlson Companies is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Carlson-related brands and services employ about 192,000 people in more than 140 countries.

About iXmatch Inc

iXmatch is a leading provider of matching software. The company's patented software products maximize profitability and customer satisfaction by matching buyers with best-fit products and services. Customers deploying the next generation of applications in CRM, Business Intelligence, e-Commerce, e-Procurement, Strategic Supplier Sourcing, and Human Capital Management will enable their business transactions with cutting-edge iXmatch software. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, iXmatch is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Software Products, is an early adopter of the Microsoft .NET platform, and is a high-growth Microsoft NETstart Independent Software Vendor. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ixmatch.com.

American Eagle Builds First-Ever Data Warehouse

As reported by Richard Karpinski, American Eagle Outfitters said it is consolidating its data into a single warehouse based on technology from NCR's Teradata division.

The enterprise-wide data warehouse will be the retailer's first; previously it managed its data on several independent Oracle and IBM databases. The new warehouse will give American Eagle a single view of its data across the company.

American Eagle also purchased Teradata's Retail Decisions business-intelligence applications and Retail Logical Data Model. Those applications will let the retailer analyze transactions at both the broad-business and stock-keeping unit levels. American Eagle will use Cognos as its analytical processing engine.