- Intrexx offers real alternative to IBM, SAP and Microsoft portal platforms

London, 8 July 2009 - United Planet (www.unitedplanet.com), one of the leading developers of Enterprise Portal software in Europe, has positioned itself as a real alternative to the global portal vendors IBM, SAP and Microsoft, with its cost effective, flexible process and portal platform Intrexx.

According to United Planet managing director, Axel Wessendorf, Intrexx offers significant advantages for small and medium-sized enterprises: “The top 500 companies might be in a position to invest in one of the platforms from the larger vendors – IBM WebSphere Portal, SAP NetWeaver Portal and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - but smaller companies aren’t always able to cope with the high level of complexity that their implementation typically requires,” he said.

Wessendorf cites United Planet’s extensive experience of the SME market as a key differentiator: “IBM is focussed on working with large companies and SAP has recently announced its intention to continue in the product field of Collaboration technologically only on a limited basis. Microsoft is therefore our primary competitor in this sector, but Intrexx clearly offers faster development times and reduced implementation and service costs: For every 1 euro charged in licence costs, Microsoft officially calculates between 6 and 9 euro in service costs. With Intrexx, this same factor is only at 1.5 to 3 (with training costs taken into account),” he added.

In the race for the SME portal market, both companies are collaborating with other software providers, however Wessendorf suggests that United Planet’s OEM Partnership Programme offers a clear advantage for ERP vendors: “Because we do not produce ERP software ourselves, we do not pose a competitive threat to our partners. Microsoft, on the other hand, with 100.000 Dynamics AX and NAV installations worldwide the ERP global market leader, is in a completely different position,” says Wessendorf.

Portal software enables companies to integrate ERP systems with other applications more easily and to incorporate them into common, everyday processes via a uniform interface. United Planet’s specialisation on the SME market has led to the development of an extremely versatile, easy-to-use tool that targets the specific needs of small businesses. Companies can develop web applications, integrate data from any other system either directly or using web services, and automate a variety of business processes. Intrexx customers have the added advantage that they are free to choose both their platform and database and consequently gain the greatest possible operational flexibility because they are not tied to one solution.

United Planet’s commitment to collaboration has already enabled ERP vendor, Data Systems Austria, to successfully offer Intrexx to its customers under its own label, JET Enterprise Portal.

To find out more about United Planet’s OEM Platform Partnership, visit: www.unitedplanet.com/en/partners/oem.