September 8, 2005

The retail company's strategic procurement platform is now hosted in the Lufthansa System data center

Lufthansa Systems today announced that it is providing IT infrastructure services for Deutsche Woolworth, one of Germany's leading retail companies. The IT service provider hosts SteppingStones, Woolworth's global e-sourcing tool from Tradestone Software, in its Kelsterbach data center. The services provided by Lufthansa Systems include the operation and management of central Unix and Linux application servers, storage and backup services and the implementation of a comprehensive security concept. The decision in favor of Lufthansa Systems was made after a thorough selection process involving leading IT service providers. The contract is for a term of 36 months.

"Selecting Lufthansa Systems is a continuation of our strategy to establish a second source for data center operations." Lufthansa Systems has impressed us with its flexibility, know-how and cost efficiency. We look forward to expanding our collaboration in the future," said Hartwig Hopfenzitz, IT director, Woolworth.

Using SteppingStones enables Deutsche Woolworth to optimize its global purchasing process. The strategic procurement tool covers all e-sourcing aspects including price inquiries and price setting, ordering and mapping the entire supply chain process. This decision also marks the first European implementation of Tradestone Software's e-sourcing tool.

"We were able to win the contract from Deutsche Woolworth based on our flexible operating model and our high security standards for outsourcing services," explained Stefan Hansen, Vice President Business Segment Infrastructure Services at Lufthansa Systems. "Our many years of experience were instrumental in helping us prevail over renowned competitors which already provide IT services to Deutsche Woolworth in other areas."

Note to editors:

Deutsche Woolworth is one of the leading German retailers. The company operates more than 340 outlets in Germany and Austria. Deutsche Woolworth has over 14,000 employees and generated sales of approximately one billion euros in 2004.

Lufthansa Systems is one of the leading IT service providers for the airline and aviation industries worldwide. As systems integrator, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group covers the entire range of IT services, including consulting, development, implementation and operation. Lufthansa Systems provides its IT infrastructure and operations services to a variety of industries. Headquartered in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt/Main, Germany, the company has branches in Germany and 17 countries and employs about 4,500 people worldwide. In business year 2004, Lufthansa Systems recorded sales of EUR 628 million. For more details, see www.Lhsystems.com.