EMC TAKES HOME 1999 DM REVIEW WORLD CLASS SOLUTIONS AWARD

EMC Corporation has been awarded DM Review magazine's prestigious 1999 World Class Solution Awards for Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. EMC's implementation of enterprise storage at Sears, Roebuck and Co. was recognized among the seven most strategic initiatives in the business intelligence and data warehousing industry.

The award recognizes EMC's strategic role in helping Sears exploit the full value of its corporate information. Based on EMC Symmetrix Enterprise Storage solutions, Sears' more than six-terabyte data warehouse consolidates 18 major databases that previously ran on separate systems, enabling Sears to track sales by individual item and to fine-tune its buying, merchandising, and marketing strategies.

According to Jean Brizzolara, Systems Manager at Sears Roebuck, "EMC is central to our core strategy of re-inventing Sears into a far more agile, responsive operation. EMC Enterprise Storage provides the scalability, availability and data protection necessary for us to transition from an isolated IT architecture to an open environment. As a result, we're now able to share and use critical sales, marketing, and merchandising information for competitive advantage."

With this information, Sears' planners now play a more strategic role for the business through, for example, the ability to monitor the precise impact of advertising, weather, and other factors on sales of specific items. "We used to know sales were up or down, but we really didn't know which lines or items were driving sales results," said Jonathan Rand, Merchandise System Information Director, Sears. "Now, with EMC solutions, buyers and other specialists can adjust inventory quantities, merchandising, ad frequency and placement, and myriad other variables almost immediately."

EMC's corporate web site can be accessed at http://www.EMC.com/.