BEA Systems Announces International Winners of Most Innovative Customer Awards

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Map) - SAN JOSE, Calif., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BEA Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS), a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software, today announced the winners of the company's international Most Innovative Customer awards, choosing three winners out of more than 50 nominees from across five continents.

In the Americas region, the winner was Embarq Corporation (NYSE: EQ), a provider of a complete suite of integrated communications services including voice, data, high-speed Internet and wireless in 18 states and a member of the S&P 500. In the region covering Africa, Europe and the Middle East, the winner was Screwfix, one of the largest retailers of home-improvement products in the United Kingdom. The winner in the Asia Pacific region was China Construction Bank, a major commercial bank headquartered in China with offices in Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, New York, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo.

"It was extremely difficult to choose just three winners from a number of great nominees that are doing creative, game-changing work with our technology," said Rob Levy, executive vice president and Chief Technology Officer at BEA. "We selected EMBARQ as the winner in the Americas region because their work best embodied the criteria of these awards -- they are using BEA products to transform their organization and the customer experience. Since its launch as a new company, EMBARQ has always looked for innovative ways to delight its customers in the face of growing competition."

When EMBARQ began working with BEA in 2006, it had just become an independent company. It was in the unique position of being a startup with an existing infrastructure.

"We were faced with challenges in developing an external website that used our existing investment while at the same time made it easy for our customers to conduct e-commerce such as ordering new products and services online," said Vallerie Parrish-Porter, chief information officer at EMBARQ. "At the same time, we needed an internal website that improved our business processes and allowed our employees across 18 states to work collaboratively to improve our customers' experiences. We not only met the challenge, but because the BEA software is easily upgradable, we laid the foundation for future improvements to meet the growing needs of our customers."

Screwfix is a multi-channel retailer that has sold products through its call center, website and catalogs for years. It recently extended its brand into nearly 100 brick-and-mortar stores. BEA technology has been a key enabler of this strategic expansion. Screwfix has modeled and built essential business processes on its BEA platform, and is utilizing BEA to address fundamental issues associated with entering a new sales channel, such as inventory and supply chain management, order processing, and much more.

China Construction Bank was named the "most profitable bank in Asia" by Asiaweek magazine in 2006. Much of its success can be traced to the state-of-the-art financial infrastructure it has built on a BEA foundation. The bank is frequently cited as operating one of the most innovative banking systems in the industry. BEA technology also provided the underpinning for one of the largest business integration projects anywhere in the world, spanning hundreds of applications and supporting 13,629 branch offices.

About EMBARQ

Embarq Corporation (NYSE: EQ), headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, offers a complete suite of communications services. The company has approximately 18,000 employees and operates in 18 states. EMBARQ is included in the S&P 500.

For consumers, EMBARQ offers an innovative portfolio of services that includes reliable local and long distance home phone service, high-speed Internet, wireless, and satellite TV from DISH Network(R) -- all on one monthly bill.

For businesses, EMBARQ has a comprehensive range of flexible and integrated services designed to help businesses of all sizes be more productive and communicate with their customers. This service portfolio includes local voice and data services, long distance, Business Class High Speed Internet, wireless, satellite TV from DIRECTV(R), enhanced data network services, voice and data communication equipment and managed network services. For more information, visit http://www.embarq.com.

About BEA

BEA Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS) is a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software. Information about how BEA helps customers build a Liquid Enterprise(TM) that transforms their business can be found at bea.com.

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