REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Jun. 27, 2001 Oracle Corp. the largest provider of software for e-business, today announced that IKON Office Solutions, a leading provider of products and services that help businesses communicate, is standardizing on the Oracle(r) E-Business Suite to support its web-centric business strategy. Over the next 2 - 3 years, IKON intends to implement a fully web-enabled interface with customers, suppliers and employees using the Oracle E-Business Suite to simultaneously enhance customer relationships and improve operational efficiencies. The Oracle software implementation will form the basis for IKON's integrated, Web-based approach in all facets of its business, including sales support tools, order processing and billing, supply chain and logistics, equipment service, human resources management and finance. The Oracle implementation is also expected to provide the fulfillment engine for IKON's e-business strategy, which is designed to seamlessly enable customer transactions and self-service over the Internet. The Oracle E-Business Suite is designed to enhance IKON's customer relationships by giving employees a consistent, 360o view of its customers, and enhancing customer touch points, whether on the Web, through call center interactions or sales and marketing. The complete implementation will allow IKON to continuously evolve its systems and processes to meet the ever-changing needs of its customers, and will provide greater efficiency through streamlined, Web-enabled process design. "This implementation is intended to place us squarely in the new economy with a fully Web-enabled approach to our business, enabling us to be a more efficient, integrated and customer-focused organization with new processes designed with the customer in mind," said Simon Knight, vice president of Enterprise Systems for IKON Office Solutions. As part of the implementation, Oracle's development group will work closely with IKON to provide solutions to specific functional requirements of the services industry. "IKON is differentiated by the quality of service it provides to its customers," said Mark Barrenechea, senior vice president, Applications Development for Oracle. "IKON is proving to be a leader in the service industry by standardizing its business practices on a single system. This will allow them to improve communications with their customers, suppliers and employees while strengthening customer relationships and improving operational efficiencies."