Staples Chooses A.T. Kearney For High-Velocity Sourcing, Utilizing eBreviate Technology and Services

Combines Technology and Sourcing Expertise To Reduce Costs

PLANO, Texas (August 8, 2002) A.T. Kearney, the global management consulting subsidiary of EDS, today announced a contract with Staples Inc., the $11 billion pioneer of the office supplies superstore industry, to provide strategic supply management consulting and services, including the use of A.T.
Kearney's eBreviate eSourcing technology.

The contract provides Staples access to A.T. Kearney's category experience and to the eBreviate suite of eSourcing products, which enable companies to reduce the time, costs and inefficiencies of the sourcing and supplier management process. A.T. Kearney is the market leader in sourcing and supply management. Its eBreviate technology provides a broad sourcing product suite, including supplier auction capabilities.

"We have used eBreviate supplier auctions and electronic survey tools to accelerate supplier communications and negotiation, reducing our costs and hassle," said Jack Newman, vice president of strategic sourcing at Staples. "Working with A.T. Kearney and eBreviate will allow Staples to drive supply chain efficiencies while meeting our company-wide cost-savings goals."

Staples selected A.T. Kearney after a three-month pilot using the eBreviate technology to negotiate purchases in categories as diverse as printed catalogs and wire kits. Through the eSourcing process, Staples identified savings in half the time that normally would have been required. Ultimately, Staples
expects that eBreviate technology will be used daily by the company's purchasing professionals.

"A.T. Kearney's ability to deliver unmatched strategic sourcing capabilities and category expertise and best-in-breed eSourcing technology sets us apart in the marketplace," said Tom Slaight, founder of eBreviate and an A.T. Kearney vice president. "Our powerful portfolio of procurement technologies, staffed by dedicated category and technology specialists working side by side with our consulting team, enables us to deliver more value, more quickly to clients like Staples."

About Staples
Staples is an $11 billion retailer of office supplies, business services, furniture and technology to consumers and businesses from home-based businesses to Fortune 500 companies in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. Headquartered outside
of Boston, Staples invented the office superstore concept and today is the largest operator of office superstores in the world. The company has approximately 53,000 associates serving customers through more than 1,400 office superstores, mail order catalogs, e-commerce and a contract business. More information about the company is available at www.staples.com.

About A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney (www.atkearney.com) is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing management consulting firms. With a global presence that includes more than 60 offices in 37 countries, spanning major and emerging markets, A.T. Kearney provides strategic, operational, organizational and technology consulting and executive search services to the world's leading companies. A.T. Kearney is the high-value management consulting subsidiary of global services leader EDS.

A.T. Kearney is a market leader in strategic sourcing and procurement consulting, having helped clients save more than $12 billion annually since 1995 on more than $100 billion in annual purchases across 3,000 purchased categories. A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions augments A.T. Kearney's strategic procurement consulting by providing technology-driven services that enable companies to remove time, cost and inefficiency from the procurement cycle. An integral part of A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions is eBreviate (www.ebreviate.com), a leading provider of eSourcing technology and services. eBreviate combines leading-edge technology with market-driven content and in-field services to deliver the best integrated and automated eSourcing solutions to global businesses, governments and net markets.

About EDS
EDS, the leading global services company, provides strategy, implementation, business transformation and operational solutions for clients managing the business and technology complexities of the digital economy. EDS brings together the world's best technologies to address critical client business
imperatives. It helps clients eliminate boundaries, collaborate in new ways, establish their customers' trust and continuously seek improvement. EDS, with its management consulting subsidiary, A.T. Kearney, serves the world's leading companies and governments in 60 countries. EDS reported revenues of $21.5 billion in 2001. The company's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EDS) and the London Stock Exchange. Learn more at www.eds.com.

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