JDA Taps Demand Chain Leaders to Present at FOCUS 2005 Conference; Sea

JDA Taps Demand Chain Leaders to Present at FOCUS 2005 Conference; Sears, Procter & Gamble, Meijer and Estee Lauder Cos. among Customer Speakers

    Business Editors/Tradeshow Writers/Technology Editors
    JDA FOCUS 2005 Conference

    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2005--JDA(R) Software Group Inc. (Nasdaq:JDAS) announced that an impressive line-up of industry leaders is scheduled to speak at its 15th-annual conference, JDA FOCUS 2005, on April 17-20, 2005. Showcasing its competitive strength in articulating the real world issues that retailers and their suppliers must address, JDA has attracted a noteworthy array of demand chain customers to speak in high-profile Super Sessions. Speakers include executives from Sears Roebuck and Co., The Procter & Gamble Co., Meijer Inc., Office Depot International, The Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., Belk Inc., Casual Male Retail Group Inc., Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., Charlotte Russe Holding Inc., Hancock Fabrics Inc., BCBG Max Azria and Wilsons Leather. The conference will take place at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Fla.

    JDA Stays Focused Delivering on Industry Needs

    JDA FOCUS is expected to attract about 1,400 participants, making this annual conference one of the industry's leading events. JDA senior executives will also host its 5th-annual Analyst and Investor Day to brief the investment community on JDA's activities, strategies and position in the market. This half-day session will run concurrent with FOCUS on April 18.
    "Exciting times lie ahead for JDA, our customers and our shareholders," stated JDA CEO Hamish Brewer. "While our competitors are fighting to define a place for themselves, JDA has consistently forged ahead with our innovative solutions supporting the broadest and most engaged customer base in our industry. Having invested an estimated $45 million in PortfolioEnabled(TM), we have reached an important turning point for our company. We have already started to share the capabilities of this innovative solution with the industry and the feedback has been excellent.
    "So while our competitors try to figure out how to do better against our heritage solutions, we are rapidly becoming armed with a whole new breed of solutions that will dramatically differentiate our offering," added Brewer.

    JDA Customers Lead the Way

    Jeff Orton, chief information officer, Wilsons Leather, will team with partners DHL Danzas Air & Ocean and One Source Logistics in a Super Session panel, moderated by Marc Millstein, associate publisher of RIS News magazine, called, "Creating an Extended Enterprise -- Strategies for Integrating the Supply Chain." Commenting on the timely issues that his panel will address, Orton stated, "In retail, it seems that more and more emphasis is being put on creating an extended enterprise by forming collaborative partnerships with vendors and leading service providers. From integrating upfront forecasting and POS information into manufacturing, to streamlining supply chain logistics, retailers must look at re-engineering their companies from a people and business aspect, as well as build a level of trust with business partners so that everyone benefits."
    Orton continued, "Industry technology vendors must also evolve their business models to enable retailers to succeed in their quest toward a more integrated framework. There is less appetite today for big-bang implementations. The trend is about taking little bites, seeing the effort pay for itself and expanding scope once milestones are successfully achieved. There are only a few companies who recognize this need and JDA is one of them."
    The FOCUS keynote for Tuesday, April 19, will be Kurt Kuehn, senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing, UPS. Kuehn's topic will be "Synchronizing the Retail Supply Chain."

    JDA's Business Partners, Microsoft and Intel, Complete the Picture

    JDA business partners, Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp., will send executives to speak in the Super Session track. The two companies are diamond sponsors of FOCUS and will be represented in the expanded FOCUS Solutions Zone/Expo exhibit area where conference participants can see the latest JDA Portfolio(R) solutions as well as products from JDA's strategic alliances and other third-party solution providers.
    "Technology promises to drastically change the dynamics of retailing and unlock new potential for retailers and demand chain companies," said Brian Scott, general manager for Microsoft's Retail & Hospitality Industry Unit. "JDA's powerful new PortfolioEnabled solutions built on Microsoft .NET will help retailers improve how they sell and operate through better access to customer and product information, and provide consumers worldwide with new and compelling ways to shop. As part of our commitment to Microsoft Smarter Retailing and our expanded alliance with JDA, we are providing our technical, development and marketing support in the adoption of the new .NET-based PortfolioEnabled products worldwide."

