The Home Depot Chooses IBM for Enhanced e-Business Infrastructure.

Business/Technology Editors

ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2002

Largest Home Improvement Retailer Selects IBM WebSphere and DB2 e-Infrastructure Software to Help It Better Serve Customers, Employees

IBM today announced that The Home Depot, the world's largest home

Home Depot will use IBM WebSphere -- open infrastructure software that manages high-volume transactions and integrates different business applications across a variety of computing systems-- as the foundation of its new information technology system.

WebSphere will enable Home Depot to enhance customer service, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the supply chain, and provide associates with access to critical business information, allowing them to extend their reach. WebSphere also will enable Home Depot to more efficiently and quickly handle the millions of customer orders, replenishment orders, vendor invoices and many other business transactions.

Home Depot will use IBM's DB2 database software, along with IBM DB2 Connect, to provide access from its high-volume transaction servers to the many terabytes of operational data. It also has chosen IBM VisualAge Enterprise Suite -- a software toolkit for building business applications that run on Websphere -- for quicker delivery of custom business applications, as well as third-party software integration built on the WebSphere platform.

"Home Depot is committed to customer service, and with these new solutions from IBM, we will be able to provide a scalable run-time environment for our e-business applications, " said Mike Anderson, vice president, Information Systems, Home Depot. "Our IS team is constantly challenged to provide business applications that can process high transaction volumes with quick response times. Through our analysis of the leading web application servers on the market, we felt that WebSphere would provide us the ability to meet these needs. And with well over 9,000 software vendors choosing WebSphere for their run-time application server, we know we are investing in an industry standard."

WebSphere's ability to accommodate large numbers of transactions across disparate computing platforms will enable Home Depot to improve customer service in several ways. One is in a particularly fast-growing part of its business -- customized services for carpeting, kitchen remodels and similar types of home improvement projects. A more automated process for customer special order creation and management will replace today's less integrated business processes with vendors and customers and enhance their overall experience.

"Home Depot is widely known and admired because of its legendary focus on customer service and employee well-being, and they're known as visionaries in harnessing technology to achieve those goals," said Steve Mills, senior vice president and general manager, IBM Software. "As premier companies like Home Depot increase transactions and link operations with others, integrating disparate computing systems and business applications becomes crucial. IBM's software and solutions deliver the open, scalable infrastructure that dynamic e-businesses like Home Depot need."

About The Home Depot

Founded in 1978, The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the third largest retailer in the United States, with fiscal 2001 sales of $53.6 billion. The company employs approximately 250,000 associates and has 1,356 stores in 49 states, Puerto Rico, seven Canadian provinces and Mexico. For the second consecutive year, Home Depot was named sixth on Fortune magazine's list of the Top 10 Most Admired Companies in America. The magazine also named Home Depot the most admired specialty retailer in America for the ninth consecutive year. Its stock is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with more than 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Software offers the widest range of e-business infrastructure software for all types of computing platforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM Software home page at www.software.ibm.com. Information about the complete WebSphere software platform is on the Web at www.ibm.com/websphere.

IBM and Retailers

IBM provides the Retail Industry with a full range of e-business solutions, including: point-of-sale systems, other hardware and software technology, consulting focused on business transformation, IT strategy and planning, store operations improvement, and supply chain optimization, and with services, such as outsourcing, managed operations, systems integration, and application development and design. IBM has been the leader in retail point-of-sale systems for more than 20 years. For more information on IBM Retail Solutions, please visit www.ibm.com/solutions/retail.