A. T. Kearney Procurement Solutions Launches New Service Offering Enabling Companies to Fund Services Through Procurement Savings

“Accelerate Your Savings” Program Offers Guaranteed ROI of 300 Percent and Immediate Access to Full Range of Cost-Saving Technologies and Solutions

PLANO, Texas (December 16, 2002) A.T. Kearney today launched “Accelerate Your Savings” (AYS), an innovative service offering from A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions to deliver for companies guaranteed procurement savings of 300 percent or more with unprecedented speed.

Through this new program, A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions enables companies to fund eSourcing services through a portion of negotiated procurement savings, thereby reducing up-front risk and cost and locking in guaranteed return on investment.

“The Accelerate Your Savings program is an extremely attractive vehicle for companies, especially those in the mid-tier markets, wishing to engage in strategic sourcing but needing to establish agreed-upon savings before dedicating financial resources,” said Michael Sorensen, A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions vice president of Global Sales and Marketing. “The service has been very popular to date, as it allows a strategic assessment of sourcing and cost savings opportunities within a framework that is suited for today's tight economic climate.”

How it Works
The AYS program offers access to highly leveraged contracts for commonly purchased goods and services through A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions' purchasing consortium, Leveraged Sourcing Networks (LSN). In addition, the program utilizes leading-edge web-based eSourcing technologies powered by eBreviate – A.T. Kearney's eSourcing unit – and immediately available category solutions to accelerate the strategic sourcing process in high priority categories.

The program is implemented in a three-phased approach, with each phase rolled out based on a predefined set of activities and commitment terms.

• Phase I is a free assessment period that drives immediate savings on commonly purchased goods and services by leveraging pre-negotiated frame agreements in a growing range of indirect expenditure categories. Results can be seen in as little as 10 days.
• Phase II accelerates savings further through the application of eSourcing tools and technologies such as online auctions and RFXs, category templates and other eSourcing services. With joint commitment by A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions and the client, significant savings can be negotiated in 10 to 20 days.
• Phase III uses a team-based sourcing strategy to obtain significant savings on more complex categories. The rigorous process applied in this phase results in a critical review of complex categories; an aggressive supplier relationship restructuring; improved demand management; and an overall procurement organization assessment. Typical results from this phase can be achieved in three to six months.

A.T. Kearney's recent benchmarking study “Assessment of Excellence in Procurement 2002” (AEP 2002) reveals that companies transforming their supply management practices via technology stand to realize savings significantly greater than their investments in the technology and associated implementation and change management.

“The development of the AYS program is an outgrowth of this research coupled with client demand,” Sorensen said. “The program represents the next generation in eSupply Management and is unique in its commitment to guarantee a dramatic return on investment of 300 percent to approved participants with no financial risk. A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions' ability to offer such a program reinforces its
commitment to delivering tangible results to its customers, as well as the proven value of its technologies and solutions.”

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 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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