Emptoris Reports 6% Annual, 20% Q4 Growth

Emptoris, a world leader in strategic supply management software and enterprise contract management software, outlined today the company's accelerating growth in its customer base, revenues, solution investments and global organization. Emptoris reported 6% growth in revenues in 2009 and revenue growth in excess of 20% for Q4 2009 as compared to Q4 2008, rates well ahead of the industry average. The company also reported transactions with more than 140 companies over the course of the year, the vast majority with Global 1000 companies.In the past year, Emptoris has dramatically increased its customer base with a number of new customers, including one of the world's top five entertainment companies, one of the world's five largest energy companies; one of the five largest financial services institutions in the U.S., one of the world's largest healthcare technologies companies, a leading international telecommunications company, a global airline, and the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of heating and air conditioning systems. Also added to the Emptoris roster were Anglo American, one of the world's leading mining groups; CNOOC, one of China's largest oil and gas companies; and Deutsche Telekom, the largest telecommunications company in Europe. The public sector continued to adopt Emptoris technology with notable new customers the Ministry of Justice, one of the British government's largest departments, and the US Postal Service, an independent agency of the U.S. federal government.In addition, existing Emptoris customers continued to upgrade and expand their usage of Emptoris solutions. More than 50 customers went live with new Emptoris solutions or upgraded solutions in 2009, many on multiple solutions. This included Groupe Danone, the €15 billion multi-national food products company; as well as one of the world's largest media and information companies, one of the world's five largest technology companies, one of the world's leading consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, one of the world's largest energy companies, one of the five largest health insurers in the U.S., and one of the world's five leading telecommunications companies.Emptoris, backed by its majority shareholder and capital partner, Marlin Equity Partners, through its group of funds, continues to invest heavily in the organic and strategic expansion of its solution suite and its global organization. As an example of its strategic growth, Emptoris pointed to its acquisition of the market's leading Services Procurement solution. The acquisition expanded Emptoris' solution footprint and positioned the company as the only software suite provider in the global services management arena, one of the fastest growing areas of strategic supply management and enterprise contract management.The company also noted that Marlin recently raised a new $650 million private equity fund - and is committed to a significant investment in the Emptoris solution suite and global expansion of the organization, as well as future potential strategic acquisitions.Emptoris also announced that it has expanded its global operations with customer deployments in China and South Africa. As well, Emptoris signed significant deals with German-based companies including a leading global telecommunications provider and one of the world's largest power and gas companies.Globally, the company added more than 65 new professionals to its team this past year with notable additions in professional services, development and customer support.

Emptoris Launches Operations in China

Emptoris, Inc., a world leader in strategic supply management software and enterprise contract management software, today announced the company’s expansion with the opening of operations in China. Emptoris China launches with full service offices in Shanghai, including sales, product development, professional services and customer support staff – as well as a dedicated suite of Supply and Contract Management Solutions designed for Chinese companies.
The company also announced that William Li, an executive with more than 14 years experience in enterprise software and supply chain management, including senior positions with Ariba, PeopleSoft and Oracle, has joined the company as General Manager & Group Vice President of China for Emptoris.

“Emptoris offers Chinese companies, and global companies with Chinese operations, a suite of solutions and support designed for the Chinese market, including Chinese language, currencies and customer support. As a truly global solution provider, a company needs operations and support in the world’s third largest market,” said Patrick D. Quirk, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emptoris, Inc.

William Li, who has served as a senior executive for Ariba, PeopleSoft and Oracle, will oversee the company’s Chinese operations as General Manager & Group Vice President, China for Emptoris, Inc. Li has more than 14 years of experience in enterprise software, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management. Li will be joined immediately by a team of local executives including those with significant sales, professional service and customer support experience.

“Emptoris is the pre-eminent global solution for supply and contract management with a proven track record at the world’s leading companies. Our goal is to ensure the success of Chinese companies implementing Emptoris and to see that significant value is created. This will ensure that Emptoris is also the pre-eminent solution in the Chinese market,” said William Li, newly appointed General Manager & Group Vice President, China for Emptoris, Inc. “Of course, as a rapidly growing economy and key link in the global supply chain, China is a critical market for most global companies, and having a solution suite and support staff that is adaptive and dedicated to the market is critically important.”

Emptoris offers its solutions and customer support in more than a dozen global languages including Chinese/Mandarin, English, German, Spanish, Japanese and Russian.

Former PeopleSoft Exec Patrick Quirk Named CEO of Emptoris

Patrick D. Quirk, an executive with more than 25 years experience in technology, ERP and supply chain software businesses, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Emptoris, Inc., the spend, supply and contract management software company.

