National Press Release

RICHFIELD, Ohio, June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- OEConnection LLC, a recognized technology leader in the online buying, selling and analysis of original equipment parts, announced today its achievement of a Gold Certified Partner designation, Microsoft's prestigious technology certification earned by only 2% of 120,000 Microsoft technology partners worldwide. OEConnection was awarded Gold certification status for a third consecutive year by earning the highest level of competency and expertise in the areas of Advanced Infrastructure, Networking Infrastructure, Service Oriented Architecture and Business Process, and Data Management Solutions. These certifications validate OEConnection's technology leadership within the automotive original equipment parts business where it has developed the industry's most accurate virtual parts warehouse of over 40 million replacement parts, tires, and accessories.

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As a Gold Certified Partner, Microsoft provides OEConnection with programs designed to advance technology in the areas of prescriptive, service-oriented architecture for rapid alignment of customer needs; connectivity and extension of customer offerings enabling solutions to cross network and business borders, regardless of platform or programming language; increased user productivity connecting workers to multiple back-end services for faster information access; and enhanced manageability and security across all applications and platforms.

"Microsoft has a vision to meet the needs of the coming data explosion and the next generation of data-driven applications," said Kim Saunders, director of marketing for SQL Server at Microsoft Corp. "Achieving Gold Partner Status demonstrates a commitment to developing innovative solutions to enhance the capabilities of our mutual customers."

"As a leading provider of on-demand technology solutions in the OE replacement parts business, it is imperative that we work with the best to deliver the greatest value to our customers," added Chuck Rotuno, OEConnection's President & CEO. "We have chosen the Microsoft platform for its rapid development and deployment functionality ... the Gold Certified Partner designation validates our core technical competencies and provides us with a valued partner for future technology enhancements."

OEConnection expects to continue expanding its Gold Certified Partner status with additional enterprise-wide competencies, and is well underway in the areas of Security and Custom Development solutions.

About OEConnection LLC

OEConnection provides Web-based technology for automakers, their affiliated dealers, and others in the automotive parts business. Serving over 15,000 dealership and collision repairer subscribers, OEConnection provides ecommerce parts exchange and analysis tools enabling users to better market, manage and move their original equipment parts inventories. Depended on for over 3.5 million parts decisions monthly, OEConnection's solutions facilitate an estimated $8 billion in annual parts trade. The company is headquartered in the greater Cleveland area, at 4205 Highlander Parkway, Richfield, OH, 44286. For more information, call 1-888-776-5792 or visit www.OEConnection.com.

SOURCE OEConnection LLC