IFS North America Donates $5 Million Software/Support Package

IFS North America, a developer of enterprise software applications with its United States headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., has finalized an agreement to donate applications, support, training and services to the Eller College of Business and Public Administration at the University of Arizona.

Expected to be the first of several programs with the University, the donation will encompass the company's most advanced applications - IFS 2001 - and include e-commerce, financial, resource planning and other modules for use at the Eller College.

The Eller College, recognized as one of the top business schools in the country, will have unlimited use of the applications for teaching a variety of business courses for undergraduate, graduate and extension university curricula. In addition to the software package, the program provides support and an annual contract for services to maintain, enhance and update the applications as necessary.

Students in the classes using IFS applications will be afforded opportunities for real-world business contact including internships, business application consulting, and evaluation of a company's preparations for E-commerce and electronic supply chain processes.

IFS plans to work with the University to create a curriculum based on IFS Applications™ for placement in other schools where these kinds of courses are not available. Curricula collected from the University of Arizona and other schools in the IFS Assist program will generate a new, growing body of work for future implementation in the academic world.

IFS will support research and development of enhancements to its applications by students and faculty. In addition, IFS will share the experience of its training and education staff in using and teaching the applications in the commercial arena. The software provider also plans to sponsor conferences and seminars with the university in areas such as e-commerce infrastructure, manufacturing and resource management.

When finalizing the agreement, Mark Zupan, dean of the Eller College said, "We are pleased to receive this gift of software from IFS. Because of IFS's position as a leading enterprise software vendor, notably in the small-to mid-size business segment, the gift will make a significant impact on the educational experience of our students as well as on the development of entrepreneurial and information technology sectors of the state of Arizona. The partnership that will be promoted through the gift is also well-suited given our College's strength in entrepreneurship and information technology. After all, we have one of the most successful entrepreneurship programs in the country and are well-recognized for our information technology expertise: a top-five MIS department; the preeminent experimental economics group in the world; a state-of-the-art e-commerce lab; and cutting-edge research in groupware systems, data base management, auction design and execution, and knowledge management."

William T. Neumann, Ph.D., director of projects for the department of management information systems (MIS) of the Eller College, commented, "Our partnership with IFS represents an exciting opportunity for our students to obtain hands-on experience with an advanced enterprise applications suite, and to see the strategic benefits corporations can realize for their operations. IFS demonstrates a unique willingness to be an active participant in the process of integrating the IFS product family into our instructional and research programs.

"Beyond the classroom, our relationship will provide our students with valuable opportunities for internships and projects with business process consulting, assessing corporations readiness for e-commerce and supply chain management, and managing enterprise-class computing environments. This partnership will be a trend-setting model for academic-corporate cooperation, and is an example of the leadership for which our top five ranked MIS program and nationally recognized Eller College is known."

"Since IFS has a significant presence in Tucson, we are particularly pleased to be working with the University of Arizona. Our company is very committed to helping the university offer the most advanced training in important areas of technology. We believe the increase in highly trained technical personnel will make Arizona even more attractive to new businesses," said Terje Vangbo, president and chief executive officer of IFS North America.

About IFS and IFS Applications (www..ifsworld.com)
IFS develops and supplies business applications that offer step-by-step evolution to the extended enterprise. Based on proven component technology, IFS Applications software includes web-based enterprise applications, customer relationship management and supply chain management components, Internet storefronts, e-markets and e-procurement solutions. The company's more than 60 functional business components, which span the entire demand and supply chain, improve business processes in medium to large companies. IFS eBusiness_ solutions provide seamless integration of all data sources from the fastest web sites and exchanges to legacy enterprise resource planning. IFS is the fastest-growing global vendor in the business applications market. The company has 3,500 employees with products sold in 42 countries through 65 offices around the world. Annual revenue for IFS recently surpassed $200 million.

IFS Applications is a trademark of IFS Industrial and Financial Systems. All other referenced company or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.