Quirk previously served as General Manager and Group Vice President of Supply Chain Management (SCM) Products and Technology at PeopleSoft, Inc., where he oversaw the acquisition of JD Edwards by PeopleSoft for $1.7 Billion, one of the largest software acquisitions in ERP and PeopleSoft history. At PeopleSoft, Quirk was responsible for an organization of 500+ professionals globally and oversaw all aspects of the SCM business including product strategy, product development, marketing and global support.

Under Quirk’s leadership, the company’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) solutions received consistently high customer satisfaction ratings (91%) – and were in the top 10 selling modules out of more than 375 PeopleSoft products.

Prior to PeopleSoft, Quirk served as Vice President of the Americas for Aspect Development, which was acquired by i2 Technologies for $9.4 Billion, in one of the largest software acquisitions in history. At Aspect, Quirk helped create the SRM marketplace and tripled revenues over three years, selling primarily to Fortune 500 companies. Post-acquisition, Quirk served as Vice President of Marketplaces for i2 Technologies, the publicly traded supply chain management software and services company.

Quirk joins Emptoris from Golden Gate Software, a leading provider of data integration solutions, which recently was sold to Oracle Corporation, a process Quirk was closely involved with as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Earlier in his career, Quirk served as a Group Sales Manager at Oracle Corporation itself, where he managed close to fifty of the world’s leading OEMs and was honored as Oracle’s “Worldwide Manager of the Year.” He was responsible for launching Oracle’s first ERP release with a focus on strategic OEMs. Quirk was also EVP of Worldwide Operations at Keynote Systems Inc., a leader in providing services that improve online business performance and customer experience.

“Patrick Quirk is the perfect Chief Executive for Emptoris, with significant ERP and supply chain software experience, and a proven ability to help grow businesses organically and to manage strategic acquisitions and integrations,” said William Atkinson, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Emptoris, Inc. and the Group President of Technology at Marlin Equity Partners.

“We are honored to have him as the leader of Emptoris, and believe our customers will be excited by his vision and his proven track-record in delivering world-class customer service and customer satisfaction.”
Emptoris is consistently recognized by independent research firms as providing the market's most robust and proven supply and contract management software solutions. The company’s spend analysis, sourcing, services procurement and contract management solutions are used by Global 2000 companies in more than 90 countries. According to one recently published independent research brief, "Emptoris has continued to increase its new client list and has a customer retention rate greater than 90%. In fact, Emptoris grew revenue an impressive 20% in 2008."
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead a company of the caliber of Emptoris. Emptoris has a strong history of innovation, a long history of successful implementations at Global 2000 companies, and a world-class development team. We plan to harness those capabilities to their fullest extent to ensure we are maximizing the value we deliver to companies,” said Patrick Quirk, Chief Executive Officer of Emptoris, Inc. “Expect us to continue to be aggressive and creative in ensuring that Emptoris is at the forefront of delivering product innovations and capabilities that help global companies impact their bottom-line and mitigate risks.”
“Global companies want to leverage their existing technology investments – and are always looking for new ways to take costs out of their business and improve efficiency. We’re committed not just to supplying our customers with solutions, but to ensuring that those solutions deliver measurable value and a true competitive advantage,” said Quirk.

British Govt: HM Revenues & Customs Using Sourcing and Contract Software

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), of the British Government, is now live using sourcing and spend analysis solutions.

After a thorough request for proposal process, HMRC selected to implement the entire Emptoris Supply and Contract Management software suite, which includes solutions for sourcing, spend analysis, contract management and supplier performance management. Emptoris solutions are available to UK public sector organizations under a Government Department Approved Framework.

"HMRC is very focussed on delivering efficient, cost effective and best practice processes across all its operations. The use of spend analysis software lies at the core of achieving this, since having clear visibility allows us to effectively target key areas of spend and clearly demonstrate the value delivered," said David Thomas, Commercial Director, HM Revenue & Customs.

"This information capability is very useful in fulfilling promptly and accurately our FOI responsibilities. In addition, the use of contract management technology, will not only address the recommendation of audit, but also improve the efficiency of our contracting processes, as well as improve the terms of and compliance to HMRC contracts," said Thomas.

The Emptoris technologies have already helped HMRC to achieve savings and value from the auction functionality, including achieving a 30% savings in a recent sourcing event. The software has also allowed HMRC to take paper out of the process, which has efficiency as well as a sustainable green benefits.

In January 2007, HMRC initiated a pilot project using Emptoris Spend Analysis to collate and enrich its spending data so that the Department could report more effectively to government auditors. HMRC has annual spending of almost £2.5 billion ($5 billion U.S. dollars) which it must manage and for which it must account. In February 2008, HMRC initiated a second pilot program, using Emptoris Sourcing, which aimed to enable the Department with more efficient, effective and open sourcing practices for the goods and services it procures.

