Gaithersburg, Md. — November 1, 2005— GXS, a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, today announced completed certifications for ten regional and country data pools around the globe to help synchronize product information within the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN). The GDSN Interoperability Certification confirms that all GXS data pools support all current GDSN standards and meet interoperability requirements with other data pools. GXS now powers ten GDSN-certified data pools that span 18 countries; more than any other service provider worldwide. In total, only 27 data pools around the world from a variety of providers have achieved GDSN certification. The Drummond Group Inc. (DGI), a leading interoperability and conformance testing company, conducted the certification.

The GDSN is an Internet-based initiative that facilitates the efficient exchange among global trading partners of supply chain information that is accurate, up-to-date and compliant with universally supported EAN.UCC System standards. The GDSN is the ‘glue’ that allows data pools to leverage EAN.UCC/GS1 standards for Global Data Synchronization (GDS), enabling retailers and suppliers to communicate product information with one another. A data pool is the repository of product information that manages the registration process with the GS1 Global Registry™ and the choreographed exchange between trading partners to enable GDS.

“As the global carriers of product information within the GDSN, data pools play a critical role in the broad enablement of retailers and suppliers to exchange product catalog information electronically through a common set of principles,” says Larry Rushing, director of business process solutions for GXS. “This certification represents GXS’ commitment to enabling the efficient exchange of clean and accurate product data consistently between businesses around the world. By providing the technology and operating more GDSN-certified data pools, it is GXS’ intention to accelerate the adoption of data synchronization services throughout every region of the world, thus increasing participation opportunities from offshore suppliers and easing the sourcing difficulties for U.S.-based retailers and distributors.”

GXS is the leader in providing international data pool services for many GS1 member organizations. The Company is developing and deploying country and regional data pools in 18 countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand, Russia, Slovakia, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, as well as a regional data pool spanning the Middle East and Mediterranean (MEMA) region. The MEMA data pool supports retailers and suppliers in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). GXS Data Pool Manager provides hosted product information repositories — in GXS Trading GridSM — that facilitate the capture, registration and synchronization management of data between trading partners. For the retail supply chain, GS1 is promoting GDSN-certified data pools globally to speed product information synchronization.

According to an AMR Research report1 on the Global Data Synchronization Network, “Retailers see numerous benefits from deploying enterprise product data management strategies through the cost-effective syndication of clean data to disparate, internal transactional systems. A critical upstream element of this strategy is the delivery of accurate product data from suppliers. If this doesn’t happen, it increases the risk of exposing incomplete, inaccurate, and inconsistent information downstream to business users and customers. This usually results in inaccurate inventory counts, ineffective promotion plans, and additional labor investment required to correct mistakes. ”

To address the critical need for accurate and timely product information, GXS has developed a comprehensive product information and data synchronization solution suite specifically for the retail and consumer product goods industries. GXS data synchronization solutions are part of the GXS Trading GridSM platform of services. GXS Trading Grid is the Company’s leading, unique global integration platform that enables and streamlines cross-enterprise business processes. Trading Grid is the world’s largest electronic business community, used by more than 40,000 trading partners every day to exchange goods and services. As a services-oriented architecture B2B platform, Trading Grid helps customers automate global trading communities by shielding complexity from rapidly changing standards, eliminating manual and duplicative efforts and enabling a new level of process integration and business intelligence.

1 Rob Garf, AMR Research, GDSN Onboarding Is Now Ready for Retailers, July 14, 2005
GXS is a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce solutions that simplify and enhance business process integration and collaboration. Organizations worldwide, including more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, leverage the GXS Trading Grid^® to achieve balance between supply and demand. Active in the global standards arena, GXS solutions enable customers both large and small, to connect with global partners, synchronize product information, optimize inventory levels and demand forecasts, and accelerate the execution of supply chains.

Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD., GXS provides sales and support to businesses and their partners worldwide. For more information visit our Web site at www.gxs.com.