Business Services Industry

Nextance to Discuss Value of Managing Services Contracts at SAP Conference; Analysts Expect Large Cost Savings from Optimizing Performance of Service Contracts

Business Wire, May 1, 2006

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Nextance Inc., the solutions provider setting the standard for contract performance management (CPM), today announced that it will speak at the annual conference of the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG), held in Orlando, Florida, on May 14-17, 2006. As an innovations leader in its industry, Nextance will share best practices and nuances of managing intangible services, in contrast to the relatively-straightforward world of tangible goods.

Entitled "Managing Contracts in the Complex World of Services", the presentation comes at a critical time, since services procurement now can account for 33-50% of every corporate purchasing dollar. But given the flexible and intangible nature of services and the resulting complexity of their contracts, it is difficult for companies to see what they are buying or to measure service provider performance, so much so that the Aberdeen Group estimated "services purchases represent one of the largest -- and largely untapped -- opportunities for cost savings at most organizations."

"Contracting for services is a necessary part of global business today, whether it's for enterprise software support or business process outsourcing," explained Tiffany Riley, vice president of marketing for Nextance. "But as we will discuss in our presentation, most service-based relationships are unmanaged on an individual or category basis, thereby increasing risk and costs."

The Nextance presentation will explain how CPM can answer key questions such as: Have you selected the best service provider for your specific needs? Are you paying premium prices for services? Are you receiving the service levels for which you are paying? Are vendors and partners in compliance with the terms of your agreement? Without clear answers to these questions and more, companies are hard-pressed to ensure that they are actually getting what they pay for.

As the presentation speaker, Riley has helped Global 2000 companies improve the performance of their services contracts during her two-year tenure at Nextance. She is a veteran of the software industry, with over 10 years of enterprise marketing and product strategy experience. Riley brings a track record of successful product and customer marketing efforts in similar positions with companies such as Blue Pumpkin, Scopus Technologies, Siebel Systems, and Sybase, Inc. She holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

The Nextance presentation will be held at 10:50 a.m. Eastern on May 17. For more information, please visit http://www.asug.com/events/asug2006/ or www.nextance.com/news_events_speaking_engagements.shtml.> About Nextance Inc.

Nextance is setting the standard for contract performance management (CPM) solutions with innovative software and best-practices professional services. Global 2000 companies are improving financial and business performance by using Nextance CPM to improve the standardization, visibility and control of their contractual relationships. Countrywide, Covenant Health, Eastman Chemical Company, Fireman's Fund, Genzyme Corporation, Juniper Networks, Sasol, Sun Microsystems, and others are using Nextance software every day to tap into the value that is written into each of their thousands of revenue, procurement, intellectual property licensing, and partner agreements. Nextance is based in Redwood City, CA, and is privately held. For additional information, visit: www.nextance.com.