IBS signs partnership agreement with HCL for off-shoring

IBS signs partnership agreement with HCL for off-shoring

IBS and Indian IT services company HCL Technologies have signed a partnership
agreement which will enable HCL to deliver technical services to IBS. These will
include product development services as well as customer delivery and support
services. The partnership is a crucial component of the Operational Excellence
portion of the strategic initiative announced by IBS on September 23, aimed to
enhance value to customers and improve profitability to become the leading
distribution management solution company.

IBS has for several years successfully near- and off-shored both development and
customer projects to fully owned resources in Portugal and Poland as well as to
partners in India. This new partnership will accelerate the shift of resources
that today are geographically dispersed, into a central skills pool while
letting IBS benefit from HCL's experience and knowledge around software
development and customer solution deployment. 

IBS customers will also benefit from an Upgrade Factory setup, which is an offer
to quickly and efficiently upgrade existing customers to the latest release of
the IBS Enterprise suite. Moreover, HCL will provide strategically important
resources to ensure technical capacity for the future development and volume
deployment of IBS' new product line, Enterprise for Windows, scheduled for
global launch in 2009. 

“This is a very exciting partnership that we are embarking upon”, says Mike
Shinya, President and CEO of IBS. “We tendered offers from several extremely
well qualified off-shore partners but were very impressed with the HCL  team's
energy, commitment to rapid delivery and the extensive experience including more
than 50,000 professionals of which over 1,200 with iSeries experience. This
partnership is an important achievement in the strategic progress in improving
profitability and a step in becoming the leading distribution management
solution company”. 
“The partnership adds a lot of value to IBS as well as for our customers”, says
Ole Fritze, Senior Vice President Professional Services at IBS. “It will enable
us to ensure timely delivery of the highest quality, while at the same time
ensuring scalability to always being able to resource projects optimally,
regardless of skill set requirements or where they are in the world”. 

Rajeev Sawhney, President for Europe at HCL Technologies says, “We are delighted
to have signed this agreement to become an IBS partner. IBS is renowned across
the world as a provider of very high quality software and services and the
company growth is due to the considerable value that it adds to its client's
business operations. Our combined expertise will offer customers an even greater
level of excellence in service. We are very pleased with this innovative and
collaborative relationship.”

For more information, please contact:
Oskar Ahlberg, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, IBS AB
Tel: +46-70-244 24 75
oskar.ahlberg@ibs.net

Ranjana Sharma, Marketing Director Europe, HCL Technologies
Tel: +44 (0) 7921 699 137
ranjanas@hcl.in

IBS in brief
With over 30 years of experience, IBS is a leading provider of distribution
management solutions. IBS focuses on industries such as automotive, electrical
components, paper & packaging and pharmaceutical distribution. More than 5,000
customers across some 40 countries use IBS software to gain fast and measurable
returns on IT investments.

IBS B share is listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm. For more information,
please visit www.ibs.net
About HCL Technologies Ltd. 
HCL Technologies is one of India's leading global IT Services companies,
providing software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management services
and BPO. Having made a foray into the global IT landscape in 1999 after its IPO,
HCL Technologies focuses on Transformational Outsourcing, working with clients
in areas that impact and re-define the core of their business. The company
leverages an extensive global offshore infrastructure and its global network of
offices in 18 countries to deliver solutions across select verticals including
Financial Services, Retail & Consumer, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Hi-Tech,
Telecom and Media & Entertainment (M&E). For the quarter ended 31st March 2008,
HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries had last twelve months (LTM)
revenue of $ 1.8 billion (Rs. 7083 crores) and employed 49,802 professionals.
For more information, please visit www.hcltech.com.