|
O2-e Limited, National Australia Bank's new economy business incubation and acceleration subsidiary, announced today the launch of a new business Kiboodle Limited. Kiboodle in conjunction with Concert, the AT&T and BT global communications venture, will progressively introduce a range of business services to small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) through a series of strategic alliances with corporate channel partners; the first being National Australia Bank. The first such service, available in Australia from today, is a hosted solution for purchasing business supplies and services. The offer, which is 'free to buyers', combines the prospect of cost savings with ease of access to electronic commerce processes. Initially the procurement solution will focus on items such as stationery, technology supplies and office equipment. Non-catalogue purchasing and a range of value-added services such as trusted digital payment solutions will be progressively added to Kiboodle's offering. E-procurement applications are expected to directly reduce business operating costs associated with the buying of goods and services by as much as 20 per cent (Forrester Research - January 2000). Companies are able to streamline the procurement process associated with buying maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services as well as direct goods. Kiboodle provides businesses with a simple and convenient way of accessing such an application. Kiboodle's primary business partners are National Australia Bank and Concert. The latter has contracted with Kiboodle over an initial four-year period as the technology partner and to deliver services both to the National Australia Bank's 350,000 SME customer base as well as to other channel partners via an open procurement marketplace. Mr Ian McCallum for Concert said "Technology is having a dramatic impact across the financial services market and working together with Kiboodle and O2-e will allow us to meet the growing demands of this dynamic sector. As a very customer-centric organisation we are continuing to look for new ways where we can add value through creating new revenue streams and generating greater cost efficiencies for our customers." Kiboodle is further supported by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young which has provided development, implementation and distribution assistance. The platform for the Kiboodle web-based procurement system has been developed using Concert eCommerce Services, part of Concert's recently launched IP portfolio and utilising Commerce One software. Concert chose to work with Commerce One, as it is a recognised leader in e-commerce business solutions. This solution, delivered via a hosted environment, eliminates the need for Kiboodle customers to develop their own technology solutions. Kiboodle has developed and will continue to develop relationships with a number of other high quality business partners on both the supplier and buyer sides of procurement, examples include National 1 Limited, an office products supplier, and BCA IT Limited, an IT hardware supplier and system integrator. Mr David Rose, Executive Director of Kiboodle Limited said " The offering is a proven service which has already been trialled and tested and is being made available to channel partners in Australia from today". "Kiboodle will continue to introduce e-commerce solutions for SME and corporate customers and will leverage our relationships with organisations such as Concert and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. "The formation of Kiboodle illustrates the National's commitment to providing innovative solutions to business customers. It is the second major offering from O-2e, which launched its B2B platform through a partnership with Peakhour in September. "We will integrate the procurement application into the Peakhour platform, offering channel partners the ability to manage an integrated set of hosted business processes".
About O2-e
O2-e Limited was incorporated in June 2000 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Australia Bank Group (the National). Through O2-e Limited the National will build new and separate businesses, and business-building capabilities, that will create shareholder value and enhance the group's strategic position. O2-e Limited will also facilitate the National Australia Bank Group's participation in the Internet driven revolution, and develop a core portfolio of rapid growth businesses delivering significant core earnings growth in the future. The National will realise this goal by creating new products and entering new markets by pursuing emerging "discontinuous" business opportunities, with the aim of acquiring new customers. O2-e Limited targets business investment opportunities within a defined strategic context, and within selected business arenas, rather than on a purely opportunistic basis. O2-e Limited invests in product innovation, infrastructure and back office applications, to consolidate the "infotailer" and "customer relationship" businesses. These businesses are the primary focus of O2-e Limited, connecting customers with value-adding information and suppliers of appropriate products and services. For further information, please contact: Julie McBeth
Group Manager
Business Media Relations
Tel: (03) 8641 3500
About Concert
Concert, the US$7 billion global venture of AT&T and BT, serves the global communications needs of business customers worldwide. It is the industry's pre-eminent "carriers' carrier," providing wholesale transborder services to fixed and wireless carriers, including AT&T and BT, as well as Internet Service Providers worldwide. In addition, Concert offers a comprehensive portfolio of voice, data and Internet services to customers through a direct sales force serving 270 multinational customers (MNCs). Through its network of 50-plus distributors, it also serves an additional targeted base of 29,000 customers worldwide. Concert's frame relay network serves every major city in the United States and the United Kingdom, and extends to over 200 cities in 60 countries. Its global public network directly reaches 237 countries, and its high-speed IP backbone network spans 21 cities in 17 countries.
Concert in Asia Pacific
With a presence in 14 markets throughout Asia-Pacific and unparalleled global reach, Concert is well-positioned to meet the growing demand of its corporate and wholesale customers for industry leading voice, data and Internet products and services. Equipped with the largest end-to-end global IP backbone network, in Asia-Pacific Concert is the largest provider of IP-backbone services. Placing the needs of its customers as the highest priority, Concert operates a 24x365, multi-lingual customer support centre in Sydney where it also operates its state-of-the-art Network Operations Centre. Concert has investments in 115 undersea cables totaling more than 240,000 miles (383,000 kilometres) globally. In Asia-Pacific, cable investments include: APCN, APCN-II, Australia/Japan, China/US, Japan/US, SEA-ME-WE3, SMW III and TPC 5. Adding to the strength of Concert's worldwide network of over 50 distributors, in Asia-Pacific Concert has announced agreements with StarHub in Singapore, Japan Telecom, Telecom New Zealand, Maxis in Malaysia, Taiwan's Chung Hwa Telecom and Korea Telecom.
About National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank Limited is an international financial services group providing a comprehensive and integrated range of financial products and services across four continents and 15 countries. Globally, as at September 30, 2000, the National had: - Total balance sheet assets of A$344 billion
- Over A$60 billion in assets under management and administration
- A$285 billion in assets under custody and administration
- A mortgage servicing portfolio in excess of A$350 billion
- More than 12 million customers
The National is the largest financial services institution listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and was the 22nd largest financial services company in the world by profitability and 34th by revenues, (Fortune 500, July 2000). For further information, please contact: Julie McBeth
Group Manager
Business Media Relations
Tel: (03) 8641 3500
About Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young is one of the largest management and IT consulting firms in the world. The company offers management and IT consulting services, systems integration, and technology development, design and outsourcing capabilities on a global scale to help traditional businesses and "dot companies" continue to implement growth strategies and leverage technology in the new economy. The organisation employs more than 58,000 people worldwide and reports global revenues of about 7.7 billion euros (1999 pro forma).
|
