eOriginal Makes Exclusive E-Business 100 List; e-Business Leader Honored by Hurwitz Group and Information Week for Innovation, Strong Executive Management and Vision

Business Wire, Dec 13, 1999

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 1999--

eOriginal Inc., a leader in providing e-commerce business solutions, has been selected as one of the winners of the E-Business 100 Award, sponsored by Information Week and Hurwitz Group.

This is the first time Information Week has recognized companies that have achieved overall excellence in e-business initiatives. Hurwitz Group analysts and Information Week researchers and editors selected the winners from more than 400 applicants based on their ability to execute their vision and meet objectives, their level of business and technology integration and their overall innovation in e-Business.

"All companies making the E-Business 100 exemplify three overarching characteristics essential to e-business success--strong leadership, business vision and the capability to execute on strategy," adds Judith Hurwitz, president and CEO of Hurwitz Group.

e-business innovator, eOriginal, has effectively used technology to reinvent the way individuals transact business electronically through the company's revolutionary and patented eOriginal(TM) system, which creates a negotiable, legally binding electronic document, the Electronic Original(TM). This system makes it possible to execute and transfer secure, negotiable instruments over the Internet.

For instance, in Florida in September 1999, the eOriginal(TM) system delivered the first end-to-end electronic mortgage closings, demonstrating savings in excess of $750 per originated loan and reducing loan closing to secondary market delivery time from approximately 45 days to five hours.

"e-business is changing the way we do business," says Beth Gold-Bernstein, senior analyst at Hurwitz Group. "In embracing e-business, these companies have effectively utilized technology to reinvent business processes, resulting in a clear return on opportunity in their e-business investments. This level of achievement requires close alignment between business and IT strategies."

eOriginal's leadership team includes executives with a wide range of strong business management and technology backgrounds, including former CBS Chairman and CEO, Michael H. Jordan, who serves as the company's Chairman of the Board.

"eOriginal is proud to have been selected as one of the E-Business 100, and recognized for its work in helping companies reap the full benefits of e-commerce," says Mr. Jordan. "We are excited to be playing such a revolutionary role in changing the way business is conducted today."

"eOriginal has achieved a number of landmarks during 1999: raising more than $22.5 million in investments from leading companies such as GE Capital, Hat Creek Partners, and Intel; appointing business leader Michael H. Jordan as Chairman of the Board; and successfully completing a Pilot program enabling the first electronic mortgage closings," says Douglas H. Trotter, eOriginal's CEO and co-inventor of the patented process. "We look forward to success and growth in the coming year as we aggressively work through our business plan to implement the eOriginal(TM) system in other targeted markets."

The company is currently running two Pilot programs in the commercial leasing industry, has demonstrated applications suitable for government services and health care, and is developing a process to handle international bills of lading.

About Hurwitz Group

Hurwitz Group, a consulting and research firm providing advice and assistance with e-business and IT initiatives, is recognized for its close working relationships with clients and a focus on business realities. Hurwitz Group clients include Fortune 2000 IT organizations as well as business-to-business software and services vendors.

Hurwitz Group strategists leverage research from the company's knowledge centers to provide clients with a range of services, including market development and positioning strategies, enterprise technology strategies and custom consulting.

About eOriginal

eOriginal Inc. was founded in 1996 by executive vice president, Stephen F. Bisbee, co-inventor of the patented process. The eOriginal(TM) system enables the electronic creation, transmission, storage and retrieval of protected Electronic Original(TM) documents.

Through the integration of public key cryptography and other critical technologies, the company guarantees the uniqueness and authenticity of Electronic Original(TM) documents, including negotiable instruments, the identity of the signatories and the integrity of the content.

The company is headquartered in the Warehouse at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, with offices in Danbury, Connecticut, and Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit the eOriginal web site at http://www.eoriginal.com.