Business
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this Annual Report are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. OneSource makes such forward-looking statements under the provision of the "Safe Harbor" section of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements should be considered in light of the factors described below under "Certain Factors that May Affect Future Results." Actual results may vary materially from those projected, anticipated or indicated in any forward-looking statements. In this Annual Report, the words "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "future," "could," and similar words or expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) identify forward-looking statements.

General
OneSource provides Web-based business and financial information to professionals who need quick access to reliable corporate, industry and market intelligence. Our Business Browser product line integrates comprehensive and up-to-date business and financial information on over one million public and private companies from more than 25 information providers drawing upon over 2,500 sources of content. These sources include both textual information, such as news, trade press, SEC filings, executive biographies and analyst reports, and numeric information, such as company financial results, stock quotes and industry statistics. Our customers access this information over the Internet using standard Web browsers at a fixed annual subscription price.

Our products are designed to address information needs of leading professional and financial services firms, technology companies and other large organizations. Representative customers include American Express, Bain & Company, Boeing, British Telecommunications, Deloitte & Touche, Harvard Business School, KPMG Peat Marwick, MCI/Worldcom, Merrill Lynch, Oracle and SAP.

On October 1, 1999, OneSource acquired Corporate Technology Information Services, Inc. ("Corporate Technology"), a Delaware corporation located in Woburn, Massachusetts. Corporate Technology is a provider of high technology company profiles with a focus on emerging private companies.

At December 31, 1999, 583 organizations subscribed to our Web-based Business Browser product line, up from 445 at December 31, 1998. On average, our customers for Web-based products at December 31, 1999, had an annualized contract value of $66,500 per customer, compared to $58,200 per customer at December 31, 1998. The annualized value of Business Browser customer contracts was $38.7 million at December 31, 1999, having grown from $25.9 million at December 31, 1998. Of this $38.7 million, $29.5 million was attributable to those customers that were under contract at both December 31, 1998 and 1999. The renewal rate of the Business Browser product line for 1999 was 86% calculated on a dollar basis. For more information regarding annualized contract value, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Annualized Contract Value."

OneSource was incorporated in Delaware in July 1993 under the name Datext Holding Corporation. Our principal executive offices are located at 300 Baker Avenue, Concord, Massachusetts, 01742, and our telephone number is (978) 318-4300. OneSource's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol "ONES" and our web address is www.onesource.com.

Products
OneSource's Business Browser product line is designed to be a comprehensive and easy-to-use business and financial information resource for professionals who need quick access to reliable corporate, industry and market intelligence.

Business Browser products integrate over 2,500 sources of business information from more than 25 category-leading business and financial information providers. These sources include both textual information, such as news, trade press, SEC filings, executive biographies and analyst reports, and numeric information, such as company financial results, stock quotes and industry statistics. OneSource uses its proprietary KeyID technology to sort, prioritize, integrate and link information on over one million public and private companies worldwide.

Our Business Browser product line is accessed through a standard Web browser that is already available and familiar to end-users. Because our products are based on standard Web technology, our customers require minimal installation and systems support and users have full access to the products at any time from anywhere via the Internet.

OneSource focuses on the functional uses of the business and financial information it delivers. The Business Browser product line has been designed for use not only by traditional users of business information, but also throughout an organization, including sales, marketing, finance and management professionals. We apply our knowledge of how business professionals use information to transform raw, disparate data into meaningful, actionable information. We focus on integrating and presenting information so that interpretation, manipulation and analysis can be performed more easily by the end user. Because the interface is built around the inquiries of professionals, users require minimal training to become productive quickly.

OneSource's pricing strategy is designed to be particularly attractive to large organizations. The Business Browser product line is available at a fixed annual subscription price which declines on a per-user basis as the total number of users increases for that customer. The fixed-price model encourages professionals to use the products as needed without concern for additional charges, and a declining marginal price per user encourages customers to distribute our products widely throughout their organizations.

The Business Browser Product Line Includes:

US Business Browser.
Released in December 1996, US Business Browser is focused specifically on the US and Canada. It contains a subset of business and financial information from the Global Business Browser product. It covers over 250,000 public and private companies in the US and Canada.

UK Business Browser.
Released in September 1997, UK Business Browser is a comprehensive source of information on over 350,000 public and private companies in the UK.

Global Business Browser.
Because business professionals need a global perspective to complement deep coverage of local markets, Global Business Browser is available in two editions. Released in December 1997, Global Business Browser, US Edition is a single, integrated resource that delivers comprehensive information on over 350,000 North American and global companies. Global Business Browser, European Edition, launched in December 1999, is an integrated resource including both European and global content with over 350,000 companies profiled.

European Business Browser.
Released in January 1999, European Business Browser provides users with a comprehensive database on 300,000 public and private companies across Europe, including 50,000 UK companies. An important source of data for the European Business Browser is Dun & Bradstreet, a leading business information source.

Business Browser delivers information in an integrated format. This allows customers to obtain different types of information from multiple sources in a single report. Business Browser products organize data around business applications and transform raw, disparate data into meaningful, actionable information, delivered according to the characteristics users have defined and in the custom formats, tables and reports that users require. Users who need to perform detailed analysis can also easily transfer quantitative data into spreadsheets or other desktop tools, such as contact management software.

Specific applications available through the Business Browser product line include:

• "Company Profiler" delivers integrated reports on a company's history, products, competition, industry, executives, current news articles and financials. Both summary and detailed company reports are available, depending on the user's need. In addition, "Corporate Family Reports" allow users to quickly map relationships among subsidiaries and divisions of corporations.
• "WatchList Update" automatically keeps track of news articles, news stories, financial filings and research reports on specified companies the user monitors.
• "Industry Profiler" delivers reports on market size, segmentation, financial norms, ratios and forecasts for a specified industry, as well as participants, industry news and analysis, and creates research reports with graphs and statistics that help track industry trends.
• "Company Finder" screens companies by defining key search characteristics to deliver a targeted list by industry, geography, size, revenues, employment or other key characteristics.
• "Topic Search" screens news stories, research reports, business descriptions and trade articles for information by topic.
• "Executive Search" provides users with reports on business leaders by name, company, location, schools and affiliated organizations.
• "Custom Alerts" sends daily e-mail links to current news on user-specified companies and topics.

OneSource has not declared or paid any cash dividends on its common stock and presently intends to retain its future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of its business and, therefore, does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.