Nextance Announces 3.0 Release of Enterprise Contract and Commitment Management Software.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 30, 2002

Nextance, a leading provider of enterprise software for enterprise contract management and related business processes, today announced the release of Nextance 3.0(TM), comprehensive suites

of enterprise applications for the management of contracts, commitments, and related business processes. Nextance 3.0 is already being used by hundreds of users at Global 2000 companies to gain control of their contracts, reduce contractual risk, and realize incremental revenue gains and cost reductions.

This latest release of the Nextance platform includes powerful features such as Enterprise Create, which allows users across an enterprise to collaborate, draft, edit, and approve contracts online and dynamically generate contracts and other documents based on templates, a clause library, and deal-specific terms. Nextance 3.0 also includes multi-language, currency and other capabilities for global customers using the solution in multiple countries. Nextance 3.0 functionality is available in software suites covering various business functions, including procurement, sales, intellectual property, and legal.

The customer momentum that Nextance is experiencing with version 3.0 comes in direct contrast to the stagnant growth of the enterprise software and IT markets in general as Fortune 1000 companies focus on cost reductions in lean economic times and digest the software they have purchased over the last five years. According to a recent report of CIO sentiment looking at the upcoming year conducted by Morgan Stanley, "2003 (IT) budgets are unlikely to increase from original levels even if the economy improves." (CIO Outlook 2003, Morgan Stanley, Dec. 9, 2002).

"Traditional enterprise software has in many cases taken longer to deploy, been more costly, and provided less functionality than the promises made by many vendors," said Kirk Krappe, President and CEO of Nextance. "And, until recently, there have not been enterprise-grade software vendors serving the contract management market -- that is why customers have largely built their own home-grown systems. Our traction in the market is a direct result of providing enterprise-class functionality that exactly maps to customer needs in a time frame and at a price point that drives a very high return on investment for customers."

Nextance 3.0 is built on the NeXML(TM) platform, featuring the pervasive use of XML throughout the software stack. The use of XML gives Nextance the ability to actively manage both content and data around any type of contract or related business process and provides extraordinary flexibility to configure to any term, content or business process. XML usage also greatly simplifies integration to other enterprise systems such as ERP, CRM, or e-Sourcing systems in order to link contract-centric data with data from transactions and other sources.

"Our NeXML(TM) platform allows us to provide a solution that is both very deep in functionality and that addresses the key types of contracts and contract-centric business processes across large companies and vertical industries," said Neehar Giri, Nextance co-founder and Vice President of Products. "Increasingly we are seeing customers asking for our help in automating end-to-end business processes that are contract-centric but go beyond contract management. Our platform allows us to easily meet these requirements."

About Nextance, Inc.

Nextance, Inc. is a leading enterprise software firm providing applications that assist corporations and public entities in better managing their contracts, commitments, and supporting business processes. Companies using Nextance software gain control over their contracts, rights, and obligations and realize increased revenues, reduced expenses, and reduced contractual risk. Nextance is privately held and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. Additional information about Nextance is available at http://www.nextance.com.

Note to Editors: Nextance(TM) and NeXML(TM) are trademarks of Nextance, Inc.