[0] Towers Perrin Expands Alliance With Authoria, the Leading HR Knowledge Application Provider, to Enhance HR Service Delivery for Clients.

Business Editors

NEW YORK & WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2002

Partnership Reflects Towers Perrin's Status as Authoria's Most

Experienced Implementation Partner as well as a New Equity Investor

Towers Perrin, one of the world's largest management and human resource consulting firms, has led a strategic private financing round, taking an equity stake in Authoria, Inc., the world leader in personalized, Web-based communication, as part of a significant expansion of their existing and successful partner alliance. The partnership will now also include joint marketing and sales activities.

The relationship, which began in 2000, grew rapidly in 2001 as Towers Perrin emerged as Authoria's top implementation partner, working on more implementations than any other Authoria partner. The new relationship is the logical next step for both firms in response to growing market demand for their respective expertise in dramatically improving the quality and delivery of HR data and services throughout the corporate enterprise. It also reflects Towers Perrin's enhanced capability in this field as a result of its recent acquisition of Working Concepts, Inc., a leading implementer of HR technology.

The alliance combines Authoria's innovative knowledge application software and system capabilities with the consulting expertise of Towers Perrin to ensure that companies maximize the value of their online HR systems as they implement new technology to communicate with employees. The expanded relationship ties the two firms even more closely to each other, building on their respective market leadership, as the combination brings clients a level of HR and technical knowledge and systems implementation unparalleled in the market.

Authoria HR(TM) sets the standard for managing and communicating benefit and policy information. This award-winning product suite gives companies the ability to generate accurate, personalized Web-based answers to thousands of different employee questions instantly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Authoria products also automatically generate the Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) required by employers. Towers Perrin's role is to help employers assemble and build the company and HR-specific information that feed into the Authoria knowledge applications, and oversee the linkages with related Web sites and systems to ensure a smooth and effective transition to fully personalized, 24/7 information access.

In these assignments, Towers Perrin draws on its years of expertise in all areas of HR and human resource information systems, including detailed knowledge of plans and policies, employee communication and change management, and management of complex, technology-oriented projects.

"This partnership with Authoria, along with our recent acquisition of Working Concepts, is core to Towers Perrin's strategy of building a large and vibrant practice in HR technology," noted Steve Fein, Towers Perrin principal and leader of its HR technology business. "We intend to have best-in-class offerings in each core function within HR, either by developing them ourselves, as we've done with our Executive Rewards Portal, or through a third-party alliance with market leaders like Authoria."

"Consolidating communication and data online is an important and critical part of the overall process of providing employees with accurate and personalized information on benefits and HR policies," said Tom Keebler, a Towers Perrin principal who specializes in HR service delivery. "To achieve full and effective personalization of the information, the knowledge applications must "know" the company's employee plans and policy details, link with other company systems and data, and understand the company's different employee groups, reporting relationships and roles. Our alliance brings together the full spectrum of expertise from both organizations to serve clients in this increasingly complex and technology-intensive area."

"The key to serving a company's employees effectively is delivering personalized information. It's the future of HR service delivery. This alliance is about creating that future now," said Tod Loofbourrow, Authoria President and CEO. "The powerful combination of consulting expertise and our Web-based knowledge applications give employers highly cost-effective and efficient solutions to meet their employees' need for fast and accurate personalized information on benefits and HR policies."

About Authoria

Authoria is the trusted world leader in personalized, Web-based communication. Authoria's software allows employers and health care insurance providers to communicate vital information to their employees and customers via the Internet, intranet or call center -- anywhere, anytime. Millions of people rely on Authoria's products through leading outsourcers such as Towers Perrin Administrative Solutions (TPAS) and Exult and Global 2000 industry leaders such as McDonald's Corporation, T. Rowe Price, Weyerhaeuser and Wells Fargo. With a unique blend of Internet technology and an unparalleled knowledgebase, Authoria HR(TM), Authoria eSPD(TM) and Authoria AnswerWise(TM), provide employers and health care insurance providers with applications to deliver intelligent, personalized, Web-based answers to thousands of benefit and HR policy questions. Authoria's products instantly and dynamically generate answers to employee and member questions based on their individual needs.

Incorporated in 1997, Authoria has been ranked three times by Inc. magazine as one of America's fastest-growing private companies and has been recognized by Deloitte & Touche in the New England Fast 50 three times and National Fast 500 twice. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.authoria.com.

About Towers Perrin

Towers Perrin is one of the world's largest management and human resource consulting firms. It helps organizations manage their investments in people to achieve measurable performance improvements, focusing on human resource strategy and service delivery, benefit and compensation design and implementation, employee and organization communication, HR technology and outsourced administration. The firm has worldwide revenues of over $1.4 billion and over 9,000 employees and 79 offices in 75 cities worldwide.

Note to editors: Authoria, Authoria eSPD, Authoria HR, Authoria AnswerWise, Authoria Outsourcer, Authoria HR UK Benefits and Authoria HR UK Policies are trademarks or registered trademarks of Authoria, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product names and references contained herein remain the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.