Verticalnet Solutions in Compliance with New Government Bidding Requirements

  
    
  
  
    
      Verticalnet, Inc. (Nasdaq:VERT), a leader in On Demand supply management 
      solutions, today announced that Verticalnet® 
      XE Negotiation Manager is fully compliant with new procurement 
      directives regarding online auctions applicable to various United 
      Kingdom governmental procurement agencies.
    
    
      The updated Office of Government Commerce guidelines include 
      requirements such as:
    
    
      
        Expressions of Interest must be published.
      
      
        Successful bidders must be invited simultaneously via electronic means
      
      
        Invitation must contain connection details including date and time not 
        sooner than two working days after transmission
      
      
        When the auction conducted in phases, the invitation must state number 
        of phases and timetable
      
      
        Auctions must be based on lowest price or most economically 
        advantageous offer requirement
      
      
        The Non price attributes must be capable of being expresses as a value 
        (figure or percentage)
      
      
        Limits to quality values arising from specified requirements must be 
        stated in the specification
      
      
        The invitation to participate must be accompanied by the outcome of a 
        full initial evaluation of the bids and details of the mathematical 
        rankings formula to be used in the auction phase
      
      
        Ranking in respect of those aspects subject to auction must be visible 
        to bidders during the eAuction stage
      
    
    
      Verticalnet CEO and President Nathanael Lentz states, “Government 
      agencies are increasingly focused on ensuring accountability and ethics 
      throughout the governmental sourcing process. Many of these core values 
      are shared by leading private-sector sourcing organizations as well. Our 
      ability to support agency guidelines translates into well-structured, 
      transparent, and effective negotiation solutions for public and 
      private-sectors alike.”
    
    
      About Verticalnet
    
    
      Verticalnet is a leading provider of supply management solutions that 
      enable companies to identify and realize sustained value across the 
      supply management lifecycle. Going beyond traditional spend management 
      and sourcing approaches, Verticalnet’s 
      solutions provide the visibility, insight and process control required 
      to maximize the sustained value realization from supply management. 
      Large enough to help customers attain supply management success 
      worldwide, yet nimble enough to provide individual attention and remain 
      focused on customer priorities, Verticalnet is helping leading Global 
      2000 companies and mid-market enterprises move their supply management 
      efforts to the next level through an optimal blend of software, 
      comprehensive services, and deep category knowledge and domain expertise.
    
    
      To learn more, please visit us at www.verticalnet.com
    
    
      Verticalnet is a registered trademark or a trademark in the United 
      States and other countries of Vert Tech LLC
    
  
Verticalnet, Inc. (Nasdaq:VERT), a leader in On Demand supply
management solutions, today announced that Verticalnet(R) XE
Negotiation Manager is fully compliant with new procurement directives
regarding online auctions applicable to various United Kingdom
governmental procurement agencies.

   The updated Office of Government Commerce guidelines include
requirements such as:

   --  Expressions of Interest must be published.

   --  Successful bidders must be invited simultaneously via
        electronic means

   --  Invitation must contain connection details including date and
        time not sooner than two working days after transmission

   --  When the auction conducted in phases, the invitation must
        state number of phases and timetable

   --  Auctions must be based on lowest price or most economically
        advantageous offer requirement

   --  The Non price attributes must be capable of being expresses as
        a value (figure or percentage)

   --  Limits to quality values arising from specified requirements
        must be stated in the specification

   --  The invitation to participate must be accompanied by the
        outcome of a full initial evaluation of the bids and details
        of the mathematical rankings formula to be used in the auction
        phase

   --  Ranking in respect of those aspects subject to auction must be
        visible to bidders during the eAuction stage

   Verticalnet CEO and President Nathanael Lentz states, "Government
agencies are increasingly focused on ensuring accountability and
ethics throughout the governmental sourcing process. Many of these
core values are shared by leading private-sector sourcing
organizations as well. Our ability to support agency guidelines
translates into well-structured, transparent, and effective
negotiation solutions for public and private-sectors alike."

   About Verticalnet

   Verticalnet is a leading provider of supply management solutions
that enable companies to identify and realize sustained value across
the supply management lifecycle. Going beyond traditional spend
management and sourcing approaches, Verticalnet's solutions provide
the visibility, insight and process control required to maximize the
sustained value realization from supply management. Large enough to
help customers attain supply management success worldwide, yet nimble
enough to provide individual attention and remain focused on customer
priorities, Verticalnet is helping leading Global 2000 companies and
mid-market enterprises move their supply management efforts to the
next level through an optimal blend of software, comprehensive
services, and deep category knowledge and domain expertise.

   To learn more, please visit us at www.verticalnet.com

   Verticalnet is a registered trademark or a trademark in the United
States and other countries of Vert Tech LLC