IRVING, Texas, Oct. 17, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- bTrade, inc. and CROSSMARK announced today a no-charge program designed to quickly and easily bring CROSSMARK clients who are suppliers to Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) onto the Internet. This promotion combines bTrade's rapidly deployable, proven EDIINT collaboration software with order management services provided by eXchangeBridge to bring suppliers a world class collaboration solution.
"We are very pleased to partner with CROSSMARK in order to provide their clients with completely free AS2 connectivity to Wal-Mart," said David Lonsdale, bTrade's CEO. "bTrade has been a trusted technology partner for Wal-Mart for almost 10 years and I'm delighted that CROSSMARK has decided to select bTrade as the AS2 provider for their customers."
At the core of the new offering is a software connectivity package called TDAccess(TM) Wal-Mart Edition. This UCC-certified solution is being offered to CROSSMARK's clients at no cost, and boasts the following:
- No license or maintenance fees - Pre-configured to communicate with Wal-Mart - Pre-configured to communicate with CROSSMARK - CROSSMARK is covering the cost of bTrade's enablement service during a special promotional period for CROSSMARK clients. Details are available at http://www.btrade.com/crossmark. - Automatic VAN fail over as required by Wal-Mart - UCC-certified and Wal-Mart certified AS2 protocol support - Available on Windows, UNIX, OS/400 and MVS
Companies in the retail industry are quickly realizing that eliminating VAN charges, expensive leased lines, manual re-keying of data, and moving all communication onto the Internet is the cornerstone of the savings that can be obtained from implementing an IP-based collaborative network.
In September of 2002, Wal-Mart announced its strategy to embrace the Internet, adopting the AS2 protocol for electronic communications with their suppliers. Industry analysts quickly promoted the decision, noting the significant cost savings and process simplification to be gained by such a solution. CROSSMARK has responded to this industry initiative by providing its clients free access to bTrade's proven UCC-certified, AS2 connectivity software.
This joint program from bTrade and CROSSMARK will provide a clearly articulated implementation plan for the Wal-Mart and CROSSMARK client suppliers to follow. It will show them how to register at Wal-Mart's RetailLink site, pre-configure and download bTrade's software, and step the supplier through the process of communicating their first AS2 transaction.
For more information on AS2 or TDAccess Wal-Mart Edition, please visit the bTrade website at http://www.btrade.com/crossmark.
About bTrade, inc.
bTrade, inc (www.bTrade.com) has more than 11 years of experience providing more than 100,000 trading partners in a Global 2000 customer base with universal platforms that offer secure data transport, translation and transformation applications. bTrade, inc. links e-Business partners and communities without requiring changes to any existing applications while dramatically reducing, if not eliminating, the associated risk, complexity, time and cost.
About CROSSMARK
CROSSMARK is a professional business services company that specializes in sales, marketing, technology and consulting for manufacturers and retailers in the consumer packaged goods industry. CROSSMARK employs approximately 10,000 associates throughout the United States and Canada. For more information on CROSSMARK, please visit http://www.crossmark.com.