PUBNET™ AND UNITECH PROVIDE E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS FOR PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

Strategic Relationship Between MISG And Unitech Help University Presses Implement Internet-EDI Systems

Research Triangle Park, N.C. - July 17, 2000

Management Information Systems Group, Inc. (MISG), provider of Pubnet™, and Unitech EDI Systems announced they are working together to provide electronic commerce solutions for the publishing industry. The solutions utilize Internet, Web and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) technologies to optimize the industry's supply chain.

Several university and trade presses, with assistance from Unitech, have joined Pubnet to receive EDI documents over the Internet from customers. The presses include The Brookings Institution, Hay House, National Academy Press, Rutgers University, Small Press Distribution, Ten Speed Press, Texas A&M University, University of Georgia, University of Nebraska, University of Oklahoma and University of Virginia.

"Publishers and bookstores are facing an increasing number of technology providers and options," said Rich Vettel, president of Unitech. "Our relationship with MISG and the Pubnet service will allow trading partners to exchange critical documents that can be seamlessly integrated with their internal systems. This will simplify the process of converting business processes to those that support E-commerce."

The relationship leverages Unitech's EDI programming, integration and customization capabilities and MISG's network and trading community management expertise. The two companies will work with clients to help trading partners send or receive electronic business documents quickly and cost effectively.

"The new industry portals or exchanges promise many benefits but often do not address how documents delivered through the exchange will integrate with trading partner systems," said Vettel. "Pubnet-Unitech-supported applications will help companies deal with these technical challenges because Pubnet provides access to so much of the industry, and we convert documents delivered through Pubnet to formats that our clients can easily process."

"I am excited about our relationship with Unitech and how it is helping the university presses and other publishers reduce costs associated with ordering, shipping and other supply chain areas," said David Davis, sales manager with MISG. "The growth in utilizing e-commerce initiatives like Pubnet in this segment of the industry is very impressive."

Management Information Systems Group, Inc. is a leading supplier of electronic commerce and EDI solutions, managed network systems and Internet services to the publishing industry. MISG's Internet services include Web site development and hosting, Web-to-EDI and EDI-to-Web conversions, E-commerce-enabled Web sites, Internet-based EDI and trading community management.

Pubnet is the publishing industry's leading E-commerce exchange, allowing more than 3,000 distributors, bookstores and other retailers to place electronic orders over the Internet. More than 300 publishers receive orders over Internet file transfers or through the browser-based application at www.pubnet.org. Web users have access to the system's 500,000-title database to conduct title searches and place online orders.

For more than five years, Unitech EDI Systems has been in the forefront of EDI technology. With a client list that includes John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:JWa) (NYSE:JWb), National Book Network, Butterworth-Heinemann and Kluwer Academic, as well as university presses at Harvard, MIT, Yale, California, Princeton, Chicago and Cornell, Unitech is well positioned to impact market forces in the field.

Additional information can be found at the following:
Management Information Systems Group
Pubnet
Unitech EDI Systems

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