Accenture and Moai Bring Online Negotiation Solutions to Market
Companies collaborate on strategic sourcing solutions
SAN FRANCISCO, CA and NEW YORK, October 18, 2000– Accenture and Moai Technologies today announced a strategic global alliance to bring online negotiation solutions to Global 2000 customers for strategic sourcing of goods and services as well as to Net Market Makers building online exchanges. Moai received funding from Accenture Technology Ventures, the venture capital unit of Accenture , as part of $30 million in Series D Preferred Stock financing completed in March 2000.
Together, the services that Accenture and Moai will market and deliver will leverage flexible pricing models and the Internet to empower businesses to create more efficient ways to buy and sell goods. According to industry analysts, by 2004, global B2B e-commerce will reach $2.7 trillion and sales completed through dynamic online pricing models are expected to reach $746 billion. As part of the alliance, Accenture and Moai will jointly develop and market online negotiation solutions across a wide variety of industries. Accenture has already included Moai’s LiveExchange™ as part of its Hosted Auction Services offerings, which provide strategic sourcing solutions to corporate customers.
New Strategic Sourcing Solutions
Procurement organizations conduct Strategic Sourcing initiatives in an effort to lower total cost of ownership and improve terms for purchases of direct and indirect goods and services. Integrating automated selection and negotiation technology can provide an effective way to measure, sustain and scale the results of this strategic process. The alliance leverages Moai’s online negotiation solutions and Accenture ’s premier Supply Chain experience to address a rapidly growing interest in strategic sourcing on the part of large organizations. Jointly, Moai and Accenture have already been able to lower costs for customers by providing tighter integration across supplier relationships, and greater flexibility in negotiating terms.
In addition to embedding Moai’s strategic sourcing solutions in the Accenture Auction Services offerings, the two companies plan to collaborate on future strategic sourcing solutions.
"Our clients are demanding highly flexible, scaleable, end-to-end strategic sourcing solutions, and by hosting Moai’s technology we can offer a solution that provides companies with the opportunity to reduce sourcing costs and streamline processes," said Jim Dailey, partner, Accenture . "Our relationship with Moai further reinforces our intention to lead the way in delivering the most innovative e-procurement solutions to our clients globally."
"We are seeing leading companies make significant investments in strategic sourcing initiatives," said Matt Miller, president and COO of Moai Technologies. "By combining Moai’s powerful online negotiation software with Accenture ’s extensive experience in strategic sourcing, organizations can quickly get both the latest best practices and a software solution that are designed to deliver bottom line savings."
Accenture and Moai have already been working with a number of clients across both industries and geographies, including Eastman Chemical and Nutrabid. "The power behind the combined resources of Accenture and Moai Technologies to provide us with a powerful, highly flexible, and comprehensive negotiated eCommerce and eProcurement capability will enable NutraBid to more effectively source direct materials for our customers and deliver significant savings," stated Jagadish Turimella, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of NutraBid.
"Moai offers a powerful and comprehensive negotiated e- commerce solution that truly delivers the capabilities that our customers were looking for online. With assistance from Accenture , we evaluated a number of top vendors and products," said Dave Holden, manager of Eastman’s e-commerce applications and services. "We selected Moai’s LiveExchange for its scalability, ease of customization, and robust e- commerce functionality. LiveExchange enables us to offer dedicated solutions and a host of sophisticated features that address the needs of our customers in the chemical industry."
About Moai Technologies
Moai is an e-commerce infrastructure provider, offering online negotiation solutions that can lower costs and raise profit margins. By automating contract negotiations and bringing traditional bidding to the Web, Moai’s LiveExchange™ solutions deliver global reach and increased supplier competition to corporations and net market makers. Many Moai customers have realized savings of 25 percent or more on purchases of materials and services and up to 70 percent in administrative overhead by leveraging LiveExchange for strategic sourcing. Moai has become a leader in the e-commerce market with more than 140 customers worldwide. Moai investors include market leaders such as Accenture , BroadVision, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Merrill Lynch, Reuters, and UPS.
Founded in 1996, Moai Technologies, Inc., is headquartered at 25 Lusk Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, telephone: 415-625-0601; FAX: 415-625-1200; www.moai.com.
About Accenture Technology Ventures
Accenture Technology Ventures, the venture capital unit of Accenture , works with entrepreneurs to build companies that transform industries and generate superior economic returns. The unit provides a unique venture capital option that can help start-ups accelerate growth and market penetration. Based in Palo Alto, California, AC Ventures expects to invest up to $1.5 billion globally over the next five years.
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Susan Ghest
415-625-2006
Jill E. Posnick
+1 (917) 452 4947