Microsoft Announces Third Annual RAD Award Competition Honoring Top Solutions Using Microsoft Technology

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 6, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. today announced at the Retail Information Systems Conference (RISCON) that it is now accepting entries for its third annual Retail Application Developer (RAD) competition. In response to the glowing feedback from last year’s competition, Microsoft will continue to award excellence in technology solutions in the retail, distribution, transportation, logistics and hospitality industries. The Microsoft RAD Awards recognize application developers that make the best use of Microsoft® technology to provide tangible business benefits to their customers. The judges will also honor applications that best use corporate intranets and the public Internet.

“The RAD Awards have been tremendously successful the past two years, and this year we expect application developers to submit even richer solutions, intensifying the competition,” said Judy Dulcich, retail industry marketing manager at Microsoft. “These best-of-breed solutions demonstrate that the Windows NT® and BackOffice® platform enable ISVs to push the limits of and continually enhance today’s retail technology.”

Categories Recognize Top Solutions

Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:

  • Retail. Food and drug, specialty (hard goods), specialty (soft goods), eating and drinking establishments, convenience stores, enterprise retailing systems, marketing and merchandising tools, and electronic commerce

  • Hospitality. Property management, central reservation systems and in-room systems

  • Transportation and logistics. Distribution management, import and export, routing and scheduling, transportation management, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory, and warehousing and warehouse management

  • Horizontal (cross-industry) solutions. Human resources (including labor scheduling, benefits tracking, training and related areas) and other solutions

Winners will be recognized at the Microsoft RAD Awards dinner, to be held during the Retail Systems ’98 show, June 15 – 18 in New Orleans. Winners also will receive the following:

  • Exhibit space in the Microsoft area at any single trade show at which Microsoft retail industry marketing is participating as an exhibitor

  • Mention in Microsoft print advertising in industrywide trade publications

  • Featured coverage in Microsoft’s retail quarterly technology publication and monthly technology newsletters

  • Featured coverage on the Microsoft retail industry home page

Entries Judged on Specific Criteria

An independent panel of experts in retail, distribution and hospitality technology will judge the entries. The panel will not include Microsoft employees. Judging will be based on the following criteria:

  • Quantifiable business benefits. Successful entries will significantly enhance existing business processes. Examples of quantifiable benefits include increasing the speed of customer turnover in restaurants, reducing the time that customers spend at checkout, lowering employee training costs, freeing managers from paperwork and administrative tasks so they can spend more time with customers and employees, and synchronizing inventories across locations.

  • Best use of available Microsoft technology. Award-winning solutions must demonstrate that the developer has a thorough grasp of Windows-based technology and the Microsoft BackOffice platform. Examples include ease of integration with other applications and/or legacy systems; ease of extracting data for use with personal productivity tools such as Microsoft Excel for analysis or Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher for direct mailings, signs and coupons; and ability of the technology to grow and adapt as the corporate customer’s business evolves.

  • Ease of adoption. The Microsoft RAD Award solutions must be easy for customers to adopt and use. Examples include an intuitive user interface, presales distribution and postsales support strategies, integration with the customer’s business processes, and training requirements.

  • Best integration and exploitation of intranet and Internet technology. Corporate intranets and the public Internet promise a revolution in business benefits and productivity – especially where applications take full advantage of existing technology infrastructure and improve the benefits and services companies can offer their customers. Examples include Web-based workgroup collaborative applications, electronic forms and forms processing, automated order entry and tracking, and electronic commerce and interactive shopping.

The Microsoft RAD Awards competition is open to all independent software developers with applications that serve the retail, distribution, transportation, logistics and hospitality industries. The submitted application must be commercially available, and the developer must provide at least one customer reference. For complete entry requirements, visit the RAD Awards area of the Microsoft Retail Industry Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/retail/rad/radentry.htm.

Developers must submit their entries by March 15, 1998. Entry forms are available at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/retail/rad/radentry.htm(url will go live 10/6/97 at 6:00 pm). Contestants can submit entries to this address:

Microsoft RAD Awards

Attn: Viki Richardson

The Chinook Group

1421 Plainview Court

Reno, NV 89523

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

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