Partner Press Release
webMethods Launches webMethods B2B For RosettaNet

Powerful, Platform Independent Business-to-Business Integration (B2Bi) Solution Provides Full Support for RosettaNet and All B2B Protocols for Real-Time Supply Chain Integration

For Release April 10, 2000

FAIRFAX, VA

webMethods, Inc. (Nasdaq: WEBM), the leading provider of business-to-business integration (B2Bi) solutions, today announced webMethods B2Bâ„¢ for RosettaNet, the first out-of-the-box, production-proven solution that enables real-time B2B e-commerce across the supply chain while providing full integration to a variety of back-end, legacy and ERP systems. webMethods B2B for RosettaNet is the only solution that fully supports all common message standards of RosettaNet in addition to providing the broadest support of other industry leading B2B protocols such as XML, cXML, OBI, OAG, ACORD, Microsoft BizTalk and legacy EDI. RosettaNet is the leading industry standards body and consortium dedicated to delivering pre-defined B2B interface processes for the IT and electronic components industries.

As one of the first solution providers to join RosettaNet, webMethods has been actively involved with developing RosettaNet solutions and has long recognized the potential of the consortium to revolutionize business-to-business processes. webMethods is the leading RosettaNet Solution Partner, and has completed more implementations than any other RosettaNet Solution Partner. To date, webMethods has worked with leading companies such as Avnet, Compaq, firstsource.com, Hewlett-Packard, Juniper Networks, MicroAge, NEC Technologies, SAP Labs, SYNNEX Information Technologies and VEBA Electronics Group.

"webMethods has been influential in the growth and adoption of RosettaNet for B2B e-commerce," said Jennifer Hamilton, CEO of RosettaNet. "The company's foresight and clear industry leadership has been instrumental in enabling companies to reduce implementation time and costs throughout the enterprise and supply chain by adopting RosettaNet standards."

In today's highly competitive business environment, companies are adopting RosettaNet to automate business processes between trading partners. By using webMethods B2B for RosettaNet to link data, information systems and collaborative processes in real-time, companies and B2B marketplaces can guarantee secure, bi-directional information exchange between disparate applications in use throughout the supply chain.

"It is critical for the electronic component and information technology industries to adopt common message standards and automated business processes in order to streamline their supply chains and cut costs across the board," said Rob Walker, vice president of e-Commerce Services for SYNNEX Information Technologies. "webMethods B2B for RosettaNet enabled SYNNEX to quickly and cost-effectively integrate our back-end systems with those of our trading partners without major enhancements or modifications to our existing technology infrastructure."

Features of webMethods B2B for RosettaNet
webMethods B2B for RosettaNet allows companies to securely expose business processes over the Internet for complete real-time integration with trading partners, suppliers, customers and B2B trading exchanges. Key features of webMethods B2B for RosettaNet include:

• Custom Development Capability. By deploying webMethods B2B for RosettaNet, companies receive full support for RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes (PIPs), the RosettaNet Implementation Framework, data dictionaries, D-U-N-S ®, GTIN and UNSPSC codes, even as RosettaNet develops new PIPs and targets additional industries. In addition, companies can define their own PIPs depending on their specific trading relationships, thus giving them the flexibility to work with any trading partner that does not use RosettaNet standards. These custom development capabilities can be facilitated in an easy-to-use GUI environment without requiring extensive programming or development experience.
• Integration Module Support. webMethods provides standardized Integration Modules and adapters for a variety of popular back-end ERP applications such as SAP, Baan, Oracle, and PeopleSoft. In addition, webMethods provides instant point-and-click mapping capabilities for integrating with custom-built legacy applications and EDI platforms.
• Broadest Support for B2B Standards. webMethods B2B for RosettaNet provides full interoperability across trading partners through broad support of today's leading industry standards, including XML, cXML, xCBL, FpML, SML, OBI, OAG and EDI. With webMethods B2B for RosettaNet, companies can create a single gateway for all B2B interactions, regardless of partner support of RosettaNet standards.
• Easy-to-Use Management Tools. webMethods B2B for RosettaNet includes a sophisticated Trading Partner Manager (TPM) module to capture trading partner-specific business rules across the supply chain, and the Conversation Manager module ensures transaction integrity and adherence to the RosettaNet standard, without development experience or knowledge.

"Through many successful implementations with industry leaders, webMethods has demonstrated time and again that it provides the most complete B2B integration solution for RosettaNet," said Kimberly Trudel, director, webMethods B2B for RosettaNet. "Now, webMethods is making this business intelligence available out of the box to any company or B2B marketplace that wants to create new revenue opportunities, reduce implementation time and costs and increase savings throughout the enterprise and supply chain."

Platform Support and Compatibility
webMethods B2B for RosettaNet is the only RosettaNet solution that fully supports all RosettaNet PIPs and is available on all platforms that support Java, including Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Sun Microsystems Solaris, Linux, Hewlett Packard HP-UX, Compaq Unix, and IBM AIX and AS/400. The product integrates with DBMS products such as Oracle, Informix, DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server, as well as ERP applications from Baan, SAP, Oracle and PeopleSoft. In addition, webMethods B2B for RosettaNet may be deployed in a variety of security and firewall configurations, depending on the individual security requirements and concerns of each organization.

More information about webMethods B2B for RosettaNet can be found on the Web at www.webmethods.com .

About webMethods, Inc.
webMethods, Inc. (Nasdaq: WEBM) is the leading provider of software solutions for business-to-business integration (B2Bi). Leveraging the open standards of the Internet, the award-winning webMethods B2Bâ„¢ family of products provides the B2Bi infrastructure enabling Global 2000 companies and B2B marketplaces to connect customers, suppliers and partners to form real-time B2B trading networks. webMethods B2B allows companies to create new revenue opportunities, strengthen relationships with customers and substantially reduce supply chain inefficiencies.

Founded in 1996, webMethods is based in Fairfax, Va., with offices across the U.S. and Europe. webMethods has more than 130 customers worldwide from Global 2000 leaders such as Dell, Eastman Chemical Company, Lucent and W.W. Grainger to major B2B marketplaces like ChemConnect, e-STEEL and Ventro. webMethods' strategic partners include Ariba, Commerce One, Deloitte Consulting, EDS, KPMG, Microsoft, Sterling Commerce and SAP AG. More information about the company can be found at www.webMethods.com .