INDIANAPOLIS, Oct 10, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Aprimo(TM) Marketing version 5.5, which began shipping in September, is being deployed globally by Autodesk (Nasdaq:ADSK), one of the world's leading digital design and content companies. Autodesk joins a long list of organizations that have selected the most mature and widely deployed Enterprise Marketing Management platform available.

Autodesk will use Aprimo Marketing to centralize its disparate marketing systems spread throughout its global enterprise. Having selected all seven of the Aprimo Marketing applications, Autodesk will deploy various elements of the platform across Japan, EMEA and the United States.

"It was critically important that Autodesk adopt one platform for our global marketing organization," said Kathi Fox, Autodesk's vice president of worldwide marketing. "We recognized the inherent bottom-line benefits in coordinating our efforts around the world--gaining critical efficiencies by leveraging a shared knowledgebase, capitalizing on previously missed sales opportunities, and making more educated decisions based on gathered data of past and existing marketing campaigns. After researching a number of packages in the market, we felt that Aprimo Marketing was the best platform to meet our global marketing needs."

Aprimo Marketing also has been adopted by several industry-leading companies, including Amway, Bank of America, Delta Faucet, Ernst & Young, HP, Merrill Lynch, Peugeot and Pfizer.

    Aprimo(TM) Marketing 5.5 Offers Extended Access Portals

With Aprimo Marketing 5.5, marketing managers can assign tasks, distribute information on sales leads to the direct and indirect sales force, receive instant updates on those assignments and provide access to digital assets in real-time through extended access portals.

By using these extended access portals, companies can greatly enhance communication with their sales forces, internal departments and business lines, as well as advertising/public relations agencies and other outsourcers. The extended access portals--available for the Lead Manager, Direct Marketer, Marcom Manager and Event Manager modules--can provide an unlimited number of users a central location where they can share data in real-time.

This new portal capability in the Lead Manager module is vital to Autodesk's implementation of Aprimo Marketing, as the company relies heavily on up-selling opportunities with existing customers and has an extensive indirect channel.

Each Autodesk distributor will have access to a personalized web portal where they can access their leads in real-time. Distributors can update Autodesk on the status of leads via the portal. That information is then fed back into Lead Manager, where Autodesk can track and manage the customer relationship.

Autodesk expects this critical closed-loop lead management process to deliver significant ROI, as every lead will now be managed with the precision and focus it requires to generate results from a complex lead generation process.

    XML Gateway Ties Marketing to the Enterprise

With this release, Aprimo also has added XML Gateway to its platform. This enhancement brings improved interoperability and increases the speed of integration. XML technology is central to enabling the secure, bi-directional exchange of data across platforms and is becoming the new standard for data integration in enterprise applications. And, as more companies look to integrate Aprimo(TM) Marketing with other business application suites, such as CRM and ERP, this enhancement will help to ease those integrations and speed deployment time.

"The development of Aprimo Marketing's XML Gateway represents the ongoing maturity and sophistication of our customer's Enterprise Marketing Management deployments," said Robert McLaughlin, Aprimo's co-founder and executive vice president of product and marketing. "Aprimo Marketing has become the new enterprise data hub for marketing. This type of data hub previously did not exist in most marketing organizations, which historically captured critical marketing information in a variety of disconnected, end-user productivity tools that could not be integrated into the enterprise.

"Aprimo Marketing can now interoperate with other enterprise platforms that exist in typical organizations, such as ERP and CRM solutions, to provide exceptional business process improvements previously unattainable. The XML Gateway represents the latest technology in providing a cross-platform, seamless solution to enabling these enterprise integrations."

For more information on Aprimo(TM) Marketing, contact Aprimo at 1-877-8APRIMO or via email at info@aprimo.com.

    About Autodesk

Founded in 1982, Autodesk, Inc., is the world's leading design software and digital content company. The company serves a diverse portfolio of markets, including building design, geographic information systems, manufacturing, digital media, and wireless data services. By delivering tools that foster innovation and creativity, Autodesk helps customers create, use and leverage their digital design data. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.

    About Aprimo

Aprimo, Incorporated develops solutions that help marketers manage the business of marketing. Aprimo Marketing is a suite of web-based software products that addresses needs in both customer communications and marketing operations. Customer communications includes applications for direct marketing, lead management, web response and event management. Marketing operations includes applications for strategic planning, financial management, and marketing communications. Aprimo Marketing has been designed to enhance and work seamlessly with existing ERP and CRM deployments. Aprimo Marketing is delivering value to a range of industry leading companies, including Bank of America, Amway, Hewlett-Packard, Delta Faucet, Ernst & Young, JD Edwards, Merrill Lynch and Pfizer. Aprimo is headquartered in Indianapolis, and has offices throughout North America and Europe. Visit www.aprimo.com for more information.

Aprimo is a registered trademark of Aprimo, Incorporated. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

CONTACT:          HSR Business to Business
                  Kevin Dugan, APR, 513/346-3429 
                  kdugan@hsr.com 
                  Kevin Pfirrman, 513/346-3477 
                  kpfirrman@hsr.com

URL:              http://www.businesswire.com
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.

Copyright (C) 2002 Business Wire.  All rights reserved.