[March 16, 2005] ePlus Announces Alliance Relationship with Hitachi Consulting Tweet HERNDON, Va. --(Business Wire)-- March 16, 2005 -- Industry Leaders in Enterprise Cost Management and IT Consulting Team to Deliver eProcurement, Content Management, and Supplier Portal Solutions ePlus inc. (Nasdaq NM:PLUS), a leading provider of Enterprise Cost Management solutions, today announced that a subsidiary, ePlus Systems, Inc., has entered into an alliance agreement with Hitachi Consulting Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd.'s (NYSE:HIT) global business and IT consulting firm, to provide eProcurement, content management, and supplier portal solutions. Together, the consulting and outsourcing services from Hitachi Consulting, matched with the Procure+ and Content+ software solutions from ePlus, will help customers maximize the success of their online eProcurement systems. "Hitachi Consulting is a recognized leader in delivering innovative business and IT solutions," said Ken Farber, president of ePlus Systems, Inc. "The combination of Hitachi Consulting's client-focused service and expertise with ePlus' Procure+ and Content+ solutions will enable our customers to gain control of their procurement process and drive down costs." The alliance with Hitachi Consulting complements the ePlus suite of Enterprise Cost Management software solutions. Hitachi Consulting will be able to enhance its portfolio of supply chain, enterprise, and technology solutions by offering eProcurement and content management services from a proven industry pioneer. In addition, the two companies will actively pursue clients in the areas of spend analysis and management, and procurement business process outsourcing, leveraging Hitachi Consulting's portfolio of clients. "Our experience implementing ePlus solutions at a large, high-tech manufacturing company greatly streamlined the procure-to-pay process, enabled tighter integration with key suppliers, and provided end users with full visibility to the requisition approval and purchase order status," said Robert Klein, VP of Procurement Solutions at Hitachi Consulting. "We can see that using ePlus' hosted Content+ toolset allows the maintenance and management of on-line catalogs to be a collaborative effort between our customers and their primary suppliers. The ePlus toolset is excellent and their people are superb." Procure+ provides sophisticated workflow, catalog management, and transaction management capabilities that provide customers with the tools to search, request, and acquire goods and services while instilling centralized control over enterprise purchases and processes. "ePlus has a solid track record of providing powerful software solutions," said Stephen Engel, VP of Supply Chain Solutions at Hitachi Consulting. "Our alliance will drive enhanced value to our clients and allow them to realize sustainable ROI, particularly when based on an in-depth review of practices and policies governing indirect spend." Content+ enables organizations to generate catalogs from preferred suppliers, deliver content to their customers' web-buying systems, improve supplier collaboration, and organize content within their ERP and legacy databases. The Content+ Supplier Portal allows suppliers to self-manage their catalogs through a workflow-enabled, rules-based, open system. "In order for eProcurement to be successful, you need rich content," explained Mr. Farber. "Procure+ works with Content+ to ensure that online catalogs contain complete and high-quality content, enabling users to find what they need quickly and easily. In addition, our Supplier Portal allows suppliers to upload and maintain their own catalogs, further ensuring the success of our customers' online procurement systems. Combining Hitachi Consulting's broad service expertise with our solutions is a natural fit to help our customers streamline purchasing and reduce costs." About ePlus inc. A leading provider of Enterprise Cost Management, ePlus provides a comprehensive solution to reduce the costs of purchasing, owning, and financing goods and services. ePlus Enterprise Cost Management (eECM) packages business process outsourcing, eProcurement, asset management, product and catalog content management, supplier enablement, strategic sourcing, financial services, and document access and collaboration into a single integrated solution, all based on ePlus' leading business application software. The company is headquartered in Herndon, VA, and has more than 30 locations in the U.S. For more information, visit www.eplus.com, call 888-482-1122 or email [email protected]. About Hitachi Consulting Corporation Hitachi Consulting is Hitachi, Ltd.'s (NYSE:HIT) global business and IT consulting company. Hitachi Consulting serves Fortune 2000 companies across many industries throughout the United States. The company is focused on working with its clients to understand their needs and to enable and implement key business strategies. Hitachi Consulting delivers practical solutions to generate demand, ensure supply, and help the client manage their enterprise effectively. The company is committed to delivering measurable results and to effectively transferring knowledge to optimize the client's investments. For more information, call 877-664-0010 or visit www.hitachiconsulting.com. ePlus, Procure+, Content+, eECM, ePlus Enterprise Cost Management, and/or other ePlus products referenced herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of ePlus inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". Actual and anticipated future results may vary due to certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the existence of demand for, and acceptance of, our services; our ability to adapt our services to meet changes in market developments; the impact of competition in our markets; the possibility of defects in our products or catalog content data; our ability to hire and retain sufficient personnel; our ability to protect our intellectual property; the creditworthiness of our customers; our ability to raise capital and obtain non-recourse financing for our transactions; our ability to realize our investment in leased equipment; our ability to reserve adequately for credit losses; fluctuations in our operating results; our reliance on our management team; and other risks or uncertainties detailed in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]