Goldman Sachs Researchers Identify MyContracts as Leader in Emerging Contract Management Market

Business Wire, Feb 13, 2001

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2001

A newly issued report by the investment banking and securities firm predicts the market for contract management software, provided by

MyContracts and others, to reach $3.1 billion by 2005

MyContracts today announced that Goldman Sachs has featured the company in a Global Equity Research report as being at the forefront of a growing new category called contract management.

The report entitled "Time To Manage Those Contracts!" reinforces MyContract's business platform of reducing risks, maximizing efficiency and lowering costs by automating complex contract processes.

MyContracts is the first Web-based service that manages critical dates, financial obligations and terms and conditions for all business contracts, including real estate and equipment leases, service agreements and insurance policies. The Goldman Sachs report estimates that the need for contract management services, such as those that MyContracts provides, will climb to an estimated $3.1 billion in a standalone market by 2005. The report attributes the increasing complexity of contracts and volume as the force behind the demand for contract management software.

Currently, Fortune 1000 companies, which on average use between 20,000 and 40,000 vendors, spend as much as 100 basis points of their revenue to manage buy-side contracts and 25 basis points of their revenue to manage sell-side contracts, the report stated. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs analysts estimate that these enterprises could experience a potential reduction of 40 basis points in hard and soft costs by using contract management software. This software can also provide further benefits, including reducing labor time and mitigating the risks of non-compliance.

"This report solidifies what we've known all along -- today's businesses have an overwhelming need for the services that MyContracts provides," said Mark Friedman, the company's founder and CEO. "Managing and negotiating contracts is no doubt a complicated, time-consuming and expensive task that often prevents companies from maximizing productivity, efficiency, and above all, profit. Companies are finding that they can no longer manage contracts on their own.

"That's why smart businesses are looking for smart solutions and realizing the value that online tools can provide," Friedman added. "Fortunately, MyContracts was able to predict and recognize this market demand early on, and shape the contract management landscape from the very start."

Under an exclusive licensing agreement, MyContracts adapted and Web-enabled core functionality from Westmark Harris Advisors Inc.'s flagship product Strategen(c), the industry's leading contract management software, which is currently used by Fortune 500 companies, including Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, MCI WorldCom, Shell Oil, Chevron and Charles Schwab. MyContracts is the only service that integrates contract management, real-time benchmarking and leveraged e-procurement into one solution that manages the entire contract lifecycle. The MyContracts solution is unique because in addition to managing critical terms and dates of existing contracts for companies, it also leverages and negotiates those terms through automated benchmarking, competitive bidding and pooled purchasing power to secure the best possible terms and conditions for new and renegotiated contracts.

MyContracts builds its business through strategic alliances with brokers and consultants, creating a collaborative solution for buy-side advisers and their clients with dominance in real estate, accounting and insurance. Its partners include CB Richard Ellis, Ernst & Young, Aon Enterprise Insurance Services Inc., Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Innodata and IKON, among others.

About MyContracts

Founded in 1999, MyContracts has headquarters in Santa Monica. The company currently manages more than $4 billion in financial obligations. MyContracts is funded by Pequot Venture Partners which is responsible for funding Sycamore Networks Inc., Cobalt Networks Inc. and Preview Travel; Angel Investors L.P., investors in Ask Jeeves, Avant.Go.com and AllBusiness.com; Red Rock Ventures, investors in Silicon Energy and LiveCapital.com; and JUMP Investors LLC, investors in Business.com. Other investors include Insignia Financial Group (NYSE:IFS) and Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL). For more information, visit www.mycontracts.com.