Selectica Strengthens Platform as Contract Performance Management Emerges as a Key Strategic Application Across the Enterprise; Latest Version Optimizes Contract Compliance through Enhanced Automation and Visibility

Business Wire, Sept 7, 2005

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Selectica, Inc. (Nasdaq:SLTC), a leading provider of sales execution and contract management applications, today announced general availability of Selectica Contract Performance Management Version 2.1. Available as an on-demand service or an installed software application, the solution goes far beyond standard contract repository, authoring and workflow tools to provide a comprehensive platform for managing the cost, compliance and performance of complex buy and sell side contractual relationships.

In managing the entire lifecycle of enterprise contracts, Selectica's highly automated, unified Contract Performance Management platform enables even the most contract-intensive industries, such as healthcare and real estate, to gain better enterprise-wide visibility and control of their contracts. As a result, organizations are able to increase compliance, maximize revenue and limit risk exposure while reducing contract cycle time and related administrative costs.

Minimizing Risk, Maximizing Revenue

Selectica's latest addition to the marketplace comes at a time when contract lifecycle management (CLM) has emerged as a key strategic initiative in organizations of all types eager to reduce risk and improve operational efficiencies. Aberdeen Group predicts that CLM application revenues will increase 27 percent this year; and maintain year-over-year growth rates above 20 percent through 2008. Meanwhile, enterprises participating in three recent Aberdeen Group benchmark studies rated contract management among the top business application investments prioritized for the next 24 months.

"Faced with lingering economic uncertainty and heightened regulatory requirements, businesses are under ever-increasing pressures to develop and execute strategies to continuously improve performance, mitigate risk and ensure fiscal accountability," said Tim Minahan, senior vice president of supply research and strategy and author of the 2004 report Best Practices in Contract Management: Strategies for Optimizing Business Relationships. "A convergence of these and other factors will continue to drive demand for automated CLM solutions."

As the volume and complexity of contracts continues to accelerate, optimizing contract performance has become a key corporate initiative in organizations of all types looking to gain better visibility into key business processes and commitments. Selectica simplifies workflow processes throughout the extended contract management lifecycle by providing the capabilities and self-service tools customers need, thereby minimizing the total cost of ownership. By using Microsoft Word as the primary platform rather than complex, proprietary portal-based editing tools, Selectica minimizes training and costs necessary to initiate and maintain contract management excellence. Meanwhile, Selectica's Universal Access Controls provide an unprecedented level of granularity in managing contract access, visibility and security.

"In a company with $1 billion in annual revenues, the impact of poor contract management can be as much as $50 million," said Vince Ostrosky, CEO of Selectica. "Selectica's Contract Performance Management solutions help companies recapture this value and provide contract management teams with the type of data intelligence needed to enhance operational performance."

New Features Improve Functionality

Selectica's Contract Performance Management platform is used by a growing number of companies to deliver measurable fiscal and operational improvements. Customers include: 7-Eleven, Ace Hardware, Alcoa, Cummins, Time Warner, International Paper, Seton Hospital and Triad Hospitals.

Release 2.1 offers a broad array of new functionality for managing extended contract-based processes and compliance management functions, including:

Self-Service Tools

Allows business users to configure unique account profiles, contract templates, workflow processes and compliance controls, without requiring expensive professional services or IT resources, including

--Data Composer - Modify fields and field groups that make up a contract definition.

--Navigation Composer - Edit and customize the user interface quickly and easily.

--Forms Composer - Create new forms and contract definitions.

--Rules and Alert Composers: Utilize any business term to set rules or advance notification for any milestone or compliance condition.

--Approval Composer - Model complex approval chains easily via the graphical UI.

--Reports Composer - Create reports easily without having to know anything about the underlying data schema or SQL syntax.

--Access Composer - Control permission of the application and contract access.

--Legacy Data Loader - Provides an Excel-based interface to load and edit contract records in bulk.

General Contract Management

--Linked Records - Records can capture key variables for any item, including contracts, suppliers or user profiles.

--Multiple Reporting Enhancements - New functionality includes the ability to export to external writers such as Crystal Reports and Business Objects, and workflow reports that enables users to secure information such as "average time in each stage of a workflow."