e eplus inc. - proprietary and confidential

1

e+

ePlus inc. -- Proprietary and Confidential

Enterprise SupplyManagement

An Overview

February 2008

NAPPConference

Marina del Rey

Corporate Summary

Founded in 1990, Public Since 1996

Ticker: PLUS 2,500+ Customers 30+ Locations throughout United States Corporate Headquarters in Herndon, VA

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

2005 2006 2007

Fiscal($millions)

Overview

ePlus Systems

Product Information Mgmt

+ Supplier Portal

+ Product Data Cleansing

+ Catalog Management

+Simplified Requisitioning

+Workflow Approvals

+Account Distribution

+Budget Checks

+Automatic Ordering

+Sourcing and Bid Analysis

+Receiving

+Inventory Management

+Invoice Matching

eProcurement

with + Opportunity Analysis

+ Supplier Management

+ Compliance Reporting

Spend Analysis

Asset Management

+ Asset Tracking

+ Lifecycle Management

+ Financial Controls

Document Management

+ Fast On-line Docmt Access

+ Drawings, Floor Plans, Maps

+ Blueprints, Schematics

Enterprise Supply Management from ePlus covers the complete supply process from supplier enablement to procurement, settlement and product disposition.

Compliance Productivity Cost Savings

Product Information Management

EnterpriseContent

Management

HostedContent

Management

ePlusContentServices

Catalog+

Content+Advanced

SupplierEnablement

SupplierPortal

ProductInformation

Management

More Spend Under Control

Requires that users can find what they are looking for in an e-procurement application

This requires that users have access to up-to-date catalogs with robust search functionality

This turn requires a two-pronged approach:A. Ability to take disparate supplier data, cleanse and

normalize it, and put it into a standard catalog covering multiple suppliers

B. Providing a simple mechanism for on-boarding suppliers of all sizes

A = Content Management

B = Supplier Portal

SupplyManagement

Contract Compliance

Once the spend portfolio is defined and assigned to suppliers, contracts are set up

Contract pricing is stored within Procure+

These, combined with the search capabilities with the catalogs, ensure that contract items are easily located, and ordered every time

Off-contract purchases are tracked within Procure+, and their visibility reduces the level of non-compliance

SupplyManagement

Process Compliance

Process compliance is achieved through supplier enablement, supplier management, and workflow

Supplier enablement brings more suppliers into the mix

• Robust search functionality means users find what they need

Spend Analysis and sourcing lead to stronger contracts, enforced by eProcurement

• Workflow ensures that purchase transactions comply to these business rules

SupplyManagement

Content Management from ePlus

ePlus has been developing Content Management software and services for over 20 years

During that time, we have developed 500,000 business rules, across 64,000 commodity groups

Today, ePlus provides the services and toolsets required to create and maintain Content, supporting commercially viable e-commerce initiatives, and improving supply chain communications

These services and toolsets are known as Content+

Content Management

Content

Why good Content is important…

Content Management allows users to find the products they are looking for, from internal and external sources, regardless of the supplier

Individual supplier catalogs can be accurate, but inconsistent from one supplier to another.

In effect, the suppliers are using different languages to describe the same item

Content Management takes all the items across all the catalogs, and normalizes the descriptions, enriches the data, and classifies item groups

Content Management

Content

Why bad Content is expensive…

If users can’t find all examples of what they are looking for, their choices will be limited, and they can’t make the best selection based on what’s available

Even worse, if users can’t find any examples of what they are looking for, even if those items are in the catalogs, the user will resort to maverick buying

Purchases made as a “maverick buy” cost, on average, anywhere from 10 to 20% more than contracted items

Content Management

Content

ePlus Industry Expertise

Automotive Accessories and PartsBearingsBuilding SuppliesChemicalsClothingCommunications EquipmentComputers, Components & PeripheralsConsumer ProductsElectricalElectronicsFastenersFilters & Filtering UnitsFurnitureGaskets, Seals, & PackingsHVAC & RefrigerationHydraulic & Pneumatic Equipment

InstrumentationJanitorial Supplies & EquipmentLab & Medical ProductsLandscape MaterialsLubricants, Greases, EquipmentMarine Equipment, SuppliesOffice ProductsPaint & Protective CoatingsPhotographic EquipmentPlumbingPrinting EquipmentPumpsRotating Equipment & MachinerySafetyTools & Shop EquipmentWater TreatmentWelding Equipment

Content

Legacy

Systems

Legacy

Systems

Paper CatalogsPaper Catalogs

CD’sCD’s

eCatalogs

Supplier Portal

eCatalogs

Supplier Portal

Rich Content

How do you get from here . . .

to here?

