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Verticalnet Survey Reveals Supplier Performance is Top of Mind for Both Large Enterprises and Mid Market CompaniesMALVERN, Pa. --(Business Wire)-- March 8, 2006 -- More than 300 Sourcing Professionals Join Verticalnet Webcast on Supplier Performance Management (SPM); Related Survey Uncovers Overwhelming Interest in the Mid Market Verticalnet, Inc. (Nasdaq:VERT), a leading provider of on-demand supply management solutions, announced today that it recently conducted an online survey following a Webcast on Supplier Performance Management. The Webcast brought together industry experts from The Aberdeen Group, Verticalnet's partner Archstone Consulting, and Verticalnet customer Delta Air Lines to discuss the benefits and realities of supplier performance management. The online survey of the participants was conducted immediately after the Webcast and explored opinions, interest and roadblocks to implementing supplier performance. Survey Says: High Interest in Supplier Performance Among All Sizes of Companies The online survey of participants in the Supplier Performance Webcast yielded interesting and surprising results. More than half the participants had annual spending below $1 billion and 70% had annual spending below $5 billion. Although the majority of participants were mid-sized organizations, more than half of the respondents were actively reviewing SPM solutions with a large percentage looking to initiate a program within the next 12 months. Supplier Performance Management has long been considered as an area of improvement for only the very largest organizations with spend above $10 billion and has traditionally been one of the last areas of consideration in the sourcing and procurement process. Those responding to the online survey indicated that the lack of automated tools for Supplier Performance Management within their organization is the number one challenge associated with initiating a Supplier Performance Management program. Delta Airlines Sees SPM as the Next Step in Creating Incremental Value According to Bob Currey, the General Manager of Sourcing Innovation and Supplier Management for Delta Air Lines, and one of the key speakers at the Webcast, "Supplier Performance Management is a key next step in creating incremental value for organizations of all sizes and especially for Delta Air Lines." Delta has more than $9 billion in spend across more than 6,000 suppliers. Currey continued, "Since 2000, we have realized more than $500 million in cost savings from our strategic sourcing and SPM efforts for the company." Currey concludes, "We have had very good success with the Verticalnet XE suite of products and view the Verticalnet suite and supplier scorecards as key components of our success in Supplier Performance Management at Delta." "Clearly there is significant interest and need among companies of all sizes to get a better handle on supplier performance," commented Nathanael V. Lentz, CEO of Verticalnet. "To date, the mid market in particular has been an underserved market, but the advent of on-demand technology will allow this preliminary interest to be quickly acted upon. The sophistication of procurement organizations, both large and small, is on the rise and the interest in supplier performance is a strong indicator that procurement professionals are moving away from an emphasis on price focused decisions and are moving toward a total cost of ownership perspective when it comes to managing increasingly strategic supplier relationships." Lentz concludes, "Supplier performance management is a critical consideration in evaluating the true total cost of ownership for supplier relationships." Supplier Performance Management is the process of measuring, analyzing, and managing supplier performance to improve quality, reduce costs, mitigate supply risk, and drive continuous improvement in the value of strategic supplier relationships. Supplier performance has never been more crucial to business success than it is today. The high participation from both large enterprises and mid market companies demonstrated the level of interest in the supplier performance topic. More than 300 attended the two-part series including a broad set of US and European entities. An archive of the Supplier Performance Webcast can be viewed by registering at the link below: http://www.verticalnet.com/elibrary/downloads.asp About Verticalnet Verticalnet is a leading provider of on-demand 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. The Verticalnet XE Supply Management suite is available on-demand and 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 Manager -- accelerates and improves negotiated savings through online auctions and eRFX events -- 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) 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) Performance Manager -- enables companies to effectively track and manage supplier performance, contract compliance and identify potential areas of supplier risk 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 |
