Osage iXi and tirerack.com Make Tracks for Success

1 May 2000

Osage iXi and tirerack.com Make Tracks for Success

    PHOENIX--May 1, 2000--Osage Systems Group Inc. (AMEX: OSE), a national leader in helping businesses achieve Internet success, and The Tire Rack, America's leading mail order and eCommerce distributor of performance automotive tires and wheels, have announced completion of their most recent design innovation to The Tire Rack website, www.tirerack.com.
    In announcing the innovation, Osage Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Phil Carter, stated, "This addition enables a web site visitor to view tire and wheel options as they would appear on their own car or truck.
    "After selecting their vehicle make, model, year and body color, customers can easily `install' the tires and wheels of their choice. This feature is fun for the customer and makes it much easier to purchase."
    Mark Veldman, vice president of eBusiness at The Tire Rack, has experienced the ever-increasing site traffic and number of transactions that tirerack.com has experienced since its Internet debut. "Had we known then what we know now, we would have immediately gone for the Osage solution," said Veldman.
    When The Tire Rack and Osage brought the new web site online, tirerack.com was named as one of five finalists for a Webby Award, recognizing creativity and innovation among America's best web sites. Other finalists were amazon.com, CD Now, the Gap and eBay.
    The project was led by Osage iXi(TM), designers of strategic Internet solutions for B2B and business intelligence applications. "The tirerack.com success story is an excellent example of our proprietary methodology that enables businesses to quickly achieve a powerful and profitable presence on the Internet," said Mike Ehrensberger, Osage iXi(TM) vice president.
    The Tire Rack customer-direct concept called for providing customers with expansive information about tires and wheels, test results, a complete listing of tire and wheel specifications and prices, and highly interactive features.
    "We want the tire/wheel buying experience to be fully interactive and enjoyable," said Matt Edmonds, director of marketing. "It's more than just dot-com, it is dot-communication that helps our customer."
    "Depth in a partner is an important ingredient in the total eBusiness solution," Veldman added. "We're able to keep running the race (the business), but we look to our partner to be able to respond to our needs as we grow. They're like our pit crew. We need them to be there, to do the job well and do it fast. Osage became our tirerack.com web site pit crew."
    As a vendor/partner to The Tire Rack, Osage Systems Group supplied turnkey consulting services. This included software applications design and architecture, programming services (100 percent Java(TM)), database programming services, integration services for Solaris(TM) Operating Environment Software, project management, installation, and support of the application following delivery.
    The application resides on a set of Sun Microsystems(TM) servers and is integrated to The Tire Rack's A/S400-based business system for real time order entry and fulfillment.
    "As our eBusiness increases, we have come to understand the importance of scalability ... the ability to grow on a progression path that meets or slightly leads our expanding requirements." Veldman added, "We have always relied on Osage to show us the intelligent path to eBusiness success."

    About Osage

    Osage Systems Group (www.osage.com) designs, implements and supports eBusiness solutions for the Networked Economy(TM). With a comprehensive and fully integrated set of e-business capabilities, Osage strategically links infrastructure, integration, information, and intelligence.
    Osage partners, including Sun Microsystems, IBM, Cisco, Veritas, and Oracle, provide the industry-leading technologies that help shape Osage solutions, enabling customers to achieve a powerful Internet presence. Osage is the intelligent path for business leaders to follow in order to achieve optimum results in the robust, web-centered environment.

    Sun, Sun Microsystems, Solaris, and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems Inc. in the United States and other countries.