ePartners Announces Solution Stack Strategy

Leading Microsoft Business Solutions Consultancy Delivers Unprecedented Solutions for Healthcare, Government and Manufacturing Organizations.

SEATTLE, WA — ePartners (www.epartnersolutions.com), a leading Microsoft based technology consultancy with 23 offices in North America and Europe, announces today a major shift in strategy with the release of the ePartners Solution Series, a suite of software and services that cater specifically to select micro-verticals in the healthcare, government and manufacturing sectors. These solutions, created for the Microsoft platform, focus on industry-specific business issues and processes not previously addressed by other solution providers.

Over the last 15 years, ePartners has deployed financial and sales solutions to thousands of mid-sized companies spanning more than 45 industries. These companies depend on ePartners’ 400-person consulting organization for help aligning business and IT strategies, improving business processes and deploying and supporting solutions that accelerate business results. By developing and aligning industry solutions with specific market segments, ePartners greatly enhances the range and depth of services they can provide, while improving their client’s experience and reducing their total cost of ownership.

The technology that comprises the ePartners Solution Series is the result of extensive development to the full suite of Microsoft Business Solutions (Dynamics) as well as custom .Net vertical applications and SharePoint portal technologies. ePartners clients receive a cohesive solution that includes everything from exhaustive ERP and customer relationship management to Business Intelligence solutions with real-time key performance indicators (KPIs) for executive and middle management.

“The ePartners Solution Series leverages years of business experience in specific markets to deliver our clients solutions that have an immediate positive impact on their operations,” says Howard Diamond, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ePartners. “These solutions ultimately present us the opportunity to become the strategic long-term business partner our clients are looking for.”

The strategy will facilitate ePartners growing its consulting and development staff by more than 50 subject matter experts over the next 2 quarters with most coming directly from the industries they’re targeting. ePartners is projecting that by 2007, over 80% of new customer adds will be comprised of these micro-verticals.

Preparation for the shift in strategy has included a significant investment in market analysis and testing as well as a complete reorganization of the ePartners sales and consulting teams. Initially, ePartners will roll out Microsoft-based solution sets for the following micro-verticals:

- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Discrete, High Tech Manufacturers and their supply chains
- Construction Firms
- Professional Sports Organizations
- Healthcare Providers
- Media and Entertainment
- State and Local Government (including Public Housing Authority Management)

“The combination of ePartners and Microsoft brings unprecedented resources to our targeted vertical markets,” says Bruce Steele, Executive Vice President of Strategy at ePartners. “These solutions allow businesses and organizations to leverage the Microsoft platform with confidence. We’ve staffed our vertical practices with leading subject matter experts that bring a level of vertical solution expertise that previously didn’t exist in this space, when combined with our technology knowledge, creates a strong consulting team that helps clients achieved improved adoption, process efficiency and return on their technology investment.”

“This new strategy of ePartners’ aligns very well with the Microsoft vision of delivering industry specific technology to the marketplace,” says Glenn Bray, senior director of industry strategies, Microsoft Business Solutions. “To compete effectively today, companies need affordable solutions that are tailored to their industry. There is tremendous opportunity for partners to build vertical solutions on top of Microsoft Dynamics.”