ASPEC 2000 Announces New Industry-leading Sponsors; Hewlett Packard, IBM, Oracle, PeopleSoft and FirstWave Join Citrix in Sponsoring Event.

Business/Technology Editors

ASPEC2000

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2000

ASPEC 2000, the first technology-to-business tradeshow and conference for the Application Service Provider (ASP) industry, today announced the addition of Hewlett Packard, IBM, Oracle, PeopleSoft and FirstWave as sponsors for the first-year event.

The five companies join Citrix as sponsors for ASPEC 2000, which takes place December 7-9 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. Citrix was announced in May as the event's founding sponsor.

Frank Sheridan, vice president of ASPEC 2000, said the addition of the powerhouse companies and their expertise in the ASP industry will serve as an enormous resource not only to the conference, but also to the participating companies, which will have the opportunity to communicate directly with the decision-makers in a range of businesses.

"The ASP model, despite its growing popularity, remains a complicated and sophisticated product," Sheridan said. "The ability of these companies to speak to the end users and demonstrate how the ASP model works and its great value will produce an educated end user. It is an opportunity for attendees to better understand and make intelligent choices and a chance for these companies to demonstrate the benefits and advantages of the ASP model."

In addition to their role as sponsors, top executives from three of the companies will serve as keynote speakers, joining General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), the conference's featured keynoter. Timothy Chou, President and CEO, Oracle Business Online, will make a presentation entitled "Lessons for Long Life with an ASP." Chou will be joined by Deepak Gupta, Senior Vice President and General Manager, PeopleSoft Center, who will deliver "ASPs: The Force Multiplier Behind Any Industry" and James Corgel, General Manager, IBM Corporation. Trevor Gruen-Kennedy, Director of Advanced Business Development, Citrix Systems, Inc., the conference's founding sponsor, will deliver an address entitled "Playing to Win: The Future Success of the ASP Market."

ASPEC 2000 will attract the decision makers and key personnel of small to medium-sized as well as Global 2000 businesses in more than 10 vertical markets. Many attendees may not use servers, employ full-time IT staff, or be computer savvy, but will come to ASPEC 2000 to eliminate their technology problems and purchase the cutting-edge ASP solutions offered by exhibitors.

ASPEC 2000 has been endorsed by the ASP Industry Consortium (ASPIC), a non-profit organization of more than 500 ASP members worldwide. Vertical markets represented at ASPEC 2000 will include accounting and financial services; education; healthcare; human resources; government and procurement; legal services; manufacturing; and sales and marketing. Additionally, customer relationship management (CRM) and its applications to all industries will be a key focus of ASPEC 2000.

About Semco Productions

Atlanta, Georgia-based Semco Productions has produced more than 250 events, spanning the past 40 years, in the business-to-business and consumer environments. In addition to the nationally acclaimed Atlanta Home Show and a series of successful Atlanta-based consumer events, Semco Productions was the founder and producer of Medtrade, a global healthcare trade show that has become one of the largest events in the healthcare industry drawing attendance from all 50 states and 130 countries. Semco Productions is long recognized as an industry innovator and leader in attracting qualified buyers. Semco Productions, LLC is located at 1130 Hightower Trail, Atlanta, GA 30350-6202 and can be reached at 770/998-9800. Visit the ASPEC 2000 web site at www.ASPEC2000.com.

About the ASP Industry Consortium

Founded in May of 1999, the Application Service Provider Industry Consortium is an advocacy group of companies formed to promote the application service provider industry by sponsoring research, fostering standards, and articulating the measurable benefits of this evolving delivery model. The founding members of the ASP Industry Consortium include AT&T; AristaSoft Corp.; Boundless Technologies, Inc.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Citrix Systems, Inc.; Compaq Computer Corporation; Cylex Systems, Inc.; Ernst & Young LLP; Exodus Communications, Inc.; FutureLink Distribution Corp.; GTE; Great Plains Software; IBM Corp.; Interpath Communications, Inc.; JAWS Technologies Inc.; Marimba, Inc.; Onyx Software Corp.; SaskTel; Sharp Electronics Corp.; Sun Microsystems, Inc.; The Taylor Group; Telecomputing ASA; UUNET; Verio, Inc.; and Wyse Technology. Information on the ASP Industry Consortium is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.allaboutasp.org or by contacting consortium headquarters at: ASP Industry Consortium, Inc., 401 Edgewater Place, Suite 500, Wakefield, Mass. 01880; Tel: [phone].

Citrix(R), ICA(R)and Digital Independence(TM) are registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. for which there are pending applications for registration in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. UNIX(R)is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.