Polaris Retail partners IBM to launch ‘Intellect Store’

…The First SOA-based Retail Solution in India

New Delhi, April 30, 2009: Polaris Retail Infotech Ltd. (PRIL), a leading Retail Software provider and a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Software Lab Ltd, today announced that it has partnered IBM to launch Intellect Store, the first SOA-based Retail solution in India. This point-of-sale (POS) solution, targeted at all retail formats, is built on the open-standards-based Java™ Platform, Enterprise Edition and combined with IBM’s Retail Integration Framework.

Having reached 35,000 POS counters across the country with its products, PRIL is an established market leader in Retail Technology in India. IBM has helped major retailers enhance their competitive positions by deploying its Store Integration Framework in more than 20,000 stores worldwide. The collective experience of PRIL and IBM makes Intellect Store a robust and comprehensive solution that offers an easy integration capability with multiple consumer touch points and channels. Intellect Store enables the integration of a retailer’s software and hardware – legacy systems as well as new and emerging technologies.

Intellect Store – Key Benefits
Open-standards-based SOA infrastructure
Multi-channel and self service capability
Pre-integrated enterprise module with Retail ERP functionality
Pre-built SAP Integration capability
Strong promotions & campaigns engine – Addresses complex promotions
Comprehensive back-office functionality
Easy to learn & use
Offline capability
Efficiently monitors & manages store environments
Multi-currency and multi-tender support
Internationalization – Support for multiple languages
Pre-defined reports
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mohit Oberoi, CEO, PRIL, said, “Modern format retail requires additional levels of scalability, performance and flexibility to address different business decisions, which are enabled through IBM’s Retail Integration Framework. We chose this as a platform to build our next generation product – Intellect Store.

IBM’s flexible and scalable J2EE platform provides an open operating environment for our Next Generation Retail POS application, enabling us to deliver value through technology to the Modern retailer.”

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Anil Menon, Vice President – Channels & Ecosystems, IBM Software, India/South Asia said, “We are pleased to have Polaris Retail adopt the IBM Store Integration Framework and our industry-leading middleware optimized for next-generation, open-standards-based store environments. We have been part of virtually every significant recent innovation in retail from inventing the bar codes that transformed POS to leading the industry in e-commerce solutions and contributing to RFID technology development. IBM is the world leader in SOA for retail with majority of retailers around the world already using IBM’s Store Integration Framework. Polaris Retail’s Intellect Store is a SOA-based solution that has been built on IBM technology and will provide retailers the compelling low TCO advantage.”

PRIL has already forayed into markets in the Middle East and Africa and is now planning to enhance its global footprint with Intellect Store.
About Polaris Retail InfoTech

Polaris Retail Infotech Ltd (PRIL) is a leading retail technology player in India. PRIL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Software Lab Ltd, one of the world’s largest Financial Technology companies. Retail Excel is the flagship solution from PRIL, which is deployed at leading retail chains in India and South East Asia across multiple retail categories and formats. Retail Excel is also successfully integrated with various enterprise solutions at the backend like SAP, Oracle Apps, BaaN, Microsoft Axapta, Ramco. For more information on PRIL, please visit www.polarisretail.com
About IBM

For more information on IBM, Please visit: www.ibm.com/in