    Strategies to Drive Loyalty, Revenues Through Competitive Differentiation

    In a landscape mired in evolving consumer shopping habits and ever-increasing pressure on margins, retailers and their trading partners are seeking differentiated ways to efficiently reach their customers. Dennis Hernreich, Casual Male Retail Group's executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will share his company's strategies in the session, "Optimizing Store Merchandise Performance."
    "Although Casual Male's consumers are distinguishable by their unique physical attributes -- big, tall or both -- our customers come from a wide range of life stages and social groups, making it necessary to tailor our stores to a specific group of consumers. Therefore, it is Casual Male's long-term strategy to use technology to provide meaningful assortments that optimize the merchandise performance of each of our locations," said Hernreich.
    Other JDA customers sharing their strategies to more efficiently reach the consumer include:

--	"CRM and the Prestige Brands -- How to Make It Work without Diluting Your Brand and Culture" -- Angela Kapp, senior vice president, CRM and New Initiatives for The Estee Lauder Cos. Inc.
--	"Innovating the Category Management Process" -- J.P. Brackman, global retail presence manager, The Procter & Gamble Co.
--	"Meijer Reinvents Retail IT to Ensure the Best Shopping Experience for Customers" -- William S. Noakes Jr., senior vice president, general counsel, chief information officer and secretary, Meijer Inc.
--	"Meeting the Demands of the New Consumer" -- Joe Hasenzahl, director of retail systems, BCBG Max Azria.
--	"Speed to Value" -- Ed Wong, senior vice president, supply chain and systems, Charlotte Russe Holding Inc.

    Panelists Tackle Need for Agility, Enterprise Vision, and The Enabled Corp.

    Peter Charness, JDA's senior vice president, global marketing and chief product officer, will moderate a panel that will consider how the next wave of advanced generation capabilities, supported by new technology and industry standards, can enable every role in an organization to work together more agilely and efficiently.
    "The availability of specialty software packages and optimization programs has brought about great gains within the supply chain over the past decade. Key disciplines from buying and replenishing to planning and marketing have embraced unique solutions to independently fine tune their specific business processes," said Charness. "However, with specialization comes unintended results: the creation of business silos and the dramatic slowdown in cross-functional processes. The architects of such classic processes as category management, sales & operations planning, and merchandise assortment management could never have anticipated the pressures of satisfying consumer demand as it exists in today's competitive environment."
    In the Super Session panel, "Moving Beyond Departmental Silos," Charness will discuss how the "enabled" corporation must move to the next level of capability, supported by the next generation in software applications. Charness will be joined by the following panelists:

    -- Jeff Jones, executive vice president, merchandising
    operations, Sears Roebuck and Co.

    -- Jerry Black, managing director, consumer products division,
    North America, Kurt Salmon Associates.

    -- David J. Hogan III, senior vice president and chief
    information officer, the National Retail Federation (NRF).

    -- Dennis Hernreich, Casual Male Group's EVP, CFO and COO.

    Susan Reda, executive editor, Stores Magazine, the official publication of the NRF, will moderate a panel based on the findings of a new study by the NRF Foundation and BearingPoint consulting firm.
    Joining the discussion, "Retail Horizons -- Benchmarks for 2004, Forecasts for 2005," are the following JDA customers:

    -- Garth Duff-Gray, director of IT development, Office Depot
    International.

    -- Eileen Gabriel, senior vice president and chief information
    officer, Dick's Sporting Goods Inc.

    -- Mark Stanford, vice president and chief technology officer,
    Hancock Fabric Inc.

    -- Amy Wooden, executive vice president of planning and
    allocation, Belk Inc.

    Mastering the Product Launch and Other Competitive Strategies Covered at FOCUS

    Other FOCUS Super Session speakers to address the topics that retailers and their suppliers must address include:

    -- "Mastering New Product Launch: What You Need to Know" -- Joan
    Schneider, president of Schneider & Associates and author of
    the book, "New Product Launch: 10 Proven Strategies."

