ICG Commerce Helps Novartis Save Through One of the Largest Online Auctions of PC Equipment Ever

Sourcing & Category Expertise, Service-Plus-Price Approach Yield 17% Savings on Purchase of 49,000 New Computers

PHILADELPHIA - Monday, March 25, 2002 - ICG Commerce, a leading Procurement Services Provider, announced today 
that it has facilitated one of the largest online auctions of PC equipment ever on behalf of Novartis International AG 
(NYSE: NVS). Leveraging ICG Commerce's Enabled Sourcing solution, the global healthcare leader was able to save 17% on 
the purchase of 49,000 new computers. 

The project, which stretched across ten countries and was completed over four weeks, represents Novartis' first foray 
into sourcing PCs through an online auction. 

"When looking at the highly competitive PC market, we saw an opportunity to generate significant savings for Novartis 
by using the Internet to evaluate suppliers and negotiate a favorable contract," said David Clary, president of Delivery 
for ICG Commerce. "But we recognized that the success of this project - particularly one of such size and scope - 
would be dependent upon much more than just the use of auction technology. 

"We brought decades of category experience to the table that enabled Novartis to quickly develop a sound, global 
sourcing strategy," Clary continued. "Our team helped Novartis negotiate the best possible deal by taking a total cost 
approach that factored both price and service into the selection process. While the bottom-line results speak for 
themselves, Novartis executives were pleased with the savings that far exceeded their objectives." 

One of the major issues Novartis grappled with was gathering the necessary data from suppliers to ensure that they 
were bidding against the same specifications and requirements. This challenge was exacerbated not only by the global 
nature of the project and tight time constraints but also the high level of importance Novartis placed on service.

ICG Commerce and Novartis identified and evaluated a number of suppliers through a rigorous strategic sourcing 
process and then utilized ICG Commerce's online reverse auction tool to facilitate final price negotiations. The 
comprehensive approach took into account the suppliers' ability to coordinate efforts across multiple divisions around 
the world and serve as a true global distributor. Novartis' service requirements also included disposing of all the old 
PCs as well as tracking and registering the new equipment and loading basic software onto each PC. 

"For an auction to be effective, a company must be able to compare suppliers on a like-for-like basis," said Clary. 
"That's part of the fundamental value of strategic sourcing to the overall project. "The greater number of service 
requirements, the more challenging that becomes, of course," Clary continued. "Through our deep domain knowledge 
and category experience in IT, we were able to establish immediate credibility with the suppliers, which translated into 
a very smooth sourcing process and successful results for Novartis." 

About ICG Commerce, Inc. 
ICG Commerce (www.icgcommerce.com) is the leading procurement services provider for Global 2000 companies. 
Leveraging its wealth of purchasing and strategic sourcing expertise and flexible technology, ICG Commerce delivers 
comprehensive, tailored services for the procurement of indirect and direct goods and services. The company is 
uniquely positioned to deliver substantial hard-dollar procurement savings. ICG Commerce, Inc. is a privately held 
company founded in 1992, is a member of Internet Capital Group's (Nasdaq: ICGE) network of partner companies.