CLOUD

CHICAGO -- Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) today announced the Microsoft(R) BizTalk(R) Toolkit for Elemica, which allows manufacturers to quickly and cost-effectively connect to Elemica to find trading partners and suppliers. The BizTalk Toolkit for Elemica is an Elemica-certified solution. Elemica Inc., a growing network of more than 150 chemical and related product companies throughout the world, is the leading facilitator of transactions between chemical buyers and suppliers. By creating this toolkit, Microsoft is providing a way for its solutions partners to more easily connect to Elemica for their customers. Built on top of BizTalk Server 2002, the toolkit, with its built-in wizard for step-by-step directions on creating connections to Elemica, replaces a time-consuming manual process for connecting to the trading network. "Elemica's mission is to enable collaboration while reducing complexities in the trading partner relationship between chemical buyers and their suppliers," said Scott duFour, senior vice president for integration solutions at Elemica. "Early successes experienced by our member companies demonstrate that the Microsoft BizTalk Toolkit for Elemica helps our users more easily connect to the Elemica Network, thereby enabling us to deliver on our mission. We are happy to have Microsoft as a partner in providing an Elemica-certified solution. The company's participation with Elemica, along with the new toolkit, shows a real commitment to the manufacturing industry." The Toolkit for Elemica is a free extension to the existing Microsoft BizTalk Accelerator for RosettaNet. The BizTalk Accelerator for RosettaNet provides prepackaged software for building RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF) and Chemical Industry Data Exchange (CIDX) Chem eStandards compliance solutions. The new toolkit includes the following features: -- Updated CIDX support, including new schemas to support common actions such as sending, receiving or sharing purchase orders, logistics, forecasts and catalog updates -- An updated trading partner manager, which provides a single view into relationships and processes between companies and business partners -- A simplified Partner Agreement Wizard, which helps guide system administrators step by step through the process of configuring BizTalk Server -- A test application that allows easy Elemica connectivity testing and verification -- Additional documentation and samples that accompany the Wizard for establishing the first transaction with Elemica A July 2003 study by EyeforChem and Industry Insights on the status of integration in the chemical industry found "considerable dissatisfaction with the level of integration with suppliers and customers." "Our study found that approximately half of the chemical manufacturers and distributors using a third-party hub use Elemica for their integration requirements," said Leif Eriksen, founder of and former analyst with Industry Insights and currently practice leader for energy and process manufacturing at InterUnity Group. "As more and more companies look to utilize Elemica, they need a way to quickly, easily and cost-effectively connect with minimal disruption to the technology they currently have running," said Chris Colyer, industry manager for general manufacturing and chemical industry solutions at Microsoft. "Our partners and the customers they support will clearly see the benefits of the toolkit. It builds on our enterprise-ready integration orchestration product, BizTalk Server, and greatly simplifies the process of connecting to Elemica in order to send and receive transactions." The BizTalk Toolkit for Elemica will be available by the middle of October at no charge for licensed users of BizTalk Server 2002 and the BizTalk Accelerator for RosettaNet through Elemica, Microsoft Certified Partners and Microsoft Consulting Services. Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Softmatrix Inc. is the premier provider for the BizTalk Toolkit for Elemica.