    -- "Tomorrow's Hot Retail Ideas, What's in Store for Retailers
    and CPG Companies" -- Neil Stern, senior partner of McMillan
    Doolittle LLP and co-author of the book, "Winning at Retail:
    Developing a Sustained Model for Retail Success."

    -- "Still Thinking about Tomorrow? It's Already Here!" -- Lee
    Nichols, president, Dechert-Hampe & Co., a "marketplace
    management" consulting firm that offers an integrated set of
    sales, marketing and logistics solutions across the full
    spectrum of the supply chain.

    -- "Microsoft Smarter Retailing" -- Michel H. Annink, Microsoft's
    managing director, Worldwide Retail Industry Unit, Enterprise
    Customer & Partner Group.

    -- "Transforming the Retail Experience" -- Jon Stine, Intel
    Corp.'s retail-consumer packaged goods global strategic
    manager.

    Product Track Features a Myriad of Store Systems Sessions and Hundreds More

    In addition to the Super Session track, FOCUS will feature 20 concurrent tracks with more than 300 planned sessions, many led by JDA customers. With industry surveys indicating that point-of-sale systems are becoming an increased priority for retailers, FOCUS participants can choose from a variety of sessions in the Portfolio Store Systems(TM) track that cover how to greatly improve real-time communications related to daily inventory, promotions and labor management between their stores and corporate offices. This track will also feature real-world case studies from such JDA customers as Hancock Fabrics, Western Warehouse and River Island discussing their experiences with JDA's Store Systems.
    A sampling of other product track customer presentations includes Statoil, Coca-Cola Beverages Sweden, Best Buy and Kohl's Department Stores.
    JDA FOCUS will also feature pre-event summits, increased networking opportunities and post-conference training.

    Solutions Zone Features Diamond Sponsors Microsoft and Intel

    In the expansive Solution Zone/Expo area, diamond sponsors Microsoft and Intel, which will also serve as the Internet cafe sponsor, will be joined by the following: platinum sponsor Symbol Technologies and platinum co-sponsors, IBM and Avnet; Gold sponsors Manhattan Associates, Hewlett-Packard and gold co-sponsors, Wincor-Nixdorf and Spencer Technologies; silver sponsors Accu-Time Systems Inc., Connections Canada, DENSO and ISD Corp.; media sponsors RIS News and Consumer Goods Technology; and exhibitors AccessVia, AJB Software Design Inc., AuBeta Networks, Epson America Inc., Hypercom Corp., Intermec Technologies Corp., Oliver Wight and UPS.
    For more information and to register for FOCUS at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, visit www.jda.com/focus.

    About JDA Software Group Inc.

    With more than 4,700 retail, manufacturing and wholesale customers in 60 countries, JDA Software Group Inc. is a global leader in delivering integrated software and professional services for the retail demand chain. By capitalizing on its market position and financial strength, JDA commits significant resources to advancing JDA Portfolio, its suite of merchandising, POS, analytic and collaborative solutions that improve revenues, efficiency and customer focus. Founded in 1985, JDA is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. and employs more than 1,100 associates operating from 25 offices in major cities throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include the anticipated attendance at FOCUS and our belief that our Portfolio Enabled products will dramatically differentiate our offering. Future events may involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the possibility FOCUS will fail to meet our expectations from an attendance standpoint, or otherwise, the difficulty in developing and marketing products based upon a new technology platform, and other risks detailed from time to time in the "Risk Factors" section of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of these and other risks, actual results may differ materially from those predicted. We undertake no obligation to update information in this release.

    "JDA," "JDA Portfolio," "PortfolioEnabled" and "Portfolio Store Systems" are trademarks or registered trademarks of JDA Software Group Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name "JDA" is a trademark and/or property of JDA Software Group Inc.

--30--GW/ix*

CONTACT: The Berlin Group Lawrence Delaney Jr., 714-734-5000 (Investor Relations) larry@berlingroup.com or JDA Software Group Inc., Scottsdale Michelle Kershner, 480-308-3294 (Public Relations) michelle.kershner@jda.com

KEYWORD: ARIZONA FLORIDA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: RETAIL SOFTWARE TRADESHOW SOURCE: JDA Software Group Inc.

Copyright Business Wire 2005