Tech Data se une a líderes de la cadena de suministro de TI para crear Viacore, Inc., una entidad que actuará como núcleo concentrador de negocios electrónicos

La nueva empresa establece un centro virtual de cambio y compensación para los procesos de comercio electrónico

24 de enero del 2000 - En inglés

CLEARWATER, FL-- Tech Data Corp., a leading global provider of IT products and logistics services, is one of six first-tier supply chain companies to form Viacore, Inc., a provider of eBusiness hub technology and services that link IT supply chain partners with vertical markets.

"Viacore marks the next evolution in the new digital economy," said Steven A. Raymund, chairman and chief executive officer, Tech Data. "Moving product along the eCommerce supply chain reliably, efficiently and cost effectively is one of the most significant challenges for IT companies. As a virtual clearinghouse for common processes and standards for partner-to-partner information exchanges, Viacore provides the business-to-business IT eCommerce market with an industry-changing solution."

To facilitate the exchange of information necessary to execute supply chain operations, IT companies have previously made major capital investments in developing proprietary eBusiness technologies. The result was a web of sophisticated systems that did not interconnect or interact, requiring major system redesigns each time a company needed to exchange information with a new trading partner.

Viacore seeks to create a new supply web via a hub to facilitate processes between trading partners. Viacore's hub enables fast and pervasive deployment of Partner Interface Processes (PIPs) previously defined by RosettaNet, a consortium dedicated to the development and deployment of standard electronic commerce interfaces.

Viacore's eBusiness hub will be at the core of a global supply web allowing faster many-to-many deployments in place of slower and less cost-effective one-to-one implementations. The hub will offer 24x7 global, real-time command and control of supply chain processes, cost-effective management, flexibility to connect and disconnect to partners, and comprehensive reporting and benchmarking. Viacore plans to make its eBusiness hub available on a pilot basis in March 2000 and to initially offer hub set-up and connection, routing and compliance validation, and administration services.

"E-commerce, particularly business-to-business eCommerce, is one of the most important drivers of change today," noted Raymund. "Viacore's hub will accelerate the pace of eCommerce in the IT sector minimizing time and technology factors for all companies involved - manufacturers, vendors, logistics specialists and transportation providers." In addition to being a founder of Viacore, Tech Data will also be a Viacore customer.

Tech Data has continuously developed eCommerce innovations to improve and facilitate all aspects of customer service and to strengthen its role as a strategic partner to the reseller channel. Tech Data's eCommerce business in the U.S. has doubled over the past year to exceed 32% of revenue, and daily worldwide Internet sales recently surpassed the $4 million mark. The company's eCommerce success has been recognized by numerous organizations and publications including Interactive Week magazine, which ranked Tech Data 10th on its inaugural Internet 500 list of leaders in today's digital economy.

Viacore, Inc.

Viacore, Inc., is an eBusiness service provider of reliable and transparent eProcess hub technology and management services that link supply chain partners within vertical markets. Together, with strategic investing partners Arrow Electronics, Avnet, FDX Corporation, Ingram Micro, Softbank, and Tech Data, Viacore is the first to bring to market the rapid, pervasive, efficient, cost-effective deployment of RosettaNet PIPs. For more information on Viacore, call 714-704-1400, visit www.viacore.net or send an e-mail to info@viacore.net.

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