The Content Process

Content

Cleansing

The Content Process

StandardizationEnrichment Normalization

Legacy

Systems

Legacy

Systems


CD’sCD’s

eCatalogs

Supplier Portal

eCatalogs

Supplier Portal

Aggregation Validation Classification

Rich ContentQA Review

Content

The Content Process

StandardizationEnrichment Normalization

Third Party

Purchasing

Professionalcontent

management,only from ePlus.

Publication Procure+

Legacy

Systems

Legacy

Systems


CD’sCD’s

eCatalogs

Supplier Portal

eCatalogs

Supplier Portal

Aggregation Validation Classification

Syndication . . . or . . .

Spend

ManagementRich ContentQA Review

Content

Now that good Content ready, it can be put to use.

Publication makes the finished catalog available to e-commerce applications, as is, on-line. The catalog is ‘connected’ to e-commerce.

Syndication takes the finished catalog, and prepares the data for import or upload to an e-commerce application, off-line. The catalog can be syndicated to any number of applications

ERP e-Procurement Spend Analysis

Syndicated content is transferred in a variety of schema and formats, depending on where it needs to go.

Using Good Content

Results

A single catalog of good content can be used to ‘feed’ various applications, like so:

Syndicating Good Content

Results

Integration with eProcurement

Content+ is designed to provide the fuel for eProcurement applications

If an eProcurement system fails to deliver its promised potential, it is almost always because of lack of “good” content

To date, ePlus has integrated its Content+ technology with ERP, eProcurement and financial applications:

Oracle Lawson SAPAriba J D Edwards PerfectCommerce

Integration

Common Language Generator

CLG is ePlus' Content Management Expert System

CLG (Common Language Generator) is a patented knowledge-based software application that transforms traditional legacy data into structured content

CLG currently contains over 500,000 business rules that it uses to recognize products and associate them with the proper classification automatically

By performing repeatable tasks on thousands of items in one process, CLG makes e-commerce catalogs affordable and commercially viable

The CLG

Supplier Enablement

Rule 1 eProcurement is only effective when people actually use it

Rule 2 The biggest inhibitor to effective eProcurement is poor catalog content

Rule 3 The main contributor for poor catalog content is lack of supplier enablement

Enablement

Supplier Enablement

We help clients capture all of their spend

• not just office suppliers and temp services.

We have worked with over 60,000 commodities

Making life easier for your suppliers is critical to adoption and success of your program.

• Without Content, there is no eProcurement

• Without supplier participation, there is no Content

Enablement

Supplier Portal

The Supplier Portal provides an interface to Content+ so that suppliers can self-author their catalogs on-line.

Once information has been provided, it can be managed through its lifecycle, using the Content+ toolset.

Suppliers upload new data, and make changes and deletions, to a Staging Catalog. At that time, an e-mail message is sent to the Client Catalog Administrator.

The Catalog Administrator then has the option to review the data, and approve it or reject it.

The Portal

Content Load

Maintenance

CLG

QA

Add

New Items

Production

Catalog

Paper CatalogsLegacy

Data/CD's

ePlus or Client activities

These are the basic functions that give you good content, whether you perform them yourself, or have ePlus handle it all for you.

Roles & ResponsibilitiesRoles & Responsibilities

Services

Enrichment

Aggregation

Hosting

Turnkey

Ready to Go

ePlus

ePlus stands ready to perform ALL of your content management as you wish. At any time, our skill sets can be transferred to you.

Content Load

Maintenance

CLG

QA

Add

New Items

Production

Catalog


Data/CD's



Staging

Catalog

Register

Authorized?

