Changepoint Releases Version 6.0; First Vendor to Deliver Globalized PSA Solution With French and German Language Support.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2001

Other highlights include robust revenue recognition functionality,

greater flexibility in resource management and powerful business

analysis capabilities

Changepoint Corporation, a leading provider of Web-based business process automation solutions for IT services organizations, today announced the general availability of Changepoint Version 6.0 for IT professional services organizations (PSOs) and corporate IT departments.

"This major release delivers on the Company's commitment to the globalization of our PSA software and extends our lead in the market," said Paul Lupinacci, Vice President of Product Management, Changepoint Corporation.

Callisma, a new kind of network consulting company helping today's enterprises and service providers design and deploy networks that deliver demonstrable business value, today announced it plans to implement Changepoint Version 6.0.

"Callisma expects that Changepoint's 6.0 release will enhance many of the functions for which we chose Changepoint's software last year, as well as provide improvements that will help us run our business more effectively," said Jeff Johnson, Callisma's vice president, information technology. "Specifically, enhancements to the invoicing process will reduce the effort required to produce invoices. New features and further integration between various components within Changepoint should provide managers a better view of human resource scheduling and work loads, resulting in improved employee utilization."

Mark C. Smitt, Director of Consulting, Sysinct, a business unit of IKON Office Solutions Technology Services, LLC, said "Sysinct selected Changepoint over other PSA solutions because it addressed many facets of our business -- CRM, service delivery, knowledge management and customer care. We wanted a comprehensive platform that was highly flexible and that would grow with our organization. The new features in Changepoint's 6.0 release confirms our choice of Changepoint as a vital tool to run our business and we are excited about upgrading to it in the near future."

New in Version 6.0

- Globalization - Full support for English, French and German language versions


- New Financial Management functionality through Revenue Recognition
capabilities and Batch Invoicing

- Improved Resource utilization capabilities and flexibility to suit an
organization's Resource Management process

- Ad-hoc, powerful analytical tools for improved Business Intelligence

- Enhancements in Contractor Management

Globalization

"As the market for IT professional services automation continues to expand outside North America, we see the next big push in EMEA, especially in the United Kingdom, France and Germany," said Harvey Gordon, Vice President, Business Development & International, Changepoint Corporation. "We opened our EMEA offices to support these countries and with the release of Version 6.0, we are taking our commitment to the next level - ensuring that these markets have a fully integrated PSA solution that meets their language and cultural needs."

The software is already multi-currency and multi-tax enabled. Version 6.0 provides English, French and German language support based upon the user's browser language preference and adds daily automatic exchange rate updates. Screen labels, standard reports, and help messages within Changepoint have been translated and are easily configurable to provide customers the flexibility to suit their business.

"Globalization of the product was a major development initiative, and the result is that Changepoint is now in a position to translate its software into any single byte language to support customer demand and entry into new markets," added Paul Lupinacci.

Financial Management

Revenue Recognition. "It is critical for IT PSOs to calculate their revenue quickly and with confidence that the numbers will be defendable," explained Paul Lupinacci. "This is often a labor-intensive process."

Changepoint Version 6.0 provides comprehensive Revenue Recognition capabilities that support the stringent rules for how and when companies can recognize revenue. IT PSOs can recognize revenue based on time, expense, product and fixed fee deliverables and have the ability to complete the entire revenue recognition and reconciliation process from within the Changepoint system quickly and efficiently.

Batch Invoicing. Changepoint currently provides sophisticated invoice generation capabilities that support external billing (for IT PSOs) and cross charging (Corporate IT organizations). Version 6.0 provides IT services organizations with greater flexibility when generating invoices. Organizations have the option to run multiple invoices by location, office, or individual projects more quickly, reducing billing cycles and administrative overhead.

Resource Management

Finding and keeping the right people is a big challenge for both IT PSOs and corporate IT departments in today's tight labor market. Management of those skilled resources is equally imperative to achieve client satisfaction and continued growth. Enhancements to Resource Management features in Version 6.0 focus on ensuring improved resource utilization, revenue and profitability. This version provides greater flexibility to suit an organization's Resource Management process.

Highlights include:

- Support for both centralized and decentralized resource

searching and booking across the system

- Tighter integration between project work assignments and

resource schedules, which enables better resource forecasting,

improved capacity planning and scheduling

- Comprehensive resource search functionality that gives

Resource Managers the ability to manipulate weighting and

multiple search criteria such as availability or skills, as

well as the flexibility to search on multiple criteria in

order to find and deploy the most appropriate candidate for

the job quickly, thereby reducing bench time

- Prevent and quickly identify resource overload situations with

the new "Conflict Checking" feature

- Complete flexibility to define utilization

Business Intelligence

"PSA software has gained a lot of traction in the last year and it is becoming quite clear that business intelligence and reporting is critical for professional services organizations," said Ted Kempf, Principal Analyst, Emerging Professional Services Providers-Worldwide. "As PSOs move away from the conceptual to the functional, managers need a window into their overall operations in order to make real-time business decisions."

Changepoint has comprehensive Business Intelligence capabilities, from role-based dashboards that provide managers at-a-glance views of their functional areas, to knowledge-based subscriptions and workflow notifications. Version 6.0 expands upon existing embedded OLAP capabilities providing decision-makers across the organization with 100% browser enabled role-based access to key business performance information such as gross margins, project WIP, and pipeline forecasts.

Contractor Management

Version 6.0 further enhances the ability for project managers to work with contractors and customers. Contractors can be included in project plans and integrated into the time, expense, and task progress tracking workflow. When contractors submit invoices, the automatic contractor invoice reconciliation feature in Version 6.0 enables organizations to automatically reconcile these invoices with previously submitted and approved time and expenses to avoid any discrepancies.

Version 6.0 also facilitates a three-way workflow where customers can track project status, review timesheets and approve invoices, enabling organizations to manage projects more efficiently and turn around invoices more quickly.

Other Enhancements

Project Management. Version 6.0 brings Changepoint's existing bi-directional interface to Microsoft Project version 2000. A bi-directional interface ensures project plans are always synchronized in both systems. Information flows seamlessly from Changepoint into MS Project, enabling project managers to proactively manage potential problems.

Outlook Integration

The second phase of Changepoint's Outlook integration strategy provides synchronization of data between the two products.

Web-Based Training

Changepoint is updating its Computer-Based Training system with features rich, interactive Web-Based Training modules to support rapid deployment, give new employees the flexibility to learn about Changepoint features and functionality and allow existing staff the ability to take full advantage of all the features in Changepoint at their convenience.

About Changepoint Corporation

Changepoint Corporation provides comprehensive Web-based business process automation solutions for corporate IT departments and IT professional services organizations to manage projects, people and budgets effectively. IT services organizations use Changepoint to automate their internal business processes, source and procure valued resources, manage contractors and collaborate with customers and partners. By integrating the critical processes of their services supply chain and all the people involved in delivery of IT services, these organizations can realize greater operational efficiencies and maximize cost-effectiveness.

Headquartered in Canada, Changepoint has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany. For additional information, visit our web site at www.changepoint.com.

NOTE TO MEDIA AND ANALYSTS: All Changepoint news releases are available on the Internet, via the Changepoint Corporation Web site at http://www.changepoint.com. Screenshots are also available on Changepoint's Web site. Additional information on Changepoint can be accessed on-line, and by sending email to [e-mail] or calling 1-905-886-7000.