Another piece of news about one of our favorite stocks. CNQR.
Russ
Monday November 22, 10:10 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Plumtree Software
Plumtree Software Forms Alliance with Concur Technologies To Embed Key Business Processes in Corporate Portal
Forrester Analyst's Cry for 'Populist Apps' Integration in Portal Heeded Plumtree Partners with Solutions-Provider EnterCon to Develop Eight New Gadgets
Users Can Now Manage Expense Reports Via the Plumtree Portal Plumtree Schedules On-Line Demonstration Seminar for December 15, 1999
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporate portal market-leader Plumtree Software and Concur Technologies (Nasdaq: CNQR - news), a leading provider of workplace eCommerce solutions, today formed an alliance to promote the immediate release of eight Plumtree Portal Gadgets(TM) for processing expense reports. From the same portal page that displays sales figures, competitive news, and recent e-mail messages, Plumtree Corporate Portal users can now access Concur Expense(TM), the travel and entertainment expense reporting solution within the Concur eWorkplace(TM) suite of applications. The expense reporting gadgets were developed by Dallas-based portal solutions provider EnterCon International, and are available for preview from Plumtree's Gadget Factory, at gadgets.plumtree.com. To demonstrate the new capabilities, Plumtree and EnterCon are hosting an on-line seminar on December 15, which interested parties can register for by visiting plumtree.com.
The Plumtree Corporate Portal is a Web portal like My Yahoo!, but with links to documents as well as Web pages, and with embedded application components in addition to Internet services like sports scoreboards and stock portfolios. Plumtree Portal Gadgets are the Web building blocks that each corporate portal user assembles to create a personalized portal page. The eight gadgets developed for Concur Expense connect to Plumtree customer's existing Concur eWorkplace system, providing status approval and summary information to Plumtree Corporate Portal users. To date, Plumtree Software and its partners have developed more than a hundred gadgets for CRM, ERP, document management, and business intelligence applications as well as many Internet services.
EnterCon International, Inc., a portal solutions integrator already deploying the Plumtree Corporate Portal as a channel partner, developed the new gadgets using Plumtree's Gadget Developers' Kit. EnterCon is a Concur premier implementation partner and has participated in over twenty Concur projects, including implementations for several of Concur's largest customers. Plumtree announced the EnterCon-Plumtree partnership in a separate press release today.
The framework used by EnterCon to develop the gadgets was designed to incorporate upcoming Concur eWorkplace solutions for corporate procurement and human resources self-service. Embedding these services in the portal alongside content and applications from functional departments such as sales and marketing integrates core business processes in the daily experience of a broad audience, increasing portal customers' operational efficiency.
Industry analysts favor this business process-driven approach for building a portal. As Forrester Research analyst Joshua Walker recently observed in a September 1999 report on corporate portals, integrating ''populist applications'' such as expense reporting, procurement and benefits administration in the corporate portal drives portal traffic across the enterprise, reinforcing the portal's status as the Web starting point for other activities.
''The integration of Concur eWorkplace components into the Plumtree Portal is the first example of a larger trend, in which separate applications available on the Web can now be integrated into an holistic business experience,'' said EnterCon President Michael Sullivan. ''This is a major milestone for companies developing Internet strategies, as it brings a whole new class of operations applications to the portal.''
''Being able to approve expense reports, order office supplies, or request a vacation from the same page that you use for the rest of your job means the corporate portal becomes the way things get done,'' said Plumtree CEO John Kunze. ''What's really great about all of this is that we developed these new capabilities through our extended community of gadget developers.''
''Concur offers companies leading workplace e-commerce solutions for automating costly and inefficient business processes across the enterprise for rapid ROI and bottom-line savings,'' said Concur CEO Steve Singh. ''Users of Plumtree's Corporate Portal will thus realize significant cost-savings and productivity gains with Concur eWorkplace. For Concur, this alliance with Plumtree, in addition to the success we have achieved with EnterCon, further expands our reach into the corporate market.''
About EnterCon International
EnterCon International is a leading portal solutions integrator, based in Dallas, Texas. EnterCon works with forward-thinking organizations to unite their employees, partners, and customers by leveraging Internet technologies. EnterCon's clients include CIGNA, Dell Computer, Entergy, Pennzoil, and The Arizona Republic. EnterCon is a member of Concur's Global Alliance Network and Plumtree's Partner Program.
About Concur Technologies
Concur Technologies, Inc.(TM) (www.concur.com) is a leading provider of workplace eCommerce solutions that automate costly and inefficient business processes among employees, partners, suppliers, and service providers. Its flagship products, Concur eWorkplace and Concur eWorkplace.com(TM) (www.concureworkplace.com), integrate Concur's suite of workplace eCommerce solutions -- business-to-business eCommerce, human resources self-service, travel and entertainment expense management, and travel booking -- through a common business portal. Both products enable users to access critical information and services thus reducing operating costs, increasing productivity, and improving supplier management. Concur has licensed its solutions to more than 275 companies worldwide, representing over 2.1 million employees. Customers include AT&T, Baxter International, DaimlerChrysler, Exxon, and Pfizer. Concur's Global Alliance Network is comprised of over 50 world-class organizations including ADP, American Express, Exodus, and Microsoft.
About Plumtree Software
San Francisco-based Plumtree Software, the founder and leader of the corporate portal market, shipped the world's first corporate portal system in March 1998. Started in 1996 to develop a ''Yahoo! for corporate content,'' Plumtree is the originator of the term corporate portal. In February 1999, Plumtree was the first corporate portal vendor to develop an Active Portal(TM) architecture for embedding components of corporate applications and Internet services in the portal as modular portal building blocks called Plumtree Portal Gadgets. Plumtree's gadget partners include Documentum, IBM, Onyx Software, Concur Technologies (Nasdaq: CNQR - news) and Microstrategy.
Described by the Patricia Seybold Group as the ''corporate portal vendor to beat,'' Plumtree has been financed by Sequoia Capital, H&Q Venture Associates, and Intel. Plumtree's flagship Plumtree Corporate Portal, winner of the Crossroads A-List Award for Information and Application Portals and the only portal product to receive an ''A'' for Capability from PC Week Labs, is the world's most comprehensive portal to corporate information and applications. Plumtree's customers include Motorola, Cambridge Technology Partners, Chevron, AT&T Solutions, Texas Instruments, U.S. Department of Energy, and Compaq Computer. To learn more about Plumtree, visit the company's Web site at plumtree.com, or write information@plumtree.com.
Plumtree Portal Gadgets and Active Portal are registered trademarks of Plumtree Software, Inc. Yahoo! is a registered trademark of Yahoo!, Inc.
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