Bangalore: IBM India (www.ibm.com) and Anuron Hitech (www.anuron.com), a leading software solution provider of e-procurement applications, have announced a partnership to deliver collaborative on-demand e-business solutions to medium- and large-enterprise customers in India.

Medium- and large-enterprise customers implement Anuron''s e-procurement solutions to conduct procurement transactions over the Internet. Anuron''s e-procurement applications, combined with IBM''s middleware, hardware and services, are designed to reduce administration costs, shorten acquisition cycles and improve inventory management, thereby improving sales and marketing productivity.

Anuron''s e-procurement solutions offer many advantages, including the ability to automate procurements processes in line with global best practices, provide analysis and business intelligence and handle dynamic on-demand e-business transactions.

This partnership with IBM India gives Anuron the ability to offer complete solutions. There will also be opportunities for joint development, customisation, marketing, sales and integrated support.

Under the terms of the agreement, IBM and Anuron will jointly market and sell eProcurment Advantage applications which are built on IBM DB2 Universal Database and WebSphere Internet infrastructure software and operating on IBM eServer iSeries hardware.

The partnership will provide Anuron the reach-to-market for its software application and will help IBM to further gain access in the medium- and large-enterprise segment for its on-demand offerings. IBM India will also provide infrastructure support for porting Anuron''s products on IBM platform Websphere, DB2 and eServer iSeries range of servers at its solution partnership centre in Bangalore.

Says Anuron executive director Ranjan Bhattacharyya: "We feel that among all the software technology vendors, IBM, with its commitment to open standards and with various middleware products, is the only partner that provides best-in-class technology across the entire spectrum. We decided to provide our next-generation solutions on the IBM software technology platform since it gives us the confidence of providing a robust and scalable infrastructure for our clients. We view our partnership with IBM as strategic and long-term."

"E-business offerings is a key focus area for IBM India," says Frank Luksic, country executive, software group and developer relations, IBM India. "The IBM India-Anuron partnership is another example of IBM''s commitment to partner with leading independent software vendors to bring the best-of-breed solutions to customers. The goal is to provide developers with access to new customers and revenue opportunities through IBM''s marketing, sales and solution resources.

"IBM will promote Anuron as a preferred solutions and services provider, on jointly led sales to new customers in the e-business solutions market. This partnership strengthens the capabilities of both IBM and Anuron to provide total solutions for greater customer satisfaction."