USA: IIS Aand Blair Corp Launch Retail Website

Integrated Information Systems Inc ("IIS") (Nasdaq: IISX), selected by the Blair Corp to develop, implement and host a new e-commerce retail site, yesterday announced the successful launch of www.crossingpointe.com - the culmination of an accelerated, 12-week development project using the latest technology from IBM and CommercialWare. "Operating an e-commerce Web site is no longer a luxury for consumer-oriented marketing organizations - it is a requisite," said Jim Garvey, president and chief executive officer of IIS. According to Forrester Research, the B2C market will increase from $33bn this year to $108bn in 2003. Garvey emphasized: "This creates an enormous need for IIS's capabilities, which are structured to help companies like Blair rapidly maneuver to compete in that market." IIS worked in collaboration with CommercialWare Inc, a leading provider of B2C retail commerce solutions, to build a retail website for Blair. The company wanted a site that would integrate seamlessly with its existing order management, fulfillment, and customer service solution, CommercialWare's retail.dot.commerce. To accomplish this, IIS used IBM's newly released WebSphere(TM) Commerce Suite 4.1, making this e-commerce site one of the first to use the middleware technology with its new e-business capabilities. Blair, a Pennsylvania-based apparel manufacturer/distributor well known for its line of clothing for women 65 and older, has annual revenues of $500m. The introduction of the Crossing Pointe brand of women's apparel, focused on clothing for the 37 million "baby boomer" women aged 35-54, was simultaneous with the launch of the crossingpointe.com site and the Crossing Pointe apparel catalog.