EDMONTON, Alberta, Nov. 04 2003, (PRIMEZONE) -- Upside Software Inc., an integrated enterprise contract management software provider, announced today the release of UpsideContract version 4 which provides significant improvements in functionality and usability over previous versions and competitive products.
Upside Software is a profitable market leader in the contract management software market and consistently ranked in the top 3 by leading analysts. The company spends over 35% of its revenues on Research and Development (R&D), which is almost 3 times the industry standard. Upside Software's products are used in virtually all continents of the world and supports all languages and currencies, offering organizations global usage. The company has customers in virtually every industry, including many of the Global 2000.
UpsideContract 4.0 is an enterprise-class contract management solution (based on a pure Microsoft .NET architecture which simplifies interoperability and integration with other systems on a platform that provides significantly better performance and usability) that provides full life-cycle contract management functionality including collaborative contract creation and negotiation, performance, compliance and risk management, event management, and amendment and renewal processing. Version 4 includes many enhancements to the functions available in previous releases plus adds over 22 new major improvements, including:
-- New revitalized look & feel allows for a rich and fully
configurable user interface that presents users with an
interface they are already familiar with and find easy to
navigate through;
-- Configurable Dashboard with embedded OLAP reporting allowing
for a Procurement/Sales Office snapshot, enabling proactive
management, accurate spend & revenue management and improved
relationship management;
-- Powerful new Vendor/Supplier & Customer Relationship
Management -- maintain and manage organization specific
information, compliance, performance, risks, documents
and events;
-- Improved Contract Configurator that allows users to manage
templates by various parameters and embed robust and flexible
governance, including allowing for confidentiality to be
attached to notes and attached documents and attach powerful
business rules and workflow, enabling automated processing;
-- A new highly flexible Performance & Compliance Manager allows
organizations to track various metrics and associate specific
workflow to each item, allowing for dynamic management and real
time reporting. The compliance assurance functionality ensures
adherence to contractual and corporate governance controls;
-- E-Forms -- customer defined forms that are handled like any
attached document and allow full processing by workflow and
business rules. This new structure can be used to manage
evaluations, gather data and ratings, etc.;
-- Powerful new workflow engine that allow for virtually any
type of rule processing (to any object in the system including
templates, contracts, attached documents, e-forms, compliance
items, performance issues, etc.), including smooth interaction
with external systems and third party workflow engines;
-- Enhanced Search capabilities, allows for searching within
attached documents (including scanned OCR images)
-- Multiple Database Support -- now with full support for Oracle
as well as the original Microsoft SQL Server;
-- MS Office 2003 integration -- import, create, share, edit and
negotiate contracts natively in MS Word with full functionality,
allowing for improved Collaborative Contract Development and
Negotiation.
Contract management software can help organizations streamline their operations and reduce related expenses by up to 2% of SGA (Sales, General and Administrative) expenses. With the inherent usability and advanced functionality of UpsideContract 4.0, its users will experience a much faster time-to-benefit, more easily reach their solution objectives, and ultimately experience a greater bottom-line improvement.
"The demand for contract management software is growing steadily, and will accelerate significantly as more companies recognize its value," said Ashif Mawji, Upside Software's President and CEO.
"(UpsideContract) version 4 raises the bar in terms of functionality and customer value, and is well positioned to capture a significant portion of the market -- we have invested millions of dollars into this release and it has been well worth it!" He continued to say "companies are also identifying contract management software as a solution for Sarbanes-Oxley which has further increased interest and demand, and UpsideContract is by far the clear solution of choice, with a reputable install base and one of the only profitable companies in this market. We are very excited about this release, and so are our customers!"
Tim Cummins, Executive Director of the International Association of Contract and Commercial Managers adds, "These enhancements illustrate the rapid progress and maturing of contract management software. Upside's success in a growing range of major corporate clients is a clear demonstration that they are a leading contender in this fast-growing market. The flexibility they are seeking to introduce will further extend the potential scope and value of their solution and directly responds to the type of functionality our members describe as important".
Aberdeen Group research finds that ineffective control and management of supplier contracts cost businesses $153 billion per year in missed savings opportunities. "Companies that utilize standard procedures and controls across the contract management life cycle have been able to dramatically reduce material and administrative costs, shorten contracting cycles, optimize contract usage and controls, enhance procurement decisions, and diminish operational and regulatory risk," said Tim Minahan, Vice President of supply chain research at Aberdeen Group, Inc. "Non-intrusive automation solutions, like UpsideContract, can provide the necessary foundation to streamline contract cycles, improve contract visibility, and drive compliance and risk management strategies."
Andy Kyte, Vice President and Research Director, Gartner, Inc. has said, "Most procurement managers lack sophisticated planning and work management tools for the control of tasks associated with the contract life cycle. Contract management applications should offer strong support to the procurement manager for the planning and control of all the work associated with contracts, and for tracking the actual time and costs incurred in managing each contract."
For more information on UpsideContract version 4 please visit www.upsidesoft.com/v4
About Upside Software Inc.
Upside Software provides the leading Contract Management Software solution in the market -- UpsideContract -- as well as other integrated business solutions to handle Sourcing & Procurement, Invoice and Billing Management, and Project & Resource Management. Upside Software's products address the needs of Enterprise (e.g. Fortune 500, Global 2000), Public sector (Federal, State/Provincial, Municipal and Health Care) and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector customers. Upside Software's customers realize significant cost savings and improve customer and supplier relationships. The company's solutions are delivered to customers in as little as 3 days and provide a full return-on-investment (ROI) in much less than one year. Upside Software is a profitable, growing company with a very advanced, yet mature, and comprehensive product suite. The company has extensive experience delivering real value to customers of every size and in most industry verticals. For more information about Upside Software and its suite of business solutions, visit the company's Web site at www.upsidesoft.com or one of its product sites: http://www.upsidecontract.com/, http://www.upsidecontractlite.com/, http://www.upsiderfx.com/, http://www.upsidebilling.com/, http://www.upsidepmo.com/.