Westmont, IL – June 9, 1999 – At the Retail Systems 1999 Conference and Exposition, JDA Software Group's RetailIDEAS (powered by Silvon DataTracker technology) was one of 10 products to receive Microsoft Corporation's Retail Application Developer (R.A.D) Award. An independent panel of 10 judges selected the RetailIDEAS data warehouse system as the top Merchandising solution in the Retail Headquarters category. Overall, approximately 100 retail software applications were judged with the winning companies demonstrating industry leadership by creating best-of-breed solutions built on the Windows platform and maximizing retailer business benefits.
"We are extremely pleased that DataTracker has played a key role in the success of RetailIDEAS and that JDA was selected as a recipient of the coveted Microsoft R.A.D. award," said John Hughes, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Silvon. "Our relationship with JDA has been a natural fit because many of Silvon's customers today are JDA clients. Through JDA we are pleased to bring our state-of-the-art data warehousing and business intelligence technology to the retail market."
RetailIDEAS is a merchandising data warehouse designed to gather relevant data from many parts of the retail enterprise, from the point of sale to inventory-level databases at the distribution center, to help retailers make better merchandising decisions. It can be adapted to a company's own organizational structure, presenting only relevant data to individual users, and allows for exception-based reporting, alerting the correct manager or executive only when data indicates a "dangerous" situation (such as a low inventory level for a key product).
"The R.A.D. awards are focused on the business value that the technology brings to the retailer, and this year's winners created state-of-the-art applications that allow retailers to put together a Digital Nerous System," said Tom Litchford, retail industry manager at Microsoft.
The speed and flexibility offered by a well-functioning DNS are increasingly important for retailers. Retailing technology "has done a great job of focusing on operational efficiency during the past 20 years," noted Litchford. "Now, as business requirements change, solutions must be deployed on technologies that are flexible and adaptive, so businesses themselves can adapt."
R.A.D. entrants were required to identify specific business problems and explain the solutions their product provided. They were also judged on their product's ease of adoption by retail clients, as well as its integration of Internet and intranet technologies. In addition, the winners demonstrated their product's ability to make the best use of available Microsoft technology, and how the product fits into Microsoft initiatives such as ActiveStore and Value Chain as well as the DNS.
JDA Software Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:JDAS) is a global provider of integrated retail software products and professional services for more than 600 clients worldwide. Designed to Optimize the Retail Enterprise, JDA’s solution addresses the requirements for the entire retail supply chain: from corporate with merchandising, planning, allocation, decision support and financial systems; to the distribution center with warehouse management and logistics systems; at the store with point-of-sale and back-office applications; and on the Internet with Web-based solutions. Founded in 1985, JDA employs more than 1,100 associates operating from 20 offices worldwide. With headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, the company has offices in major cities throughout the United States as well as internationally in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Singapore, and Australia. For more information, refer to JDA's Web site at http://www.jda.com.