Leading Research Firm gives AVOLENT's BizCast Highest Ranking for B2B Electronic Invoicing Technology
AVOLENT cited as delivering a "Robust Financial Management Solution" by Celent Communications
SAN FRANCISCO — June 23, 2004 — AVOLENT Inc., the leading provider of Financial Relationship Management (FRM) software, today announced that their BizCast software received the top score among seller-driven B2B Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) solutions in a recent report by Celent Communications. The report, Scaling the e-Financial Supply Chain Mountain, was authored by Alenka Grealish, manager of the banking group at Celent Communications, a premiere research and consulting firm focused on the application of information technology within the global financial services industry.
In this report, Celent examines e-financial supply chain solutions and the evolution of the industry. Celent indicates that demand for e-financial supply chain solutions is accelerating and predicts that adoption by Fortune 1000 companies will grow from 34% in 2004 to 58% by 2008. According to the report, several critical factors will propel adoption--continued enhancements that improve the value proposition, financial pressure on companies to become more efficient, and regulations demanding financial transaction transparency and integrity.
Consequently, the report cited AVOLENT as standing out amongst competitors such as eDocs, BCE Emergis, SAP, Velosant, and ERP-based solutions from Oracle and SAP for two primary reasons. First, its' BizCast solution leads the competition as a "feature-rich" packaged solution, which enables companies to implement a variety of sophisticated features without extensive customization or significant adaptations to existing back-end legacy systems. Second, that BizCast is built on open systems and standards, which enables seamless integration within the seller's organization as well as with the buyer's. Most noticeably, the Celent report identified the following BizCast features as "meriting emphasis"— invoice consolidation, dispute-related delay mitigation, root cause analysis, and business intelligence. BizCast was the only solution to receive a perfect score based on functionality, scalability, and integration.
Buyer and Seller based solutions: peaceful co-existence
When the category of electronic invoicing was first introduced, there was some discussion on whether buyer (account payable) or a seller (account receivable) model would be the best choice for companies. According to the report, the battlefield has not emerged, since companies clearly understand the different values of both solutions. In fact, the report discusses the co-existence of these solutions working together and cites that "AVOLENT is in the vanguard amongst its direct competitors in building an electronic bridge to the buyer's side". The report describes the value that Payables executives see in BizCast from buyers receiving invoices directly into their A/P systems including consolidated invoices, buyer defined workflow, invoice analysis and the elimination of the need to re-format transaction documents.
AVOLENT's BizCast software continues to build optimal functionality beyond Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) products, enabling leading companies in industries such as healthcare, insurance, retail, and leasing to automate all customer financial interactions. BizCast has enhanced the reporting engine to improve customer access to decision-making information to support not only managers focused solely on the financial transaction, but also information managers who need a complete picture of the customer. BizCast also provides secure, real-time report collaboration and a simplified presentation view for executive users. This allows senior managers to easily distribute reports and have a collaborative, virtual discussion, with each participant's modifications reflected in the shared document in real-time. These capabilities are completely web-based, operate in a simple point-and-click environment and are available to any employee with a web-browser.
"The Celent report cites the rise in customer adoption and in the results which companies are achieving, which is a testament to the importance of this category", stated Doug Roberts, CEO of AVOLENT. "We are honored by Celent's recognition of BizCast and validation of AVOLENT's vision of providing payables integration and cash flow management capabilities."
To read the full report, click:
http://www.celent.com/PressReleases/20040510/e-FSC.htm
About AVOLENT
AVOLENT, the leading provider of enterprise application software for eBilling and Cash Flow Optimization, delivers F2000 companies unprecedented insight and control over their inbound cash flow. AVOLENT's award winning BizCast software streamlines all processes in the invoice-to-cash cycle through real-time electronic invoicing and payment, customer self-service, cash management and forecasting. With BizCast, Finance professionals gain insight into cash flow across the enterprise, and can control cash flow through a unique patent-pending ability to dynamically adjust trade terms to meet corporate financial goals. Founded in 1995, AVOLENT's customers and partners include some of the largest companies in the world, including Office Depot, Highmark, Do It Best, and more. For more information call (800) 553-5505 or visit www.avolent.com.
Press Contact:
Sharon Kawaguchi
Director, Marketing Programs
AVOLENT
(415) 553-6903
skawaguchi@AVOLENT.com
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AVOLENT and BizCast are registered trademarks of AVOLENT. All other product and company names are the property of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.
