ARMONK, NY, December 5, 2001 — IBM today
announced that Tommy Hilfiger Corporation has chosen IBM, eOneGroup
and Linux for its new e-business infrastructure as the company
works to expand its presence among thousands of U.S. specialty
retailers, as well as its worldwide manufacturing facilities and
employees.
Tommy Hilfiger selected technologies from IBM, including IBM
eServer products running Linux, DB2 Universal Database, Java and
eOneGroup’s suite of software products to create:
A new B2B portal (www.tommyb2b.com) that allows Tommy
Hilfiger’s specialty retailers and salesforce to view, via the web,
selected core and seasonal apparel products such as jeans and other
basic available inventory in real-time, and place, track and ship
orders; A business-to-plant website that links Tommy Hilfiger’s
production facilities around the world, which is expected to speed
design-to-product time and significantly decrease costs; and A
virtual employee store that allows, for the first time, Tommy
Hilfiger personnel to shop online around the clock.
The web infrastructure, designed and built by IBM Business
Partner eOneGroup, includes IBM eServer xSeries servers running
Linux to handle web-based transactions, integrated online with IBM
eServer iSeries servers running Java that are tied to existing
wholesale and warehouse management systems.
“We identified an increasing demand for our products among
mid-market specialty retailers, and IBM and eOneGroup delivered the
technologies and expertise we needed to reach this growing market
segment,” said Brent Findon, vice president of system development
at Tommy Hilfiger. “In addition, by integrating these new web
portals with our existing back-end systems, we saved significantly
on the time and expense of deploying this total
infrastructure.”
“IBM’s server interoperability and application flexibility
enabled us to reach Tommy Hilfiger’s goals of lower costs and
increased revenue,” said Dan Watson, president of eOneGroup. “The
manufacturing portal and employee store are expected to produce
substantial cost savings and tommyb2b.com has already proved
productive and efficient for specialty store retailers with limited
travel budgets.”
“Tommy Hilfiger needed a solution that provided the performance
and reliability necessary to win in the tough retail marketplace,”
said Buell Duncan, general manager of IBM’s mid-market servers.
“With our IBM Business Partner eOneGroup, we are committed to
helping Tommy Hilfiger grow into new markets with its powerful
e-business infrastructure.”
About Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs,
sources and markets men’s and women’s sportswear, jeanswear and
childrenswear under the Tommy Hilfiger trademarks. Through a range
of strategic licensing agreements, the company also offers a broad
array of related apparel, accessories, footwear, fragrance and home
furnishings. The company’s products can be found in leading
department and specialty stores throughout the United States,
Canada, Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, Japan, Hong Kong
and other countries in the Far East.
About eOne Group
eOneGroup LLC is a provider of Internet e-commerce products and
integration services. eOneGroup serves both business-to-business
and business-to-consumers throughout the United States. Their
expertise encompasses all facets of the interactive web content
arena, from feature-rich online shopping applications to
enterprise-level web integration. eOneGroup LLC customers include
Omaha Steaks, BIC Pens, Valmont MicroFlect and many other high
Internet volume activity sites. eOneGroup LLC has headquarters in
Omaha, Neb.