E-Commerce Up and Running in LA County

Wareforce One, Inc. (OTC BB:WFRC), a provider of computer equipment and services for government, higher education and business, says that Los Angeles County is now ready to buy its products online, using a new web-based procurement system.

The company reports that the new procurement solution was produced through a strategic alliance among Wareforce, Commerce One, and MCI/Worldcom (Nasdaq: WCOM). It enables county procurement officers to locate, purchase, track, receive and inventory computer purchases in real time, 24 hours a day.

In addition to providing access to Wareforce’s catalog of products, the new procurement system also allows county administrators to purchase general office supplies and equipment from other vendors.

Jan. 8 – Update: A spokesperson for Commerce One pointed out that the solution being used by L.A. County is actually Commerce One’s BuySite and MarketSite electronic procurement software. The spokesperson clarified that Wareforce One is a supplier that participates in a trading community, called MarketSite, created by Commerce One

Additional Background

Los Angeles County employs more than 80,000 workers and serves a population of 9 million. Utilizing e-commerce, the county expects to move up to 80 percent of its $650 million in annual purchasing to the Internet by mid-1999. Such a move would help reduce the county’s physical storage needs, saving more than $29 million over five years and generating $9.5 million from the sale of its warehouse property.

Online business-to-business sales are projected to total $15.6 billion in 1999, according to the Gartner Group, a computer-industry analyst firm. Wareforce is hoping to use the LA County model to capture a large share of this online market.

Wareforce One, with 1997 revenues of $79.6 million, is one of 27 Microsoft Large Account Resellers of Microsoft products. Based in El Segundo, California, the company provides sales-agent staffing services to Apple Computer Inc. and delivers a full range of network-design, computer-maintenance and technical-staffing services.

Based in Walnut Creek, California, Commerce One provides web-based, enterprise procurement solutions that dynamically link buying and supplying organizations into real-time trading communities. Commerce One BuySite automates the internal procurement process from requisition to order, and Commerce One MarketSite automates supplier interactions from order to payment.