DAYTON, Ohio--May 20, 2002-- SAP America, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of SAP AG (NYSE:SAP), today announced that Cox Ohio Publishing has selected the mySAP.com e-business platform to streamline core business operations. Cox is the first U.S. newspaper to choose mySAP Media for circulation and ad management functionality. The solution will enable the company to update its business technology to deliver new products, reduce costs, and improve utilization of resources. SAP Systems Integration AG (SAP SI), the leading systems integrator for the advertising and circulation management solution, will provide Cox with consulting services for the installation of the SAP solutions. "We were looking for an enterprise solution to merge back office systems for all our papers, and SAP provided the best portfolio of products. We chose SAP SI because of their industry-specific expertise with companies in the media and publishing industry," said Doug Franklin, COO, Cox Ohio Publishing. "With mySAP.com we will be able to increase our competitive advantage and improve cost efficiencies." The mySAP Media solution will provide Cox with a comprehensive set of solutions designed specifically for the business management and customer-care processes needed to maintain a competitive edge in the publishing and media industry. Cox employees, partners, and customers will benefit from the solution's full integration of the company's technical systems -- such as prepress and mailroom systems -- into its business processes, enabling optimized sales cycle management, more efficient product life-cycle management, and better business support. In addition to using the media-specific functionality, Cox will utilize mySAP Human Resources and mySAP Financials to integrate core business processes throughout the company. The SAP project began in November 2001, and the first phase went live this month. "SAP is the only major enterprise application vendor to offer an industry-specific solution for media companies as well as accounting, human resources, data warehousing, customer relationship management, and portal solutions," said Brian Madocks, senior vice president and general manager for the services sector, SAP America, Inc. "Cox's forward-thinking e-business strategy will help them gain a competitive advantage in the media publishing industry." "We are excited to be working with Cox Ohio Publishing to provide our extensive experience in full-scale implementations of the mySAP Media solution," said Paul Redditt, director of media solutions, SAP SI America. "Cox's selection of the SAP industry-specific solution as the best investment to support their 'best practices' confirms our belief that many other media companies will follow." The comprehensive mySAP Media solution supports business management and customer-care processes and includes core business-process functionality for financials, human resource management, and logistics, in addition to media industry-specific functions such as advertising management, media sales and distribution (circulation), and product lifecycle management. The mySAP Media solution is designed to fully integrate technical systems (e.g., prepress, mailroom, and finishing systems) into business processes through standard open interfaces to third-party systems. The mySAP Media solution is geared to the needs of customers in a broad range of media companies: multinational publishers of newspapers, books, magazines, and other publications; entertainment businesses, including film studios, music and production companies; broadcasting (radio, TV, cable) companies; online services companies; advertising agencies; news and information services; and commercial printing businesses. More information can be found at http://www.sap.com/media