Acxiom Awarded Five-Year, $40 Million Data Center Outsourcing Contract with City of Chicago.

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 1999--

Acxiom(R) Corporation (Nasdaq:ACXM) today announced it has been selected by the City of Chicago to provide mainframe-based data center outsourcing services to the City of Chicago's 41 departments. The five-year contract has an estimated value of up to $40 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, Acxiom, a leading data management and outsourcing company, will manage the City's processing requirements and provide support services from Acxiom's technology center in Downers Grove. A satellite location in the City's current facilities will be maintained by Acxiom to facilitate rapid response for all City departments. It is expected that all the current information technology employees of the City affected by this agreement will be offered employment opportunities either within other local government departments or at Acxiom.

"Acxiom was selected based on its technology expertise, pricing approach and commitment to service," said Beth Boatman, City of Chicago's CIO. "We are also fortunate that we were able to identify a local company with such strong qualifications and experience for this job. And supporting a company that provides jobs to more than 1,000 local employees is always a plus."

"This relationship will enable the City's Department of Business and Information Services to focus on Mayor Daley's initiatives to establish Chicago as a high-tech capital in the 21st Century," Boatman added.

"We are excited to be part of the City's outsourcing strategy and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship," said Lee Hodges, Acxiom Outsourcing Division Leader, in Downers Grove. "Our company has had a presence in the Chicago area for many decades, so we are really honored by this contract and are looking forward to working closely with the City."

Chicago, the third largest city in the country with a rapidly growing reputation as a center for business and industry, is home to more than 5 million residents in the metropolitan area and more than 250,000 businesses. The City of Chicago provides support and service to 3 million residents of Chicago.

Acxiom Corporation, with annual sales of $754 million in the last fiscal year, provides a wide spectrum of information technology outsourcing services, data products, data integration services, mailing list services, modeling and analysis to major U.S. and international firms. Founded in 1969, Acxiom is headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., with operations throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom, Australia, France and Spain. It employs more than 5,000 associates worldwide. For more information, e-mail to [e-mail] or call, toll free, 800/646-8495, or visit www.acxiom.com.