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IDEA and Activant Partner to Offer Innovative E-Business Solutions

YARDLEY, PA, August 16, 2006 - IDEA and Activant Solutions Inc. announced a new partnership for electrical distributors to connect Activant solutions, including Activant Prophet 21™ and Activant Array to the IDEA IDX2 network, and enable the full integration of supplier data via the Industry Data Warehouse 2 (IDW2).

The partnership will allow electrical distributors to transmit EDI documents including purchase orders (with SPAs), point of sales reporting, and vendor remittance advice, as well as receive order acknowledgements, advance shipping notices, and vendor invoices, with full integration to distributors' solutions over the industry's lowest cost network, IDX2.

"E-business in distribution is growing by leaps and bounds," said Steve McLaughlin, senior vice president and general manager of Activant's wholesale distribution group. "By bringing together our collective solutions, resources, and vision, Activant and IDEA have forged a partnership that will enable electrical distributors and manufacturers to capitalize on this trend."

Established in 1998 as a joint venture between the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED), IDEA is an e-commerce service provider located in Arlington, VA. Industry Data Exchange 2, or IDX2, enables manufacturers, distributors and service providers to conduct partner-to-partner electronic business on an Internet based network using EDI, XML, flat file or Web Form transaction sets. Activant provides the core network services and Sterling Commerce provides the Value Added Network (VAN) interconnect for off-network trading. The IDX2 also provides direct connections to other similar Internet based networks. The IDX2 enables manufacturers and distributors to upload and access product and pricing information from IDEA's IDW2.

"The business relationship between IDEA and Activant has grown into a partnership over the years, as IDEA has relied on Activant as its primary IDW and IDW2 service provider since 1999," said Mike Rioux, president of IDEA. "Besides providing top-notch engineering and support, Activant also acts in an advisory role that enables IDEA to get feedback and insight on a variety of key e-commerce issues. There is no doubt that Activant has been a great contributor to IDEA's growth and success."

For more information about IDEA, please visit www.idea-esolutions.com

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