For Immediate Release:
 

SpaceWorks Publishes “Top Ten Questions To Ask Of Your In-House e-Commerce System”

Helping Companies Resolve the Build vs. Buy Dilemma

Rockville, MD -- September 29, 1999 -- SpaceWorks, Inc.®, the experienced leader in business-to-business Web-based electronic commerce software, today announced that it has published the “Top Ten Questions to Ask of Your In-House E-Commerce System” – a document designed to help companies assess the performance, scalability, extensibility and long- term flexibility of their home-built EC systems.

As the paradigm of electronic commerce has evolved rapidly from mere electronic catalogs to the Web-based conversion of enterprise-scale marketing, selling and customer service – it is important that an EC solution can evolve to handle all of these functions across multiple business units and back-end systems. In response to the concerns of Global 2000 companies currently facing this dilemma, SpaceWorks published a list that walks a company through ten quick questions that help them decide whether its time to replace a home-grown system with a packaged solution. A packaged solution has the benefit of many man- hours and regular updates, and requires much less implementation time. It is built with the future in mind, unlike an in-house solution, which in most cases lacks the ability to meet a company’s changing needs.

In fact, according to the Gartner Group – a Stamford, Connecticut research firm – the significant cost and time required to build a system that would be able to provide the necessary functional requirements, and have the ability to sustain significant market growth, while supporting complex business processes online – makes it an undesirable project. What’s more, according to Gartner, even if a site is successfully built to meet these parameters, it will usually find itself out-of-date date in a matter of a few months. Gartner points out that an in-house build can cost upwards of $2 million initially, and take five months or more to complete. A packaged application can save a company more than half the time and money of a build, and ensures long-term functionality and flexibility.

The answers to the SpaceWorks “top ten” key questions often lead companies to realize that a home-grown EC solution derails a business from its core competency and that “getting up and running” is only the first step. What follows is the continual need for significant maintenance, enhancements and suppport – requirements that are the core competency of a leading business-to- business electronic commerce software company such as SpaceWorks.

“Electronic commerce systems have quickly become mission critical systems that require forward thinking technologies,” according to SpaceWorks President and CEO, Dave MacSwain. “We have built our company around the development of EC applications that meet this demand head-on. Our product has a combined total of 200 man-years of development and 4.1 releases. We respond to our clients’ needs before they even have to think twice about it – a challenge most home- grown systems simply can’t meet.”

Companies interested in obtaining a free copy of the Top Ten Questions can download a copy from SpaceWorks Web site at www.spaceworks.com or call the Company at 1-800-5–SPACE-5.

About SpaceWorks
SpaceWorks, Inc.® drives billions in B2B revenue today for Global 2000 manufacturers, distributors and supplier-driven marketplaces. SpaceWorks industrial-strength application, the Web BusinessManager Suite, automates all the mission-critical activities involved in B2B selling, including ordering, marketing, billing and more. The solution integrates with back-end systems, e-Marketplaces and customer procurement networks to enable real-time, revenue-generating transactions. SpaceWorks clients include Avaya, BF Goodrich, GE Aircraft Engines, and Maytag Corporation, among others. Alliance partners include PricewaterhouseCoopers, webMethods, Commerce One and more. Additional information is available at www.spaceworks.com.

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