eBuild.ca Uses b2bScene's Platform to Drive Supply Chain Collaboration
Toronto/Waterloo, ON - 2000-11-29 - b2bScene , a division of Open
Text Corporation (Nasdaq: OTEX, TSE: OTC), today announced that its
partner, eBuild.ca Inc., has launched its online collaboration services for
the construction market in Canada, based on b2bScene's e-Business Community
Platform . eBuild.ca is Canada's largest provider of end to end solutions
for the $3.9 trillion global building design and construction industry.
Available at www.ebuild.ca, these services coordinate and streamline the
entire design-to-build process for the Developer, Architect, Engineer and
Construction (DAEC) industry.
eBuild.ca has developed community alliances with numerous industry
participants, including Schaeffer and Associates Consulting Engineers, Cosburn
Patterson Mather Consulting Engineers, Bondfield Construction, Con Cast Pipe
Limited, Metrus Development, Con-drain Company Limited, GreenPark Homes, Aspen
Ridge Homes, RoyalPark Homes, Senator Homes, Tribute Homes, Fellmore
Electrical Contractors and Marel Contractors. eBuild.ca will leverage the
experience of this initial community, which represents approximately $3
billion in annual construction spending, to assist in the development and
deployment of eBuild.ca solutions.
eBuild.ca required an online environment for its industry members to
exchange information, collaborate on business initiatives, and conduct
transactions. b2bScene's e-Business Community Platform the first
platform of its kind for delivering collaborative business-to-business
solutions on a hosted infrastructure helps eBuild.ca's communities
accelerate time-to-market, reduce risk and uncertainty, cut transaction and
overhead costs and increase revenues.
"The eBuild.ca, b2bScene partnership is an excellent example of our
strategy in operation...working with leaders in a specific industry, such as
construction, to design, build, operate and deliver a hosted collaborative
commerce solution," said Warren Clark, VP of Strategic Alliances, b2bScene.
"eBuild.ca has combined b2bScene's collaborative commerce technology platform
with their own formidable domain expertise plus market reach to offer the
premier portal service to drive supply chain collaboration in the Canadian
construction industry."
"In keeping with our 'best of breed' mentality, eBuild.ca required an
industrial strength collaborative commerce platform built to deliver a robust,
secure, and scalable solution to our customers. After an exhaustive search,
b2bScene was the only company that could meet our requirements, and deploy a
solution on an aggressive timetable," said Guy Cervi, Chief Technology
Officer, eBuild.ca Inc.
eBuild.ca's hosted solutions include services for project collaboration,
content, application integration and business-to-business procurement.
Customers can instantly set up collaborative communities where members develop
plans and drawings, coordinate tasks, schedules and budgets, automate RFI and
RFQ distribution, and more. eBuild.ca's communities incorporate industry-
focused search resources, news headlines, company directories job tenders and
events. The personalized interface integrates with email and wireless devices,
and the architecture utilizes XML to integrate industry applications such as
accounting, health and safety, equipment logistics, and after-sales service.
Romeo DeGasperis, VP Operations for Con-Drain Company, explains, "We are
moving very quickly on many large-scale projects and the amount of
documentation and coordination is staggering. We chose the online service at
eBuild.ca so our architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors and
suppliers can keep these projects on time, on spec and on budget, with
complete accountability at each step of the process."
According to Hadley Reynolds, a research director at Delphi Group, "Much
of the hype surrounding e-business has been about using Internet technologies
to reduce cost profiles in processing routine transactions like MRO purchasing
or supply chain acquisition and delivery. But there is an equally exciting
potential to improve bottom line results in knowledge-driven processes through
improved online collaboration practice. The construction environment is a
perfect example, where today's fast track projects typically suffer more from
poor planning, communications, and contractor coordination than from supply
chain problems. The bottom line potential to owners and builders from using
the Web to help get assets on line, on schedule is huge."
"Because of the size and scope of our alliances, we at eBuild.ca will
quickly establish ourselves as the standard for the construction industry in
Canada", explains Richard Myers Executive VP Corporate Development, eBuild.ca
Inc.
eBuild.ca is showcasing its solutions at the Construct Canada tradeshow,
November 29th to December 1st, at the Toronto Convention Center, booth No. 848
and 850.
eBuild.ca's integrated online project management, collaboration and e- commerce suite of services coordinates and streamlines the entire design-to- build process. eBuild.ca enables every member of your project team to communicate, collaborate or procure products and services in a secure real- time environment. From initial concept, design and engineering, to bidding, construction and closeout, eBuild.ca's unique suite of services enables companies to reduce costs, save time, and increase profitability.
b2bScene has created the first e-Business Community Platform for delivering business-to-business solutions on a hosting infrastructure. b2bScene's premier online solutions stimulate and promote successful business- to-business interaction and collaboration between an organization's partners, customers and employees within public and private online business communities. A collection of integrated content, collaboration and commerce services help b2bScene's customers improve the quality and efficiency of each transaction, process and interaction, resulting in faster time to market, lower costs and greater competitive advantage.
Open Text has pioneered the development of innovative Intranet and Extranet e-business applications. Since creating one of the first search engines to index the World Wide Web, the company has remained at the forefront of Internet-based technologies. Its product family, called Livelink, enables individuals, teams, organizations, and global trading communities to collaborate on e-business applications that facilitate e-commerce and other transactions among Global 2000 organizations. Open Text has become one of the largest providers of Web-based collaboration for e-business applications for e- communities of all types, from Intranets to Extranets and public groups. The Livelink product family has over 4 million users in over 4,000 installations in 31 countries, speaking 12 languages throughout the world. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.
Copyright (C) 2000 by Open Text Corporation. Livelink, 'Effective Solutions. Driven By Vision. Powered By Innovation.', HyperInnovation, b2bScene, and Open Text are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Text Corporation. This list is not exhaustive. Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of b2bScene, the deployment of Livelink and myLivelink by customers, and future performance of Open Text Corporation. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks involved in the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment of the Company's customers and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the final prospectus for the Company's initial public offering of common stock in January 1996, Form 10-K for the years ended June 30, 1997, June 30, 1998, and June 30, 1999, and Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, 1999, December 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's beliefs or opinions change.
Hugh Scholey
Account Supervisor
High Road Communications
416-368-8348
hscholey@highroad.com
Richard Myers
Executive Vice President, Corporate Development
eBuild.ca
905-264-8807
richmyers@ebuild.ca
Greg Secord
VP, Investor Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-519-888-7111 ext.2408
gsecord@opentext.com