A.T. Kearney Wins Perpetual License Agreement From Volkswagen for Use of eSourcing Tool

Automotive OEM Commits to Permanent License for eSourcing Solution Behind Firewall for First Time Ever; Builds Upon $60 Billion in Spend

CHICAGO, May 4 -- A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions, the eSourcing technologies and services unit of A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, today announced that Volkswagen signed a perpetual license agreement for A.T. Kearney's leading eBreviate eSourcing auction tool, fully integrated into VW's back-end systems. The agreement ensures that Volkswagen will be able to continue to take advantage of procurement savings and efficiencies from A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions' eSourcing Solution for the long term.

"Volkswagen's commitment exemplifies A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions' leadership and expertise in serving the eSourcing and integration needs of major corporations," said Joe Raudabaugh, head of A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions. "It extends the strong momentum that A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions and its leading line of eBreviate eSourcing solutions has experienced in recent months."

The long-term agreement marks the first time that an automotive OEM has secured a permanent license for an online negotiation tool behind a firewall. "The licensing agreement with A.T. Kearney is another step in our continued strategy of eSourcing excellence using best-of-breed tools," said Frank Burnautzki, head of eSourcing at Volkswagen. "We have been using the eBreviate technology now for over three years and have experienced significant results year over year. The decision to purchase a perpetual license was the logical next step. Doing so reaffirms our belief that we can achieve maximum results through A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions technology."

"The integration of the negotiation tool into the proprietary back-end systems of Volkswagen, enables automatic event setup and corporate-wide data homogeneity, resulting in a significant reduction in preparation time from many hours to just a few minutes," adds Frank Thewihsen, Director of A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions, GmbH.

Since Volkswagen began using the eBreviate Auction technology from A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions in 2000, the company has transacted over $60 billion in spend through the tool through more than 4,000 individual auctions.

A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions delivers immediate savings with unprecedented speed to nearly 230 customers through immediate access to a full range of technologies and services. A.T. Kearney offers a variety of industry-leading sourcing solutions, including eBreviate Auctions, eBreviate RFP / Sourcing Surveys, Supply Market Solutions, Academy of Excellence, Leveraged Sourcing Networks, and Product Lifecycle Sourcing.

About A.T. Kearney

A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions (www.atkearneyprocurementsolutions.com ) provides comprehensive strategic procurement services to clients with needs that range from tactical cost savings to outsourced strategic sourcing services to complete procurement transformation. A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions augments the strategic sourcing expertise of A.T. Kearney (www.atkearney.com ), one of the world's largest and fastest-growing management consulting firms. With a global presence that includes more than 60 offices in 37 countries, spanning major and emerging markets, A.T. Kearney provides strategic, operational, organizational and technology consulting and executive search services to the world's leading companies. A.T. Kearney is the high-value management consulting subsidiary of global services leader EDS .