[March 26, 2013]

New Version of SciQuest Business Automation Suite Features Consumer-like User Experience to Turn Spending Into Savings

SciQuest (NASDAQ: SQI), the leading provider of cloud-based business automation solutions, today announced the next major version of its spend management product suite. Available today, the release features a new user interface that includes consumer-like features and experiences similar to sites like Amazon, Facebook (News - Alert) and LinkedIn. Combined with other significant new features such as a Digital Mailroom for accounts payable, tighter contract management integration, a new Workflow Inspector and shared shopping cart, SciQuest is making it even easier for customers to cut costs, automate processes and gain transparency to turn spending into savings.

The latest product enhancements are the result of direct customer feedback, which reinforces SciQuest's commitment to deliver innovative products that meet organizations' needs to more effectively manage spend through automation The new product was previewed to customers at NextLevel, SciQuest's annual user conference held last month. Customers provided extremely positive feedback about the new user interface in particular, commenting on the ease of navigation and intuitiveness of the experience.

"We are committed to continuous enhancements to enrich the user experience across our suite of cloud-based applications," said Mark Digman, SciQuest Vice President, Product Marketing and Strategy. "This release represents a tremendous leap forward, by enabling users to shop within their organization much like how they purchase goods on-line as consumers. Along with other key features of this release, we have streamlined key processes within AP, procurement, purchasing and contract management to empower our customers to contribute to the bottom line."

New SciQuest User Interface

• Simple, Intuitive Site Navigation -Clean slide-out side menus replace tab-driven navigation menus and enable users to quickly find where they want to go. In addition to a newly reorganized menu structure, new search options are available that help users find what they need and determine their next task.
• In-application notifications - Notifications and action items will be communicated in an interactive, easily accessed fashion within the application. These communcations are visible from all pages in the application, similar to applications like Facebook and LinkedIn (News - Alert).
• Detailed Cart Preview - Instead of the cart summary available in previous versions, a cart preview allows users to see what items they have added to their cart without navigating away from the primary shopping screens.
• User Profile Improvements - The new version of the SciQuest product suite incorporates new task-driven screens for managing user profiles, which will guide users through the various options.

In the area of Accounts Payable, the new version features a Digital Mailroom that offers organizations the ability to route paper, fax and email invoices directly to SciQuest for scan and capture. Once final visual verification is completed to ensure accuracy, the invoices are available to the organization for matching and approval in the SciQuest Accounts Payable Director. This significantly improves productivity within accounts payable departments.

Enhanced Module Integration and Workflow

The latest release includes important new features that demonstrate how SciQuest is more tightly integrating its contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution acquired from Upside last year. Organizations will be able to integrate the CLM product with the spend management module to track spend against contracts and set up item lists and price sets.

The new version of the SciQuest suite also includes features that make it easier for customers to tap the power of workflow built in to the solution. A new Workflow Inspector tool empowers organizations to view data on a document that caused a specific behavior in a workflow step. In addition, the SciQuest solution includes new Advanced Dynamic Workflow options for administrators to set up their own workflow rules.

Enhanced Shopping Options

SciQuest continues to advance its powerful shopping capabilities with a new shared cart feature. This allows organizations with lab workgroups or small departments to combine shopping and purchasing into shared carts for group orders. All group members will be able to simultaneously shop and monitor cart contents, avoiding duplication, while alleviating workload on lab managers and administrative personnel that are currently processing multiple individual orders. With group shopping, shared carts can also be used to achieve discounts with those suppliers that provide bulk order discounting.

"The transformed procurement organization should be proactive in seeking and identifying savings opportunities, and should be a strategic partner for the organization in innovation, make-versus-buy decisions, risk management, outsourcing, demand management, etc.," said Magnus Bergfors, Gartner (News - Alert) Research Director in the report, "How to Use Software and Service Providers for Successful Procurement Transformation, November 2, 2012. "In order for the organization to function this way, it must have access to suitable tools and systems such as spend analysis, e-sourcing, contract life cycle management (CLM), procure to pay (P2P) systems and supply base management."

Availability

The latest version of SciQuest is available immediately. For more information, or to request a demo, please visit http://www.sciquest.com/business-automation-suite-saas/.

About SciQuest

With a reputation for deep domain knowledge, a solid customer-driven portfolio, and industry-leading customer satisfaction, SciQuest (NASDAQ: SQI) is the largest public provider of cloud-based business automation solutions that turn spending into a source of savings. SciQuest solutions enable greater visibility and compliance organization-wide to help you gain control, optimize efficiencies, and reduce spend. These cloud-based solutions are easier to implement and proven to deliver measurable, sustainable value with SciQuest's high-touch support, analysis and automation.

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