"Sourcing and spend analysis technologies are in wide use in the private sector at leading global companies. Getting HMRC in line with best practices in the application of these technologies was a goal and a path we thought imperative to test. The pilot programs demonstrated great success in improving visibility and control over our public spending, and indications are they will greatly improve our efficiency," said Thomas.

Sourcing software solutions allow organizations to source the best products and services from suppliers while driving cost competitiveness, minimizing supply base risk and reducing sourcing cycle time. Spend analysis software allows organizations to collect and organize spending data from across disperse systems and locations to provide an accurate, up-to-date, view into spending. Spend analysis further enables organizations to better identify savings opportunities, monitor the effectiveness of savings initiatives, and automate spend classification to provide granular spend visibility. Contract management software allows organizations to structure stronger contracts, streamline contracting processes, and improve contract quality and compliance.

HMRC chose Emptoris after a vigorous 5-month request for proposal (RFP). HMRC wanted a supply and contract management suite that would easily integrate with its existing SAP enterprise resource planning system – and that provided more extensive functionality than other supply management solutions it had tested.

"We selected a proven software solution suite with the market’s highest functionality, according to independent research, and a solution suite which provides the ease-of-use and ease-of-implementation that ensures quick deployment and adoption," said Thomas.

Emptoris is consistently recognized by independent research firms as a leader in supply and contract management software based on its "heavyweight functionality," "ability to execute," and its track record of innovation.

New Forrester Research - Contract Software "Wave"

Forrester Research, a leading independent research and analysis firm, has released a new research report titled , "The Forrester Wave: Contract Life-Cycle Management, Q3 2008."¹

The report reviews 13 contract management software providers and evaluates them on 110 criteria, and positions Emptoris as a "Leader" in the market. The report states, "In Forrester’s 110-criteria evaluation of contract life-cycle management (CLM) vendors, we found that [certain contract management software providers] led the pack because of their advanced functions for contract creation, contract repositories, analysis and reporting of contractual exposures and benefits, and contract compliance."

The 17-page report evaluates software providers based on their current product offering, strategy and market presence: "[Forrester] evaluated how well the product supports the creation of contracts, the importing of legacy contracts and contracts from third parties, reporting and analysis of existing contracts, the management of contract compliance, and the optimization of their contracts' value." Emptoris received the report's highest score for "Current Product Offering."

The report conclusions were based on in-depth customer and vendor interviews: "Forrester used vendor surveys and interviews to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each solution…For each vendor, we interviewed two to three reference clients to get their perspectives on the product's strengths and weaknesses and the vendor’s support and responsiveness."

"Independent research, such as that provided in this Forrester Research report, is an essential tool to companies evaluating contract management solutions. These reports provide an in-depth evaluation and analysis of all the competitive solutions on the market – and rely on multiple interviews with actual users of the software to come to their conclusions. It would be difficult for a company to replicate this type of effort in their own internal review process. In evaluating technology, I highly recommend the use of independent research," said Robert Rudzki, president of Greybeard Advisors, a business and procurement consultancy, and co-author of the book, "On-demand Supply Management: World-class Strategies, Practices and Technology."

The Forrester Report calls contract management software one of the most important business applications of the decade, stating, "At the risk of engaging in a bit of hyperbole, we believe that CLM could turn out to be one of the most important new business applications of the first decade of the 21st century." Further, "Forrester's analysis of CLM market data shows that purchases of CLM are growing at rates in excess of 25%, and we continue to get more client inquiries about CLM than any other ePurchasing product."

Emptoris Contract Management is the market's most comprehensive contract management solution, spanning every stage of the contract lifecycle, from proposal and contract creation, negotiation, obligations management, and compliance enforcement, through contract amendment, renewal, and ongoing analysis. With Emptoris Contract Management companies gain greater contract visibility and control; and are able to bring about more effective contracting processes and create stronger agreements.

For further information on independent research of the supply and contract management industry, visit:
www.emptoris.com/newsroom/analyst-research.asp

Supply Management Podcast Series

A new podcast series is now available online dealining directly with supply and contract management. The series of recorded conversations with experts from a range of disciplines is designed to "help busy executives get quick insights into strategic procurement and contracting issues. " The series includes 10 to 15 minute conversations with:

• Professors Andrew Cox of Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply on Supplier Risk
• Professor Donavon Favre of North Carolina State University on Supplier Risk
• Kirit Pandit, author of "Spend Analysis: The Window into Strategic Sourcing" on Spend Analysis
• Tim Cummins, Executive Director of the IACCM on Contract Management Automation
• Avner Schneur, President and CEO of Emptoris on Independent Supply Management Research
• Dr. Olga Raskina and Sean Correll of Emptoris discussing Sourcing Optimization
• Robert Rudzki, author of "Straight to the Bottom Line" on Actions to Address the Economic Downturn

The Emptoris Podcast Network series is available online at:
www.emptoris.com/newsroom/podcasts.asp

Those interested in subscribing to the series can do so via iTunes simply by searching for Emptoris and clicking on "subscribe."

