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RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Software AG, a global leader in business infrastructure software, today announced that 3Com has gone into production with the second phase of the IT transformation being powered by the webMethods Suite from Software AG. 3Com is a leading global provider of secure, converged voice and data networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes. 3Com had previously implemented the webMethods ESB, beginning in October 2007, as the cornerstone of its corporate service-oriented architecture (SOA) initiative.

Using Software AG technology, the company has replaced its legacy Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) implementation with a standards-based, business-to-business infrastructure enabling real-time process execution and visibility throughout its global value chain. 3Com has also gone into production with webMethods BPMS, which is being used to orchestrate, automate and streamline core business processes throughout the enterprise. 3Com’s deployment of the webMethods Suite continues to proceed ahead of schedule and under budget with the company achieving full return-on-investment in less than a year.

“One of 3Com’s priorities is to deliver industry leading service and support for our customers and partners,” said Jerry Kelly, CIO and vice president, 3Com Corporation. “Using the webMethods Suite, we’re able to meet business requirements much faster and deliver greater value to our customers. For example, our recent implementation of a new B2B gateway is helping us to further improve customer service. Now, we can provide our service partners with total insight into our user’s challenges and we can track their progress in real-time. Orchestrating this type of support on a global basis is key to our ability to deliver a seamless, consistent ownership experience anywhere in the world.”

3Com had relied historically upon a legacy EDI system to communicate with its partners. However, the resulting dependencies on batch transfers and frequent point-to-point integrations produced unacceptable delays in responding to customer requirements. Furthermore, the complexity of this architecture made it impossible to fully capture all of the data traveling throughout 3Com’s trading network and limited operational visibility as well.

As a result, 3Com recently implemented webMethods for B2B to tie partners and suppliers directly into the company’s SAP ERP system. Working as an extension of the webMethods ESB, webMethods for B2B is an enterprise-class B2B gateway that provides a comprehensive, scalable solution for conducting B2B transactions and communications with customers, suppliers, distributors and other trading partners. This deployment made it possible to shave days off of the fulfillment process while giving customers better, real-time visibility into order status.

Due to the speed and ease in which complex process scenarios could be visually mapped, 3Com was able to complete the conversion to the webMethods platform using just a quarter of the resources originally specified. Furthermore, subsequent changes have been implemented in hours as opposed to the weeks previously required.

3Com has also launched a number of new process improvement initiatives following the recent implementation of webMethods BPMS, Software AG’s full-feature process design, execution, monitoring and management solution. For example, 3Com is consolidating and standardizing its human resources processes using webMethods BPMS. This project is designed to infuse additional efficiency, consistency and auditability into 3Com’s HR operations while delivering further cost-savings through the retirement of redundant applications.

All of these efforts capitalize on the SOA created by 3Com using the webMethods ESB. This shift to a ‘plug & play’, real-time global business infrastructure has enabled more efficient business processes, better operational visibility and reporting, and richer, more trustworthy data. In terms of IT operations, SOA is delivering significant improvements in productivity and responsiveness as business requirements are being met faster than previously possible using the webMethods ESB.

“As one of the pioneers of the Internet era, customers and partners expect 3Com to operate at Internet speed. As we continued to expand our global value chain, it became apparent that new approaches were needed to maintain this commitment,” said Kathleen O’Neill, Director of IT, 3Com Corporation. “By deploying the webMethods Suite, we’ve been able to extract greater value from our existing IT systems, connect with partners and customers more easily, and develop differentiating applications and processes faster. The end result is we’re seeing greater alignment between IT and the business, which is working to ensure that the entire company remains 100% customer-focused.”

About Software AG

Software AG is the world’s largest independent provider of Business Infrastructure Software. Our 4,000 global enterprise customers achieve business results faster by modernizing, integrating and automating their IT systems and processes. As a result, they rapidly build measurable business value and meet changing business demands. Based on our solutions, organizations are able to liberate and govern their data, systems, applications, processes and services – achieving new levels of business flexibility.

Our leading product portfolio includes solutions for high performance data management, developing and modernizing applications, enabling service-oriented architecture, and improving business processes. By combining our technology with industry expertise and best practices experience, our customers improve and differentiate their businesses – faster.

Software AG has almost 40 years of global IT experience and over 3,600 employees serving customers in 70 countries. The company is headquartered in Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE 0003304002 / SOW). Software AG posted total revenues of €621 million in 2007.