Flashforward 2001 New York—New York City—July 11, 2001—Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) today announced that Salomon North America is using Macromedia Flash 5 to deliver administrative access for its Shop Employees Extranet, a dynamic extranet application that empowers employees to better communicate with dealers. Built by NetXposure, Inc., the Salomon Shop Employees Extranet system allows Salomon employees to easily manage the content available to shop employees and monitor inventory and orders in the commerce portion of the extranet. By replacing a standard HTML menu system with a dynamic Macromedia Flash application interface, NetXposure found that in addition to increased usability, bandwidth was reduced by 95 percent, with page load time down by 20 percent.

"Dynamic Web applications built using Macromedia Flash 5 enable companies to deliver a superior experience to less technical users compared to traditional Web applications," Peter Goldie, general manager, Macromedia. "A Macromedia Flash user interface lets Salomon have the look-and-feel of a traditional desktop application as well as have improved interactivity, since there no need to constantly refresh the browser content based on user interactions."

Salomon is a leading sporting goods manufacturer, specializing in hardgoods, footwear and apparel. The Salomon Shop Employees Extranet allows shop employees to access up to date information, as well as order products. The system’s Web-based administration interface created in Macromedia Flash allows Salomon employees to intuitively manage this extranet from any location. Macromedia Flash has also been used to expand functionality, offering Salomon employees dynamic reporting from the Exogen engine. The Salomon Shop Employees Extranet is an implementation of NetXposure's Exogen software solution, which includes a database layer, a business logic layer, and a presentation layer built using JavaServer Pages, HTML, and Macromedia Flash. For more information on this extranet application, a case study is available at http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/productinfo/corporate/integration/

"NetXposure relies on Macromedia Flash because, in short, it offers the ability to create true application navigation and feel within a browser," said Jason Wehling, executive vice president of technology, NetXposure. "We like to offer our clients the flexibility of a Web-based interface, but not sacrifice performance, the intuitiveness or ease of use of an application. Macromedia Flash allows us to accomplish this."

The intuitive nature of the application has resulted in fewer support calls and now employees easily maintain the site ensuring it reflects the current product line. Employees are also more productive because information about all of the sporting equipment is at their fingertips. The site also required no training of Salomon employees, and was so successful the company is now deploying the application to outside sales representatives.

"Our Exogen admin tool is awesome. We found that employing Macromedia Flash there opened the door to more intuitive data display and navigation elements," said Kevin Peoples, eBusiness manager for Salomon North America. "In stark contrast to their previous experience, Salomon reps can get to the data they need within seconds. Macromedia Flash used to be perceived as the "gee-whiz" animation stuff, but we now depend on Macromedia Flash user interface functions not available with HTML."

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Macromedia is passionate about what the Web can be. Its award-winning products empower designers and developers to efficiently create and deliver the most engaging experiences on the Web, and enable innovative Internet business applications. Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) has more than 1,600 employees worldwide and is available on the Internet at www.macromedia.com.