Cary, N.C. — January 24, 2006 — Ultimus, the leading provider of Business Process Management (BPM) and Workflow Automation software and services that enable the shortest time to value, today announced that Cuatrecasas, one of the leading law firms in the Iberian Peninsula, is using the Ultimus BPM Suite to improve staff productivity and increase visibility into key business processes.

With a team of more than 800 lawyers, Cuatrecasas is one of the top legal firms in the region, specializing in various areas of business law. The firm sought to substantially improve its traditional management tools in a way that would complement the intellectual work of its lawyers. The company selected the Ultimus BPM Suite due to its powerful forms designer and graphical environment, which allow for fast and efficient synchronization with the Microsoft System Architecture the firm already has in place.

With Ultimus, Cuatrecasas has improved its efficiency, eliminating some redundant and non valuable tasks. For example, broken flows within the setup process for new hires had caused much frustration and hindered new employees’ productivity. By integrating Ultimus with the company’s HR, document management system, marketing and contact module, and service desk application, they have eliminated time-consuming and error-prone manual processes, as well as enabled new employees to get up and running in just one week instead of the two to three weeks it took previously.

Synchronization with the various applications occurs automatically with no human intervention. When a new employee is hired, this kicks off a number of parallel flows that manage the set up of the new user in various systems, assigning computers, telephones, work space, etc. The HR department has visibility into the status of various procedures so they know everything will be ready on the employee’s first working day. The ability to interact with external applications has also enabled the company to centrally manage other processes such as vacation coordination for its global team.

Cuatrecasas has also automated vital processes such as its conflict checking process, which screens commercial and legal assistance conflicts between existing and new cases and clients. This process now occurs automatically, freeing lawyers to spend more time on client-related tasks, increasing company profitability.

“Ultimus BPM has become a valuable asset for our company,” said Pascual Boil, Responsable de Consultoría, Innovación y Aplicaciones (IT) of Cuatrecasas Abogados. “We’ve gained faster process design, better coordination between departments, and reduced process lag times. It has already generated a high return on investment and we have plans to automate additional processes in the near future.”

“Most companies succumb to process inefficiencies at some point due to the proliferation of numerous disparate systems,” said Karl Freiheit, Vice President EMEA, Ultimus. “We help companies to synchronize communications and optimize business processes without requiring additional programming. Ultimately, this frees companies to continually improve operations without placing a burden on IT staff.”

About Ultimus
Ultimus is a global business process management (BPM) software company that delivers the shortest time to value for business process automation and improvement initiatives. Ultimus has business operations and sales offices throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East and South America. Through these offices and a network of more than 100 partners in 61 countries, more than 1,500 customers, including First Plus Financial, STASYS, Unilever, Citizens Bank, McKesson Corporation, Microsoft, Newell Rubbermaid, Sony and Siemens, have deployed the Ultimus BPM Suite to address their business process management challenges. Ultimus and its partners use the Ultimus Business Process Development Methodology to standardise implementations, accelerate deployments and enable continuous improvement.

The Ultimus BPM Suite has been recognised by eWeek magazine with the 2004 eWeek Excellence Award. In addition, Ultimus is a five-time recipient of the Technology Fast 500 Award from Deloitte & Touche and has twice earned a spot in the Inc.500.