Baan Company Chooses Portera's Web-Hosted Suite in Multi-Million Dollar Global Services Agreement; Four-Year Deal Marks Coming Of Age of ASPs and Launch of Baan's E-Services Portfolio

Business Wire, Nov 4, 1999

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1999--

Portera (www.Portera.com), the leading provider of Web-based business services for the $1.2 trillion professional services industry, today announced that it will provide the software infrastructure, including a complete Web-hosted application suite, for the Services Division of Baan Company N.V. (Nasdaq: BAANF; Amsterdam: BAAN), a global provider of enterprise software.

Baan Services will implement ServicePort, Portera's Web-hosted professional services automation suite, on a global basis - linking all 1700 consultants and subcontractors, as well as customers, into a collaborative work environment - with an immediate rollout plan.

This streamlining of consulting business processes will result in measurably superior communication between Baan consultants, clients and third party partners resulting in time-savings and improvements in efficiency for all involved. Baan's implementation partners will be able to adopt Portera's services to improve collaboration on external client projects.

The use of Portera's Web-hosted solution marks a new and innovative approach to project management and information sharing in a major global consultancy and will result in a more agile and responsive services group within Baan.

Andrew Nash, Executive Vice President, Services at Baan, said: "Unlike our competitors, we're actually walking the talk - we're using Web-hosted applications ourselves to run our own business. Portera is providing what the consulting industry has needed for years - applications provided as a service and specifically tailored for consultants. Portera has put significant thought and effort into producing applications and services to help improve communication, increase efficiency and, ultimately, manage the bottom line in consulting firms. We reviewed market offerings and Portera came out far ahead with its comprehensive solution and vision. Baan and Portera are blazing a trail together-we are sure that Baan's first-to-market position will give us a measurable lead over our competitors in terms of the service we provide and the end results."

ServicePort

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Accessible via any browser and available 24 x 7, Portera's Web-hosted professional services automation suite, ServicePort, delivers tools and resources that Baan will be able to customize for each client project.

Baan plans to immediately adopt the ServicePort applications and features detailed below:

Practice Management

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Baan's consultants, instructors and program managers will access ServicePort for project management tools, deliverables, schedules and resource assignments.

In addition to proactive management, the benefits of ServicePort also extend to Baan's clients who will be able to subscribe to the customer element of ServicePort. Clients will then have access to collaborative workspaces where they can track the progress of their project.

Collaborative Methodology

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Utilizing Portera's applications and Baan's integrated methodology has made delivering and coordinating complicated projects simpler. Baan will be able to share project information and methodology with clients in a fully customizable environment that can be accessed over the Web.

Knowledge Repository

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Portera's knowledge repository will enable Baan consultants, customers and partners to access accumulated knowledge and resources including best practices, research and white papers.

Customer Feedback Surveys

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Utilizing Portera's Web-hosted customer feedback module, Baan will be able to monitor customer satisfaction during the implementation of projects carried out by both Baan and Baan's partners. At regular intervals during the project, customers can be asked a series of questions to enable Baan to monitor customer satisfaction levels. This closed loop monitoring will enable Baan to continue to deliver the highest possible level of service and a product that far exceeds the client's expectations.

Issue Tracking

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When an implementation concern is highlighted by a customer in a survey, a task is automatically established in Tracker, the Web-based tracking application developed by Portera to help identify and resolve client project issues and tasks. The issue identified by the client can be immediately brought to the attention of Baan's consultants who can then prioritize it and allocate resources to resolve the concern. Portera Tracker enables team members to input and manage tasks and issues, including individual responsibilities, deadlines and status.

Guy Sorrell, the program manager directing Baan's use of Portera's Solutions, said: "There is an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm for revamping Baan's internal business infrastructure and the client collaboration process. It is truly gratifying to use an ASP that has designed all of its applications to fit together seamlessly. The integration of Portera's services and Baan's methodologies has been painless and straightforward."