News Release-- January 14, 1998
CSC BECOMES A GLOBAL MEMBER OF THE BAAN COMPANY'S CONSULTING ALLIANCE PROGRAM: Alliance Couples CSC's Consulting and Technical Capabilities with Baan's Enterprise Software Solutions to Benefit Customers Around the Globe
El Segundo, Calif., Jan. 14 -- Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) announced it has become a global member of The Baan Company's (Nasdaq:BAANF; ASE:BAAN) Consulting Alliance Program.
Baan's global consulting alliances represent the strongest form of relationship Baan enters into with consulting companies. To qualify, the Baan partner must be a large, multi-national consulting firm with operations in the same global regions as Baan; have deep expertise in Baan target industries such as aerospace and automotive; and be committed to training and certifying several hundred consultants on the Baan ERP Solution in the first two years of the relationship.
As a worldwide leader in management consulting, information systems consulting and systems integration, CSC will help clients implement and operate Baan applications. As a member of the Baan Consulting Alliance Program, CSC will be among the first companies to learn of new Baan products and offerings, and the two companies will share clients and business leads. "Baan is one of the fastest-growing suppliers of new-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) business applications," said Van B. Honeycutt, CSC's president, chairman and chief executive officer.
"The global popularity of ERP systems has created a great demand for top- level consulting and implementation skills, especially for Baan products. This alliance puts CSC in a position to more effectively support both our clients and Baan's."
CSC has significant activities under way to increase its international Baan practice and offer solutions in a coordinated manner. In October, it acquired KOBRA Beheer BV, a leading Baan consultancy in the Netherlands that provides management, information technology and logistics support to more than 70 medium- and large-size companies. KOBRA's Rotterdam headquarters will be the central coordinating point for all of CSC's Baan-related activities in Europe.
Earlier this month, CSC launched a North American Baan consulting practice dedicated to pursuing opportunities in the aerospace, automotive, U.S. federal government and other markets. The company has also established Baan consulting practices in the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands. And CSC has created "centers of excellence" in each of those countries, where company expertise and best practices in Baan implementations will be brought together for training and client demonstrations.
CSC's presence in the aerospace and automotive industries complement Baan's extensive product offerings for those markets. British Aerospace, a CSC customer since 1991, is one of the largest Baan clients in the aerospace/defense arena.
"CSC's global reach, systems implementation skills and large-project experience are capabilities in great demand by Baan clients," said John Cordio, vice president of Consulting, The Baan Company. "CSC's capabilities will help Baan's growing customer base achieve additional productivity and efficiency through the use of Baan software around the world."
CSC offers a broad array of skills that address all critical elements of large scale, global systems integration projects, including program management, business process engineering, organizational development and change management, systems development, applications integration, performance engineering, and training and education.
The Baan Company delivers its comprehensive enterprise-wide business management software to companies requiring best-in-class manufacturing capabilities. Its products are fully year 2000 compliant and based on a flexible, multi-tier client/server architecture which can scale to meet the needs of small, medium and large enterprises. More than 2,400 companies use Baan in 4,000 sites worldwide. Customers include assemblers and their entire value chain within the automotive, electronics, process, aerospace and defense and other project-based markets, as well as companies with hybrid manufacturing environments. Baan's products uniquely support continuous business improvements through its capability for Dynamic Enterprise Modeling.
Founded in 1978, Baan has dual headquarters in Putten, the Netherlands, and Menlo Park, California. 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. For product information call 800-THE BAAN, or visit Baan's Web site at www.baan.com. For information on The Baan Company via fax at no cost, dial 888-PRO-INFO (908-544-2850 outside the U.S.), symbol: BAAN.
CSC had $6 billion in revenue for the 12 months ended Sept. 26, 1997. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., the company has nearly 44,000 employees in more than 600 offices worldwide and provides clients with a wide range of professional services, including management consulting, information systems consulting and integration, and operations support. More information about Computer Sciences Corporation is available at www.csc.com.
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