THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, Oct. 12, 1998 — Baan Company N.V. (Nasdaq: BAANF; ASE: BAAN), a leading global provider of business software, today announced with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) a licensing agreement that for the first time combines all the business software, maintenance, support and self-help cyber services needed for companies to run an extended enterprise exclusively on the Microsoft® platform. The agreement was announced at BaanWorld’98 Europe by Baan Company president, chairman and CEO Tom Tinsley and Microsoft Group Vice President of Sales and Support Jeff Raikes.
The Baan Enterprise Software Agreement, designed to dramatically reduce the complexity of purchasing, implementing and maintaining business software, combines the industry’s most complete business software offering available today from Baan Company with Microsoft SQL Server
™, Microsoft Exchange Server and Site Server Commerce Edition for the Windows NT® platform. Baan Company is the first enterprise application vendor to combine all the business software customers demand to run their business at a lower fixed cost in an easy-to-manage, per-desktop per-month license that includes software upgrades, maintenance and support.
“Baan Company is redefining the business software market with Microsoft by offering a simple license that permits any company to quickly deploy software for continuous improvement of core business processes,” Tinsley said. “Customers can now plan enterprise systems using a lower fixed cost per desktop, a more predictable cost of implementation and a lower total cost of ownership.”
Today’s announcement marks two years of research and development collaboration between Baan Company and Microsoft. “Microsoft’s vision of a ‘digital nervous system’ means delivering a seamless flow of information across an extended enterprise, allowing organizations to make better, faster business decisions,” Raikes said. “Baan Company’s work in integrating its applications on Microsoft’s platform delivers on that vision with an easy-to-use, manageable set of business software.”
The Baan Enterprise Software Agreement is designed to reduce the total cost of ownership to customers by combining the industry’s most complete business software offering available today from Baan Company with key components of the Microsoft BackOffice® family. The licensing agreement is companywide, licensing all desktops for three years including software upgrades, support and self-help cyber services. It offers customers continuous access to enterprise software for ongoing innovation of their core business processes, addressing the key business drivers of any company – customer management, operations management, corporate management and enterprise management.
The Baan Enterprise Software Agreement includes the following components:
Baan Company Business Software
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Baan FrontOffice Systems (BaanFOS) – Sales and Configurator
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BaanERP – Manufacturing, Distribution, Finance, Project, Service and Tools
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Baan Supply Chain Solutions (BaanSCS) – Demand Planner, Planner and Scheduler
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Baan Corporate Office Solution (BaanCOS) – CODA Financials
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BaanDEM, BaanDEM Models, BaanDataNavigator, BaanEDM
Microsoft Platform Software
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Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange Server and Site Server Commerce Edition
Software Maintenance and Support
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Upgrade to new versions and telephone support for all software products
Baan Self-Help Cyber Services (
http://www.baan.com/
)
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Baan Virtual World, Baan Virtual Campus, Baan Cyber Consult, Baan Interactive Support
Pricing and Availability
The Baan Enterprise Software Agreement will be available at prices starting at $99 (U.S.) per desktop per month over three years for customers purchasing licenses for over 5,000 desktops. The price includes the software license for the products listed in the agreement, their upgrades over the term of the agreement, software support and self-help cyber services, requiring licenses for all desktops within a company. The software license will be sold and delivered through both Baan Company’s direct organization and the expanding network of Baan Company solution providers. The software license is available immediately in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Solution Providers
Early support for the Baan Enterprise Software Agreement comes from Baan Company’s global solution providers, including consulting and channel partners such as Arthur Andersen, Cambridge Technology Partners (Massachusetts) Inc., Cap Gemini, Compaq Computer Corp., Crowe Chizek, Effective Management Systems, Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM and Origin, all of which are also Microsoft Certified Solution Providers.
“The Compaq Services Group will be the first global service and support provider to deliver a complete set of tailor-made services for this offering on Compaq, from implementation to maintenance and support,” said Peter Mark Droste, vice president of worldwide services at Compaq. “In close cooperation with Baan Company and Microsoft, Compaq will design fixed-price, standardized service packs to take the lead in terms of time and cost of enterprise application platform deployment.”
Support, Education and Solution Centers
Baan Company will provide first point of contact for all products included in the license. Web-based self-help services include Baan Company’s online consulting offering, Baan CyberConsult, and its education and training environment, Baan Virtual Campus – both accessible through http://www.baan.com/ . Baan Company also has created a delivery assistance program, including Solution Centers in Redmond, Wash., and Reston, Va.
About Baan Company
Founded in 1978, Baan Company is a leading global provider of business software. Baan Company’s best-in-class products define the market for high volume, packaged enterprise applications by delivering the most comprehensive portfolio of integrated, Year 2000-compliant software components to address the continuous improvement of core business processes common to any company. Baan Company uniquely supports continuous business improvement with its Dynamic Enterprise Modeling capabilities and with products that are faster to implement and use, and more flexible in adapting to business changes. Its evergreen products help clients respond more quickly to changing customer needs by optimizing the management of real-time information throughout the entire value chain.
Baan Company has dual headquarters in Barneveld, the Netherlands, and Reston, Virginia, USA. The Company’s Common Stock is registered on the Nasdaq stock market under the symbol BAANF and on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange under the symbol BAAN.
About Microsoft
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.
Microsoft, Windows NT and BackOffice are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Baan is a registered trademark of The Baan Company, and any trade, product or service name referenced in this release using the name “Baan” is a trademark and/or property of The Baan Company.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In particular, statements using the words “will,” “plans,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “is scheduled,” or like terms are by their nature predictions based upon current plans, expectations, estimates, and assumptions. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect outcomes, which may differ materially from the expectations, estimates, or assumptions expressed in or implied by any such forward-looking statements. Specific risks applicable to such forward-looking statements include risks associated with the failure to conclude any proposed agreement related to such statements, changing conditions in the marketplace, and/or costs or risks associated with the Year 2000. Other risks and uncertainties associated with the businesses of Baan Company may be reviewed in the Company’s public filings, including Baan Company’s Report on Form 6-K for its latest fiscal quarter and Baan Company’s Report on Form 20-F for its latest fiscal year. Those documents are publicly on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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