Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

HYBRIS AND RACKSPACE® JOIN FORCES TO HELP UK BUSINESSES GET THE MOST FROM E-C0MMERCE

new partnership helps UK retailers to benefit from ecommerce initiatives by mixing sound hosting solutions with solid business understanding

London – 07 September 2007: hybris (www.hybris.com), a leading ecommerce and product information management vendor, today announced a dedicated partnership with Rackspace Managed Hosting (www.rackspace.co.uk), a leader in the global managed hosting market.

Hybris chose Rackspace as their trusted hosting partner to deliver reliable and secure hosting for their ecommerce solutions. Rackspace supplies the necessary superstructure - web, application and database servers, network devices, bandwidth and managed services – while hybris focuses on providing UK retailers with ecommerce and product management solutions to more effectively run their online businesses.

Rackspace is recognised for delivering enterprise-level Web infrastructure and managed services to businesses of all sizes and serves more than 13,000 customers across seven data centres worldwide. Rackspace, which also has strong strategic partnerships with HP, Microsoft, Dell and Cisco is pleased that hybris has chosen the company as its partner in its continued drive to offer the best of breed to companies that are looking for a wide range of SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions and consultancy services.

Their first joint customer is Healthy Direct, a UK mail order supplier of vitamins and health supplements. Healthy Direct is using the hybris Commerce Suite to support its ecommerce site. The hybris solution, hosted by Rackspace will provide Healthy Direct’s customers with a complete transactional and information site, providing a better on-line shopping experience.

The strength of hybris’ solutions for retailers were demonstrated at the European Retail Solutions Awards 2006 when the company won the awards for ‘Best Use of ecommerce in a Retail Environment’ and ‘Retail Technology Solution of the Year 2006’.

Brian Garvey, Channel & Alliances Manager at Rackspace, commented: “There are often issues where several different ERP systems, ecommerce platforms, working within a global market, and a plethora of product data formats increasingly form a barrier to creating, maintaining and exchanging accurate company product information. Rackspace is proud to partner with hybris to deliver high availability hosting and support for their Product Information Management (PIM) platform.”

Commenting on the relationship between the two companies, Andrew Piscina, UK General Manager at hybris, said: “Rackspace is a clear fit for hybris and together we have a formidable set of skills and solutions that are second to none. Hybris boasts great ecommerce and product management technology as well as a high level of expertise and professionalism. This is complemented and mirrored by Rackspace’s excellence in service and innovation. The combination will undoubtedly lead to new opportunities for both parties”

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Note to editors:

About hybris

hybris supplies standard software solutions for the media-independent management of product information and its distribution over both online and print channels.

Manufacturers, vendors, marketplace operators and purchasing companies consolidate and manage their entire product information in every language on one platform, in the process creating a “single source of truth”. Enterprises are able to supply online and print channels with information from this central hub. Integrated solutions for catalogue management, ecommerce, e-procurement and database publishing provide you with personalised and channel-specific data recycling throughout all electronic procurement and sales channels. This also means that print catalogues can be published without media fragmentation.

The hybris solution’s integrative approach to managing and recycling product information leads to a reduction in process costs, clearing the path for companies to add new sales and procurement markets at low cost. The return on investment with hybris is very fast. As hybris has selected to use standards-based and future-proof basic technologies in its solutions, investments are secure over the long term.

Established in 1997, the company is based in Munich and has offices in the UK, Denmark and Switzerland, with over 1,000 customers worldwide.

About Rackspace Managed Hosting:

A recognised leader in the global managed hosting market, Rackspace® Managed Hosting is a world-class service organisation delivering enterprise-level Web infrastructure and managed services to businesses of all sizes. Serving more than 13,000 customers across seven data centres worldwide, Rackspace integrates the industry’s best technologies for each customer’s need backed by a 100 per cent network uptime guarantee. Founded in 1998, the company has received numerous awards for its brand of customer service known as Fanatical Support® including the Unisys/Management Today 2005 Service Excellence Award. It has also been recognised in the 2007 Financial Times Best Places to work Awards as the most ‘fun and friendly’ and one of the top two ‘most welcoming’ places to work in the UK.

For further info please contact:

Michele Bayliss
Ascendant Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 475672
E-mail: mbayliss@ascendcomms.net