Acta Hires Former HP Exec to Lead eCommerce Business Phil Brotherton Will Also Lead Seminar Tour -- `Closing the eCommerce Gap'.

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2000

Acta Technology, Inc. (Acta(TM)), a leading provider of data-caching solutions for eCommerce and business intelligence, announced today that it has appointed Phil Brotherton to the post of Vice President of eCommerce. Brotherton, a former marketing executive at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP), will lead Acta's business-to-business eCommerce initiative.

As VP of eCommerce, Brotherton will drive delivery of Acta e2e (enterprise-to-eCommerce), a data infrastructure for integrating back-end systems with front-end Web applications. Last week, Acta announced the general availability of its first e2e product, the Acta Customer Billing eCache(TM). An eCache is an out-of-the-box packaged data cache that can be rapidly deployed to hook ERP back-ends with eCommerce front-ends.

Leadership and Background in Internet Infrastructure

"We are excited to have Phil on board at this stage of our development," said Carol Mills Baldwin, Acta CEO and President. Baldwin first worked with Brotherton when she was general manager of HP's Enterprise Systems Division.

"As we begin introducing our e2e product line, we need someone with both the vision and experience to drive our eCommerce strategy. A proven leader with a unique background in enterprise computing for Internet infrastructure, Phil will help us communicate our vision for b2b eCommerce to all our constituencies--customers, partners, and industry analysts."

Acta also announced that it will launch a "Closing the eCommerce Gap" seminar tour featuring Forrester Research and Ernst & Young. Brotherton, a featured speaker in the tour, will talk about the data integration gap that has hampered the development of b2b eCommerce.

"The top item on our agenda is to raise awareness," said Brotherton. "Everyone knows that business-to-consumer (b2c) sites are suffering--witness all the Christmas failures in the news this past month. But scant attention has been paid to the fact that b2b eCommerce is facing the same problem. Most commercial Web sites, whether they are b2c or b2b, simply are not ready for prime time. The back-end systems and the front-end eCommerce sites are disconnected."

In his last position at HP, Brotherton was worldwide marketing manager for the Communications Infrastructure Computer Operation (CICO). At CICO, he was responsible for all aspects of marketing for server appliances targeted at applications Internet service providers. Before that, he held other senior marketing and R&D roles in HP's enterprise system businesses.

Brotherton has also worked as a sales application engineer for Teldyne Laars and as a mechanical engineer for Hughes Aircraft Company. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.C. Santa Barbara and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.

About Acta Technology

Acta Technology, Inc., the leader in eCommerce data-caching solutions, provides enterprise-to-eCommerce (e2e) Internet infrastructure. Acta e2e dramatically speeds and enriches eCommerce and business intelligence by providing real-time and historical data integration with excellent response times.

Acta is an active member of the SAP Complementary Software Program (CSP) and PeopleSoft Global Alliance Program. ActaWorks has been certified by PeopleSoft, and the Acta SAP BW interface has been certified by SAP. Customers include Chevron (NYSE: CHV), Guinness, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM (NYSE: IBM), Monsanto (NYSE: MTC), Shell Chemical Company, and other Global 1000 companies. Acta is headquartered at 1001 Elwell Court, Palo Alto, CA 94303, and has international offices in London, Frankfurt, Paris, and Amersfoort (the Netherlands). Sales and partnership inquiries should be directed to Acta's toll-free phone number 1-888-613-3282. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.acta.com.

Note to Editors: Acta and e2e are trademarks of Acta Technology, Inc. All other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.