Datalliance Sponsors Special Pricing Agreements Research Study

• Report highlights importance and frustrations with SPA's from distributors and manufacturers

Cincinnati, Ohio, June 10, 2009- Datalliance®, the leading independent supplier of Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) services and other collaborative commerce services, recently sponsored a study on the current usage of Special Pricing Agreements (SPA's) among manufacturers and distributors in the electrical industry. Developed and executed independently by Allen Ray Associates (ARA) in early 2009, the report is based on a survey sent to approximately 1000 electrical distributors and follow-up interviews with over 50 industry executives. The report highlights the importance of SPA's as well as the frustration experienced by distributors in managing and processing SPA's. The full report is available at http://www.datalliance.com/wpandarticles.html

Summary of primary research findings:

SPA's are a prevalent and growing business practice:

• Distributors and manufacturers see SPA's as a competitive advantage and important to profitability
• Most of the industry's leading manufacturers and distributors utilize SPA's
• The majority of distributors said 10-50% of their sales were driven by SPA's and rate SPA's as a very important issue for their future

Distributors have a number of frustrations with the current SPA environment:

• Every manufacturer has a unique process for handling SPA's, making it extremely complex and time-consuming to submit and track claims
• Very few distributors have business systems that completely automate the SPA process - requiring an inordinate amount of paperwork and manual effort
• Distributors feel that their profitability is negatively impacted (missing SPA claims) due to the complexity of agreements, internal data management processes, and varying manufacturer claim processes
• Distributors feel the claim process is very slow and negatively impacts their cash flow

Bob Jennings, Datalliance VP Sales & Marketing commented, "We sponsored this independent study because many of our customers and their key distributors utilize SPA's. We wanted to better understand this important business practice to determine how it fits in the overall collaborative relationship between manufacturers and distributors. In general, distributors feel that SPA's, if managed more effectively, could further enhance their profitability through reduced administrative costs, better pricing methods, improved cash flow and increased sales."

About Datalliance

Datalliance is a leading provider of collaborative commerce services, and the world's largest independent VMI service provider. Delivered via the Internet using the 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) model, Datalliance solutions make it easy for suppliers and their customers to establish sales and inventory management relationships that fully align business objectives, improve collaboration, and streamline supply chain operations. Datalliance manages billions of dollars in orders, millions of SKUs, and thousands of locations for leading Fortune 1000 companies in a number of industries. For more information about Datalliance, visit www.datalliance.com

Contact: Brian Lindner, Datalliance
513-791-7272 or blindner@datalliance.com