"As the successful eBusiness model emerges, it is clear that collaboration among vendors is absolutely essential to success," said Larry Laux, President and CEO of Metrix. "This alliance will help Metrix and IFS clients to move beyond the traditional boundaries of CRM (customer relationship management) and enterprise applications into a new class of eBusiness applications that truly eliminates the gap between front and back office functions."

Speaking at Metrix's client conference in Milwaukee last week, Peggy Menconi of AMR Research supported this vision. "As the Internet enables increased collaboration between employees, customers and partners, we will see the emergence of a new category of solutions for eBusiness relationship management that blurs the lines between ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM," Menconi said.

Both companies share similar eBusiness strategies, software architecture and corporate cultures. Bengt Nilsson, President and CEO of IFS, expects these similarities to aid tight integration of Metrix and IFS product offerings. For several years, IFS has provided business solutions for service management, enterprise asset management (EAM) and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), including mobile technology, for companies with capital-intensive requirements. Metrix has answered the service needs of similar companies with customer-centric solutions.

"IFS is committed to providing integrated eBusiness applications spanning the entire demand and supply chains," Nilsson said. "Both IFS and Metrix solutions are built on component-based technology, demonstrating complimentary eBusiness strategies which are conducive to integration. This alliance creates a shared development resource for eBusiness relationship management solutions that will benefit both companies' customers."

The alliance includes an important technology exchange to enhance the products of each company. Metrix's Techlink® software provides additional capabilities for IFS clients with large mobile field service operations. IFS applications provide Metrix clients with new capabilities for delivery of content-rich information, including schematics, diagrams and other images, which will enhance the field service function of Metrix's ProductService CRM offering. The first e-business product suite integrating the current offerings of each company is scheduled for introduction in fourth quarter, 2000.

Laux said IFS brings impressive growth and a significant European presence to the alliance. IFS reported 57% revenue growth and ranked ninth in revenue among the world's top providers of enterprise applications solutions in calendar year 1999. The new relationship is non-exclusive. Both vendors will continue to provide interface packages to respective competitive systems via their current technologies.

About IFS and IFS Applications

Industrial & Financial Systems, IFS AB, develops and supplies Enterprise Applications that span the entire demand and supply chain. The company's approach to e-business allows customers to move step-by-step from their present operations to a solid e-business strategy that seamlessly integrates web storefronts, front office applications and back office operations right down to the shop floor.

The IFS business concept is to increase a company's freedom of action and competitiveness by offering integrated solutions consisting of standardized business components. IFS uses proven, third-generation component technology and it is, therefore, easy to add a wide variety of new e-business or ERP capabilities.

IFS Applications includes web-based Enterprise Application components, Internet storefronts, customer relationship management (CRM) applications, connectivity to other ERP solutions, and collaboration with process control systems with a variety of e-commerce engines. IFS Applications offers over 50 functional business components for improving business processes in medium-to-large size companies.

IFS is the world's fastest-growing company in the Enterprise Applications market. The company has 3,400 employees with products sold in 41 countries through 63 offices around the world.

About Metrix, Inc., and ProductService CRM^TM