Emptoris Podcast Network Series
The Emptoris Podcast Network series was launched with the following sessions:

The Elevation of Supplier Risk Management: Professor Andrew Cox of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply speaks on the leading factors for raising supplier risk management to the forefront of the global organization's agenda.

Managing Supplier Risk: Donavon Favre, Professor of Supply Chain Strategies at North Carolina State University, and co-author of several supply management books, discusses important steps in managing and mitigating supplier risk.

A Conversation with "Spend Analysis" author Kirit Pandit: Kirit Pandit, author of "Spend Analysis: The Window into Strategic Sourcing," discusses the role of spend analysis and its particular importance to global organizations.

Contract Management Automation - Delivering Compliance and Bottom Line Results: Tim Cummins, the Executive Director of the International Association of Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM) discusses the importance of contract management to global companies – and how improved contracting processes and technologies can help companies improve compliance and bottom line results.

Straight to the Bottom Line: Actions to Address an Economic Downturn: Robert Rudzki, author of "Beat the Odds" and "Straight to the Bottom Line" discusses the challenges faced in the current economic climate and how companies can strengthen their bottom line using world-class supply management.

A Conversation with the CEO of Emptoris: Avner Schneur, President and CEO of Emptoris, discusses recent insights by independent industry analysts into the supply and contract management software markets.

Spend Analysis Book Released - "Spend Analysis: The Window Into Strtategic Sourcing"

At the annual Institute for Supply Management (ISM) conference in St. Louis, J Ross Publishing launched the new book, ”Spend Analysis: The Window Into Strategic Sourcing,” by Kirit Pandit and Dr. Haralambos Marmanis.

“The vast majority of Fortune 1000 companies, and their CFOs and CPOs, are blind to their spending. It’s their dirty little secret,” said Kirit Pandit, co-author of “Spend Analysis” and a consultant to Global 2000 companies. “It’s really quite surprising. Spend visibility should be at the very core of any spend management or sourcing campaign. Technologies and services exist today that make that visibility readily achievable and affordable. Our book provides everything a CFO or CPO will need to know to get complete spend visibility and control.”

“Spend Analysis: The Window Into Strategic Sourcing” reviews the spend management challenges companies face; the actions companies can take to increase spend visibility and control; and a complete overview of spend analysis best practices and technologies, including dozens of case studies of spend analysis implementations at leading global companies. The book is published by J. Ross Publishing and is available in business sections of leading booksellers, direct from J Ross Publishing (www.jrosspub.com) and online at Amazon.com. Through agreement with the publisher, Emptoris is making the first chapter of the book available online for free at www.emptoris.com/cmp_08/spend/web/index.asp

“’Spend Analysis: The Window Into Strategic Sourcing’ is the definitive book on the subject,” said Donavon Favre, Professor, North Carolina State University and the former managing partner with Accenture, the global consulting firm. "The book accurately depicts the entire spectrum of critical real-world issues and challenges in spend management, including technical fundamentals, practical applications, and value propositions. It is an extremely thorough and insightful and is certainly a 'must read' for senior financial and supply management executives."

Emptoris, the supply and contract management software company, is helping to promote the book as the company’s solutions and several of its customers are prominently featured in the book. The book, which has been called "the definitive book on spend analysis," features more than a half-dozen Emptoris customers, all leading Global 2000 companies, along with detailed case studies of the implementations and successes at those companies.

The first chapter, which Emptoris is providing for free download, provides a detailed overview of the challenges of gaining visibility and control over spend data, and an outline of the value proposition of and case for the application of spend analysis technologies. The full text of the book is described by the publisher as "the only reference book to provide in-depth guidance on what spend analysis really is, what it specifically involves, and how it can be used to improve identification of cost reduction opportunities, prioritization of sourcing projects, negotiated results, and the tracking and monitoring needed to ensure that identified opportunities reach the bottom line."

Emptoris offers a spend analysis solution, Emptoris Spend Analysis, a fully-automated software solution that empowers companies with greater spend visibility and allows them to realize greater savings through improved sourcing strategies and compliance. Emptoris has helped companies analyze over $24 trillion in corporate spending. For further information on Emptoris Spend Analysis, visit: www.emptoris.com/spend.

For further information on “Spend Analysis: The Window Into Strategic Sourcing,” visit: www.emptoris.com/cmp_08/spend/web/index.asp