AlphaServ.com Debuts Network Query Language 1.0; First Availability of New Internet Programming Language Offered in Pre-Release Version Via the Web as a Free, 30-Day Trial.

Business Editors &High-Tech Writers

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2000

The AlphaCONNECT(R) Internet division of AlphaServ.com(TM) (Nasdaq:ALMI), which soon will be marketing its technologies under the NQL Solutions(TM) name, is introducing its Network Query Language(TM), an Internet software programming language, in a pre-release version.

Designed for developers of Internet software solutions to efficiently create intelligent agent-driven Web applications, NQL(TM) can be downloaded now and tested, with a free 30-day trial, from its Web site at www.nqlsolutions.com. An online demonstration also is available at the site.

NQL, of which a full release 1.0 version is anticipated within 30-60 days, is a new software programming language that is designed explicitly for the development of intelligent agent-based Web applications. The objective of its designers is to provide network and Internet programmers with an efficient tool in much the same concept as SQL offers database programmers.

NQL's core competencies are Internet and network connectivity, which relates to the manner in which disparate computing systems exchange information between one another; interfacing with communications systems, which link people to machines and people to people; and automating Internet computing.

&uot;We saw a need for a development platform that simplifies the process of building seamless connections between the Web, corporate networks and users,&uot; said Douglas J. Tullio, AlphaServ.com chairman, chief executive officer and president.

&uot;The pre-release of our flagship NQL signals a new era for what has been the Internet division of AlphaServ.com. The market for business-to-business software development tools, which, at $5 billion in 1999, is estimated to double each of the following three years, according to the Delphi Group (Boston, Mass.), is where NQL can make the biggest impact. We're confident about competing in this arena.&uot;

In development for the past year, NQL is a scripting programming language, which streamlines the development process and speeds software concept-to-implementation time significantly. NQL, on which a patent is pending, incorporates all of the patent-pending technologies that were invented under the AlphaCONNECT Internet division, including its Web parsing technology and conversion engine.

Encapsulating these technologies and many other capabilities into a programming language enables companies, or the systems integrators serving them, to build and implement customized Web software solutions that meet their specific requirements, without the integration challenges of packaged applications.

As the NQL 1.0 pre-release phase progresses and the full version is made available, the product will be marketed to Internet and systems integrators, information systems departments within Fortune 500 companies, other software technology vendors and Web-based businesses such as e-marketplaces and portals.

The company will provide support for its NQL customers building applications such as content management systems, transaction-based e-commerce Web sites, corporate Web-based information systems, business-to-business e-procurement systems and personalized systems such as mobile/distributed computing solutions.

&uot;Today's connected world demands that timely, personalized information is found, filtered and made available in the most convenient format -- most often that is the Web, and increasingly, mobile devices,&uot; said Denny Michael, AlphaServ.com vice president of marketing.

&uot;More of our time will be freed as our regular computing processes are further automated. Agent technologies are the most efficient and reliable means to meet these needs. We believe that NQL is the ultimate agent-building platform for the architects of our connected information systems.&uot;

Intelligent agents are software robots, which excel at transcending multiple types of information systems in various locations, especially across the Internet, and performing computing tasks that are inefficient, difficult or impossible to conduct manually.

NQL agents traveling across the Internet conduct users' computing instructions with a level of intelligence, enabling them to interact with, and learn from, other machines and applications. These software servants are often used as &uot;content managers&uot; to filter and personalize the tremendous amounts of information available today, especially over the Internet.

Beginning today, Internet professionals will be able to download the pre-release version of NQL 1.0 on a 30-day trial basis. Following an appropriate pre-release quality-assurance period, during which the company will evaluate feedback from the development community, NQL 1.0 full-release will be made available for license in its multiple forms.

The language will be configured in a Single-user Developer Package; a Run-time Server, on which NQL-driven applications are executed; and a Run-time Workstation, which will operate small-scale applications created with NQL. Pricing will be made available at the time of full release.

Initially, the product will be distributed and supported exclusively via the Web. Technical support is available now via e-mail for this pre-release. At the time of full release, the first phase of an interactive support community for NQL 1.0, facilitating the exchange of application notes and NQL innovations between users and prospective users, will be incorporated into the company's Web site.

About AlphaCONNECT/NQL Solutions

The AlphaCONNECT division of AlphaServ.com, which will be marketing its technologies under the NQL Solutions name, is the premier provider of intelligent agent technologies to the global marketplace.

This division develops and deploys enabling software technologies based on its Network Query Language to partner systems integrators that create information solutions for today's e-businesses, as well as to Fortune 500 companies and organizations developing software applications and offering Internet services. For more information, visit www.NQLSolutions.com or call 888/785-3370.

Certain statements in this news release, including the statement that NQL is expected to be released the first part of this year; the product will be marketed by AlphaServ.com's future NQL Solutions subsidiary; and the company will provide support for its NQL customers are &uot;forward-looking statements&uot; within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including (i) any unanticipated developments during the pre-release period (ii) the company's ability to manage personnel and external resources (iii) the company's ability to continue developing technology that is competitive according to industry standards and (iv) any unanticipated developments with regard to the formation of the company's subsidiary, NQL Solutions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.