Add

Import

Edit

N

Y

Supplier

Similarly, via the Supplier Portal, your own suppliers can take part in Content Management, especially for updates.

Services

Enrichment

Aggregation

Hosting

Turnkey

Ready to Go

ePlus

Content Load

Maintenance

CLG

QA

Add

New Items

Production

Catalog


Data/CD's



Supplier Portal Functions

Engages new suppliers

Manages relationships between suppliers to facilitate information flow

Manages day-to-day activities and communications between suppliers and the customer relative to content

Works with suppliers to ensure delivery of updated content on a regular basis, consistent with predefined timelines

Works with customers and suppliers to ensure changes to content are reflected in Staging and Production Catalogs

The Portal

Supplier Portal Benefits

Suppliers use the Portal in order to lower the cost of doing business with their clients

Clients don’t have to upload and maintain supplier data themselves

• Catalog Administration workflow routes data for approval before going into production

Facilitates the supply chain process by providing the right interface with the right controls, between the buyer and the seller

The Portal

Summary


Rule 1 eProcurement is very effective when people actually use it

Rule 2 The biggest contributor to effective eProcurement is good catalog content

Rule 3 The main contributor to good catalog content is effective supplier enablement

Enablement

Enterprise or Software as a Service Features:

• Advanced patented Catalog Management• Automated Workflow and Configurable business

rules• Requisitioning, Approval and Budgeting • RFQ's, reverse auctions, quotations and Bid Analysis• Purchase Orders, Contracts, service templates• Desktop and/or Central Receiving• Inventory Management and Asset Tracking• Invoice Matching• Reporting and ad-hoc queries for Actionable

Information

Procure+

Procurement

Procure+ Benefits

• Standard catalogs and contracted prices

• Users have ‘freedom without choice’

o Can only order what they can see

• Pre-loaded budget and account information

o Eliminate improper allocations and coding

o Prevent budget over-runs

Compliance

Procurement

Procure+ Benefits

• Point and click ordering from rich item content

• Workflow and automated business rules reduce approval times

• Most information defaults directly, no data entry

• AutoPO for catalog itemso no buyer involvement

• Users check own order status for expediting

• Focus buyers on sourcing and supplier management

o Removed from clerical order placement process

ProductivityCompliance

Procurement

Cost Savings

Procure+ Benefits

• Improved spend visibility for sourcing and contracting

• Contract enforcement delivers realized savings

• Reduced latency in approvals process and physical touches

• Lower transaction costs

o Consolidated and fewer purchase orderso Automated receiving process

• Greater accuracy

o Less errorso Less invoice querieso Less returnso Less cost

ProductivityCompliance

Procurement

Requisition

Auto PO

RequisitionerRequisitioner

On-lineApprovals

Order Status and History

ApproverApprover

Receiving

Export Files

Reporting

Accounting

BuyerBuyer

BuyersWork Queue

POManagement

RFQ/BidManagement

Order Routing•Print•eMail•AutoFax

•Online•EDI•XML

AccountsPayable

Budget

Check

Services Favorites

Hosted

Catalogs

Quick Req

Punch Out

Suppliers

Suppliers

Invoices

Quotations

. . . for matching with invoices from suppliers.

OrdersSummary

ReceiptsSummary

Procure+ Process

Procurement

Procure+ Summary

Distributes the ordering process to end users (requisitioners) so buyers can focus on supplier management and sourcing

Productivity

Procure+ is a purchasing transaction engine, supporting multiple business requirements:

Procurement

Procure+ Summary


Ensures compliance to business rules via built-in workflows based on customer profiles

Compliance Productivity


Procurement


Procure+ Summary



Ensures compliance to existing corporate contracts


Procurement

Procure+ Summary



Ensures compliance to existing corporate contracts Captures accurate spend data for integration to other

applications, such as sourcing and spend analysis



Procurement

e eplus inc. - proprietary and confidential

Documents

content management b

content management software

important content management

eplus eplus

good content

workflow supplier enablement

disparate supplier data

contract compliance