ICG Commerce Reports Solid Growth for 2005 Driven by Several New and Extended Customer Relationships
Tuesday February 28, 8:00 am ET
Critical Mass of Comprehensive Procurement Outsourcing Engagements Fuels Recognition of Market Leadership by Multiple Industry Pundits
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- ICG Commerce, a leading procurement services provider, today announced key business results for 2005. The company reported double-digit growth in the United States, driven heavily by several new and extended procurement outsourcing relationships with leading corporations. Due to the number of multi-year customer relationships established in 2005, the value of ICG Commerce's contract backlog (the value of all remaining contracted revenue) grew in excess of 100% throughout the year.
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Among the new contracts signed in 2005 were four agreements for comprehensive procurement management or outsourcing services. In addition, extensions were signed with a number of existing customers such as Avaya, further cementing ICG Commerce's market share leadership in the procurement BPO arena. As a recent BPO Market Report article noted, "Research carried out by Everest Partners reveals that ICG [Commerce] has won 26% of the contracts signed in the procurement outsourcing space to date, more than any other vendor."
The Avaya/ICG Commerce relationship gained recognition from multiple sources in 2005 as a pioneering procurement outsourcing engagement. In addition to being named a finalist in the Outsourcing Center's Outsourcing Excellence Awards, the two companies were recognized by research services firm IDC as being among the first to reach the "second wave of comprehensive procurement BPO".
In its "Procurement BPO Competitive Landscape" report published in September of last year, IDC specifically highlighted ICG Commerce's numerous long-term outsourcing customers stating that: "ICG Commerce has been providing services to 20 of them for longer than three years ... [The procurement outsourcing services provider] has a core base of large customers with whom it has comprehensive, longer-term outsourcing relationships and a larger set of accounts that are smaller in scope for whom it manages a select number of categories."
ICG Commerce's leadership in procurement BPO also was reaffirmed in 2005 by Forbes magazine, which recognized the company for the fourth consecutive year in its ranking of business-to-business companies. ICG Commerce was the only procurement-focused outsourcing provider to be chosen in the BPO category.
This validation from major industry pundits points to ICG Commerce's comprehensive approach to procurement as the most effective model for driving bottom-line savings and process efficiencies. The ICG Commerce approach marries deep category expertise; process and operations specialists; and a flexible technology platform to build and execute programs that produce sustainable and measurable savings for customers year after year.
Continuing to innovate and grow its value to customers, ICG Commerce expanded its service offering in several areas over the past year. Key changes included further broadening of sourcing capabilities in several service-related categories such as Marketing, Travel, and Human Resources. ICG Commerce also enhanced its technology offering, adding multi-national transaction capabilities. Building on the company's strong track record of sourcing success in the area of Transportation & Logistics, the company added Buying Center and Category Management services and is now providing comprehensive Logistics Management Outsourcing services to several leading companies.
"As evidenced by our continuing momentum in both new customer acquisition and existing customer extension, major corporations have discovered the substantial impact that partnering with a focused Procurement Services Provider can have on the bottom-line," said Edward H. West, chairman and CEO of ICG Commerce. "With a strong, long-term track record of results and a mature set of services that continues to evolve to meet new needs and opportunities, ICG Commerce is poised to continue to lead the fast-rising procurement BPO arena."
About ICG Commerce, Inc.
ICG Commerce ( icgcommerce.com ) is a leading Procurement Services Provider exclusively focused on helping companies buy more effectively and efficiently in order to reduce costs significantly and continuously. The company offers an unmatched combination of process and category expertise, market insights and benchmarks and a world-class operational Buying Center to deliver Sourcing and Procurement Outsourcing Services. ICG Commerce, Inc., a privately held company founded in 1992, is a member of Internet Capital Group's (Nasdaq: ICGE - News) network of partner companies. For four consecutive years, ICG Commerce has been as a Forbes Best of the Web: B2B honoree, and the company also has had multiple executives recognized in Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine's annual "Pros to Know" listing. |
