DSET and Mercator® Partner
for Faster Deployment of Telecommunications
E-Commerce Solutions
Strategic Alliance Improves
B2B Commerce Among
Competitive and Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers
BRIDGEWATER, NJ and WILTON, Conn. - February 23, 2000 - DSET
Corporation (NASDAQ:DSET), a leading supplier of business-to-business
e-commerce solutions for the telecom industry, and Mercator®
Software (NASDAQ:MCTR), the e-business transformation company,
today announced a partnership and reseller agreement that
will streamline the deployment of key B2B interfaces between
competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and incumbent
local exchange carriers (ILECs). Under the terms of the multi-year
agreement, DSET is licensed to embed Mercator Enterprise Broker
in the DSET gateway that electronically interconnects CLECs
with ILEC trading partners and automates the processing of
phone-service orders for new CLEC customers.
"Our commitment to Mercator's e-business integration
software as both a 'Mercator Telecommunications Industry Partner'
and a 'Mercator M-Powered ISV Partner' will solidify the position
of our ordering gateway as a powerful B2B e-commerce solution
for the industry," said Paul Smith, DSET's senior vice
president of strategic planning and product management. "This
agreement underscores our confidence in Mercator as a leading
B2B integration solution that can stand up to the challenges
ILECs present to their CLEC trading partners. Of equal importance,
the multi-year agreement signals DSET's confidence in the
market for interconnecting competitive and incumbent carriers.
Embedding the capabilities of Mercator Enterprise Broker in
our gateways helps ensure that we rapidly and accurately meet
and exceed the changing ILEC interface requirements."
The Mercator e-business transformation software has been
an integral component of DSET's ordering gateway since its
introduction in late 1998. However, DSET has made a significant
new commitment to Mercator in anticipation of continued strong
demand for the DSET gateways.
"Our strategic relationship with DSET validates Mercator's
position as the preferred e-business integration offering
for the telecommunications market," said Dave Power,
vice president of marketing, Mercator. "We are committed
to a strong partnership with DSET to provide rich transformation
capabilities in the DSET gateway that should expand the opportunities
for both companies to better serve our telecommunications
customers. We expect the ease of deployment and maintenance
of the connection between CLEC-ILEC trading partners to result
in increased value for DSET's customers and expanded opportunities
for Mercator."
DSET solutions make turning on service for new CLEC customers
faster and more cost-effective, beginning with the company's
products for automatically generating sales quotes. DSET solutions
automate the process of ordering local loops and high-capacity
circuits, and provide support for number portability, 911
emergency service, calling card, and caller ID services. DSET
products also ensure that CLEC customers are served by their
preferred long-distance carriers and that service problems
are resolved quickly and efficiently.
About Mercator Software
Mercator is the leading provider of e-business transformation
software. The company's products dramatically simplify customer
migration to e-business across every industry, providing unprecedented
levels of automation for the most difficult e-business integration
tasks. Mercator integration broker products address customer
requirements for business-to-business (B2B), application-to-application
(A2A) and consumer-to-business (C2B) integration in every
industry. More than 5,000 customers use Mercator products
to accelerate their transformation to e-business and over
100 partners embed or resell the company's technology to enhance
their product or service offerings. Additional information
about Mercator can be found on the Internet at www.mercator.com.
Mercator Software is the new trade name of TSI International
Software, Ltd., headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut. The
company will seek stockholder approval to formally change
its name at an upcoming stockholders meeting.
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Statements
in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking
statements, including statements regarding TSI International
Software Ltd.'s (the Company) beliefs, expectations, hopes
or intentions regarding the future. Forward-looking statements
in this release include, but are not limited to, statements
regarding the growth of the enterprise application market,
the demand for the Company's application integration solutions
and the speed of deployment of new products, including combined
Mercator E-business Integration Broker products. It is important
to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results
could differ materially from those in such forward-looking
statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially include risks and uncertainties such as changes
in demand for application integration or e-business integration
software and the Company's Mercator E-business Integration
Broker suite of products in particular, the ability of the
Company to expand its international operations, the ability
of the Company to manage expanded global operations, the ability
of the Company to continue to add resellers and other distribution
channels, and the success of third parties in utilizing and
marketing the Company's products, or seasonality in operating
results. Readers should also refer to the risk disclosures
outlined in the Company's reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements and
reasons why results might differ included in this release
are made as of the date hereof, based on information available
to the Company as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes
no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement
or reason why results might differ.
About DSET
DSET Corporation is a leading provider of business-to-business
e-commerce solutions for the global telecommunications marketplace.
The DSET suite of electronic-bonding gateways is designed
to interconnect the operations support systems (OSSs) of service
providers that must exchange information and share network
capabilities with trading partners to provision and maintain
a growing range of services for customers in the competitive
telecom market. DSET's local number portability solutions
play a key role in enabling business and residential customers
to change service providers without changing their local phone
numbers. DSET is headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey,
and the company's Web site can be viewed at www.dset.com.
Statements regarding financial matters contained in this
press release, other than historical facts, are forward-looking.
Since all statements about DSET's plans, estimates, and expectations
are based on current projections that involve risks and uncertainties,
and are subject to change at any time, the company's actual
results may differ materially from expected results. Investors
should consider these risks and uncertainties, which are discussed
in documents filed by DSET with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These documents identify important factors that
could cause the actual results to differ materially from those
contained in the projections or forward-looking statements.
DSET expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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DSET and the DSET logo are registered trademarks of DSET
Corporation. Mercator is a registered trademark of TSI International
Software Ltd., d/b/a/ Mercator Software. "the e-business
transformation company" is a trademark of TSI International
Software Ltd., d/b/a Mercator Software.
DSET Contacts:
Media Relations: Kathy Claxton, Corporate Marketing Communications
Manager, 908-526-7500 Ext. 1280
Investor Relations: John P. Murphy, Westfield Investor Relations,
908-233-1558,
e-mail: westfieldir@worldnet.att.net
Mercator Contacts:
Media Relations: Ted Weismann or Amy Pavel, Lois Paul &
Partners, 781-238-5700
Public and Investor Relations: Cindi Brockhoff, Director,
Market Relations, 203-761-8600
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