FARGO, N.D., July 10, 2001 — Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions today announced a strategic relationship with Clarus Corp. (Nasdaq
“CLRS” ) to deliver a customized Internet-based procurement solution for direct and indirect products and services, providing real-time purchase-order creation, approval workflow and order processing. Seamless integration with Microsoft Great Plains’ financials, payables management, fixed assets and reporting solutions will result in a complete, end-to-end purchasing solution. Microsoft Great Plains will integrate the solution, eProcure, into Microsoft® Great Plains® eEnterprise, Solomon and Dynamics products that are based on Microsoft SQL Server™
. eProcure will provide significant cost savings and fast delivery for small and midsize customers requiring a more streamlined, Web-based purchasing and approval process.
Microsoft Great Plains’ leadership and proven technology in business solutions enables small to midsize companies to streamline procurement processes and improve purchasing efficiencies to dramatically impact their bottom lines. Combined with Clarus’ ability to deliver business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce software and services, eProcure implements control measures that streamline purchasing processes, reducing spending and creating measurable cost savings and improved service levels to every employee participating in the procurement process.
“Common procurement processes are costly and inefficient as a result of bottlenecks, maverick spending and time-consuming paper-based processes,”
said Lynne Stockstad, vice president of e-business at Microsoft Great Plains.
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With eProcure, organizations can reduce costs by gaining control of interacting with and purchasing from a multitude of suppliers and enhancing productivity by defining purchasing standards, taking the guesswork out of procurement.”
eProcure can save an organization as much as 15 percent on the costs of goods and services by enabling supplier performance analysis and tracking and cost analysis and directing purchasing to more profitable sources. eProcure also enables search capabilities internally and externally to both online marketplaces and directly to suppliers for more strategic product selection and pricing. Integration with an online marketplace enables organizations to conduct auctions, reverse auctions and comparison shop, ensuring a competitive price. The combination of eProcure and Microsoft Great Plains supply chain, distribution, e-commerce and customer relationship management (CRM) applications provides a complete, end-to-end e-business solution for small and midsize companies, with functionality matching or exceeding solutions that cost much more.
eProcure provides an architecture that can be configured to mirror any organization’s operating structure, regardless of complexity, by using robust mapping capabilities for unlimited levels of approval. Purchase orders can be routed according to price, category, job classification or a number of other attributes. This allows capital goods, for example, to be automatically routed to the appropriate department for review and then continue through the normal approval process.
eProcure can be deployed in-house or hosted through a Microsoft Great Plains certified Application Service Provider (ASP). eProcure will be delivered exclusively by authorized channel partners within Microsoft Great Plains’ extensive global network of more than 2,200 channel partners. eProcure will be fully integrated with Microsoft Great Plains’ eEnterprise, Solomon and Dynamics products operating on Microsoft SQL Server and is scheduled to be available in the fourth calendar quarter of 2001.
About Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions
Microsoft Great Plains provides business applications that help small and midsize companies become more agile in today’s interconnected economy by extending specific information and procedures to employees, customers, vendors and partners. The business applications automate end-to-end business processes across financials, distribution, project accounting, electronic commerce, human resources and payroll, manufacturing, supply chain management, business analytics, sales and marketing management, and customer service and support. More information about the solutions offered by Microsoft Great Plains can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/business/productivity/gphome.asp .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Great Plains is a registered trademark of Great Plains Software Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Great Plains Software is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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