Verticalnet (MM) (NASDAQ:VERTD)
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From Jun 2019 to Jun 2024
Verticalnet, Inc. (Nasdaq:VERTD), a leading provider of
on-demand supply management solutions, today announced that its
European business has seen significant expansion and transformation
over the past several quarters. Key business trends include
significant increases in new customers, broadened indirect channels
focused on reselling both software and services, and rapidly
increasing levels of adoption and savings achieved by customers
leveraging Verticalnet's supply management solutions.
Since the merger of Verticalnet and Digital Union, a leading UK
provider of auction and procurement solutions, in July 2005,
Verticalnet has fielded an expanded team for both the UK and European
markets focused on sales, services, and continued software
development. The broader European capabilities are driving a focus on
customer success achieved through world class products and local
market support. Recent market success suggests that this focus is
being recognized by both customers and prospects.
"We are very pleased with our European progress and with the
success that Verticalnet and Digital Union have achieved since the
merger," stated Paddy Lawton, President of Verticalnet Europe. "The
market is quickly shifting toward a European view of sourcing and
procurement and we are in the right place, with the right team and
with the right product to take advantage of market trends. Our
products could not be more spot-on in terms of their fit given the
current market requirements," Lawton continued.
Business Progress:
-- Verticalnet has signed three new software customers within
Europe thus far in the second quarter of 2006 including
licenses for XE Negotiation Manager and XE Procurement
Manager. These new customers include a major UK retailer, a
global food services company, and a large professional
services organization.
-- Managed E-sourcing and auction events year to date are
currently at 87% of total 2005 levels suggesting that events
for 2006 will likely more than double versus 2005. Savings
from such events have averaged 21% across a wide range of
direct, indirect, and services categories. Despite prior
perspectives that the European market may be less receptive to
emerging e-sourcing negotiation techniques, results suggest
that European savings opportunities may exceed those
experienced in the United States through the use of
competitive bidding techniques.
-- Verticalnet's XE Collaborative Solutions (XECS) continues to
gain traction, with three major XECS engagements to date in
the second quarter of 2006. Increasingly European customers
are seeing the benefit of expert-led optimization focused
category sourcing particularly in complex categories such as
pan-European freight where savings achieved through such
techniques well exceed benefits achieved using traditional
methods or self-service tools.
Emerging European Trends:
As Verticalnet continues to expand its base of customers within
Europe, a number of clear trends are emerging within and across the
Verticalnet customer base. While some of these trends mirror trends
experienced with in the United States, a number of trends are
specifically European in nature. Verticalnet's ability to support
these trends through both products and services has proven critical in
recent market successes. Key trends include:
-- Advanced negotiation usage - increasingly, European customers
are shifting beyond auction-based negotiation for indirect
categories to more advanced negotiation techniques, resulting
in allocated awards or optimized solutions. This trend is
specifically relevant when customers are sourcing aggregated
spend across multiple countries and are seeking to award
suppliers by regions. In a recent pan-European transportation
event Verticalnet supported a customer's goal of awarding 2000
shipping lanes, accepting bids from over 300 suppliers across
20 countries.
-- Spend visibility is driving European procurement - European
procurement is evolving towards a center-led model and spend
analysis is the critical enabler by providing visibility and
control to centralized procurement. Regional scale is being
leveraged and regional control of suppliers and buying
organizations is being managed and monitored through a
repeatable spend analysis process. Verticalnet's XE Spend
Manager is increasingly leveraged by European customers and
divisions of US companies given the solution's ability to
address multiple languages and currencies. Recent
implementations have involved data in over 20 different
languages including Czech, Turkish, Swedish, and Kazakh.
-- Europe Expands - Increasingly, procurement organizations are
expanding the definition of European operations to include
Russia, the Middle East, and South Africa. These new markets
and their unique characteristics are now being incorporated
into spend analysis roll-outs as well as complex category
sourcing engagements. Not only are organizations expanding
their management of operations into these regions, they are
also fast becoming the source of supply in addition to the Far
East. This shift in European supply markets drives a different
set of language requirements for technology and for customer
support, than traditional US sources.
-- Local Services Are Critical - In sourcing, software isn't
enough. European customers seek and require services support
for training, event support, and spend analysis. For companies
with beachheads in Europe, the lack of local services
organization with product and solution training can prove to
be not only a pitfall but a missed opportunity. Verticalnet's
acquisition of Digital Union and the expansion of
Verticalnet's European services capabilities through this
acquisition have proven to be a key selling point versus other
US-based rivals highlighted by a number of new customer wins.
Verticalnet's XE Supply Management Suite is architected to support
the complexity of European Sourcing requirements and the evolving
needs of this market - from visibility through negotiation to
compliance. Verticalnet's XE 5.2 release, made generally available in
October, 2005, was significantly focused on ease of use and
internationalization. In addition to Verticalnet's expanded European
scale, much of Verticalnet's recent market traction within Europe can
be attributed to the significant product investments delivered in the
XE 5.2 release.
The Verticalnet XE Supply Management Suite includes:
-- Verticalnet(R) Program Manager -- lowers the total cost of
ownership and improves productivity through sound and
re-usable program and process management
-- Verticalnet(R) Spend Manager -- a fast, intelligent, and
repeatable solution for identifying, evaluating, and
quantifying enterprise-wide sourcing opportunities while
measuring compliance
-- Verticalnet(R) Negotiation -- accelerates and improves
negotiated savings through online auctions and eRFX events
-- Verticalnet(R) Contract Manager -- provides real-time insights
into contract obligations, exposures, expirations, changes and
renewals delivering greater control, reducing costly
oversights and minimizing supplier risk
-- Verticalnet(R) Procurement Manager -- simplifies and improves
control over the procurement process to help companies realize
the maximum cost savings identified through supplier sourcing
and negotiation
-- Verticalnet(R) Performance Manager -- enables companies to
effectively track and manage supplier performance, contract
compliance and identify potential areas of supplier risk
-- Verticalnet(R) Collaborative Solutions -- enables companies to
apply innovative negotiation techniques, flexible optimization
scenarios, and bid collection approaches to drive the highest
possible savings across large complex categories including
transportation, packaging, and MRO.
To learn more, please visit us at www.verticalnet.com.