CascadeWorks and Business Engine to Offer Integrated Services E-Procurement and Services Relationship Management Solution.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2001

Optimizing Procurement and Management of the Services Supply Chain

for Project-based Organizations

CascadeWorks, a leading provider of solutions for the services e-procurement market, and Business Engine, a leading provider of project, resource and financial management solutions today announced an alliance to deliver an integrated offering for services procurement and vendor relationship management. The combination of CascadeWorks(TM) Clarity and the Business Engine Network (BEN) enables project-driven organizations to procure any type of service and then manage the delivery of those services on budget and on schedule through a single collaborative environment. Under the terms of the agreement, Business Engine and CascadeWorks will jointly sell and promote this solution set.

The Business Engine Network (BEN)

Business Engine has created the Business Network Engine (BEN) as the foundation for its software solution. The BEN is a 100% Web-based collaborative application for project, resource and budget management across the extended enterprise. The BEN allows companies to manage project portfolios, identify and mitigate risks early, leverage global resources, manage external relationships and enhance team collaboration.

"Our IT, R&D, and engineering customers see the need to manage the full lifecycle of engaging external service providers -- from procurement to delivery -- in order to avoid multi-million dollar blind spots in their services supply chain," said Mark Strauch, Vice President and General Manager, Business Engine. "By adding CascadeWorks Clarity to the Business Engine Network they will benefit on a per-project basis through lower procurement costs and increased process efficiencies."

CascadeWorks Clarity

CascadeWorks Clarity streamlines the complex process involved in procuring and managing the vendor community for all types of services. With CascadeWorks Clarity, businesses gain the ability to optimize services spend, reduce operating costs and improve the quality of services across multiple services categories. CascadeWorks Clarity integrates with leading ERP and product e-procurement solutions and is Ariba(R) Ready(TM) certified.

"The ability to bring together related business processes that have been isolated by legacy technology solutions is one of the most powerful aspects of the new collaborative services offered by companies such as CascadeWorks and Business Engine. Together, we will provide our customers with a best of breed solution that provides end-to-end visibility and control for their projects, budgets and outsourced resources resulting in significant productivity and cost savings," said Todd Greene, CTO of CascadeWorks. "The synergistic nature of our solutions and alignment of our target markets make this an ideal partnership."

About Business Engine

Since 1987, Business Engine has been delivering project, resource and financial management solutions to project-driven companies throughout North America and Europe. Global 2000 financial services, pharmaceutical, and other IT and R&D organizations are using Business Engine products, including The Business Engine Network(TM) or BEN, to operate 10-20% more efficiently by improving the effective management of their complex projects and initiatives, and the utilization of their internal and external resources.

Business Engine is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., and has offices throughout the United States, Belgium, England and India. Privately held, key investors in Business Engine include Broadview Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Oak Investment Partners, DB Capital Partners and NSE Ventures. For more information on Business Engine and the BEN, please call 800/235-4142 in the United States, 415/616-4000 outside the United States, or visit: www.businessengine.com.

About CascadeWorks

CascadeWorks enables F1000 companies to derive strategic business advantage from services e-procurement -- the Internet-based process for sourcing, purchasing, paying and managing services vendors. CascadeWorks Clarity, an integrated suite of applications based on a unified technology platform, delivers visibility, process improvement and program management that address the entire services procurement life cycle and management of the services vendor community.

In use at major corporations such as ABN AMRO North America, Autodesk and Charles Schwab, CascadeWorks Clarity helps businesses reduce operating costs, improve quality and optimize spend across all categories of services. The CascadeWorks Clarity Services E-Procurement Platform is based on leading technologies from companies such as BEA Systems (BEAS), Oracle (ORCL), Sun Microsystems (WSUN) and webMethods (WEBM). Based in San Francisco, CascadeWorks is a privately held company with venture capital from New Enterprise Associates (NEA). For more information, visit: www.cascadeworks.com.